Eli like most all mornings was setting St the coffee table eating his breakfast and like every morning he made extra for the girl. For the last week straight he made sure she was never far for his sight. He knew she hated it but Eli knew that vipers nest know as the Underground Movement was going to make a move somewhere. A full on assault was the only he didn't have a complete plane for. It would have been near suicide for most any Meta.

Like most mornings the girl had come out her room and it ignored him. She went eight over to the coffee pot and turned on her inane pop music. Eli was for different musical tastes but damn it all this was G-d awful. Plus since she was pretty much powerless to stop for doing do what he was doing. This was at the least fair. He did not in anyway, shape, form or fashion like this music. He knew if he complained it would only get worse. He ignored it the best he could but his face was always a little too honest for his taste.

Not long after she said something in French, which Eli always assumed that it was some sort of insult. While didn't know any French it was on now on his bucket list to learn. He did however catalog those words she said while high outta her mind. Eva Adams knocked in the door. It was the first thing he has said since she had left the night before. "The door is open!"

Eva Adams promptly walked inside bidding a good morning to Olivia. Eva walked over to where Eli was sitting and placed a huge stack of folders on the table. Elis eyes widen in excitement. He quickly shoved his food aside and staring culling through them. Before she could even speak, Eli had the file he wanted. One labeled Isabela Lancaster. He opened it without a word and started reading intently, UT wasn't long before he was up walking around the apartment. Pacing back and forth, trying to rake his brain for that one little clue that would tell him what he knew was gonna happen.

"I'm doing great this morning Eli thanks for asking!" Eva said with a hint of sarcasm.

"I know. The only time you tell me anything personal is when something bad happens." Eli was clearly too focused to deal with being nice. "Are you sure you went to the right place? This doesn't have shit that helps."

"Yes I'm sure Elijah. It was the same place we went the first day I started working for you." Eva was more than a defensive over Eli's statement. "Eli I have your file here. If you're gonna keep being an asshole I'm gonna read it to Oiliva!"

Eli flopped down on the couch and started reading the other files. "Threats are for people who don't want to, or are to scared to do what they say." Eli said peering over the edge of one the folders. All of the folders came from an appaertment on the other side of town. The place on the whole looked liked something out of 40s. The information that most Contained was great, but not as illuminating as one would hope.

Eva Adams however, quickly learned from Eli's lesson and started reading bits and pieces of his file. "Elijah Craig, local renowned guitar player, deep seeded love/dependency on his mother. Has killed for thinly veiled insults towards his mother. Rebellious to any sort of authority and has shown anti normal tendcies in regards to social standards. Suspected in over a hundred murders while working for the Russian Mob under the handle Baba Yaga.... Has since destroyed most if not all of the Russian Mob. Military service record classified. 75th Ranger Battalion U.S. Army. Estimated kills in excess of 300." Her voice got a little nervous towards the end. Yet that didn't keep her reading. Eli on the other hand kept looking at his folder filled with information, he was listening to Eva's every word.

"Known association with SS class Meta Nightmare as well as romantically involved with his daughter Scarlet Evermore. Relationship with Ruby Greenfoot unknown. Expected to have contacts with high ranking military and government officials, as well as underground networks the world over. Extremely dangerous Metahuman, does not consider consequences when fighting, speaking, or acting. Do not engage in open air." Eva Adams face grew pale. She had heard of his deeds but never to this extent.

"I'll never forget the first time Momma played Marty Robins. 'Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs'. I knew I had to learn to play, even sing a lick or two. Some folks thought I could have made it in Nashville, I never knew if I had the goods. I did a lot of flamenco guitar, Momma always seemed to like it." Eli looked up at Eva Adams, she was clearly bothered by what she had read and Eli knew it. "Hits differently when you read it, things I've done. I think 300 is a bit high but I never kept a good count."

Cedric was a little surprised when Aya, the new member whose Meta powers might yet provide valuable intelligence, went up to his office, and provided said valuable intelligence, albeit in a way that caused his eyes to widen somewhat, and his expression to become a frown before changing into a kind smile.

"Of course I'll allow you to show me," he said, offering his own right hand, while with the other one, he was commanding two drones to stand guard over the both of them; he had learned to be more cautious.

After the Astral Trip - Assuming Aya took Cedric's hand

"This is bad, real bad," said Cedric, his voice grave. He then turned on the Intercom:

"Olivia, Max, Owlman, Spectrum!" he shouted, "begin preparations for evacuation at once; alert Healing Spore as well! Wounded and children first!"

"Eli, Light, to the roof with me in 10 minutes." And with that, Cedric pressed another button, revealing a hidden rack with a sniper rifle and power armor.

He was going to have to fight again.

((Note: You can still do your training/interaction collabs/posts; they just have to be backdated to before the Astral Trip.))

Max looked up as Cedric's voice came though the intercom and echoed throughout the building, announcing an emergency evacuation of the building. He reached under his desk and triggered the fire alarm with only a hint of vindication in the face of this totally unknown situation. The bi-monthy fire drills he'd insisted on during countless staff meetings weren't looking so annoying now, were they?

It wasn't even a minute before people started streaming down the stairs, looking nervous, unsure, but fairly calm. They were getting along fine, but he supposed since he was close to the infirmary anyway he woulds check in on #1 asset Healing Spore. The nurse staff would probably get him out via the emergency entrance, but there was no harm in making sure.

Maybe it was just the Owlmans lecture from earlier, but he realized right at that moment that he had no idea what Spore's real name was. That was kind of shitty, wasn't it?

Jake had spent a few days with Aya as she settled into her new room in the IH base. The girl wasn't bad company and she was always willing to throw a steak or two his way. He would never openly admit it but he actually started to like this girl. Once he was confident she was safe here and her injuries began to heal, Jake began to venture out. At first he spent some time getting to know the building and somehow managed to get into several nooks and crannies that he probably shouldn't have been in. He had just been following some interesting scents.

After that he decided to investigate the actual people living in this massive place. He had annoyed more than a few of them with his bad attitude and had even chased a vampire through the basement, which earned him a "time-out" in a small room by himself. He hadn't intended to hurt the vamp or anything. He just liked chasing things. The so called "bosses" of this place had put him in their little room by way of punishment, intending for him to learn some kind of lesson. Morons. He was out of that room and away 20 seconds after they had left. The door still hadn't been repaired.

