Dempsey gaped in awe at the mansion. First super futuristic jet planes and now mansions the likes of which Dempsey had only seen in pictures or period dramas. He could hardly believe it when it was revealed they would be staying there, he was expecting something similar to the prison, if a bit more militaristic.

Dempsey wandered in, searching through the titanesque building until he finally found his room. Dempsey was more used to tight cramped rooms, even before his imprisonment. He took a quick shower before searching through the wardrobe until he found an outfit he liked. Basically it was a tightly fitting plain white t-shirt combined with jeans and a pair of timberland boots.

Soon he was shepherded into the lobby, where the doctor informed the group that they would be trained in the use of their powers. Dempsey didn't really see how much more training could be done with his powers, it was really just punching and throwing. Still, between going through whatever 'training' consisted of and going back to prison, he'd much rather do the training.

They were moved into the spectating room as Archer went up first. His little comment about killing everyone in the room sounded annoyingly cocky to Dempsey, as if he could be anymore of a hypocrite. After seeing the demonstration he realized that Archer was entirely serious and wasn't being cocky in the least.

He felt adrenaline coursing through his veins as a small smile grew on his face. If everyone's powers were as strong as that then taking out villains would be no problem.
"Some power eh?" He said to no one in particular.

@chaotic chao
A rather odd looking person approached the little group in the back. As she was asking for us to join her to introduce ourselves, which Atlas wasn’t that keen on doing. The doctor came in and saved him as they watched Archer nearly blow up the doc and himself. Atlas kind of smiled, he had thought most of these people were probably pretty weak, but if there was something Atlas had learned in all his years was no one was to be underestimated.

Atlas was laughing clapping his hands honestly. He raised a finger at Archer, ” Remind me not to piss you off.” but just as he said it his name was called.

Shit. He pushed off the ground and hovered above everyone's heads. He hated giving out secrets, and there was a lot of things he thought he could do that the government probably had no idea about. Some of it was just speculation. Like Spatial-Temporal Locking, which was still just a theory. In theory if time or space were to change, Atlas would notice it, but in order to see if that were true by his calculations he would actually have to go outside of time, which was no easy feat by any means.

He approached the front of the room where the simulations were running, he chopped the air and two targets sliced in half. Atlas figured they knew all about how he did that, they even classified it as Razor Wind in the books. Rather showy if you asked Atlas, but no one was asking him. He then raised a hand and closed it focusing on the third target, the gravity there suddenly doubling by the second. Within ten the target was a hunk of metal nearing a rough sphere.

He turned to the doctor. “Want to see my favorite Doc? It's rather delightful, you do understand if I don't go all out here. You know I don't trust you.” It wasn’t a question, Atlas knew the man could read minds and it was positively pissing him off. There was no deflecting it, he couldn’t feel anything tangible nothing moving. It was like what the man was doing was far beyond even his own understanding. Bullshit. He wasn’t lying either, he didn’t trust this man, and the others were fools if they did.

He glided down to an ornamented left out on the table. He loved how rich folk just left glass stones in a bowl. Basically they have nothing better to spend their money on. He grabbed a few and drifted back to the simulation area. He flicked one in one direction at a running target, and the other at a target out in the open taking aim. The first hit stopped just before going halfway through the sim and hitting the target there, It suddenly shattered and spun in an almost perfect sphere tearing through the hologram.

The other went through and struck the metal then traced rapidly all along the holograms body. if it could feel pain it would have been in agony. As he did it Atlas laughed maliciously, he imagined a real person. The blood. The pain they would have been in, he wasn’t a surgeon but he did his best not to hit any main arteries. One time he’d Blended someone and they didn’t die until a full day later, he didn’t like that. It was better when they just died. He hated himself for enjoying their agony. But no one was innocent. He then through all the stones into the air and they broke spinning around him like electrons around the nucleus of an atom.

They all shot towards him at a remarkable speed then he let them go ,snapping to protect himself as they shattered into bits of glass and dust hitting him. “I believe that classifies as Absolute Defense?” He said to the Doctor as he dropped to his feet taking his position back on the wall with the others. He brushed his hair out of the way and looked at the Doctor again. He hesitated, maybe he shouldn’t show such a strong hand. It might be best not to reveal every trick up his sleeve, though he doubted he could even accomplish it in his current condition.

“If I focus hard enough I can speed up my healing power exponentially, as long as it's not too severe. Once I was…” Maybe best not to tell them the whole story, he glanced at Soldier X then back to the Doctor. “caught in a conflict, so to say. I was outnumbered but made quick work of them. I had thought he was dead, I swear he didn’t have a heartbeat. He cut my throat while I was camped not to far from the conflict.” He pointed at the scar on his neck, then quickly dropping his hands to his side, his head dropping a little as well not daring to meet anyone's eyes, lest they see that his own held murder.

“I quickly reacted sending the knife through the man's-” He remembered the children in the room. Shit. “Suffice it to say, he was dispatched with quickly and then I found out I could direct my blood, after a lot of trial and about a week of trying, I had basically gotten it down. Wound still took another week to heal all the way, though.” He shrugged. He was really dying for a smoke now.

The Doc called @Rainbow in at that point.

---

---

If Vivian had wished for the more troublesome types to gravitate towards her, everything had gone according to plan. A man who looked more robotic than human approached her, slowly turning to look at her and then away. Had she been able to feel anything beyond the urge to feel sarcastic, she may have even quivered.

“Is there a problem, ma’am?” he asked.

Vivian opened her mouth, ready spew out either a bunch of insults or some crappy jokes about the predicament they were in. Before she could cut him off, however, a beautiful young teenager with piercings and light hair interjected. She remembered him vaguely from the plane ride.

”I believe it’s a quote. When one is to enter hell, that is inscribed over the entry way.” The kid explained, sitting down on her other side. Flanked by two of the more despicable gifted, Vivian couldn’t help but smirk. Already, alliances and factions were beginning to form.

Already, she was certain, the piece of shit government experiment was beginning to fail.

”I didn’t know you were a fan of Dante.”

Vivian chuckled a bit. ”I was more a fan of passing my college English classes—but I don’t blame you for not knowing something about someone you’ve never met, hmm?”

Before they could continue conversing, however, a pure white girl approached them. She leaned herself against a column, giggling and waving at them. Vivian’s face fell, feeling her perpetual bad mood strengthen.

”You all should come with me to say hello to everyone. If we’re going to be a team, we might as well learn about each other. My name is Light by the way, whats yours?”

Vivian tried not to burst out laughing. Refusing to move an inch, she seemed to almost slouch more firmly into the chair. She didn’t need to go introduce herself to everyone—those worth knowing would come to her.

”Sure!!!” Vivian mocked, contorting her face. ”And then we can play with rainbows and gummy bears and our mommies and daddies will come!!!!!”

Rolling her eyes, she cursed under her breath. She didn’t have time to savor crushing the dreams of the little girl as the doctor returned, ready to do his dance for the government. He wasn’t any better than a pet.

“I’m going to train every last single one of you. You all have been in prison for weeks, and can be a little bit rusty. Mr. Kent, follow me.”

The blonde boy who had pestered her on the train stepped forward, and everyone else followed. Vivian crossed her arms, practically pouting as she followed the crowd. Stone motioned for them to sit in the viewing room. Vivian sat in the front this time, eager to watch the destructive forces of the other gifted.

This was something she could enjoy, at least.

”Man, wish we had some fucking popcorn…” Vivian whined.

A moment later, Archer approached the target, shaking a bit. Vivian smirked. The massive explosion that resulted, however, wiped the smirk right off of her face. She was stunned. She’d never seen a gifted with powers like that before!

Atlas was called in next. Vivian sat forward, interested in what he would be able to do. So far, he seemed to be the least terrible person present. And given that his name began with an A, she figured it would be ages until she was called up. The joys of being named Vivian. Honestly, it was a prude’s name, in her opinion.

She wasn’t disappointed, though the lack of explosions did seem to dull down his power a bit. Listening to the explanation, she grew more and more intrigued.

”I believe its a quote. When one is to enter hell, that is inscribed over the entry way.” answers the boy named Atlas.

"I didn't ask for a definition." Soldier X replies as he looks at the boy, his visor glowing a dark orange, "Just asking a question."

