Interacting with: Team Scarlet and Anti Scarlet

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Levi never intended to underestimate Umbra's men, but for them to counter his own move with gravel was clever and limited vision of them long enough that Flare and Laser could run out of the house, apparently having agreed that Laser would look for Scarlet and Reaper. Flare exuded flames from his mouth once more from the entrance, narrowly missing Turn Back, the flame now flying towards him.

With another breath he channeled electricity to his legs once more. Glancing the at flame and the uncouth woman, he slid downwards right under the intense flames and found himself landed near a wall. Hastily taking out two small knives and conducting his electricity into them before throwing both of them towards the shoulder-blades of Spore. Then using the wall to propel himself, he charged directly her, travelling closely to his thrown knives.

Wraith

Wraith had sat shakily down after Raven accepted her surrender and the summoner rushed over to Ecto, who had been injured somehow. Wraith wasn't quite sure what had happened to him - he'd been in ghost mode. hadn't he? Walker had to have done something, probably. She still hadn't completely managed to get herself together. How could Walker have done so much damage though? Maybe it was when she was reeling from the punch. She glanced at her hands, hoping that the world would stop spinning for a few seconds, before she did a double take at the glove on her right hand. There was some kind of... goo was the best word to describe it, covering the glove. She looked at it for a few seconds, before the realisation hit her like a truck.

She looked over at Ecto on the ground, who was being spoken to by Raven, then stared at her hand again, horrified. The stuff on her hand was the same stuff that was all over Ecto's wound. Was it me? Wraith didn't get it. She didn't remember hurting him, she'd specifically tried to avoid it, and now she'd left a complete mess for the rest of them to clean up. She thought back to the moments right after she'd been hit. She'd lost concentration, so it was completely possible that her hand had naturally phased back - that was the only real explanation she could think of.

It was an accident. She didn't know if they'd believe her, but it was an accident. A real one, not a deliberate action made to look like it. It wasn't supposed to go like this, no-one innocent was supposed to get hurt! But they had, and it was her fault - she didn't know what was happening inside the building, but that was probably her fault too. She'd gotten carried away, not listened and if she'd just let them try to talk then none of this would have-

No. What was she saying? These things happened, right? Sacrifices were necessary. She'd tried to do what had to be done, and it hadn't worked out. That was all. That had to be all.

She shook her head furiously and stood up, stumbling forward as she headed to the door of the building. On some level, she felt as though she should just leave. Run away, not bother dealing with the inevitable lectures and moral talking-to that she would have to deal with, but something made her go in.

They'd have to let her explain herself. As much as they seemed to despise her methods, they had to understand that Wraith was trying to do the right thing. She opened the door slowly, keeping as much distance as she could from the other vigilantes, avoiding looking any of them in the eyes.

She wasn't some blood-crazed murderer, she was just trying to clean the streets of scumbags like Walker. They had to understand her motivations, even if they didn't agree with the way she carried out her objectives.

After all, I'm not the bad guy... Am I?

Graffiti had scrambled away, just like she should’ve. Ditch’s fists stood clenched at her sides, watching the spray-painting vigilante take her leave. But her eyes didn’t stop glowing, in fact, they got brighter. Light collected around her hands, and she gazed at her palms. “..fuck.” She mumbled. “No, no no no no..not again, not again..” She looked frantically around at the people inside the office building, and rushed for the door.

She went right by Raven, Wraith, and Ecto, not even giving them a second glance, every second a brighter white light enveloping her until..

It was like a little white bolt had erupted from Ditch’s hands, heading straight for the brick wall of the building opposite, and then.. BOOM. The side of the building exploded as if someone had just lit a rocket inside it. Bits of the wall went flying, nothing too close to the people standing outside of the office building, but still a magnificent show. Ditch’s eyes had stopped glowing. Were her hands.. Shaking?

“Walker’s gone,” She announced, voice cracking. She failed to mention she’d let him go after having a nice chat. “This mission’s over. We need...auhg.. We need to..” Some part of her looked like she was going to collapse - how healthy was letting out an explosive blast, exactly? Her head turned towards Wraith, aggravation plastered over her features. She took one step forward, just one step, and stumbled, as if her knees were jelly. She fell against the wall for support, taking in a shaky breath. Her head spun, her vision was blurring.

"And that," She whispered, almost to herself. "Is why I don't use my powers." And Ditch collapsed.

A look of confusion washed over Omega as Ditch went into panic mode. It seemed he would see something explosive after all, but it looked like Ditch was losing control. He ran after her when she bolted out of the building and stopped right next to Wraith in the doorway with his eyes wide. As soon as Ditch came into his view, he saw nothing but an eruption of white light and bricks. His mind was reeling, trying to process what just happened.

Could she not control that? Did it only activate because she got super pissed? And why wouldn’t she warn us that she had powers that she can’t control? Is there anything else she’s holding back?

Omega ended up with even more questions than he had just a moment ago. He watched as Ditch struggled to walk after the blast. It seemed to have completely drained her. She made her way to the wall and finally collapsed. Gently brushing past Raven Tale and Ecto, he hurried over to her and immediately checked her pulse. Thankfully, she was alive, just unconscious. Whether they only just met or not, he still didn’t want to witness somebody dying right in front of him. He instinctively picked Ditch up and carried her back into the office building, addressing his three teammates as he passed them:

“That blast is definitely going to attract some unwanted attention. I think we should head back into this building, maybe go up a few floors and hide out ‘til Ditch recovers. She shouldn’t be out long.”

He wasn't trying to play commander or anything, but he hoped his fellow vigilantes had the smarts to get off the street before authorities arrived. He walked at a brisk pace despite the extra weight of his teammate and found his way to the staircase. He shouldered the door open and climbed a couple of flights before reentering a few floors above ground level. It was just as dead up here as probably most of the abandoned building, and Omega was silently thankful that there weren’t any homeless people to encounter. Dull light shone through the dust-covered windows and the smell of mold was prominent. He found an old leather couch after a quick search and gently lowered Ditch onto the tattered cushions. He then stood and folded his arms once more, patiently waiting for the girl to wake up.