He had also spent some time trying to get to know Ann and, to a lesser extent, Ariadne. The former was pleasant enough but the latter kind of creeped him out. There were a number of other children in the building whom Jake had gotten to know, all of whom seemed to love him. Mostly due to the different personality he put across when around them. He had no time for adults and let them know it but kids were different. They weren't as obnoxious as everyone else and they just seemed more innocent. They didn't look at Jake the way adults did. Of course Jake had tried his best to avoid the boy who had mauled him his first day here. That kid was weird. He had, however, run into him on a couple of occasions, each time Jake warning him off with a growl. He didn't want a repeat of their first meeting but still felt kinda bad about his own behavior towards the kid.

After spending some time wandering around, Jake would inevitably return to Aya's room. Mostly because no one had thought to give him his own. Although the prettyboy had given him an ID badge which now dangled from the thick chain collar around the dogs neck. Jake was actually pretty proud of his little badge and when someone came wandering over to him complaining about the dog on the premises, he derived a certain smug satisfaction from displaying it.

Jake would often fall asleep in the garden outside of Aya's room, enjoying the warm sun on his coat. He was asleep here, on his back and dreaming of rabbits, when Cedric's alarm sounded throughout the base. Jake awoke suddenly at the sound of Wessex's voice and rolled over, grumbling at the disturbance. "Evacuate" Jake thought to himself "Why would--" The dog suddenly felt uneasy and his muscles tensed. There was something weird going on here. Jake's senses were far beyond that of any human and right now he sensed that something was very wrong. He couldn't see or smell anything but he knew something was wrong. He bolted back into the room and looked around for Aya. Finding no one there, he sniffed at the air and caught her scent. They were evacuating the building and Jake wanted to make sure his new friend got out safely. With nose turned low to the ground, the dog followed Aya's scent through the hallways of the building. He eventually found his way to the office of Cedric Wessex when the human was donning...whatever the hell that was. Was it armor? Jake didn't care. He had only come here for Aya and upon spotting her, gave a small bark to get her attention the took a step back and a partial turn back towards the door in his best attempt to indicate that she should follow him.

@c3p-0h
And possibly @Letter Bee

Just twenty minutes before Cedric Wessex had given the alert to evacuate the Reformist HQ, a black van, ever so typical of movies where someone would be kidnapped or a gang of thieves would storm out of to raid a bank had, had stopped a couple of blocks away from the base. The driver didn't step out and their face wouldn't be recognizable due to the tinted windows. As the back doors opened, a short silhouette hopped out of the vehicle and stepped into the sidewalk, none of the pedestrians taking note of this fact. The individual who came out was none other than Solf Patel, the Underground Movement's current Trump Card and renown as the most dangerous Metahuman on Earth. It wore its usual white cloak that covered the integrity of its body and kept its face hidden in the shadows. Three golden buttons kept the robe together at the level of Patel's throat. The only form of distinctive feature on it would the Underground's emblem drawn on the cloak's right side, covering almost 2/3's of the creature's side.

It leisurely strolled through the streets of LA, continuously marching a slow but regular gait, never once changing its coarse. People would either dodge Patel by anticipation or would feel a wave of uneasiness if they were to get too close, prompting them to get out of the way anyway. Nearing the HQ, it stopped at a red light and waited like everyone else. Those in the opposite lane quickly took notice of the creature as they evidently had nothing better to do and couldn't help but stare for an extended period of time, many of which ignored the fact that the light indicated that they could cross the road and only reacted a few seconds after.

By that time, Patel's weakest forms of "arms" had already infested the HQ and noted all the architectural data it needed to make its little trip much easier. After all, the orders from Isabella were very clear: Keep moving forward once it would be in the building and destroy anything in the way. It would blindly follow those orders without a single thought put into them. Once it reached the front gate of the base, the alarm was already set off. Patel called back its weak tendrils and stood quietly before the opened gate, leaving the two armed security guards a bit puzzled.

"Erm, excuse me. We're running an evacuation drill, I'm going to have to ask you to come back later."

Said one of the guards as he approached the antagonizing creature, but it didn't reply nor did it actually pay them any attention. Red, glowing eyes had become more visible behind the gaping abyss its cloak revealed, and they were staring directly up at the roof of the building. As its intel indicated, powerful metas were going to assemble there, including Cedric Wessex. It was patient enough to wait for their grand revealing, after all many of the evacuees would be exposed to Patel's rampage whether they would make it out or not.

Not much had happened in the past week after the attack on the Sun Corporation. Cedric had troubles getting over his defeat, Owlman and the other injured had been healed, some monsters became agents, and a few metas were added to the ranks. Light herself had visited the wake that the police department had for the deceased a couple days ago much like she said she would, but other than that and a few low level crimes, Light spend most of her time training her body or brain with various activities.

As a matter of fact, before the alarm went off, Light was spending her time watching some shows on how various things were made, mostly chemicals or weapons on the War channel. She had seen Owlman after his recovery with his interperator, which made talking to him much easier, although she still didn't get why Owlman just didn't use a custom smartphone or a tape recorder or something. She had also met the new vampire recruit, who was surprised to know that Light didn't have any real blood in her veins when she demonstrated as such with a razorblade. The dog was probably the one new meta that made her feel a bit uneasy, mostly due to a couple horror stories she had watched prior, but he seemed nice enough.

When the alarm went off, Light reacted in kind, following the instructions over the intercom, but grabbing a few supplies from the armory beforehand. Most notably some explosives and a few raw chemicals, wanting to try out the new things she had learned watching the documentary she had seen. She reached the roof soon after, giving a cheery hello to Cedric and anyone else near him while she waited for hmi to say why he made such an alarm. Although she could hear some screaming from below, so she could only guess at what was happening, and would probably investigate if Cedric wasn't fast with his explanation.

@letter bee

The security guards exchanged glances as the things eyes began to glow, then turned and slowly followed its gaze upward. Then one of them waved the other forward, toward the evacuees that were already milling about across the street. She nodded and walked past the strange figure toward them, while her partner slowly turned around and held up his hand to stop the latest group. Stepping away from the suspicious meta, he directed them down the hallway toward the infirmary and its emergency exit with hand signals.

The woman, meanwhile, was directing the civilian staff of the building to move even farther away from the building. Confused and afraid, they obeyed and began moving a few blocks down. She brought her hand up to the device in her ear and connected directly with Cedric. "Sir we have a suspicious character down here, Meta, and we think they might be looking directly at you."