Besides, he knows exactly what that statement meant. This girl was giving off quite an attitude. A bitchy one for starters. It reminded of him vaguely about those bratty girls he meant back in high school. Some looked quite like her, probably one or two had blue eyes, and always talked about their little girly things. They would sometimes tease him about his antisocial behavior or something along those lines, he can't actually remember. Probably properness too. Also reminds him about some bitches on the sides of roads... hookers, sluts, or just really annoying people. Doesn't matter though, for the girl hardly bothered him much anyways. Of if she did, he wouldn't show it.

Just then, another girl came into view, this one being pure white and quite... cartoony. She was pretty strange looking, not in a bad way of course, but still, she was rather interesting to look at. At least she seems more friendly then that bitch she's standing next too.

”You all should come with me to say hello to everyone. If we’re going to be a team, we might as well learn about each other. My name is Light by the way, whats yours?” she mentions.

However, as Soldier X was about to reply to that question, bitchy little Vivian decided to open her mouth.

”Sure!!! And then we can play with rainbows and gummy bears and our mommies and daddies will come!!!!!” she yells, rolling her eyes and cursing under her breath.

Ok... that was just mean. I mean he can be much worse than that, but at least he's proper around the more innocent. He glares at the woman for a quick second in disgust until looking down at Light.

"Soldier X." he replies as he kneels down to shake her hand, "Don't mind her. She's just seems to be a natural-raised bitch."

With that, he stands up again and watches the demonstration, seemingly impressed when Archer unleashed his own attack. He may not be using them to the maximum effort or precision, but he has potential. Much potential.

Aiden:

Aiden was overwhelmed by the whole situation, he rushed joyfully onto the plane and strapped himself into his seat all the while having a stupid grin on his face. He noticed that a lot of the other gifted were older some much older so he was quite a bit quieter than usual and kept to himself but it wasn't too uncomfortable as he was happy to be free from prison and was thinking of where they were going.

When they eventually got there he was stunned by what he saw, it was a mansion bigger than any house he could of thought of, the day kept on getting so much better that Aiden was having a hard time believing that it was real. Once the group made their way inside they all seemed to split up so Aiden followed in their footsteps and was escorted to his room, he quickly gave his hair and face a wash in the sink and then decided it was about time he got rid of the prison gear.

The clothing that he chose to wear was a pair of black boots, some black jeans, a dark brown shirt and a maroon hoodie. Not long after that there was a knock on his door with a voice saying that there was going to be a meeting in the main room, Aiden opened the door and started to follow the man to the main room and when he got there he sat while they waited for the rest of the gifted. Once everyone was here the doctor began to speak "“I’m going to train every last single one of you. You all have been in prison for weeks, and can be a little bit rusty. Mr. Kent, follow me." The man he called Mr Kent followed him into what seemed to be a training room, the rest were escorted into a spectator room so they could most likely see each others powers.

Aiden was not expecting what he saw, a red blast of energy shot out of Mr Kent which threw himself crashing into the wall behind him, but it also knocked back the doctor and the others in the room, at first Aiden was a bit worried if anyone got hurt but once he saw that everything was okay he thought that it was pretty cool.

Next up was a man called Atlas, his powers started off pretty cool but they eventually turned scary, Aiden was sure that something was wrong with this guy and even the way he talked about or reacted to his powers was creepy. Finally the moment that Aiden was patiently waiting for arrived, his name was called next and as he made his way out into the training room he started to do some deep breathing and closed his eyes as he started to levitate himself off of the ground, small pieces of metal from around the room began to levitate towards him, he rose his arms and as he did so the pieces of metal began to orbit Aidens body and he began to aim for the practice target. Aiden took one last big inhale as he lowered his arms and then stretched out his right arm towards the target as he launched the pieces of metal as fast and hard as he could, they hit the target like the bullet would have and with a smile on his face he returned to the ground however he was sweating a bit from the effort that he had to put into that. He made his way back into the spectator room slightly embarrassed that so many people saw his powers.

---

Archer found it funny that he took that smile right off of Vivian's face. He noticed that red energy was still pulsing through his hand, making some sort of buzzing sound. Atlas' powers were pretty cool, but thinking about how sinister this guy seems. He wondered how many people Atlas had killed. Archer had heard David call out the kid. (@Rainbow Archer was interested in seeing what the kid could do.

He realized that he was sitting next to Vivian, so he deicded to say something. "Yeah. I don't look like a person that would be dangerous, do I." He said chuckling. He had his hands clasped together, now he could feel his hands pulsing together. Archer sniffed, and grinned.

Vivian shut her eyes slowly and opened them, as if she was summoning up the courage to not act like a pretentious punk for once. "I was shocked that you weren't able to control your own powers... You just threw yourself into a bloody door, sorry if I'm not exactly terrified."

---

Archer wasn't offended at all. "I'm not trying to make anyone terrified of me." He replied. "And wow, you're a bitch." He said casually. She seemed like she really wanted to get under people's skin. But that was going to work with him. Archer is hoping that he was getting under her skin instead. But knowing her attitude so far, probably not.

"It's not easy controlling a nuclear beam from your hands. Maybe if you had my power, you'd know that it proceeds to kick your own ass while kicking the person you're aiming at."He said with a snarky voice in his tone.

Vivian snorted, grinning with amusement. "You're just getting that now, eh?"

"Got something in your nose, Silver Curse?" He said chuckling. He's now getting it, she's a dick just to be a dick. She's not actually that bad, that's her way of apparently talking to people.

"Yes, but it isn't nearly as alarming as what's up your ass," Vivian snickered.

---

"At least I don't look like I suck dick for 5 cents." He replied.

Vivian sniffed a bit. "Please. I charge at least $20 for that."

Archer laughed, "You're not that bad. I can get used to your asshole-ness."

"That's enough you two," Soldier X sayes, raising his voice as he seperates the two with his hands, "Break it up or fight somewhere else."

---

"Okay, dad." He replied sarcastically, Archer grinned. Not everybody in this place were not that bad. Archer titled his head, and made another 'sorry' face, noticing the soldier could kick his ass in about 10 seconds in five different ways.

Vivian nodded towards the soldier, the closest she'd ever give to an apology. She didn't need to make enemies over this.

The boy with the metal powers seemed done. David said they were done for today, but Archer would be next tomorrow. Archer groaned, and of course. The night couldn't have been any quicker.

Make A Man Out Of You

"I want you to try again, Archer. Hit the target, not the whole bloody room." David told him, this time David was behind the training room spectator glass with the rest of the team.Archer groaned this was going to suck. Archer was now wearing a hoodie/tank-top and some jeans. He blasted at the target, *BOOOOM!* "WHA-WHOAAA!" Archer went flying across the room! David slowly drew his palm to his face, "This will take some time..Fiona, up next!"

---

The worst part of this experience was not nearly getting her eyes seered out by a blast of nuclear energy (How intimidating!) but it was these two acting like kids, and throwing insults at each other. Well, they were kids, but that doesn't excuse the fact that they were all given a second chance, and they were acting like highschoolers. Fortunately, one of the older members of their group told them to cut it out.

Fiona was happy to be out of that hell hole, and was never going to go back.

Though, the problem that Fiona had was that she didn't want to show off her power. At all. Fiona looked down at her body, and shuddered. She didn't appreciate being like this. That definitely meant she was going to sit this demonstration out. At any cost. Even though she's been practicing her ability.

"This will take some time..Fiona, up next!"

... The moment of truth had arisen. Fiona was absolutely caught off guard. She immediately shuddered, and put her hands up, and shook them from left to right (Revealing her exoskeleton). "Oh, Doctor- sor- sorry! I'm... I'm not feeling too well."

"I know your powers...I've read your mind, and I'm sorry. But you have to not be afraid. So go ahead, if they make fun of you. I'll make them think they're 6 year old girls for the next five days." David said. Stone chuckled.

"Sorry, I... I... can't." Fiona insisted, absolutely dead set on not going up there.

"Do you want to look like a coward in front of these people? Come on, Fiona. Don't be afraid of who you are, what you are." David said.