Girard was a little surprised that Rebel had maintained enough awareness to keep an eye on Sparky, ignore TB and effectively nullified the electricity attack by breaking the ground. He was a fair bit more surprised when Miss Iron Skin took the hit well and wasn't even moved by it which was a far cry from when they last met her being thrown to the ground quite easily with a strong punch. Looked like he had his worked cut out for him this time more so now than then but it was better to have him engage the woman and so he would.

"Seems lots has changed since our last meeting."

"You found your feet but ended up taking orders, strange how that works huh?" The big man retorted in kind before she fired her own strike.

One thing that was true for him was that being as big as he was made it particularly hard to miss him and his powers lessened that weakness significantly in this case. He wanted to see just how much tougher Rebel was and taking a hit on the chin, relatively speaking, was a good way to measure strength since he could afford it and he had a feeling he was not going to be disappointed even if it didn't move him because by now he had resigned himself to fighting an attrition battle against the woman. The big man was more annoyed by the sudden heat on his back than anything though a spot on his shoulder did catch fire which he quickly snuffed out accompanied by a grunt of his displeasure. Barring the fire bug behind them all he really had to do was keep the woman planted and focused on him though TB's strategy of a surprise attack weird-ed him out slightly this time but he was right in asking for a bit of juice for his power. Tank prepared a stronger punch and kicked back one foot to give his ally a boost while throwing some extra weight and momentum behind his strike by basically using Turn Back as a mild 'springboard' to push off of. Hopefully it would give him some energy to work with but he had another idea than a tag team.

"Another idea, if you can, give Lady Liberty's boyfriend some of that before I make him pay for the jacket." Girard said picking at Rebel a bit but getting his point across that having someone throw fire at them from behind really didn't help the situation.

About to take Ecto to the others. A calm pace and slow gate, it did not even take her five steps before the woman shot her head up. Power, a lot of it, coming from somwere...
Hearing the rushed steps of a girl dressed in worn out shoose. Raven turned to the others, "get down!" She didn't know what was going to.happen. But the pulse of energy and hurried fearful steps have told enough. It might be bad.
The Grim wasting no time, he took his stand by his master. Sheilding her from a exposion that caused her ears to ring in a slow, high note. Laying down for a breath, she tried to gain her thoughts. What had Ditch done? Were those her powers? They seemed to be more burden than help. To cause so much damage but at the users expense? Least it seemed that way, she could hear somone falling with the same grace of a corpse dying on their feet.

Omege following after, she stilled, the ringing in her ears causing everything to mix and blend. But she guessed someone was going to move.the fallen girl.
Heeding to the warning, Raven dispersed her Grim. It felt like a weight has.been lifted, the woman growing tired from having to
call her summons like that. Back to back, two at a time, using too much was a drain on the mind.
Instead, she followed after. Moving up the stairs, hand on the walls to steady herself as her senses began to function normally again.

It was best to wait things out. Taking a seat, her back against a wall she allowed her head to lull to the side. Still clinging to keeping her mask. "What shall we do?"
Her voice was quiet, whispered words meant for.herself. "we were fools out there. We cant continue on such a path...."

Instead, she just listened to everyone's breathing. You could tell a lot about someone by how they breath. So long as they eere close enough. The only two being, Ditch and Manny.
No, Omega, dont start things, hes Omega. Still the more she listened, the more sure she was of it being the fellow music enthusiast.

Ditch though.."Somone, please, expalined what happened while we were separated." She had to know, so much in such a short time. It was like being left in a new kind of dark.

Shifting the weight in her arms with another curse, Reaper regained her footing before continuing on her journey, having started just on the other side of the house and quickly ducking to and fro in shadows – reappearing meters away as though walking through portals. Scarlet Shifter seemed to weigh as much as the tower she was just minutes before – and how quickly things had dissolved from that tiger! But if Reaper’s muscles were protesting she couldn’t feel it currently as her abilities muffled the pain, allowing her to dip into another shadow and reappear another two blocks down.

The sounds of fighting had faded. Logically, this meant Reaper had succeeded in bringing Scarlet Shifter far enough away from the battle they wouldn’t easily be found. Emotionally, her heart twisted with worry at the thought that the tide might’ve turned with them down a teammate. Yet the objective came first. Reaper knew that. It didn’t mean she had to enjoy it. Luckily one person wasn’t a huge strain on her – though she was panting by the time she found herself a few more blocks away. From here it was one more shadow step – one more strain on her abilities – and picking out the shadows in a darkened office building to get inside.

It was entirely possible to continue towards HQ, but Reaper and Scarlet Shifter were a ways away now. Stopping allowed Reaper to catch her breath and check on the shapeshifter. The vigilante carefully set Scarlet Shifter on the floor and retrieved her first aid kit once more from under the black hoodie. Taking a kneeling position beside her Reaper began to carefully check the wound – discarding the bloodied bandages to replace once more. Rocking her to and fro in the escape probably wasn’t helping the already aggravated wound.

“I could bring her to Dr. Stagelson…” Reaper couldn’t help but muse as she studied the wound, rapidly being covered in more gauze and bandage. “It might worry the others if I’m not at HQ though.” Tying off the bandage soon saw the kit being replaced again – and some materials left on the floor of some poor man’s office who was done for the day.

“At least it’s not one of my buildings…”

"Wait, you... you're blind?" - Ecto paused mid-sentence, but no longer because of the pain, but suprise. Now THAT'S a reveal. Can't imagine how she manages to take on the vigilante role with such a huge disadvantage.

Then realized he might have said it out too loud. After all he JUST asked Raven Tale to keep his secret, and Ecto just shouts hers out for the world to hear. "Sorry, I didn't mean-" -he noticed a figure leaving the building in a hurry. It was Graffiti.

"Hey, what's going on?" He stood up and straghtened himself, putting his hand over his wound, which was slowly, but steadily, closing. Graffiti was visibly upset, she didn't even look back or even acknowledge what he said, just grabbed two of her cans and bolted away to the sky. What was that?

His eyes settled on Wraith. She was quite disoriented after that puch Walker gave her, and stumbled in the direction of the house. Ecto's mood darkened. She nearly killed me! And for what?! Crazy son of a... daughter of a? Not the point, she almost killed me!