@Letter Bee

"There are mysterious tendrils extending through all of HQ," said Cedric to Light. "These tendrils, at first glance, seem to be some sort of ethereal Metahuman power that can affect inanimate objects, basically invisible arms, which are distinct from telekinesis because telekinesis relies on the manipulation of forces - no, now isn't the time to exposit!" Cedric spoke, frantic as a call came from Max.

"Oh, no," spoke Cedric as he, using his power armor's telescopic vision, gazed at Patel's still form, before switching to an experimental Aetherial filter. His supsicions were right; the...person was the source of the tendrils, tendrils that held the building hostage. This time, however, he would not panic, he would analyze. What does one do when one's building complex is permeated with invisible tentacles that can tear it down at the first opportunity?

Try to cut them all off at once, of course.

"Activate the HQ Shields - Maximum Power for one second and only one second!" Cedric said to the Intercom, and a dome-like field of energy covered the HQ, a field that worked against astral and physical assault - he had tested with Dean back when he was still there. Hopefully, either the dome of energy would destroy the tentacles...or it could break against them; either way the tentacles would be exposed.

It didn't take too long for Wessex to finally show himself and confront the menace at hand. Patel had lost the intelligence to actually comprehend Cedric's reaction to its presence, but it had enough cognitive ability to know there would be a counter attack. Patel didn't retaliate just yet, oh no, it waited for the boss to make the first move. The barrier did indeed dispel the normally harmless vectors Patel had placed as recon to scout the area, but now it had everything available to destroy. Its stare had suddenly moved away and the beady eyes had sunken into obscurity as the slender figure of Patel started to move.

One step.

"......."

As its foot traversed the bordering gate an hit Reformist soil, a bizarre steam was released from the dark hole where its head normally accompanied by an eerie sound that could only resemble weak whispers of gibberish. Anyone nearby, including those in the building, could hear Patel's first words. Strange distortions occurred around Solf's body and randomly moved around it until one jumped one of the guards, the female one who had contacted Cedric. To a simple soldier with no knowledge of what was at hand, this blurry assault was more confusing than anything and didn't even prompt her to point her gun.

The invisible hand that was hurled at her had simply 'poked' the device in her ear. The little piece of machinery would have pierced through her ear and through her skill, leaving fragments of metal and plastic scattered all over her brain. She bled from her ear, and then through her nose and eyes, leaving the evacuating masses in absolute terror and hysteria. Her colleague left dumbfounded by such frightening experience he couldn't even comprehend, barely had time to turn and face the antagonist of this scene. His head twisted like a bottle's lid in a perfect 360° spin, leaving only a weak cracking sound.

By that time, Patel had landed its second foot on the Reformist pavement leading to the entrance of the building. All of the evacuees were frightened and tried to escape of course, but were also all trying to avoid that creature, so forward exist was a no go. They were all amassed in tight hallways which were some of the only exists from the lobby room.

"...~~~"
Short whispers filled the air as Patel had laid its first step in the building itself. The consequence of these words would be the unleashing of completely invisible vectors, about four, that latched on to the walls of the hallways clogged with panicked employees. With one wave of unnerving gibberish, the vectors applied force on the walls they had gabbed, ultimately sandwiching the majority of evacuees who found it wise to use the hallways. The pools of blood created by the simple act recolored the entire flooring of the lobby almost immediately after.

Patel never stopped once and marched forward with its own, slow pace. If it would meet a wall, it would rip it apart and create itself a new passage. There was no way it would stop.

Cer had been packing up from the latest training session when the head aches started. Being in the HQ was a bit painful but now it was making her double over, this wasn't normal. She wanted to tell someone but she couldn't move much more than to drag herself in a forgotten corner and ride it out. Some big shot meta like Eli or Light was probably showing off, she'd just have to bear it. But when the intercom turned on and Cedric began shouting instructions Cer's face grew very, very pale. This was not a battle that would end with a victor on either side, not with the aura and power she was feeling. This week had been the cold before the storm and she should have noticed.

Despite the pain Cer pushed through, she would get used to it in time but that was time she didn't have. What was there to be done on her part, she was pretty useless right now, all she could do was feel a horrible darkness spreading throughout the building. They probably also knew that, what she had gotten so far was that the opposing meta was at their front door and he was basically feeling up the place. Despite the fact that the enemy was right outside they were continuing to head towards the front of the building. She began to frantically roundup any one who believed her when she said 'situational evacuation protocol' and led them out the back exits almost getting sliced by a field of pure energy that vanished as soon as it came. She led as many people as would listen and instructed them to get far, far away from this place, find a police station or any where that would offer them protection. Then after she had instructed them to the best of her abilities she sent them off.

Cer wanted to go with them, she really did but she stayed. It must have been some kind of foolish bravery because when she stepped back into the building she felt a silent presence that shook her to her core. She put up an invisible energy shield around herself, just an inch or two off her skin, she couldn't be too careful.

Just before Patel entered the building, Cedric shot out a beam of concentrated laser energy from his Sniper Rifle, a laser that was as fast as light, at the SS-Class Meta's head, a laser that would at least vaporize their hood. Then, after that, the young man would press an invisible, virtual keyboard, which would activate not just several sentry guns in the corridors, but also 'hallway shields', barriers that would cut off Solf for one second, and cut thier tendrils as well for that same second, buying the evacuees more time. But that won't be enough.

"I'm going back to base," said the young man. "I'll fetch a shotgun on the way."

And he did just that, calling on Light to come with him.

@Archmage MC

More stuff on the architecture of the International Heroes HQ: It was built to last, to endure, and to stand against all but a nuke. However, it was also built with the assumption that nothing lasts forever, as well as to be as easily evacuated as possible, both in response to internal and external threats. So, as Patel began to destroy the hallways and crush the people with their walls, some bits of said walls began falling, not sideways towards the unfortunate people, but straight down, into hidden slots in the ground. Basically, remember those sections of wall that are pulled down under the earth, revealing a hidden passage in video games? Something like that, but larger, creating wider hallways and thus a chance for more people to survive.

At the same time, the foundations, which were made up of tiny shellfish-like organisms that take carbon dioxide from the air and transform it into calcium carbonate, creating a though cement-like substance that's stronger than actual concrete, would begin glowing; said organisms were made by normal human geniuses manipulating metahuman materials, and thus had some residual metahuman power that repelled Superpowers below S, and resisted Superpowers above it for at least several minutes. As for the roofs, builder drones, armed with biotech organisms that fulfilled the same functions as nanobots, but were less vulnerable to technopathy, would dissolve said roofs down to goo, allowing Cedric a much faster way of arriving downward, as well as allowing Fighter Drones to sail down and further engage Patel.