"... Fine." This was not something that Fiona wanted to go through with, but she was being forced to. She sighed as she took careful steps towards the demonstration room, her cloak concealing her appearance. At this point, they probably all but know that she's a freak underneath the cloak... her voice pretty much gave that one away. But, like the good doctor said, don't be afraid of what she is.

Fiona stood in the center of the room. Her anxiety was flaring up, as her heartrate sped up, and thoughts of fear filled her head. Gotta be strong, gotta be strong.... Fiona thought to herself. Fine. If he wants to see a demonstration of her power so badly, then so be it. She was going to wow them with this one.

Reaching to each side of her cloak, Fiona quickly threw it off - releasing all fear of her appearance, and exposed herself to the world. She revealed what she really was. A tall, insectoid of a girl that was far from human as she got....

Suddenly, her exoskeleton split in half down the middle, in a display that released a green liquid out. Her previous exoskeleton literally fell off, as what remained was a new, milk white colored, shell. Once her shell came off, wings of a butterfly came out of her back. As her body shifted into this new form, she began to darken as she quickly turned jet-black... save for her wings, which had a brillant shade of blue.

Once her transformation was complete, she was no longer half cricket, but now half-butterfly. A beautiful Ulyssess Butterfly.

Fiona let out a sigh, as she flapped her wings.

"There, I did it." Fiona turned her head towards the doctor, very irritated that she was just outed like this.

The doc cleared his throat, and turned his head the other way. "That's...that's none of my business...." The doctor said.

"What?" Fiona looked at him. "What's... wrong...?" She asked as she looked down.

A few months of that cell made her forget a simple fact; her clothes don't transform with her. She was standing here exposed to the world. Not that she was particularly attractive. Despite all her transformations, she still had... her female bits. Hanging out for the world to see. Fiona quickly gasped in embarassment, as she covered herself, and quickly bent over and grabbed her clothes, and quickly ran off, putting the cloak on.

This is why she didn't want to do this.

---

"Vivian, up next!"

Vivan rolled her wrists a bit, leaving the spectator room for the training room. Glancing around the room, she wondered what exactly to do to show off her talents.

Snorting a bit, she glanced at the doctor. Given his talent, he already had an idea of what she had in mind. And as there were no alarm bells, she figured it would be alright.

"Now, please don't squirm..." she said calmly, as gradually, the doctor began to levitate. It was slow going at first, but eventually, she had the doctor up towards the ceiling.

"Uhh...Careful now.." The doc laughed a little nervously.

Slowly, the target across the room began to do the same. Flexing her mental muscles, Vivian began to strain, and the doctor started to flail.

"Shit! she cursed, as the doctor and the target were sent crashing down towards the floor.

"OH FUUUU-" The doctor yelled while falling towards the ground!

"Shit, shit, shit!" Vivian screamed, abandoning the target all together, and focusing on the doctor. Just before he would have hit the ground and become paralyzed, confined to a wheelchair, she caught him.

He hovered a few inches above the ground, and Vivian let out a sigh of relief.

And in her momentary lapse of concentration, the doctor fell the remaining three inches.

"Okay...remind me to never be apart of your demonstrate, just like to not be in Archer's.." The doc got up, leaning on the window pane, panting.

"Fuck. Sorry about that." Vivian mumbled, before leaving the training room.

---

"Alfred! You're up!"

"Ugh," he growls as he gets up on his feet, "Don't call me that. Just call me X if you want something short."

He then treads into the training room and takes a look around his location. He knows what to do.

"I need a weapon." he says to the doctor, "You guys have anything?"

The next thing he knows he gets handed a regular old pistol. Talk about those high expectations getting shattered, but regardless this will simply do. He then sees a target moving about left to right, left to right. Time to show him his stuff. Soldier X quickly aims his gun and fires all the rounds he had in his gun, 8 to be exact. All of them were able to hit directly, or very close to, the bullseye.

"Looks like I still got it." he says with a sigh.

Even after not using a gun for months does was he still be able to use the weapon at maximum capacity.

As a final part of his training, the soldier was presented a man in the black suit to which he was required to put him down with effective force, but not too much in which he can break his bones. Cracking his knuckles, Soldier X prepares to fight as the man comes running towards him with a fist aimed at this face. The soldier was able to block the first attack, plus two more and a kick. However, when the man decided to punch again, the veteran quickly grabs his arm and goes behind him, ultimately pushing him to the ground with a thud. However, the opponent wasn't silent when he was pushed down...

He was screaming bloody murder.

"MY ARM!" the man howls as he grabs his own arm gingerly, struggling to get up.

Perhaps Soldier X may still have the power... but even he may want to control his technique a little bit more. Was it a success? Sure. If only that mean't to brutally taking down your opponent and breaking his arm. But alas, that wasn't the case, but he didn't mind it either, as he simply walks out of the room.

---

"Your problem is, Archer is that your power controls you, and you don't control IT." Daviid, the doctor said. The doctor handed him a chest piece that had an circle on it, that's it. [color=red["You serious..?"[/color] The doctor nodded, and placed the circle on Archer's chest. The circle sprung into tiny circles, lines attaching them to the main circle. As soon as Archer had the circle chest piece on him, it glowed red like his powers.

"This chest piece will tame your power, taking a bit away from you to be able to use it more...controllably." The doctor wasn't trying to be rude, knowing how this man could blow him away. Archer aimed his hand at the target and noticed how the red energy was not pulsing and much as it was as it used to. It was more faint. Archer smiled, as he blasted the the target with success, but stumbled back. Archer smiled, and nodded. "H-Hell yeah..!" Archer fist pumped the air.

---

---

---

Alexandra silently boarded the jet, waiting for all the others to sit down before finding a spot near the back. The whole situation was a bit overwhelming. It was the first time in months that she's seen this many people gathered in one place. The fact that none of them seemed to be overly creeped out by her calmed her nerves slightly. Maybe she would actually fit in with these people. Her old friends, hell even her own family, didn't want anything to do with her. As she looked around, she began to realize that many of the others were just as different as she was. She noticed the pure white human-looking figure sitting across her. Another person opted to completely hide themselves inside of a cloak. Obviously they had something to hide, and it couldn't be good.

The sudden takeoff jarred her slightly, causing her to extend her arm towards the ceiling in order to maintain her balance. After the jet settled, Alex closed her eyes in an attempt to fall asleep. Unfortunately, the whole uneasiness of the situation kept her awake, and she simply opted to listen to the all of the side conversations. Just being able to hear another human being besides her guards was pure bliss. It was almost like she was normal again.

---

As Alex stepped off the jet, she stood in awe of the manor before her. While the others were comparing it to some comic book, it reminded her more of her old dorms. The sudden wave of emotions forced her to a halt, not that any of the others would even notice. It was the first time in at least a year that she had really thought about her old life, and how much she missed it. Despite having all the time in the world to think, Alex's longing for her old life quickly turned into bitterness and spite.

She stepped closer with a renewed confidence, eager to put her past to rest. This was her new home, and this was her new family. She overheard one of the officials speaking to the Gifted. They were to meet in the foyer, but they would have some time to ready themselves. Alex chose instead to just make her way to their rendezvous point. She was simply too tired to find a new change of clothes. A year living a sedentary lifestyle meant that her body rarely exerted any energy beyond the bare minimum, which quickly became the standard. Alex made a mental note to start rebuilding her strength; she was definitely going to need it.

Alex watched as a small group of Gifted formed on one side of the room. An old man, a blonde, and the girl cloaked in white from earlier. Unlike herself, she seemed to be quite comfortable with her abnormalities. The conversation seemed to quickly turn sour, however it never escalated beyond a couple of harsh words.

The doctor came in just in the nick of time. From the looks of it, some of these Gifted couldn't stand being around each other. This isn't going to be easy.

"I'm going to train every last single one of you. You all have been in prison for weeks, and can be a little bit rusty. Mr. Kent, follow me," the doctor said.

The boy, "Kent," followed the doctor into a blindingly white room. The rest of the Gifted filed in behind, then got escorted inside of a side room with a viewing window. Alex watched as the two conversed for only a moment. The boy seemed to be hesitating. Only a moment went by before a red beam of light shot from the boy. It caused what could only be described as an explosion, followed by a shockwave that sent the doctor and himself flying across the room.