"Wraith, what the hell is wro-" This time, it was Ditch who came out rushing the door, eyes and hands glowing with brilliant white light, panic written all over her face. She raised her hands towards the next building and with a huge flash of light, blew it the hell up. Then, the glowing stopped.
“Walker’s gone, this mission is over." Her voice was shaking. What the hell was that? Seriously, what is going on? I have so many questions!

Ditch took a step, fell against the wall, and mumbled something before collapsing.

It was Omega's turn to rush out the building. He picked up Ditch, took her in his arms and asked the others to follow him into the building, as to avoid any prying eyes. Ecto scratched his head, sighed, and slowly floated after him.

"Someone, please, explain what happened while we were separated." he heard Raven Tale speak next to him.
"And I thought I was the only one confused."

Wraith

The explosion snapped Wraith our of her confusion, and she span around quickly to look at the crater that was left in the wall. She turned her head to look at Ditch, trying to hide her shock, only to be met with a look of anger and irritation which only lasted a couple of seconds before she collapsed. She's in the middle of collapsing, and she still has time to glare at me? I'm almost impressed. thought Wraith. Although maybe I deserved it- No. Don't go back to that again.

Omega seemed to be taking charge of the group, ordering them all upstairs. The rest of the group already seemed to be going, wasting no time in getting away from the scene. Wraith decided to follow them up at the back, covering their tracks as best as she could in hope that the police wouldn't search the area too hard. Hopefully they'd just assume that the person responsible had just run off.

She stopped for a few seconds before the door to the room where the group had hidden. Last chance to walk away. She could just leave them behind, go back to doing things on her own, without interference. Without do-gooder self-proclaimed heroes who thought they could save the world with kindness and friendship or whatever their plan was. But at the same time, if she did that then she had a feeling that those thoughts wouldn't just go away. Feelings of unease, uncertainty. Until she sorted those out, she would stay with them. Just to make sure that she was in the right.

With that sorted out, Wraith opened the door to the room and walked in, trying her hardest to keep a cool, calm expression despite her inner conflict. She walked in casually and stood leaning against one of the walls as Raven and Ecto started to ask what had happened. She decided to try not to draw attention to herself, staying quiet and hoping that no-one asked her to explain her actions. She couldn't even figure herself out for her own sake, never mind explaining for someone else's benefit.

Besides, they wouldn't be asking for an explanation anyway, they'd probably be accusing her of whatever took their fancy. She'd definitely heard Ecto yelling something or other at her earlier. Stupid ghost. If he'd just gotten out of the way, none of this would have happened! Walker would be dead and she'd have done what was necessary. Now she was stuck with all of these stupid accusing thoughts spinning around her head that just wouldn't shut up no matter what she did.

(I have been given permission to slightly bunny Alice this post.)

Laser did his best to chase after Reaper and Scarlet, but how well could you chase someone teleporting through the shadows? Laser was a large guy - he could cover lots of ground, but it wasn’t long before he gave up, hands on his knees, gasping for air. He couldn’t linger long, of course. This battle wasn’t over yet, but either way.. Umbra was not going to be happy. He began to make his way back to the others.

Alice had been able to roll out of the way of the knives Levi had thrown, just in the nick of time as they embedded themselves into the wall behind her, as well as Levi, who only launched himself towards empty air. Alice, however, was not a fighter (which she made clear with another string of curse words under her breath) and let out another “Sleepwave” attack, strongly directed towards Levi.

Rebel, after her punch landed, felt little to no satisfaction, since Tank had clearly allowed it to happen. “Come ON,” She shouted, looking to head in for a full blown tackle, when TB’s staff appeared from between Tank’s legs. She lost her footing and fell back, landing on her backside, looking like a fool, which only served to make her angrier. From the floor she raised her fist, preparing to slam it into the ground full-force, when Laser emerged from behind, dragging his hand across his throat, the signal that mission was over, and the outcome couldn’t possibly be good.

Alice noticed this too, and knowing Rebel, let out a shout. “It’s over!” She snapped, when Rebel looked to be ready to keep on fighting anyhow. Rebel let out a frustrated snarl and backed off, both Laser and Flare moving away as well. In a flash of white light, a white haired woman appeared, giving a small nod to Rebel, who she’d landed next to. “This isn’t over,” Rebel spat, and in another flash of light, gone. One by one, the white haired girl appeared next to each of the team members, touching their shoulders and disappearing with them.



SMASH.

Glass shattered around the shriveled and browned grass, a window freshly broken by a soccer ball.

”Nice.” “Now now, you need not shower me in praise. I already know how good I am.” “Asshat.”

It was Ditch, but not.. Ditch. She was maybe seventeen or eighteen years old, blonde hair much shorter, the corner of her glasses cracked. She donned blue jeans and a black sweater with bones on it, resembling a skeleton. And beside her, a younger Wall Walker, or Nate. No beard, blue hoodie, an unlit cigarette between his lips.

“Hey, stop it, you two!” A voice called from behind, and Nate rolled his eyes and groaned. Ditch grinned, turning around to face a pink-cheeked girl, dirty blondish brownish hair and bright green eyes. “Gee, mom. Ya gonna ground me or some shit?” Nate retorted. “Don’t swear.” “Moooooooooooom,” Nate whined, making Ditch laugh.

“Kendall, you’re better than this.” “No one lives here anyway, Belle. C’mon, loosen up.” Ditch said, moving to pick up the ball and dust off the broken glass. “Ouch,” She muttered, nicking her thumb on a shard, a stream of red beginning to pour out.

“I have bandages,” Belle exclaimed. “Now you’re really playing the mom role, Belle. Is it because ya don’t got one?” Immediately the two girls went silent, staring at Nate, gaping at his harsh words. “You’re all going to pretend like it’s still a shock, huh? When are you going to get over it?” “Didn’t you ever care for your mom.. Asshole?” Belle spat. Now it was his turn to stare. Belle never swore. “Whatever.” He said, snatching the soccer ball from Kendall’s hands, and storming off without another word.

“Don’t listen to him. You know he cares, he’s just bitter.” Kendall said, nudging Belle gently with her elbow. She only gave a small sigh in response.