Not merely that, but normal troops in body armor, armed with the best in Anti-Meta technology, would begin to surge into the areas cleared by Patel, shooting shotguns filled with Anti-Meta bullets, and throwing grenades filled with power-suppressing foam - good for below A-class - and a few even fired more lasers, before trying to withdraw into a clear area in order to try and futilely get out of range.

"Oh, being attacked. Took them long enough." Light said, looking down at the thing that was entering the building. Ignoring Cedric, she jumped off the roof, and besides leaving a hole that was her shape, Light was mostly unharmed but a bit dazed. She snapped out of it and caught up to the intruder, who was being fired upon by the bases security measures. Considering they were meant to kill and not secure, Light figured she didn't need to be gentle with it. She could hear faint whispers in her head, but she ignored them, she was already crazy enough as is.

Waiting for an opening, Light put down a hole and appeared behind the thing, going for what she assumed would be its kidney.

"I'm familiar with his file." Olivia finally admitted as Eva finished reading the document which she had fetched just to attempt to get one up on Elijah. "I also know that he's a deplorable human being with enough blood on his hands to fill this room." Giving Elijah a scathing look, her lips set into a soft smile. "I've been keeping an eye on him, though. He's a danger to society with little to no desire to fit into normal, human ideologies. His alliance with Cedric Wessex, the only thing stopping him from killing both of us, is shaky at best. If that alliance was to break, I can't imagine him putting up with me much longer but Hell, at least there'd be a warrant for his arrest." Olivia was clearly distrustful of both Cedric and Elijah but she really did not like Elijah - she didn't even use his name when talking about him.

Just at that, a voice cut over the speakers in her room; it was Cedric, requesting her presence and initiating an evacuation. "Drills aren't fun." She groaned heavily, downing her coffee before jogging to her room. There was something different this time - the air itself felt heavy and the sounds of the early-morning traffic faded into the background, almost as if both nature and civilization were holding their breathes in anticipation for the next event. Changing within a few moments, she nodded to Eva as she moved past. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

With that, she escaped out into the corridor where a few people were moving to the elevator to get down and out. Taking the stairs up, she ignored the awkward feeling in her chest - the wound was still healing and like it or not, she was limited a little. When she finally arrived at Cedric's office, he explained the situation to everyone present. She absorbed the information with a moment's notice and activated Orion as Canis Major and Canis Minor joined her on the battlefield.

Olivia didn't know exactly where to go so she followed Cedric to the roof to oversee evacuations. When Cedric left, she decided to fill him in on some necessary information. "Cedric, that thing is moving inside the building. We need to get Light down there now to make sure that it doesn't get through to the inner supports. If it tears those things apart, it'll take this entire building down with everyone inside of it. There's also two individuals taking up point on each exit of the building. They don't look like our forces. I'll go deal with one so send someone else to get the other. I'll try give you as much support as possible." With that, she pulled her fingers away from the earpiece and let out an unprepared sigh.

The last few minutes had been such a rush that Olivia had forgot to even feel some of the basic, human emotions. She needed fear if she wanted to get through today so, upon taking a few deep breathes, she finally pulled her thoughts together. Thankfully, she began to feel the familiar sense of suddenly feeling the urge to be sick. Fear was a good thing when you were going into a life-threatening situation.

Standing, she surveyed the area below her before moving back into the building and down to the ground floor. Using the sounds of screams and explosions, she made her way around Patel's advances and found herself in the open air where evacuees were desperately trying to escape. There was a man stopping them (Vince) and she had to stop him. Taking the initiative, she raised her bow and firmly grasped the string with two fingers. Dragging it back, an arrow seemed to form out of nowhere as she took aim. Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out. Shoot. Releasing the arrow, it flew with stunning accuracy towards its target. The arrow itself had no piercing qualities but simply generated a shockwave which was enough to knock someone off their feet.

With that, she released another few arrows, trying to force her target a few steps back as the evacuees parted around her, revealing her to Vince.

((Collab post between Letter Bee and AcerRo))

Eli tossed the folder that was in his hand down on the ground. Eli ran out into hallway and walked into his room. There were three Go Bags sitting ready. Slinging one his back Eli reached into his pants pocket and called Cedric.

Cedric kept running through the halls, taking advantage of the dissolcing roofs and drop-in panels, before hearing Eli's call. Briefly stopping, he said:

"Let me guess, you're going to go off and do your own thing?" the 20-year old felt a small burst of metaphorical heat in the back of his head; he was a little angry, but not at Eli; he can do whatever he wanted. Rather, he was angry at fate itself for throwing him such a dick move.

"All right, I assume you'll be keeping Olivia safe?" Cedric continued resignedly.

"I know it's Lancaster but who is attacking? I got a place North of here that'll keep her safe. It'll take me about ten minutes to get there back. "Eli said slinging another over his shoulder.

"From Security Cameras, it seems like a hooded figure who extends metahphysical tendrils and arms that can break even the unbreakable, with little to no range limit to said arms! Said hooded figure, according to several people's dying messages, seems to access his or her powers by muttering gibberish!" Cedric said frantically.

Eli froze for a more than a moment. Caught up in pure terror, he stumbled when tried to speak for a second. "Cedric if you have any value for your own life run. Keep running and don't look back, this binding and almost everyone in it is dead. Good luck kid." With that said Eli hung up the phone. He had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen. Cedric was going to die here and Olivia was going to take over.

He thought silently for a a second. In his own twisted mind of right and wrong. Cedric was still a child for the most part, ill suited to what needs to be done. Oiliva could and more than likely would be the better option here. But deep down, Eli was gonna miss him.

Eli quickly picked up the third bag and went back to Oilivas room. Eva WA was cowering in a corner while Albert, Oilivas Butler, was trying to to pack a bag for her. Say what you will about him. The guy was dedicated. Eli called over to Albert, and did what he could to comfort Eva while he waited for Albert to finish what he was doing. Albert held much the same thoughts on Eli that his boss held. The thoughts didn't bother him as much as that constant look of disgust.