"Damn," Alex whispered. It was quite impressive, if not a little messy. Actually, it was extremely messy.

The doctor dismissed the explosion boy and called for one named Atlas. She looked around the room, waiting for the name's owner to step forward. Once he did, Alex realized that he was a younger boy. He couldn't be older than her, for sure. He stepped into the simulation room, where he was clearly eager to show off his "powers" to the others. His demonstration wasn't nearly as impressive as the first, however she definitely didn't want to be caught on his bad side.

Once finished, the doctor beckoned "Aiden" forward. His abilities were immediately obvious, as was his age. He was just a boy, no older than 12. He began by levitating off the ground, and then showed signs of metal manipulation. He wasn't half bad for a young boy, but nothing good could come from having him here. He was too young.

Alex tried to ignore the bickering going on between explosion boy and the others. The doctor dismissed the group, saying that they would pick up with Archer -who was apparently the boy that caused the explosion- tomorrow.

She sighed out of relief. She wouldn't have to show off her "powers" that day. Of course, there wasn't much to show. She wasn't like Archer, or Aiden. Their abnormalities came from within. Her monstrous attributes were on display for everyone to see. Moreover, there really wasn't anything special about them. The two purple masses of flesh could withstand extreme temperatures, and that was about it. They could grow back, too. She learned that the hard way.

---

Alex, now wearing fresh clothing, once again stood behind the reinforced glass and watched as Archer nearly blew up the entire mansion once more. The doctor dismissed him and called for Fiona. The girl who wore a cloak on the jet yesterday attempted to excuse herself from demonstrating her gift. The doctor was adamant about everyone going at least once, and insisted that she had nothing to worry about. Hesitantly, she made her way into the demonstration room and removed her cloak. Underneath, the girl resembled the skin of an insect. No wonder she had chosen to hide herself prior to this moment. Well, at least I'm not the only one that looks like a freak. It may have been a harsh term, but it was the truth. They didn't look normal.

Suddenly, her body split down the middle, causing a nauseously green liquid to spew all around. The girl's exoskeleton shed, much like it would if she were actually an insect. If she weren't already so intrigued, Alex would have turned away. While it was absolutely disgusting, it was fascinating at the same time. Alex continued to watch as the skin melted off, being replaced by a white shell that encompassed the girl. The shell only briefly remained before falling off, and revealed a fresh pair of butterfly wings sprouting from her back.

Alex was so intrigued by the transformation that she didn't realize that Fiona's clothes failed to transform with her. She tried to shield her eyes, but it was already too late. The girl had run out in embarrassment.

Vivien was called next. She demonstrated the power of telekinesis, though it could have been something more. In order to show off, she risked the doctor's life and levitated him up to the ceiling. No doubt still rusty after having been locked up, her connection broke and the doctor plummeted towards the floor. Vivien was able to catch him just before hitting the floor.

Alfred was called to demonstrate. He didn't have some voodoo power, and instead just seemed to be incredibly strong, as well as accurate with a gun.

Once more, the doctor asked Archer to try his powers. Only this time, he was given a circular device that was placed on his chest. The circle glowed red as it connected to Archer's chest. He aimed his hand, and this time actually hit the target. He stumbled back slightly at the sudden release of energy, but it was much more controlled than before.

"Well, that was an improvement," Alex said idly.

Tanya stared at Dr. Peterson as she was sitting on the cold grey floor. It took only a few seconds for them both to realize the conclusion of their brief conversation. She predicted his offer exactly and his telepathy knew the response that would be given. Such a interesting combination of powers allowed them very limited vocal communication. The doctors she met didn't limit her abilities to see the future due to how limited she was in how to use them, but it was just an act Tanya put on since she simply didn't try to escape. Dr. Peterson however was a telepath with obvious knowledge on her power and prepared himself for this conversation.

"Don't worry Ms. Watson your family is okay and are simply worried about you. We can speak about contacting them later. If you take the offer of course."

It was an interesting choice for someone like her. Either stay inside a cell for potentially the rest of her life, or go out and become a hero. She was skeptical of the "Hero" part, but it was at least better than dying in solitude accomplishing nothing. Her trust in people like him was low, but it wasn't like they were incapable of doing worse to her without asking.

"Well the world isn't going to save itself. Lets go Doctor." She said while stretching. Tanya felt a great deal of relief, but still had to suppress her anger. The hatred she had for the ones who imprisoned her in mostly solitude for so long was still raw. The Doctor could pick up on it, but he didn't bother to acknowledge it. She kept calm for now while following him out of her cell where she met a dozen other individuals. They were all likely "Gifted" some were clearly...something. The tentacles and the weirdly shaped body gave it away, and for a moment she knew why people were afraid. However, she was essentially like them and honestly no amount of tentacles would seem stranger than her temporal abilities.

As they walked down the hall Tanya wondered about the powers gathered here. She listened to their comments but decided not to join in. There was just so much to think about and that’s not even including her constantly trying to see into possible futures every few seconds. At one point she saw the plane and muttered "Holy shit!" Before anyone even could see it. When they all found the futuristic jet some appeared obviously impressed. Others more suspicious than before.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The jet took them to a large mansion that was introduced as a base. Like the others it was quite clear reality was getting stranger than fiction. She eventually broke off from the group to get cleaned up and even change into some clothes. A basic T-shirt and some jogging pants seemed okay and comfortable. It also made her notice that these seemed prepared for them, but the fact they were civilian clothes not military was strange.

She met with David and they both went down stairs to regroup with everyone. There he stated his intentions clearly to everyone. They were to be trained and that’s what Tanya was waiting for. Instead of heroes she always assumed they would be soldiers and the first person to begin their demonstration simply enforced that belief.

Archer was the first to show his power.He looked normal enough, but when he let out a power capable of obliterating anything it hit. At that point she was rather happy about her position behind the reinforced viewing window. Of course he wasn't the only powerful Gifted. Every single person that was sent up had extraordinary power. Tanya even felt a little jealous of Fiona's ability. They all seemed fairly powerful in their own right, but their bickering did make it sound like their superhero team will be entering some growing pains soon.

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When David declared these demonstrations to be over today Tanya felt relieved. Considering her ability she imagined a number of tests that could strain her both mentally and physically. While she was a hard working University student with multiple jobs; Tanya was also rather lazy and she's still trying to push her limits while at the same time not destroying her mind.

while Light gave a good effort to make friends, only the guys were anywhere close to tolerable. The girl on the other hand seemed fairly bitchy, with Light's thoughts echoed by the cyborg now known as Soldier X. Before Light could really do much of a reply, instead paying more attention to the more polite Soldier X, everyone was called into another room and told to demonstrate their powers.

Before the first Gifted, which the doctor called Kent, was called up to show his power, the doctor did a small speech about trying to get everyone better at their powers. While this was clearly evident with Kent firing an uncontrolled blast much to his discomfort, (the shockwave also shaking the observation room and spooking a few of the other gifted) Light didn't think her powers had much in the way of improving, being passive and all. Still though, his destructive prowess looked fun to play around with. When he came back, Light gave him a polite clap, doing this for everyone else in turn.

Next was the hoodlum looking kid named Atlas, whos powers were... interesting... to say the least. The joy he seemed to have on his face for the acts he was doing though worried her a bit. Not for her own sake, but more for the sake of the others. Aiden, the young teenager, was next. His powers weren't as impressive or as volatile, but at least he showed tact while using them. Light wasn't sure what to think of him though, as his age made him a wildcard.

Of course the bitchy girl and Kent, soon known as Archer, started to argue over things. Light herself really couldn't be bothered to listen to the conversation, it just sounded too silly and petty, and Soldier X attempted to break the two up anyway so she wasn't needed to show 'kindness' to the girl. (Light knew how to get under her skin far worse than she knew how to get under Lights.) The doctor, done with the demonstrations for the day and probably annoyed at the arguing, dismissed everyone and told them to come back tomorrow for more power demonstrations.

For a bunch of super powered folk, one which caused explosions, the night was uneventful. Of course it probably helped that Light chose a room close to the kitchen, just in case she got hungry during the night...