~

Ditch’s eyes fluttered open lazily, peeling herself off the couch on slowly sitting up, a wave of nausea hitting her as she did so. She was on a couch. Not the floor, where she’d passed out. They’d moved her.

That was nice.

She let out a little grumble, or a moan, or some kind of pained noise as brought a hand to her head, closing her eyes momentarily before looking up and around the room.

“Secret’s out.. I blow shit up.” She muttered, and winced again, another pang of nausea hitting her. She felt like she was going to vomit. Ditch lazily glanced at her watch, eyes widening. “Holy fuck.. It’s almost seven.. The other team has to be waiting for us back at HQ, and--” She stood up abruptly, but very quickly realized her mistake, and sat back down on the couch, squeezing her eyes shut again.

“Okay.. might need someone to hang on too.” She whispered. “We just -- we gotta get back to HQ. I’ll explain everything, really, everything..” Ditch promised again. “The nausea will pass,” She reminded herself quietly.

(Everyone's next post should include them ending up back in HQ.)

Omega took note of each of his teammates as they filed into the room. He was glad that they all followed his advice. It seemed like a step in the right direction for cooperation, albeit an extremely small step. For Ditch’s sake, he wanted this team thing to work, seeing how much she's risked. He was too noble for his own good sometimes. Why should he even care about Ditch and her plans? Well, for Omega the answer was simple: she’s one of the good guys. His desire to do the right thing all the time might be his downfall one day, but that never stopped him before.

Raven Tale spoke up as she took a seat on the floor.

"Someone, please, explain what happened while we were separated."

“Well, you were there, Raven, when Graffiti attacked Rose. During that I had managed to catch Walker, but Ditch decided to let him go...told me she’d explain.”

He looked down at the still unconscious girl, still puzzled by her true motives.

“While you all were outside, Ditch broke up the fight and kicked Graffiti off the team on the spot. Ditch was beyond pissed. Next thing I know she’s glowing and panicking and running out of the building. And you saw the results of that.”

He turned his head to look at his team. They all looked pretty spent. He studied them as he went back through the mission in his head:

We’ve got a real ragtag bunch here. A blind girl with an extreme amount of determination, from what I’ve seen. And now, I know her as Aurora, the music lover. The things I’ve seen from her in the past couple of days kind of amazes me.

He looked down at her as she hung her head to the side, looking like she just ran a marathon. Seeing her like that made her seem even smaller than she already was and he had a little sympathy for the girl, whom he hoped he could call a friend in the future.

He glanced up at Ecto who was floating next to her and noticed he had a scar on his side. Strangely, it looked pretty fresh, but he couldn’t quite tell through the ghostly glow.

Ghost Boy seems a little lost to me. Like he wants to do well and contribute, but he’s not quite sure how. He has really interesting abilities, though, and could prove to be a great asset.

He then turned his head in Wraith’s direction without fully facing her, not wanting to turn his back on Ditch. Her nose was swollen from the hit she took. She seemed calm, but Omega once again knew that it was an act. She had just had quite the ordeal and no one would be cool and collected after what just happened to her.

This Wraith girl is pretty unstable, but I can tell that a lot of that is maybe confusion or frustration. Perhaps she has something to prove, or maybe she’s just young and dumb and doesn’t know what it really means to help people. Either way, she did refrain from fighting Raven Tale, which tells me that she does have a little sense. Hopefully, she starts using more of it before she ends up in serious trouble.

He turned his attention back to Ditch and sighed. What was he really doing here with these people? Was this really the right thing? It had been such a disaster so far. He wondered if the other team had as much trouble with Scarlet Shifter. A screw-up with someone like Shifter could mean a world of hurt. There was an office chair nearby, and he took a seat and popped in his earbuds, attempting to unwind from some of the craziness that had just ensued.
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A while later, Ditch started to stir and Omega took his earbuds out. He leaned forward in his chair with elbows rested on his knees and his fingers clasped. When she arose, she had a sickly look on her face, and he thought she was going to puke right there on the spot. After a failed attempt to stand, she started muttering, clearly unhinged by her current state.

“Okay.. might need someone to hang on too,” she whispered. “We just -- we gotta get back to HQ. I’ll explain everything, really, everything..” Ditch promised again. “The nausea will pass.”

Omega looked around the room at the options and realized that, once again, it would be on him to help her.

“I got you...just don’t throw up on me. Looks like we’re making quite the acquaintance today, Ditch.”

He got up and helped his teammate off the couch, letting her put her weight on his shoulder while his hand was around her waist. He was half expecting her to collapse again before they arrived at HQ.

“I think we should all take separate routes back to HQ. A large group moving together might get noticed. Ditch and I will be alright on our own. Hopefully, she trusts me for that much, at least.”

Since there was still a police presence around the scene downstairs, he found an alternate route out of the building. It was well past the end of the work day and the sun was beginning to set, so the streets weren’t very crowded at all.

They made it back HQ without being followed and Ditch was mostly recovered by that time. Omega then began to assess the renovations that had been made so far, staying within close enough proximity to Ditch to hear her whenever she started debriefing the team.

Turn Back gratefully took the kick from Tank and turned around, ready to go after the Pyro. Before he could get far though, he was interrupted by yelling and the flashing of teleportation. He growled in frustration and charged his staff again, swinging it at part of the ruined street and creating another crater. He stood up straight and pulled off his ruined hoodie, pulling up his sleeves to inspect his burned arms. "I didn't see them with Reaper or Scarlett, we can only hope they got away..." He paused and stared at his arms, confused. He had been on fire for a little bit there, he should have had second or third degree burns at least. Instead...

Turn Back touched his left forearm, his brow furrowing further. It was tender, like a sunburn or steam exposure; and it was red. But it should have been much worse than this. He flexed his shoulders experimentally, knowing his back had been set on fire as well. There was the stinging again, but it wasn't really pain. Not like it should have been. "Um... In any case though... We should, uh... Get back to HQ, right?" He could feel a pressure building in his head, and itching in the fingers on his real hand. It felt like... Extra power, unused. The same feeling he had in the days leading up to his accident. He stepped away from the group again, muttering to himself.