Eli explained exactly what to do and how to do it. Where to go and how to get there. It was a detailed explanation on how to escape and go north to a location hidden away just a handful of miles north to
Angeles National Forest. There was plenty of places to hide and Eli had paid plenty of money to make sure those places were kept that way. Handing off two of the go bags and reexplained everything. He quickly left and went to find Oiliva.

It didn't take long to find her. Too much time together is what Eli guessed. "Dela, gives me pause you running down my name like that. If I was gonna kill you, or Eva I'd of done it by now. Honestly I'm starting to like you..." Eli said just after watching the her loose a few arrows. He sighed right then knowing how difficult this was gonna be. "All that aside, I need you to come with me. I'd much obliged if this went the easy. It'd save us both a lot of time,I don't even know if I can kill what's coming." Eli knew she wasn't about to jump into his arms and take off, but it never hurt to try the easy first.

He looked at the man who Oiliva had just shot at. Eli couldn't help it, or damn sure couldn't hurt anything. "Good Lord that man is pretty. Holy hell I'm not even gay but I'd fuck that man. Land of Goshen that is a highly fuckable man." Eli couldn't help but chuckle. Maybe it would be lighten the mood but Eli sure as hell thought it was funny.

Aya's head shot up when she heard a bark from the doorway. Seeing that Cedric no longer needed her, she darted over to follow Jake out the door and down the hall. That woman with the greying hair was doing her best to herd people towards the back exit. Miss… Sir? Aya wasn't sure but this really wasn't the time to be questioning names. She followed the group out the door just in time for the air to fill with an inhuman whispering, thick with promises of destruction. People around her were just meandering around, seemingly put out by the inconvenience of this "drill." She gaped then as the Sir woman stepped back into the building.

Circumstance was different now. Just eight days ago, Ann and Ariadne had been out on the street, wandering about. Now they were well-fed, cleaned, and cared for. The amount of change that this amount of care did was astounding. Ann's skin tone was no longer of a sickly pale, but it had a peach tone. Even though she was still quite underweight and small for her age, she gained quite a bit of weight since she started eating full, healthy meals. Her hair, adorned with a polkadot bow on top, and clothes, a spring dress with a white top portion and matching polkadot pattern for the bottom dress portion, were clean and tidy. Ariadne mysteriously mirrored Ann's healthy improvements and dress, not even Ann knew how it happens.

Ann and Ariadne had become subject to a routine where they would wake-up, eat breakfast and immediately attend a meeting with a doctor of some sorts. Ann didn't really know what kind of doctor he was as she forgot, but what kind of doctor he wasn't important. What was important was he as a Meta and had the power to read minds, giving him the unique opportunity to read into Ariadne's thoughts. Sometimes he spoke to Ann, trying to pick her brain for previous trauma and detail, but he was really interested in helping Ariadne.

At first, Doctor Hershel Walker was treated to the very harsh imagery that went on through Ariadne's head because she was very, very slow to relax among people and she was very stubborn. Yesterday was the first time, Ariadne hadn't outright thought of screaming obscenities and punching a hole through Hershel's chest. According to Hershel's writing and narration, they were actually making progress on just getting Ariadne to relax and not be so angry all the time. For just a few precious moments, Ariadne did not have that angry scowl on her face and she looked normal with a plain face.

Today, Doctor Hershel wanted to immediately start with Ariadne to build off of the success from yesterday. Ann was happy to oblige and she switched existence planes with her sister and allowed Ariadne sit and talk with Hershel while she, Ann, wandered about the room in her ghastly form. It was a bit boring, to be honest, but Ann was glad that her sister was finally starting to feel relief from all her pent up aggression. At some point during the session, Ann saw a silvery glow of a tendril that slithered inside the room and feel around the walls before continuing onward. Ann avoided it as she did not what it was but being curious, Ann flew over to the wall and peaked out to where the head of the tendril went. It was scrubbing the walls of the next room, just like it had did before. What is that? She thought to herself but this place was definitely a combination of weird and unnatural things so Ann didn't press her pondering or curiosity farther.

Just as he rejoined her sister and the doctor, an alarm sounded causing all three to look around the room. The tendril was being recalled and it vanished from sight. "Ann! Ann!" Doctor Hershel shouted as he glanced around the room, "I suggest you quickly return as I don't have any idea what might be going on..." His voice trailing off at the end there. Ann fluttered over and quickly tapped her sister on the shoulder, causing them both to switch existences again. Ann opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but Doctor Hershel grabbed her gently by the arm and lead her out of his office and progressed towards the back of the building.

For most of the hurried walk, it was quiet as neither of them said a word but the silence under the alarm soon ended as screams began echoing throughout the halls. Hershel hurried, pulling Ann along with him. Security personal with their radios buzzing with activity ran past them in the opposite direction.

Around the rear door, a mosh pit was forming as people were trying to stagger out in droves. Thinking quickly, Hershel pulled Ann along and took her down a hallway with a gentle slope and into the loading dock bay for the building. One of the door shutters were opened while the rest remained shut. He lead Ann through the door and out into a maze of trucks all parked in various spots. The various semi-trucks stretched back to a busy roadway that ran parallel to a stretch of runway.

A few people from the building were milling around, talking amongst themselves or scurrying off away from the building. Off in the distance Ann could see the people from the rear doors trying to escape.

Obviously something bad was happening and Ann suspected Hershel managed to read someone's mind to get a good sense of what it was. "Listen, we need to get away from here. Alright?" He said, worry thick in his voice. He took a moment and glanced around, more people were joining them from the loading dock exit. His gaze slowly traveled around until it settled on the somewhat busy roadway. "Okay, I'm going to see if I can get a car or something. Wait here, okay?" He ran off to the roadway and Ann was left. Her gaze soon left the running Hershel and watched people scattering out of the building in a frenzy.

The Owlman walked down the hallway at the head of a eclectic group of staff, leading them to the stairs to the exit. Among these whee those that lived within the building, full time staff ready to leave at a moments notice, as well as the underground defectors. AS he walked his head absorbed sound like a radar dish, painting a blurry picture of what was happening in the building. A picture that came into shocking focus as they reached the landing leading to the first floor.

A battle. Down there was something fighting battle. The wild crack of gunshots. The tumbling of masonry. The whir of the automatic defenses. Short, wet screams.

And in the middle of it all, words. Someone talking. He could hear them clearly over even over the din, as though he was speaking into The Owlmans ear. He brought up one arm to halt the group behind him, but it was unnecessary. They'd stopped when they heard the voice.