----------------

The next day Archer was tested again with not much of a change of results. The next person however... well... While Light didn't really think much of her aquatic looking features, this gifted was really embarrassed about her insect bits, vehemently trying to not show her power and hide behind her cloak. Eventually though the doctor convinced her to show her powers, and well...

While the molting of her old insect body into a new one, one that looked like more of a butterfly than a cricket wasn't so bad to watch, she was completely naked as he cloths didn't come with her when she turned into a butterfly. While other gifted looked away or covered their eyes to try to save her some embarrassment, Light said. "Neat! Guess I'm not the only semi naked person here." Of course, the poor girl ran off in embarrassment, Light shouting "Be proud of your body!" at her as she ran out of the room, probably to look for new cloths.

Next was Ms. Bitch, or Vivan, who was trying to be cocky with her telekinesis, levitating the good doctor to the ceiling, losing her grip, and barely catching him before he fell. When she came back, Light gave her a more enthusiastic clap than normal. Soldier X was next, and he didn't show much in the way of flashy powers, just that he was overall strong and good with firearms.

Archer was then called again and given a device to wear, which worked wonders in controlling his power, making it far more focused and less explosion inducing, which disappointed Light a bit since the explosions were really entertaining to watch. It occurred to her that her turn was rapidly approaching, and she was unsure how she could demonstrate her regeneration powers with a chamber that seemed to be mostly about showing offensive capabilities.

---------

The doctor then called Light into the room to demonstrate her powers. While the others had a nice flashy show for their powers, Light's powers really weren't ones she could show others very easily. At least by herself. She decided though, while walking to the training area, that she could at least handle a little bit of self inflicted pain.

"So doc. I can't really show the extent of my regenerative abilities which I'm sure you have a lot of documentation on. I can try something though." Light said to David as she entered the training room. Looking at the holo target that had spawned, Light ripped her own arm off and threw it at the target with not much effect, other than her gasping a bit and groaning at the pain of ripping her own arm off. She then waved the stump of where her arm was, blood running down her side, at the observing Gifted before jumping at the holo target.

Grabbing her arm severed, she smacked the dummy with it with enough force to knock its head clean off. She then reattached her arm, waved it at the watching gifted, then grabbed the dummy with both hands and snapped its back over her knee with a satisfying crunch coming from it before it disappeared.

Looking at the trail of blood she left, she apologized to the good doctor before returning to her seat in the observation room. "Not in the mood to show more than that. But you guys kinda get the idea." Light said to the group with a smile, making sure to give Vivan a one armed hug to attempt to 'cheer her up'. Of course with Light's hand and sides being a wee bit soaked in blood, well...

---

---

It had been strange enough to Vivian that the little white freak had clapped for her. She had pretended not to notice, instead watching the rest of the talents be demonstrated. The soldier was the typical soldier--but impressive, nonetheless. She couldn't help but wonder what missions he'd served on.

And of course, whether or not he was actually fighting for good. In her opinion, most soldiers were villains waiting to happen. Vigilantes, bound to become evil and corrupt. It would be only a matter of time, if it hadn't happened yet. Archer followed up again after him, receiving a small little chest piece. His powers now under control, he looked as happy as could be.

"Teacher's pet," Vivian smirked, whispering under the breath. The white girl was next, walking into the room quietly. Vivian sat back, prepared for her to begin drawing smiles on the walls, and preaching about how if everyone was nice to each other, no one would need to fight.

Already, Vivian was rolling her eyes-- and the girl hadn't done anything yet!

The girl ripped her own arm off, and Vivian's mouth opened slightly, before twisting into a grin.

"That...That is fucking cool" Vivian chuckled. She watched eagerly as the girl threw her arm and destroyed the dummy with ease, and then, regrew the arm. It reminded her of a smartass she had seen at the movies a few years ago, able to regrow his hand and regenerate from just about anything.

Perhaps the little twerp wasn't that bad. Vivian had started to warm up to the kid, only to be pulled into a fierce, one armed hug.

"For fuck's sake!" Vivian cursed, stiffening as if she had been punched. "Can't I get some goddamn personal space around here? What is this, communism, now?!"

Vivian would have gotten up and sat somewhere else, had there been any empty seats left. Instead, she glared at the training room, wishing that she could burn a whole through it, set off the fire alarm, and escaped. This place was worse than hell -- heck, this place was worse than when she had to go to church with her nanny!

"Sick of this shit already," Vivian mumbled, closing her eyes and trying to imagine that she was anywhere but here.

Though, she supposed, it couldn't get much worse... It wasn't like they were all going to wear matching costumes, right? And eventually, she'd be able to leave this place. She'd go to England, get in with a new gang, and go back to doing what she did best: armed robbery.

She grinned a bit, fondly remembering the break-in that had made her name. On the security camera, they had caught footage of her, swearing under her breath as she stole Hope Diamond. Her hair had looked silver on the screen, and so, they had jokingly called her the Silver Curse. The name stuck. Only, now, of course, most people assumed that the curse had to do with her rage and hatred and thirst for revenge--not a swearing habit.

Location: Saturn Prison

---

If he didn't know that she was being help captive already, Dr. David Peterson would know immediately upon entering the 200 meter danger zone surrounding her cell. He would know this, of course, because whether he wanted it to or not, his mind would brush against her own.

<Don't be stupid,> Amelia transmits apathetically from her full-body restraints. <I will only warn you once. Whether you're trying to free me or not, if you try to read my mind, you will die.> With that warning hanging in the air, the young telepath relaxes. She could tell by the ambient thoughts of those around her that this was a rescue of some sort. Her old self would probably rage impatiently, struggling uselessly against her bindings in an attempt to get out first and take revenge on everyone who put her in here.

But not this time.

Calming her rage, she lets her thoughts enter into the serene state she had grown used to, cooped up in this prison cell nobody to keep her company besides her own thoughts. She had long since ceased trying to contact the mindless bodies used to tend to her needs and guard her cell. No matter what she said, they didn't seem to listen. Sometimes, she even had trouble telling exactly where they were.

Quite a lot of effort just to stop her from spying on them.

She can feel the doctor approaching. Her time is soon. With the sound of electronic locks releasing and air being sucked out of her small cell, Amelia raises her head to look vaguely in the direction of the man who had given her another chance at escape. A chance which she would take gladly. After repeating the warning about touching her mind to the doctor, she wraps a few scraps of cloth from her restraints around herself to preserve at least some of her modesty, before following along with whatever David had planned.

She didn't care about all of this hero bullshit, but she wasn't about to go staring charity in the mouth. When you've lived on the streets for a few hundred years, you learn to take what's given to you.

Location: The Mansion

---

To say that Amelia was the brooding loner of the group would not be inaccurate. Throughout the entirety of the flight, she said nothing, instead silently chewing on the end of a toothpick she had scavenged on the way there, covering herself with a spare flight jacket she had found under one of the seats.

Now that she was at the mansion, without so much as a word towards her fellow group members or apparent host, she wastes no time going off on her own to sort her personal needs out before bothering to consider the needs of others. She steals some clothes, washes her face and other areas, steals six pencils and a box of paperclips and then heads to sit in the corner of the main hall. When it was time for people to test their abilities, she stays in the adjacent room, silently listening to proceedings from the sidelines.

This is where she belonged. She wasn't a hero, no more than any of these showoffs. Her eye twitches a little as she vaguely senses the intentions of their brave host, inviting her to come and show her abilities off next. Loudly, so that the entire group in the room could hear her response, Amelia answers <No thanks, Doc. I don't do show-and-tell.>

She smiles, just a little, at the irony of her response. In responding at all, she was in a sense showcasing her own abilities even through her refusal to cooperate with the demonstration. Either way, the entire group would now be aware that she was a telepath of some sort. The only reason she chose to reveal this was because it gave no actual hint to her full capabilities. It was, in a way, a very carefully calculated bluff.

Hopefully David wouldn't try and force her to showcase her abilities further, or participate in their little group bonding exercises. She was already humouring him enough simply by remaining at the mansion. A girl can only take so much stupidity before she cracks.