"No no, I spent that power, I spent what Tank gave me... Where is this coming from?" He asked, fear beginning to show in his eyes as he gripped his staff tighter. He tried charging it again, but the purple energy didn't show. "Come on, not again... This can't be happening." He said, trying to stay calm. He waved the staff around again a few more times, trying to channel his power into it before it could start to decay.

"Damn it, damn it!" Turn Back cried out, feeling a lump form in his throat. He was afraid. This couldn't happen again, not now. He yelled in frustration and slammed his staff on the ground in desperation. An orange energy burst forth from his hands, traveling into the staff, much to Turn Back's shock. It filled the staff with an unnatural heat, the top of the staff bursting into white-hot flames. He stared in shock at the glow, completely uncertain about what had just happened.

Girard found out just how little had changed about his rival's temper as she reacted to him purposely taking the hit which seemed to have insulted her leading up to her coming straight for the big man. TB's staff had done its job though surprising and ultimately throwing Rebel off balance and on her ass in a humiliating manner which left her looking like she was about to go on a rampage for it. The fight going on to his side between the boss lady and Sparky seemed to be going nowhere fast either but he was keeping her tied up well which left Turn Back free to deal with the fire bug and he had a damn decent boost to do it with. One thing that hadn't occurred to him was that there hadn't just been three of them when they arrived, there had been a fourth so where the hell was he. Maybe he had tried to chase Reaper which if she was using her power would make it damn near impossible on foot to find the two women so it was only a matter of time before the man would be back in action.

However, the thought was proven wrong as the man pulled up from behind the two women and made a quick gesture that looked negative. Given the 'leader's' reaction it seemed like the opposing group was about ready to start retreating which didn't seem like it was going to be an easy matter. Not to mention Rebel looked as if she was going to have none of it more interested in fighting him than getting out until at least some reason managed to filter through her iron hard skull. As much issues as he thought they would have with an evac turned out to be inconsequential as a white haired woman started to teleport them out one by one and honestly there wasn't much they could do to stop them on such short notice. It was such a brief conflict that the sudden cut off left the big man full of adrenaline and with nowhere or nothing to expend it on currently.

Girard heard Turn Back referencing the fact neither or reaper or Scarlet had seemed to get caught which he nodded to the man in agreement that it was a good thing. They couldn't afford to let the bastards get what or who they wanted as it would just making fighting them harder in the long run not to mention end up screwing with the people who they did get. Though for now getting out of the area was seeming more and more like a good plan than before in case another squad got sent after them or worse. The thought had preoccupied the big man for a moment before he once again heard TB only much more frantic. He looked over to his comrade to see him well and truly freaking out over something which he didn't understand. It might have been due to his power which the glowing orange around him was kind of giving away as opposed to the purple he had seen before but whatever it was brought out fear in the smaller man. When his staff suddenly burst into flames it was a hell of a sight what with white hot flames spouting off the top of it and seemingly for no reason beyond the energy pouring into it.

"Uh I don't know what that was or how it happened just now but I still say getting out of here would be a very good idea. We can figure this shit out once we get back to HQ or something." Tank said reiterating his previously valid point but also trying to get Turn Back into reality again because its where they all needed to be at the moment.

A light, by his standards, grip on his ally's shoulder was to help get his attention and assure him all the same that they would look into the new development. The big man gave a nod of approval to Sparky who had done his job fairly well as far as he knew but also to make sure he got he message as well.

"This was a damn mess of a situation, just hope the others didn't have it this bad." Girard said offhandedly ready to move at the drop of the hat which he would once the others started to go not wanting any surprises to pick them off after the whole incident.

Once the three men were ready and sure Reaper wasn't going to reappear they moved off towards the theater.

---

Tank walked up to the HQ following both Turn Back and Sparky the latter of which was looking rather tired after the whole encounter and the trek back. The big man saw the lightning bug go find himself a dark corner once he got inside and figured he was going to rest for awhile while he and TB made there way further in. It wasn't hard to tell something was up between the couple of team members who where there not all of them present quite yet. He knew they were going to get a debriefing from Ditch most likely though it probably wouldn't just be how the mission went, the opposition they faced made sure of that.

"Hows everyone doing? You guys look a bit rough." Girard asked noticing that Ditch was looking a bit under the weather but other than a few scrapes and maybe a bruise there was nothing to say how they're mission went.

"So many problems in such a short time." A sigh escaping her lips, Raven began to think. This was not good, already they lost a team mate, yes she did not like Graffiti too much but she had to admit her powers could come in handy. She only hopes Umbra dose not get a hold of the woman in the long run. No one should go through such torment.
They needed to work together somehow, to learn the inside and outs of each other's abilities and work off of them. To know where they excel and fail at. She couldn't help but compare it to her own partnerships in the arena. She knew everything there is to know about Loki, and because of that they are victors, but with a new animal she just met, she seems to come up short.
Its the same thing here, they don't know each other. They may as well be animals in a sense of the lack of communication, the only one she semi knows is Omega and that was by accident.

No need in worrying about it when there is nothing that can be done though. She was tired, her breathing was slowing down, and her legs felt heavy as she let them slump to the floor. She was a light enough sleeper when in situations like this, not the first time she needed to rest in the streets in order to summon Dullahan to get home safely. "I must rest for a moment, I shall wake when needed." Her voice tired and quiet, she aloud her shoulder's to relax, yet even when she allowed sleep to take her, Raven still found her hand to be gripping the ebony cane. She was lucky, this time she was left dreamless.

By the time she woke up, she heard Ditch ask for help in standing. Seems the poor thing was not yet at her full strength, standing herself she began to take in her surroundings. The others were awake, Ditch leaning on someone, most likely Omega, the male explaining how they should all go separate ways and meet up at HQ. Nodding her head, Raven listened, more will be explained back in their known territory. Least they had that, the entire night was like a spinning chair, you couldn't tell what was going on, all that you know was you didn't have enough strength to control it.
"Than I'll see you there, Ecto, Wraith, are you two well enough to travel alone?" She could at least take one with her if they were injured, better to be safe than killed.