They wouldn't be able to get out that way. No one would survive trying to walk through a battle like that. He shook his head and doubled back, trying to lead them to a different stairwell, a different exit, when Olivia's voice came over the comm system warning Cedric. There were others. They were waiting.

Only three. There were just the three so far. The Owlman played what happened the last time he'd tried to fight one of the Undergrounds elites. How completely useless he'd been. If it was just the three then they must be at least as strong as that guy. He wouldn't be any good to anyone if he were bodied like that again.

What could they do? What was the way to safety? The Owlman glanced up, then looked over the group behind him. Full time staff. He got an idea. He went over to the wall, laid his talons on it, and tore through the plaster to scrape a single word.

PILOT?

Three of them raised their hand and affirmed that they were. The Owlman nodded, and quickly scraped two more words.

ROOF
HELICOPTER

That seemed to get everyone, so the Owlman made his way hurriedly up the stairs. At every landing he stopped while the rest kept going, calling to others on those floors and scraping the words into the wall near the stairwell.

When he made it to the roof he was already tearing off his shirt as people milled about, confused, before his wings exploded out of his back. He walked over to the edge of the roof, looking out and seeing the airfield across the way. He found his three pilots and motioned for them to come over, taking two of them under his arms and squeezing tight as they gripped him around the chest. Then he reached up and tapped his back to the third one, who through his arms around his neck as they walked to the edge.

There's was a moment that seemed to go on forever as they looked out into the clear blue sky before the Owlman tipped forward and sent them pulnging over the edge. The others rushed over to look as he felt the wind under his wings carry his and his cargo steadily downward. He wasn't able to ascend with all the weight, but the building was tall enough that just gliding carried him all the way to the airfield, where the skidded to a halt. The pilots gave him a thumbs up as they dashed off to one of the big transport helicopters and climbed in, spinning up the rotors and taking off toward the roof. The Owlman, meanwhile, scanned the area to try and pick up anyone else that was here.

(Sapphire and Savato Collab)

Vince watched as people began to evacuate and in time devolve into a frenzy, he wasn't sure if he cared very much but it bothered him not to know. He was quite content to sit on that roof top a while longer, sipping wine, enjoying the sunset and being a suave bastard in general. He was naturally a curious person and that curiosity got the better of him, "What are you seeing Camille? Anything interesting?" He hadn't wanted to ask her but she was the one with the binoculars.

Camille was ecstatic when she witnessed Patel's sudden burst of bloodlust, it was something one would normally see once in a lifetime. She was like someone who was too caught up in playing a game or something and would only give vague responses like 'yeah' or 'mhm' even if they would have no relation to the response Vince was hoping. She nibbled on a new slice of pizza while watching Solf enter the building, thus preventing her from seeing the juicy bits.

"Awwwww..." she'd whine without giving an explanation. She then tried to find a better angle to perhaps see the monster through a window or something.

Vince raised an eyebrow, he honestly couldn't tell if she was doing this on purpose or just that captivated by the destruction. "Camille, calm down! It's not a circus, would you be this excited to watch an exterminator or a kid stomping ants would you? That's what this is, you and everyone else get off on the whole pain thing, don't expect me to follow. It so much easier to just kill them all quickly, if you stop to enjoy it you're wasting time."

Looking at the table he realized that most of the food was gone thanks to Camille's appetite, he sighed and began to clean up the mess leaving the rest of it within her reach in case she wanted to finish it off. He began check off his weapons list, every shot gun and gadgets accounted for. "If you'd rather be a little bitch and not tell me what's happening that's fine but remember we are supposed to be working together, if I don't know what's going on I can't do my job." He sighed, he was still getting used to working with Camille and he did not like it.

A bulge of veins popped out of Camille's forehead as Vince's little morality check about working together and all that nonsense got on her nerves pretty quickly. She turned to face him, aiming right at his face before hurling the pair of binoculars right at the young man's face.

"Pffffff, quit whining petit parasite, we can't see Patty anymore." she puffed her cheeks in frustration over the lack of action going on and her partner's constant bitching. Plus most of the food was gone now, probably Vince's fault for not bringing enough during such a grand occasion.

"Oh and.. I'm no sadistic weirdo, I'm not manipulating people against their will après tout~ Hypoooooocrite! At least I make them vanish quick~" she replied with a provoking tone before sticking her tongue out in sass.

Vince barely managed to dodge the binoculars that flew past his head and shattered on the roof top. "Tsch, now they're broken." Despite her childish fit, she had a point. While he found it hard to even accept the way she acted he tried respect what she meant. "Alright, fair enough. What I was trying to say was I don't want Isabella or anyone else on my ass because we messed up. However you want that to happen is fine but I'm not putting myself in a bad situation for you." Ignoring her sass and his urge to laugh he gave her a serious look.

He took another moment to go over what she said then ,almost contemplatively, he said, "I don't get much from human pain and though I dislike killing Metas, it is thoroughly more enjoyable than people. Honestly I don't believe that humans hold much of a right to anything so we need to root them out before they feel more entitled than they already do." Vince held his tongue from going further, Camille probably wouldn't understand or care. "So if we can't see Patel anymore, that means its go time?" Vince sat up a bit, ready to get away from here.

She got even madder, the bulge on her forehead widening just a little bit as she growled at his self-righteous moral speeches. They were long and boring, like Sebastian's, except they were about friendship and teamwork. Or something similar, she didn't follow long enough to conclude to anything consistent. Just as she was ready to punch his face in, he suggested to go and mess around at future Ground Zero, which calmed her down very quickly.

"Oh yeah, that makes a looooot of sense. If you carry me, I'll give you five dollars~" she'd offer him, just to mock him even more than she should have done.

Vince tried not to laugh but it was getting harder, "Sorry but walking is good for you." A shit eating grin spread across his face and he dashed off the roof, not waiting for the result. He wasn't sure how it was an act and how much had been meant to just annoy her. He couldn't really help it, they'd been stuck working together more than he cared for and it was beginning to wear on him. He stopped around ground level and used the manager's office, that was so generously emptied for him, to change. He felt a little bit like Batman in that when it came to actual fighting he had to rely on skill and whatever was in his arsenal. He decided it would be better to leave his cloak behind he didn't particularly need it now.