[@Everyone]

Atlas laughed calmly as Vivian squirmed under the other girls embrace. He thought the girl's manner was a bit showy for his taste, she could have accomplished just as much by simply cutting her arm and punching a dummy. He saw no point in ripping off one's own arm, and it didn’t look that pleasant either. He was rather relaxed until he heard it <No thanks, Doc. I don't do show-and-tell.>

His breath caught in his throat, and his heart began to race. His eyes slowly rolled to the side as he stared at the girl smiling. She hadn’t spoken much in their time there together. He stood up. She thought this was funny? She thought this was some game to them? Like they were pawns? He couldn’t stand fucking telepaths. Couldn’t stand the thought of them trampling around where they didn’t belong.

Rage filled his heart as it thudded in his ear. He wanted to paint this little room in blood. In a fraction of a second he had calculated it. Their deaths. A smile creeped across his face. Most of them wouldn’t just lay down and die. No, things would be harder than that. His eyes narrowed on the girl, he would kill her first. She was the biggest threat.

He quickly turned to the Doctor hate in his eyes. He was shaking, actually physically shaking… but it wasn’t fear of death. He was excited. This fight wouldn’t be easy. ” You can hear what I’m thinking right?” He didn’t give him time to answer. He looked at the girl and cocked an eyebrow as if to say, and you?”If this guy hadn’t pulled me out of that prison...” He walked up to the girl and stopped in front of her. He wanted to use her skull as his canvas. His head snapped to the side studying her.”I would have ripped that pretty brain out of your head the second you thought you were funny. Oh! Question… You ever had parts of your body ripped off so cleanly, you don't even bleed?” He laughed deeply, turning toward the exit.

He thought about, not just that. But so much more. He imagined the girl screaming for air as he allowed her none, cutting her and not allowing the blood to escape. He closed his eyes and imagined her fingernails vibrating off. Her eyes caving in on themselves and her skull crushing, and so much more. He opened the door to walk out throwing a hand up. ”If I ever feel threatened by you lot again,” He looked over his shoulder at the girl again, hoping she had been reading his mind the whole time. His eyes then snapped to the Doctor again. “You can throw me back in that prison, I don't give two fucks. But I will kill them. As we are right now, this is no team and if we aren’t a team…” He walked out letting the door slowly close behind him. “Then you are my enemy.”

Ajax was being uncharacteristically non hyperverbal while on the company of people similar to him. He had never met a Gifted during his tenure as Weaver, but there were a lot of scenarios which went through his mind, all which involved mutual admiration by both sides. So far though, the only two vibes he was getting was hatred and indifference, both which were not as pleasant and/or warm. The soldier with the visor behaved exactly how he imagined him to be; somewhat brooding, but definitely the type of guy you ask for advice. Then came the foul mouthed silver haired girl who was really just all around annoying, even to Ajax who prides himself with having nerves of steel. She was getting along well with the blondie, in a twisted, frat house kind of way, so that was good. The one person who made chills run down his spine was the long haired one..Atlas, or whatever his name was. He looked to be maybe a bit older than 18, yet fashioned a naturally menacing look that could make a Vietnam vet shrivel in fear.

Then came the demonstration. This is where Ajax began paying attention again, and started actually learning his teammate's names. Blondie was named Archer, albeit a proper name for him would be ADHD since his demonstration was all over the place (I'll see myself out). It did put a smirk on Ajax's face tho', seeing Doc's backbone hug the wall behind him. Atlas' demonstration put Ajax on the edge, not because it was anything flashy, but because of the look in his face while he did it. His ability was nothing compared to Archer's, but when used in such an ominous manner, it sure got under your skin. What really made the young Gifted change colors was the insect girl's demonstration. He had a look on his face as it took place, not of disgust or contempt, but of surprise. He felt a little bad for her as she hurriedly scampered out of the test room.

The revelation that there was a psychic in the room rubbed off everyone the wrong way, especially considering both David and her had no respect for privacy. But of course, it was Atlas who really took it at another level. He walked right past Ajax as he issued a threat to the psychic but that sort of involved everyone, really giving a hint of what's about to happen in the next few hours.

"Ax, you're up."

....

"Ax, I said you're up!"

Ajax snapped out of his thoughts. He watched the doors close behind Atlas as he left. That guy was bad news. He veered his sight towards the origin of the calling, where David was motioning for him to get in the test chamber. He didn't immediately notice his aide, though, Mason. He could swear he was there a couple of minutes ago.

"Ax? I'm as friendly as they come, Doc..but only my family calls me Ax.". This is where Barnes' honesty came into play.

Doc raised his hands up in a passive manner. "My bad."

Traces of a presence got caught on the young boy's peripheral vision as somebody entered the test chamber. It was Mason, carrying four small wooden mannequins, one of which had clothes. He arranged them carefully; three of them were on the front, while the clothed one was on the back. Ajax's sight altered between the mannequins and Mason. He was confused.

"Dude, how much do these weigh?"

"Around 8 kilos each. Why?", Mason replied in his naturally badass baritone.

"You studied my powers. You do know it's a lot harder for me to use my ability on humans, right? If you're trying to hone my skills, these won't help much. And speaking of skills, where are my ropes?", Barnes spoke, although this time he was looking at David.

"We're not honing anything. This is just a rust breaker.", David took over. Right as he finished his sentence, Mason pulled two ropes out of his pocket as they unfurled on the floor. They were the same ropes he used as a vigilante.

"We were gonna improve on them, but there's really nothing to improve. Tensile strength's off the chart. Whoever gave you these is a genius, pal.", David commented to no one in particular, as Barnes was too busy relishing the moment. With a big, goofy grin covering his face, he uttered in determination - "Alright! Let's do this..". He was suddenly liking this superhero business.

Both David and Mason retreated to the side, paving the way for Ajax to get a nice, good look at his targets. He needed to focus properly so that the drill can go as fluidly as possible. He already had a strategy in mind as to how he was gonna take out the targets.

He extended his arms downwards, in the direction of the ropes, and on a moment's notice they latched on his limbs and slithered around his arm bracers. He then pulled his right hand up to his chest and made a quick motion, almost like a punch, launching the rope towards the mannequin in the middle. With that same hand, he made some weird finger movements while the rope unfolded itself and took off in both sides, wrapping the other two mannequins. Now was the time for the finishing move. As he made sure all three mannequins were in sync, he clenched his fist and all three collided with each other, wooden splinters flying all around the room. The fourth and final mannequin had clothes, so it was no big deal. All Ajax had to do was wiggle at it and it's weight would allow for it to propel in the air, right as the rope in Barnes' left hand unfurled and swung at it's head, causing it to fall down in mid-air. If they were humans, that last swing would have totally been lethal, but as Doc said, it was a rust breaker so...

His little Cirque D'Soleil show obviously impressed both Mason and Doc, as they both raised their eyebrows to another.

"Gotta say, you're not half as bad as I thought.", he complimented as Mason walked back to clean the mess.

"I had four months of practice.", Ajax replied, a lingering feeling of pride and accomplishment lurking in his heart. He did use his ability a couple of times before, but never before a standing audience.

"Obviously, there's room for improvement. But for now, you deserve a rest. Head over to your room in a couple of seconds. We can arrange for a live feed with your sister, if you want some catching up."

A now slightly more confident Ajax nodded, thanking Doc for his act of kindness. He wasn't used to not seeing his sister at least once a day. He bowed before the people on the other side of chamber, and then called for his ropes as they wrapped around his hand before leaving.

Since most of the team did well, David decided to give them a break. Considering they've been in jail for almost a whole year, and haven't actually become social with anyone in the same amount of time. He thought this would be a great use for a social excercise.

For once, a day for the Gifted was great. David let the whole team get a break, and somewhat a party. Archer sipped from the tip of the ice cold beer, a Budwiser. Archer sighed, this was paradise for a guy like him. Or it was Heaven. He sipped from his beer again, and smiled. Relaxation is the best thing for him right now. David walked into the room with a elegant glass of wine. Archer chuckled, how more stereotypical can this guy get?

---

Vivian had taken it upon herself to do some exploring. And lo and behold, she had found a worthy prize for her efforts: a working Wii station!

It may have seemed silly, but Vivian remembered it being a good exercise. Sitting on a conveniently located sofa, she softly flicked her finger upwards, and the Wii remote floated into the air. Another flick and the Mario Kart disc inserted itself, Checking around to see if anyone else wanted to play, Vivian mentally pushed down on the correct buttons, triggering the sequence for Rainbow Road: 150cc. Picking King Boo for her character, she started squinting her left eye, the floating wii remote twisting and turning according to her commands.