----
The sound of a motorcycle heard outside of HQ, followed by the light bray of a horse. Raven began to dismount, patting the creature that to her, felt like lean muscle and soft fur. "Thank you my friend," Dullahan shaking it's neck, causing the motorcycle to shake slightly, she began to smile.
The place smelled different, fresh wood-shavings and oil, some metal as well. Trash no longer kicked up at her feet, and the tapping of her cane bounced off of what may be machines or supplies, who knows, maybe the place was already starting to be refurnished. "How are you feeling Ditch?"
She couldn't help but worry slightly for the woman. The amount of power that left her could not have been pleasant. The night full of stress and new plans having to be made could not be good.

Minutes dragged like hours in the quiet of the office building, nothing but twin breathing and the sound of passing traffic now and then filling the air. Somewhere inside the building a clock ticked away with each second, barely heard as Reaper waited a bit longer, chest barely moving with each intake of air as she hovered skin to a gargoyle over Scarlett, waiting for any sign of being followed.

Yet no one came. That was both a relief and rather worrisome. It could mean untold amount of things, the worst being that Talky and the Cat Bandits had succeeded in taking down her teammates and were now surrounding the building, the best being that the others had dispatched them handily and were now waiting for her. However, the former didn’t seem quite as likely – not because she believed in her teammates, but Reaper couldn’t sense any unusual beacons around the building.

So what to do? Returning to the battlefield risked putting everything in jeopardy once more if the fight wasn’t already done in their favor, but taking Scarlett to the auditorium would be showing her exactly where they were located. Not to mention the fact that Reaper wasn’t quite sure her patch job was working as well as she hoped. Following that logic, it all lead to one conclusion, even if it made Reaper’s chest twist painfully at the thought of leaving the others even longer, but Reaper wouldn’t be returning to the fight. They had, after all, primarily wanted Scarlet Shifter out of Umbra’s clutches.

“Hope you know what you’re doing…” The vigilante muttered to herself even as she retrieved her phone, hitting the only favorited contact and settling by Scarlet. The call was answered immediately, Reaper launching right in.

“Call Dr. Stagelson and have him set up the regular room for me. … No, not actually for me, I’m bringing someone. Yes, calm down. No I don’t – actually that’d be nice, yeah. Thank you, I’ll call again when I’m done.” Phone call done and device pocketed the hooded vigilante turned to the source of her conversation, sighing seeing that Scarlet Shifter was still out of it. Looks like Reaper was still going to have to carry her, which wasn’t necessarily bad; at least Scarlett wouldn’t be able to see where they were going. At least that’s what Reaper told herself as she once more carefully hefted the shapeshifter up and practically across her back with a low grunt.

Edging to the window Reaper gave one last sweep across the street below, and only when she determined there was no one nearby did she pick out a shadow across the street – on the roof – to shadow step to. It was slower this way, less of a smooth gait from shadow to shadow but rather a stumbling tourist stopping for directions. Roofs weren’t nearly quite as accommodating as shadows, though the late time and setting sun did help. Preserving her energy with short steps it took Reaper a decent amount of time to reach her destination, but soon she was standing on the roof opposite a rather large, swanky clinic. She almost groaned in relief seeing that one specific window near the top floor was open, the lights inside dimmed to cast shadows against the wall and floor.

One more quick shadowstep had Reaper inside, staggering in the darkened room to the nearby bed of the private room. It spoke of the quality of the bed that it didn’t so much as creak under the weight of Scarlett. With some maneuvering the other redhead was soon on the bed, Reaper leaning heavily against the railing as she caught her breath. One person normally wasn’t so much trouble, but between having to carry them and the usual strain of taking another person? She deserved at least a small break.

Whatever time she had to relax was interrupted by the sound of the door opening, and out of reflex Reaper already had one ankle in the shadows before recognizing the man that came in. An average looking man, balding with a pencil thin frame barely glanced at Reaper before calmly shutting the door behind him and flicking one of the switches to fill the room with a dim light. All business he briskly walked over, his roaming gaze immediately picking out the injury, not to mention who his patient was.

“Well, you’re certainly full of surprises, Miss…?” He trailed off to look to the vigilante expectantly, waiting for whatever name she used in front of his new patient, be it real or alias.

“Reaper.”

“How morbid. You should pick a new one for when you visit.”

“Not creative enough for that, Dr. Stagelson.”

“Nonsense, you young people are full of imagination,” Dr. Stagelson soon lost interest in the conversation to fix his spectacles, leaning in and examining the deep wound in Scarlett’s shoulder. His fingers soon were at the wound, messing with Reaper’s handiwork. “Well, I could definitely help – though if she’ll regain full use of her arm is hard to say. I’d have to start poking around, considering what she’s probably been subjected to… Unless you want her to, ah, be a little more distracted next time you speak?” The doctor looked to Reaper pointedly, immediately raising her hackles.

“I don’t need to – to torture her! Just patch her up, maybe keep her out of it for the night – for everyone’s safety.”

“Of course, of course. Merely a suggestion, considering who she is.”

“I’m aware. Just… keep her calm and fix her up, I’ll figure out what to do with her by tomorrow morning.”

“Oh? Was bringing her here the extent of your plan, Reaper?” When the vigilante didn’t respond Dr. Stagelson chuckled. “Not to step on the toes of my most prestigious client, of course. Go on then, she’s in safe hands, and no one will know she’s here.” Reaper huffed, but finally bowed her head.

“Thank you, Doctor Stagelson. I’ll have someone call in later,” When the doctor merely waved her off and began to call for a nurse Reaper took her cue to step back, finding the one corner still darkened and disappearing into it.

---

It was almost refreshing to only be shadow stepping by herself again, no weight slowing her down or the extra tug of her powers from moving with another. Once more it was like an average stroll through the park, if the park was dark and clung to her ankles with every step. Though, the weariness and ache in her bones was settling as well without the adrenaline to keep it back. It didn’t take much longer to get to the headquarters in old run down Racket Avenue, though it was tempting to double back to the site of Scarlett’s hideout. Enough time had passed however that Reaper would think it was either do or die, and so it was with a tight feeling in her chest that Reaper stepped out of the shadows opposite the auditorium to open the great doors.