Camille rolled her eyes as she followed him in stealth mode, coordinating her footsteps with his so he wouldn't notice her. She did all this just to take a peek at the manager's office as the man was changing. It have her plenty of time to check him out, and eventually she'd giggle at some elements she wasn't supposed to see in the first place. She tried to keep quiet because she didn't want to get caught but deep down all she wanted was to have another argument or fight just to have some attention pointed at her. Hey, children will always be children, even if they're 25 and jobless.

Vince turned to leave when he noticed the crack in the door, Camille was obviously peeking. Whatever, there wasn't enough time in the day to deal with her shit. So he pretended not to notice, opening the door he feigned ignorance and stepped past her. "Thanks for waiting, you wanted me to take the west part, right? I think I'll deal with the crowds first, Patel can't kill them if they run away." He walked over to the door and held it open for her, "Don't say anything stupid and I doubt anyone will even notice us, there's likely to be a fight of some sort but you know what to do." He gestured towards the door eager to get going.

"Nope, the back. Do you even listen?! Ah la la morveux va..." she'd reply to the seemingly indifferent man whom she had just spied on in a flagrant manner. It didn't seem to bring her anymore attention, but trying was never a waste for Camille. Her colleague wanted to go and so did she, but before leaving she looked around the various empty rooms in the apartment floor they had sacked from the submissive manager. Upon digging a few seconds in a closet, she had found it: An Umbrella, a simple dark blue umbrella.

"Héhé, this is way better than that guy's magic hammer thing." she'd mutter to herself, pleased that she had acquired a melee weapon that, in her mind, matched Light's toon hammer. She'd then follow her partner down the road to the Reformist HQ.

It wasn't long until Vince and Camille split up, Vince to take care of the escapees and Camille to run off and do something childish awesome very stupid your mum. Vince started working through the crowd until he got to a good mid point and ordered them to stop, most did to his satisfaction. He asked them repeatedly to go inside and promised that nothing was wrong. They were beginning to listen when an arrow flew at him knocking him back. Frowning he looked to see a girl shooting some kind of bow at him. Her accuracy was dead on so even he couldn't dodge every arrow, these however were meant to push him back, he would need to adapt if he wanted a chance when this Katniss wannabe started firing real shots.

As for Camille, she had to maneuver her way through a couple of alleys to end up before a long row of fences with barbed wires astraddle. They didn't pose a problem to the meta who could age anything to mere dust, so she proceeded anyway. She'd soon gain the air strip where multiple choppers were being prepared for emergency evacuation. Luckily for Camille the people around where too busy concentrating on their own thing that they would distinguish the laid back Camille strolling through the panicked masses as she laid a simple finger on a helicopter's engine. It would cause most of the area to degenerate into what seemed to be nothing. Rinse and repeat, she'd combo the vehicles set in rows before turning her attention to the chaotic base. Work started now, she'd have to locate some interesting stuff to recruit while maybe killing a few people along the way.

TL;DR: I don't even know, just read the last couple paragraphs and you'll get the important stuff.

@c3p-0h@NarcissisticPotato

((Colab post between Raijinslayer and Subject Zero))


Alternate Title: Things get worse

Second chances seemed to be quite the thing around here. Nate had spent a minute or two clearing the gymnasium of chairs after Owlman's monsters anonymous meeting and was now getting ready for his training session with Jackson or Kuro or whoever the hell showed up this time. While Nate felt like the Owlman's sentiment was noble, he didn't entirely agree with it. He was one of the rather large group who thought those people/things Cedric brought in from the underground movement should be tossed out on their asses, if not locked away. While Owlman had unwillingly been transformed into what some would call a monster, the vampires and crew had chosen it. They had chosen to become monsters. Nate wasn't about to feel sorry for anyone who had chosen that kind of life.

As if the vampires weren't bad enough, Eli Craigh was still around, engaged in all manner of douchebaggery as he continued to torment his favourite quarry, Olivia Delacroix. Again, Nate wasn't sure why Cedric didn't just toss that clown out on his ass. Maybe the boy genius had plans for him. Just like Nate had plans for him too. Although Nate's plans for Eli were probably smaller than Cedric's. Once Jackson was ready, Nate planned to have him spar with someone truly powerful, and as much as Nate hated to admit it, Opie was one of the most powerful meta's around. He knew Eli wouldn't go easy on the kid but he also knew that Jackson and/or Kuro had more than a few surprises up his sleeve and Nate wanted to get a better idea of just what the kid was truly capable of.

But for now, he wasn't ready for a fight with Eli Craigh. Neither physically or mentally. Cer would likely help the kid with the mental part but it was Nate's job to help with the physical. And so the training would continue. After setting up the gym, Nate engaged in some personal training while he waited for Jackson to arrive. With taped hands, he punched with surprising force at a punching bag with a photo of his old commanding officer attached to it.

Kuro was not happy, not at all. The reason: He had physical training today. He always hated combat training because he always ended up getting his ass handed to him in a silver platter, and that was extremely frustrating. He would've refused to do it, except for the fact that Max threatened to take away his game consoles and T.V. privileges. Kuro and Jackson were addicted to both ever since they got their hands on them, and to have taken away so soon after getting them was too much to bear.

And so, here he was, watching his instructor punch a punching bag with a picture of some dudes face on it. From how hard he was hitting the thing, he must've really not liked this guy. After about 5 minutes of watching Nate try to commit punching bag homicide, Kuro decided to reveal himself. He walked over to Nate, slipping out of the Zone as he did so.

"I'm here for my daily ass-kicking, so lets get this over with."

Fully expecting Kuro to pop out of nowhere like usual, Nate decided to play a little trick on him. As Kuro approached and informed Nate that he was ready to have his ass handed to him once again, Nate continues punching at the bag in front of him. But to Kuro's surprise, a duplicate suddenly formed from Nate and was on Kuro faster than he could react. The duplicate didn't do anything other than shove Kuro to his ass before it was reabsorbed into Nate. Nate steadied the punching bag and casually turned to Kuro. With a slightly amused smile on his face he said "You let your guard down." He moved closer to the fallen boy and offered a hand to help him up. "Sorry. Couldn't resist that after some of the crap you pull around here"

Rats. The big mean ones from the sewers. Kuro thought as he helped himself up, ignoring the hand that was offered to him. He wasn't going to fall for that old trick, it was an old favorite of the last guy who taught him self-defense. I just have to figure out where to put them.

"No problem," he said, his tone neither friendly nor hostile, just dismissive and apathetic, "So, what are we going to start with, sparring or exercises?"