It was way more fun than drinking alcohol or any type of socializing. She grinned to herself as she managed to turn throughout the course, ignoring the slight headache she had gotten.

"I'm so out of practice...." Vivian mourned to herself. "Fuck. Let's do this again."

Back in the main entry screen, she hestitated once more, allowing anyone who wanted to to play.

"Can I try?" Archer asked Vivian, grinning. He noticed the Wii, if they had a Wii, did they have the PS5 or Xbox Two?

Archer gulped from his beer, and sat it on the coffee table. He cracked his knuckles, and rolled his neck. As if this Wii game was serious. He then waited for her to hand him the controller. He hasn't played a Mario Kart game in a while, but he'll give it a shot. "I'm going in, 200cc." He said.

Vivian nodded. Before she had been locked up, they had just hinted at rumors of 200CC being available. It was brand new: karts, bikes, and rockets.

"Good luck," Vivian smirked. A flick of her finger and a control flew into Archer's hands, the game instantly going into the 200CC, 2 player mode.

"King Boo always wins!" Vivian boasted, selecting Boo, the standard bike, and automatic drifting.

Archer caught the controller, and flinged the wrist band on around his wrist. "It's MARIO Kart, it's obviously Mario." Archer selected a cool looking red cart for Mario, and Mario made the iconic. 'Yahoo!" noise.

This was going to be fun. The announcer for the race started saying '1...2...3..."

"You use the wrist band? Please. The last time that thing was in use, Al Gore was running for president!"

'GO!" And Archer got the boost, going off as fast as he could. Like usually, there was a question mark block around the corner which he ran into. Getting a green turtle shell. "Sweet!" He said, it wasn't a targeter like the blue turtle shell, or the lucky shot red turtle shell. But it would definetly do.

Vivian's eyelid almost twitched, as King Boo began to almost calmly drive across the screen. She tended to start in last place, and hovering behind the other players, she would accelerate into them, crashing her way into first.

It wasn't too bad of a course--though the cows were always annoying. Moo Moo Meadows reminded her too much of...Well, everything she hated.

Swerving her way in and out of the fellow cars, the wii remote remained hovering in front of her, turning with precision and accuracy.

"Cheater, you're using your powers." Archer said, he threw a green turtle shell behind him and it knocked right into Donkey Kong! D.K. spinned around, and had a tantrum, soon being passed by the rest of the A.I. and other player.

Vivian raised an eyebrow, dryly remarking, "Did you really just notice that now? That's the entire reason I'm playing--to get back my precision."

However, just as Vivian had gone into first, a blue shell appeared, and crashed into King Boo. Vivian swore, groaning in frustration as her character struggled to recover. Eventually, Boo managed to get back into the race, but stuck in fifth place, things weren't looking good.

Archer snorted, this was going to be easy. He threw another green shell behind him, going into Princess Peach. He kinda felt bad for her, oh well. She's a bitch that has nothing to do besides get captured. Archer drifted off, this was getting really, really fun.

Vivian found herself right behind Archer. The pair of them were heading for a fairly tight turn, and missing it would lose the other the race. As discreetly as she could, she moved his remote slightly up, hoping to spin his character out of control.

"Sucks to suck!" Vivian taunted, expecting to race ahead.

The thing is. Archer is the type with a good grip. The only tihng she did, was pull his controller up. He smiled, being the hotshot dick that he was. And threw his last green turtle shell right at her. "I figured you would do that." Archer then hit a banana, damn it! The problem was for Vivian, there were more bananas there, that would probably catch her off by accident. [color=red]"Watch out, a dick left like three bananas at the end!"[/color[

"Thanks, Satan," Vivian said softly, narrowly managing to get through the mine field of bananas.

He got an mushroom, and used it. Speeding up fast, and getting next to Vivian. He rammed his kart into hers, and tried to get into the league. The next thing Archer knows, Donkey Kong comes back with a vengeance! Donkey Kong then threw a blue hsell right at Vivian, hitting the finish.

Vivian laughed, pulling ahead of Archer in the process. They were on the final lap by this point, and Vivian could feel her concentration beginning to slip. The wii remote was lowering slowly, feeling the might of gravity. Redoubling her concentration, she shot a green shell behind her, hiting Daisy dead in the face.

She slid into second place, letting the Wii remote drop to the ground with a bang. Wiping her forehead slightly, she chuckled.

"Wonder what else this place has...."

Archer slid into 3rd Place. At least he got that. "Good job, Vivian." He wasn't going to be mad at loosing, instead he congratulated her. He clapped his hands, and went back to grab his beer. He sipped from it and sighed, this was the best beer he has had in about 7 months.

---

David, having given the go ahead for some relaxation time, himself taking it upon himself to adhere to a brittish royal steriotype by drinking a fancy glass of wine and Vivian having gone somewhere else, probably to explore the mansion, Light decided to open up a phone book and order some take out for the rest of the group. After all, she was a bit too lazy to want to cook for over 15 or so people and she doubted anyone else wanted to cook.

Of course, after calling everyone and ordering things, she wondered exactly who would anser. After all, she was some white half fish lady thing, and while a few of the others looked human, they probably would scare off any delivery people with thier.. edgyness, especially Soldier X or Vivian, the latter of which would probably do something bad to them as they ran. Considering the alternatives, Light figured she should be the one to answer either way. Maybe playfully scare them herself? She did have some pretty sharp teeth...

Having ordered a bunch of different food, Light decided to hear what all the commotion in the living room was, and saw Archer and Vivian playing Mario kart, the two having a great time insulting with each other."Aw, the two are bonding. Gotta remember to spy on their date, the two lovebirds." Light said to herself as she entered the room.

---

Meanwhile, Soldier X was simply relaxing on the couch, watching the world around him. He wasn't the biggest fan of alcohol, even though he drank much of it out in exile. Perhaps it was the fact that it just made him more depressed than anything. However, he wouldn't mind taking a few chugs here and there. That, plus it'll be bad for his liver.

Video games aren't that much of his cup of tea either, though he played some shooter games with his pals when he was younger in the army. Doom was the game he most beloved, both that and the sequel. Wasn't there a new game that was released just recently? He may wanna check it out another time... but again, racing wasn't that bad. He smiles lightly behind his visor as he watches Archer and Vivian play some MK together. Perhaps Vivian isn't such a mega-bitch afterall once you get to know her.

Meanwhile, Light was sitting there ordering some good ole' takeout food. He wondered what she was going to order exactly... Chinese? Itallian? Mexican? Soldier X personally prefers Mexican, but lately he was craving for Chinese at the moment. He began to wonder why exactly, even though it doesn't really matter at the moment.

He then takes a look at the two playing their game, with Light making a sly little remark about their "relationship." He actually chuckles at that statement as he continues watching the game. It was indeed pretty intense from the looks of it. Somehow, it seems that Vivian, despite earning second, actually won ahead of Archer. For a girl, that already was pretty impressive. He gets up and pats the two on their backs.

"Well done you two." he congratulates the two, "You both did well."

Vivian twitched a bit, having been unaware that the soldier was watching them. She narrowed her eyes a bit, though unconsciously. The soldier unnerved her. He wasn't as naive or silly as the others in this place.

"Thank you," Vivian said, pulling her hair into a ponytail.

Laughing at the bits of gameplay that she could see, Light walks up to the group. Echoing Soldier X, she said "Yes, very nice indeed. Though we should get a big group to play. 1 v 1 isn't that fun."

Vivian paused for a moment. "I challenge you lot to a game of Capture the Flag... If you've got the balls, that is."

It would be a perfect way for her to scout out the powers of the other Gifted -- and to figure out who she could potentially trust... or at least, not suspect as much.

"Aw, here I thought you were going to say Russian Roulette! I always win that one!" Light said with a laugh. "Sure, why not?"

Soldier X paused for a minute, thinking if he should join or not. Then again, he's pretty bored anyways, so why the hell not. Besides, he played it during military training. Now that is a game he can get behind

"Sure." he says, "It's been awhile since I've played that game, last time being years ago as a training scession, but I'll give it a shot."