“Oh thank god,” The vigilante muttered to herself, almost slumping seeing the three men she was most interested in. Levi was off resting, while Turn Back and Tank were farther in with some of the others. Everyone had made it out alright. Feeling a surge of energy Reaper stepped inside and closed the large doors behind her, trudging over to the others and hopping onto the stage to sit on the edge heavily. Unfortunately with the renovations there was barely any shadows to get up to her favorite place, the platform above the stage.

“Scarlett’s being taken care of,” Reaper muttered to the others, giving a thumbs up to them. “Looks like none of you lost a limb without me either,” The vigilante added on, flopping back onto the stage. She turned her hooded head to the side, peering at the ‘Wall Walker Team’ with her blackened eyes. Really, she was talking too much in her relief – companionship was turning her soft after just a few days.

“… I’m guessing things didn’t go well on the other side?”

“Well, you were there, Raven, when Graffiti attacked Rose." What? Why would she do that?

"During that I had managed to catch Walker, but Ditch decided to let him go...told me she’d explain.” What. The. Shit.
"She... she got kicked out?" - he asked, but there was no answer. Omega was deep in thought.

That's great. Yeah, really great. Wraith pulls out my insides and nobody gives a second glance, while Graffiti gets demonized for getting in a fight with Black Rose. Is this how we roll now?

But why did they jump at each other...?

"So many problems in such a short time." Raven sighed.
"You can say that again. What was that all about?"

“We just -- we gotta get back to HQ. I’ll explain everything, really, everything..”
"EVERYTHING? Okay. Alright. Great. Then let's go, because we really gotta talk about this crap. - he was getting really angry, feeling shoved aside and left in the dark.

"Than I'll see you there, Ecto, Wraith, are you two well enough to travel alone?"
"Thanks Raven, but I think I'll go alone, I need to clear my head." Then he stormed off.



God dammit, I screwed up! I was completely useless! ... and I shouldn't have been rude to Raven. His side still hurt with burning pain, but Ecto was way too upset and guilty to care about it. Raven Tale has been nothing but helpful and comforting. She actually reminded him of an elf, or a sorcerer out of a fairy tale, bedtime stories he heard from his father when he was a child. He used to love those... And he was very grateful for what was most likely saving his life. I need to thank her someway.

He was furious when his thoughts wondered to Wraith. What the hell is wrong with her? She was like oh Ecto is in the way but who cares I need to murder something. Does she find the idea of not killing someone SO unbearable? Does she do this all the time? Are we working with a serial killer psycho? Or was this just a scare tactic? If it was, it was really crappy.
But then why would Ditch invite her to the team if she wasn't reliable? Then again, Graffiti was invited as well. Graffiti... I wonder what happened. Won't she be in danger alone? I really need to talk to Ditch about this. AGH, Screw this! I really hope this was worth getting eviscerated.

He eventually reached the Warehouse and slipped in from the topside window. Some of the others were already waiting there. He took his place on the side, folded his arms, crossed his legs, and brooded quietly while waiting for everyone to finally arrive.

“… I’m guessing things didn’t go well on the other side?” - Reaper asked in a slightly sarcastic tone.
"I guess you could say that we were... torn apart from the inside." - he would have actually found this funny, if he was in the mood. But he really wasn't.

Wraith

Wraith barely registered what the others were saying. She'd been able to figure most of it out already, to a point. The only thing that surprised her was hearing that Graffiti had been kicked, which added 'being kicked out' to her list of worries. As much as she had found them difficult to work with, she couldn't make herself believe that having to deal with Umbra's people on her own was a better solution.

As the other vigilantes left one by one, it seemed like everyone knew that the operation hadn't exactly been successful, to put it lightly. Wraith was slightly surprised that Graffiti had been kicked out of the group, considering her own personal actions seemed to conflict with their ideas a little more. She wasn't going to take it at face value, though. It wasn't like they were going to be all smiles and hugs and just assume that she wouldn't do it again. The group were a lot of things - moralistic, self-righteous and irritating to name a few - but stupid wasn't one of them.

She didn't say much in response to Raven's question, only a mumbled "I'm fine." and a slight nod. She didn't trust herself to say any more until they'd all left since she was barely holding her façade together at that point. Trying to say anything more would only make her lose her composure, and she didn't want to show weakness in front of the group. No point in giving them anything else against her.

Once the last person had left, she took off her mask, wincing as she touched her nose, and sat down on the ground again. The world was spinning, and she felt sick. Why did she feel sick? What was wrong with her? She'd killed before, hadn't she? It's not like it was the first time she'd hurt someone. It was just the first time that she hadn't meant it. She felt confused, afraid, vulnerable. To anyone who'd looked in the room at that moment, she'd have just seemed like a scared little girl. Pathetic, aren't you, Kara? she laughed to herself quietly, slightly hysterical. You really are just a stupid little kid.

It took her a few moments to even summon the willpower to stand up and control her emotions. Even more was needed to take the first step on her way to the headquarters, ignoring the startled yell of a police officer as she phased through a wall inches away from his face, thankfully having put her mask back in place. Once she started moving it seemed as though her feet moved without any input on her part, taking her towards Racket Avenue.

---

I guess I'm back here again. She didn't expect a warm welcome, but she hadn't run away. That had to count for something! At the very least, it made her braver than most criminals - braver than a coward like Walker was.

Wraith decided to avoid drawing any more suspicion, so she decided that she'd just go in through the front door instead of doing any more phasing. She seemed to be a little late, as most of the others weren't there yet. Her walk had given her a little time to compose herself, but it hadn't been as much as she'd hoped. She wasn't really sure how she'd handle the inevitable interrogation that she expected. It was true that some of them had a reason to be angry with her, Ecto coming to mind, but for the most part, they just had different methods of operation.

I'm not worse than them. I'm one of the good guys. That thought kept circling around Wraith's head, repeating itself over and over in the girl's mind. It was certainly true in her head at the time, even if her thoughts insisted on being contrary at this particular moment. She had to convince them of that. Of course, it would help her case immensely if she were able to convince herself.

Steeling what was left of her courage, Wraith walked past Ecto, and into the room.

This time, Ditch didn’t take her perch up on the floating platform. She sat on the stage, looking both sickly and sad at the same time. She held her skeleton mask in a balled up fist.