"Neither" said Nate as he spun quickly in his heels with his hands clasped behind his back and wandered across the gym. "You didn't react nearly as fast to that as I'd like. So I want to test your reaction speeds." He stopped moving when he came to a line of dodge balls on the ground and picked one up. Spinning the ball on his finger he asked "You can dodge a ball can't you?"

"Yeah, I would like to think so, and you're going to split up into a bunch of clones and pelt me with those aren't you?" Kuro asked as he got into a stances, keeping his attention focused on Nate, but also keeping his ears open for any of Nates clones that might be around. Dude was like a cockroach, as soon as you saw one, you knew their were likely a whole bunch more of them lurking around somewhere. As he prepared, he felt a small ache in his head, nothing major, just a low throb. Must be because of that tumble I took just now.

"Well I was actually just going to throw one at you" said Nate with a shrug "But now that you mention it..." There were suddenly four duplicates beside him, two on each side and each holding a ball "...That does sound like fun" each duplicate spoke in unison, creating what sounded like a strange echo. Kuro would then find a series of balls thrown at him. But Nate would give the kid a chance. He didn't throw them all at once and instead one after another.

Me and my big mouth Kuro cursed as Nate duplicated himself and began his assault. Kuro, actually paying attention this time, was able to easily dodged the first two balls, the two after that were a bit too close for comfort, and the final one managed to graze his arm as it flew by. Not tne best performance, but definitely not the worst.Dammit, all this movement is making my head hurt even more

Kuro grabbed his head with his right hand, trying to massage the pain away. "Fucking hell, why does my head hurt so much right now? I've taken worse tumbles than what you me gave met, yet this is one of the worse headaches I've ever had."

"Not bad" thought Nate. "When he's actually paying attention he's pretty fast" Four out of five wasn't bad. When Kuro complained that his head hurt, one Nate rubbed the back of his own head in a subconscious act of empathy while another wandered off and a third said to Kuro with an exaggerated baby-speak voice "Aw poor baby. Does your wittle head hurt?". This prompted the duplicate next to him to smack his brother on the back of the head as he said "Quit that". Nate rolled his eyes at his own duplicate and asked Kuro "You good to go?"

Nate normally wouldn't let someone slide on a training session on account of a headache but Kuro was just a kid and he had been the one that shoved him on his ass after all. The slightest twinge of guilt crept into his mind but was quickly shoved aside as he reminded himself to think of Kuro as a recruit and not just some kid.

Kuro was about to answer, but he gripped his head in pain as the ache got worse. He could only just hear something being said over the intercom about evacuation, but right now Kuro couldn't think straight enoiygh to comprehend it. Falling to his knees, he could only lay there with his head down and teeth clenched as the agony racked through his mind. What the hell is going on!?!?

One

The pain disappeared, but an audible crack could be heard through out the training room as a glowing rift opened behind the figure on the floor. However, instead of disappearing, it stayed put, the light flowing around the young form of boy taking on a darker radiance than usual. He rose up from the floor, his eyes glowing with an unearthly blue light, filled with intense bloodlust and insanity.

"Hello Nathan, and good-bye." Mu said with a sickeningly sweet smile, before he sent forth a solid blast of air out in front of him at high speed straight at Nate and his clones, intending to splatter them against the far wall. After the attack, Mu would turn around and make his way through the building slowly. He was in no rush, and he knew the longer he waited to kill something, the more time he would have to play, and he oh so loved to play.

His day seemed to go from zero to 100 in a second. Nate was not ready for this. When Kuro bent forward in pain, Nate took a step towards him in concern but he was stopped in his tracks by a message from Cedric being sent over the intercom. The boss was ordering everyone to evacuate the building. Oh this could not be good. Nate and a few of his clones looked around for any sign of danger but one kept an eye on Kuro and saw the being emerge from behind him. "Oh crap" he half whispered, eyes wide. Hearing this, the others turned to see what he was looking at and echoed the sentiment.

As Kuro rose to his feet, demonic glint in his eyes, each Nate took a step back. They knew what this was. They had read his file. Nate had hoped he would never see this. This was Mu!

They knew they had to act quickly here. But as quick as Legion was, they weren't quick enough. Mu shot a blast of air at them and it all went to hell. One tried to jump sideways out of the blasts range and was only partially successful. The blast caught his legs as he dived and he was was sent spiralling across the room until he hid the ground hard. Another ducked low but was still caught in the blast and sent skidding towards the back wall but managed to grab one of the mats on the gym floor to stop him from being slammed into the wall. The two unfortunate duplicates that were caught full force by the blast were sent hard into the back wall. One died instantly as his neck snapped on contact. The other slammed his head and was knocked unconscious, crumpling to the ground and bleeding from the head.

While all this was going on, the duplicate that had wandered off from the main group had seemingly gone unnoticed by Mu. He had come to the side of the gym to pick up a kendo stick for the next part of the training session. He watched in stunned horror as his brothers were attacked but when Mu turned to leave, he knew he had to stop him. He bolted at Mu, who now had his back turned. At top speed he was on the enemy in a second. He leaped high into the air, intending to bring the kendo stick down on Mu's head. At the same time, another duplicate spawned from him and went low, intending to take out Mu's legs with his own weapon.

"Cute." was all Mu said as Nate attack, the crack in reality behind him glowing brightly before a barrage of lightning Bolts shot out of it to blasted the clones back aways. As they landed, a crack would form above them, and with it comes a large wall of rock that Mu let's drop on the two. Unfortunately, Mu didn't consider the clones to be alive and was able to kill them without consequence. "I'd play with you more, but I'm afraid that'd be a sure fire way to end my fun earlier than I'd like." And with that, Mu caused the ground underneath him to rise up and roll undernath a piece he was standing like he was surfing on a wave. With it, he would waste a good deal of his time moving through the halls at highspeeds, doing his best to avoid people. This would eventually lead him to the front, where all the action was. At that point, however, enough time would've past that he wouldn't have to worry about how many he killed anymore.

"Thirty. I can start to cut loose at thirty." Mu chuckled as he walked into the Chaos, creating a wall of air underneath Cedric's reinforcements, quickly rising them up to splatter them against the ceiling if they failed to react in time. "Now I'm down to 5, *sigh* I have no self-control when I let lose, dammit!"

(TL;DR: Nate and Kuro train. Kuro has the biggest migraine ever. Mu wakes up and murders several duplicates.)