"Hows everyone doing? You guys look a bit rough." Ditch looked to Tank, Levi, and TB, a small smile arising on her face as she let out a relieved exhale. “We’re alright. Glad to see you made it back in one piece.”

"How are you feeling Ditch?"

It kind of looked like Ditch wanted to reply with some angry, sarcastic response, but of course Raven Tale could not know that. Instead Ditch let out a small sigh, and said, “..Better now. Thanks.”

“… I’m guessing things didn’t go well on the other side?” "I guess you could say that we were... torn apart from the inside." Ditch let out a kind of snort-laugh, rubbing her eyes until she rested her gaze on Ecto, the sad smile fading. “Wait, you mean -- shit, Ecto, are you alright?” Ditch jumped off the stage, moving closer towards Ecto but not stepping right up to him.

Wraith slunk into the room, and Ditch frowned. "Okay.. there were some.. large developments on our side." She rubbed her eyes once again. “I kicked Graffiti off the team. She wanted not only to spill unnecessary blood, but struck up a fight with a fellow team member for no reason. Their actions were lethal to the mission, and I ended up letting Walker go. I couldn’t gain his trust. It only could’ve gone downhill from there.”

Her gaze fell on Wraith and she let out a little sigh. “There’s a difference, between killing who you think is bad and doing justice. As a vigilante, death should be a last resort. Even if they are criminals." Ditch spoke. "But you can learn, and I can forgive you. If Ecto does.” She gestured to the ghost vigilante.

She turned to look back at Team Scarlet. “More on our side later. I need to hear how it went with you. You said Scarlet was being taken care of, Reaper? A doctor? Was she injured that badly? Are you sure it’s a doctor you can trust?”

All Raven had done was nod her head, taking a seat down on the floor once more. She didn't have time to go looking for a chair or platform that was unoccupied so it would have to do. One by one she began to hear more come inside, the heavy steps of Tank, the strange ethereal steps of Ecto, the unheard but somehow felt movements of Reaper.

She was lucky her team mates all had such unique movements, easier to find out who was who. Her head rose when she heard Wraith though, the girl was...strange. More so than normal, her movements were stiff, uneasy, she was hesitant to move past her and Ecto.
Already she began going through what the girl had done today, thrown her hand through Ecto without a second thought, not saying a single thing about her team mate being inside. If she knew he was there, she could easily have killed him. But what else was new? She killed many normal people all the time it seemed.
But than again, Wraith refused to fight herself. Raven was ready even, she had her own Wraith, Kaite ready for battle, armed with an ebony cane. It would have been a much more interesting encounter for her than the crumpled heap of Walker and Ecto. But than she refused, going on how she wouldn't fight a fellow vigilant, how she had her own code, how she was a good guy...

She was in deep thought, trying to study everyone's motives for what they did that night. Only one she couldn't figure out was Graffiti, but when Ditch jumped down, the woman grabbed Raven's attention.
"But you can learn, and I can forgive you. If Ecto does.”

Hearing the words, Raven began to take slow breaths, her voice unmoved. Simply there to give information and nothing more. She was happy for that voice, it never gave what side she was on away. "Wraith, did you even have knowledge of Ecto being in harms way?" Turning her head to listen to Wraith she began again.
"You spoke of how you refused to fight me, how you would not harm a team mate. Yet you could have vary well almost ended Ecto's life. You would make no sense unless you didn't know. I'm not going to say I agree with your motives, I disdain them in fact. But I'd rather not get a picture of you unless I have all the pieces."

They needed to find a way to avoid something like that. If Fuax decided not to help her, than things would have turned out differently. Ecto vary well could have died in that ally way. People like Wraith had to know what could hurt a team mate, hell everyone should know who can hurt who so they don't do such things again. What if someone had sound manipulation and used it around herself? She wouldn't be the only one in danger, every summon she had would turn on her from the amount of terror such a action would cause.

"I believe we should lay thing out in the open. What could harm us, what we shouldn't do to one another. If we knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, we would be far more efficient." Well, might as well go by example, if she was not willing to explain a weakness than who else would.
"Like myself, I can not be in silence, the amount of damage that would cause me is enough to turn my summons against me. Imagine if we had someone with sound manipulation and he or she did not know?"
She shuddered at that thought, silence, soul shattering silence. No, never again, she will never deal with such a thing again.

instead she focused on Reaper after hearing about their mission. Seems they got her, but she was inured. "Hopefully she could be out of harms way soon."

“Wait, you mean -- shit, Ecto, are you alright?”

Ecto slowly looked up to Ditch. Of course, she couldn't have known, she was busy with Walker, and they fell thorugh the wall. Maybe they really didn't see, or didn't expect...

"Yeah, I'm better, thanks to Raven." He gave a feeble smile towards Raven tale. "I just need a bit of time, this should go away in a day, I think. Thanks for asking, though." He gave a feeble smile to her.

Ditch explained how the mission went - not good - and then turned to Wraith.
"I can forgive you. If Ecto does." - he frowned thought about some choice words, he heard Raven Tale's voice.

"You spoke of how you refused to fight me, how you would not harm a team mate. Yet you could have very well almost ended Ecto's life. You would make no sense unless you didn't know." True Wraith did seem a bit shaken by what happened. Maybe it's being bashed in the face... or maybe Raven's right.

He stared at the wall on his left, took a deep breath, and started speaking.

"A few days ago, when we first met up here, while on my way here, I noticed a guy trying to jack a car. He was a young dude, maybe not even twenty. Just a stupid kid who thought he could get a nice car to get chicks, or maybe sell it on the black market. I snuck up to him and gave him a good scare. Aaand it's possible that one of his hands got broken in the process.
Now I'm not saying that this night could turn his life around, but he certainly won't be stealing cars in the future, and while his hand heals, he has time to think." - Ecto stood up, and turned his head to Wraith. - "Tell me, would you have killed him?" - he walked up to her.

"I'm trying REALLY HARD to understand you. To get what's going on in your head. But I'm no telepath, and can only hope that you are better than a serial killer. I do believe that what happened was unintentional, I was there. But I need to know that you are not a monster like the ones we are trying to bring down. Don't break my heart, Wraith. Not AGAIN. '