"Thanks, X." Archer said, grinning. While gulping more of his beer down. Capture The Flag? "Do we use our powers to fight each other?" Archer asked, "Or paintball?". Now thinking about, it would be hilarious if they used.

David was in the backround, sipping from his wine. Watching the kids play was indeed interesting. He noticed that Vivian and Archer were getting better along.

Vivian paused. Ideally, she would be able to see the weak and the strong through this. But then again, perhaps David and his fellow asshats wouldn't want them destroying each other.

Well, they shouldn't fucking care, Vivian decided.

"Yeah, powers are good. We'll have teams. I've got dibs on being with X's team."

"Me too." Archer said, he didn't have the circular device with him, but screw it.. This would be awesome. This has been a great day so far, he really hoped that nothing would ruin it. But knowing his luck, something bad was bound to happen.

X simply nods as he rustles through a closet, finding a whole stockpile of guns. He wants to use the real guns... but maybe paintball guns won't actually kill someone. Then again, he might pick one up, just in case, as he picks up what appears to be some sort of advanced plasma gun. Where the hell did David get this stuff anyways? Regardless, he should ask himself that question later as he picks up two paintguns, as well as some amno, and cocks them up.

"These 'ought to work," he says as he finishes reloading them, "Let's do this."

Normally, Vivian would have had her knives with her when she fought. Throwing knives at someone with your mind tended to scare the shit out of them -- and for robbing banks, that's all she needed. Getting up and going through the closets, she eventually finds her set of throwing knives, tucking them all under her sleeve. She cracked her neck, before fashioning flags out of some bandanas.

"Fine, but stop drinking, Archer...I really don't feel like losing because of a drunk-ass punk" Vivian said.

Archer looked at his hands, now pulsing with red energy. His eyes even glowed a tiny bit red when he did this. He was ready to kick some major ass. Archer gulped his beer down one last time, then sat it down. [color=red["Oh come on, I've only had one bottle."[/color] He said. This'll be very, very interesting. He just hoped nobody was going to get killed in the process of this.

Stone whispered something to David, and David nodded. David walked off, sipping from his wine glass and Stone followed him.

Light looked at the group, some rushing off to get some equipment, others deciding to spark up their powers. "Lucky me, Don't feel too bad if you hurt me. I'm pretty much impossible to kill, the lab boys down at the prison tested that very throughly." Light said, visibly shuddering at remembering a few tests they had put her through. She then mumbled about how painful being dropped in a vat of floronic acid was.

"Wouldn't be too sure about that," X responds, "Regardless, don't get yourself killed in whatever way possible."

Regaining her composure, she said. "I guess you guys get Mr. cyborg on your team who is probably a super soldier or something. So I'll try to balance out the other team. Dunno how well we'll do though." Light said with a toothy smile.

"I'm not a cyborg," the Soldier answers loudly, "It's just a suit of high-tech commando armor. Very handy in many different and difficult battlefields."

"Still makes you a cyborg in my eyes. Technology used to enhance your attritbutes? Sounds like a cyborg to me!" Light said with a grin, patting Soldier X on the shoulder.

"You should be thanking my serum." X responds, "If it weren't for that, then this'll be simply some normal-functioning armor."

Light gave a healthy laugh. "If you wanna talk about serums, you should've seen what the lab boys did to me. I dunno how many poisons or pathegins they tried on me, but it was a lot." Light said with a grimace, continug with a smile. "Eventually they went on testing cosmetics. Man its scary what they put in some of that stuff. DO NOT try those youthifiers injection things. Dear god the amount of stuff in that..." Light said trailing off with a small laugh.

"SUPER serum, mind you." the old soldier emphasizes as he loads a paint gun, "Makes normal men turn into super soldiers. There's a difference between that and those harmful toxins they intoxicated you with."

"Yeah, I bet it does! Well anyway you guys, we should have this little paintball fight after we eat. I did order us lots of food. Didn't know what everyone liked so I ordered a litte bit of everything." Light said. Just as she said that, the doorbell rang. "Speak of the devil." Light said as she made her way to the door.

Opening the door to greet the delivery man, making sure to only show her arms when interacting with them, Light grabbed delivery box after delivery box. When it came time to pay, Light grabbed the money that David had left beside the door, opened the door a bit wider to stick her head through, paid the man, and gave him a very open toothy smile saying "Thanks!" Of course, sharp carniverous teeth (Almsot like a prihana, if she was honest with herself) and an open smile didn't mesh well with the poor guy, as he hastily got back into his car and drove off.

"Dinner is here everyone!" Light called out to the mansion. Having ordered from various places, there was food of all wakes of life. From chinese to itallian ro mexican, and of course, lots of pizza. Whatever the otehrs didn't eat, she was sure to finish. She could eat quite a lot of given the oppertunity.

---

---

[centerNo Control[/center]

David shook his head, he couldn't believe what they were saying. "Those Gifted are unstable, they belong in cages." One of the goverment officials said. David raised his eyebrow, he was an Gifted but they trusted him.

They were planning to bring them back to their cells. David couldn't let this happen, but he would rather not piss off the Goverment.

Amanda, a powerful and influential cabinet secretary in the making, shook her head. "They're criminals, David. Already, they've started fighting... And we know that you can't control them. Put them in a cell or kill them. The parties are in agreement on this."

A few other senators mumured their agreements. Amanda was the powerhouse of the team, all of them looking towards her for guidance. Her vote was the one that mattered.

David slammed his hand on the table, "Don't you get it!? They have gifts that can be used for good." David was getting slowly irritated.

"You're scared of them, you won't give them a chance. Let me at least try with them." David spoke. He didn't care if the goverment was not fond of his idea, he trusted these 'criminals' he knew there was good in them. How he knew? He read their minds.

Amanda hesitated. "The same can be said for every weapon we have. Imagine what would happen if we let a nuclear bomb fall into the wrong hands, David? This isn't a lesson in morality-- it's a lesson in life!"

She paused for a moment, her eyes flashing towards the other bureacrats. "We will give you a chance to try. But know this, David, you will share their fate. That's all."

David glared for a second, he could all make them say yes with his powers. But that wasn't the way, so he just walked off. Rather lightly stomping off.

This was not as easy as he thought.

As with the others Heather was approached by Dr. David Peterson in her cell. In order to control her powers she was isolated from all technology except for a simple computer used to house her consciousness. It had no moving parts and had a camera, microphone, and a set of speakers for communication. That doesn't mean that they didn't run experiments though. Having been locked up for most of a year she had agreed to assist with projects. In particular her existing in a completely digital form meant she could get up close and personal with coding. As new computer viruses were made the computer she was in was infected and she would crush them, providing solutions to combat them extremely quickly. So while unable to move or do much she'd already shown a willingness to cooperate. That was perhaps part of the reason she was selected. Being able to escape to the Internet meant that once she was let free from the confines of this room she could disappear.

Of course the woman had a genuine mind to turn over a new leaf. She had already tried the villain motif and did not find satisfaction. David's conversation with her was probably different though. Because unlike the other Gifted, Heather did not have a biological mind to read. It was probably the most normal conversation he had in some time, not knowing what the other would say.

And thus she was put on the jet with the others. The other Gifted wouldn't know that though because she had no body so to everyone else the computer brought onboard was just a piece of equipment. Her previous body she had to abandon and, as was her method of keeping other's hands off her tech, it self destructed. So as part of the agreement she would be provided raw tech with which to construct a new body. While she provided a long list she sadly only received what they thought was the minimum for her to operate.

---

Whist the others were testing out their powers the cyberkinetic busied herself making a new body aboard the jet. Her previous forms were decidedly less human and more functional. While she could just as easily do that again it felt a whole lot less... personable. If she wanted to be a hero then she should at the very least have a body that looked human like. There were a lot of features that she felt were unneeded though.

The parts in the jet began to float around and blow apart into their base components. Bit by bit she rearranged the electronics and molded them to her needs. As the pieces came together the robotic form of a human began to take shape. Starting from scratch like this meant it took most of the early portion of the time but eventually it all came together. Uploading to her new body Heather came online and ran diagnostics. All systems checked green and she was ready to join the others.

One of David's men greeted her as she exited the jet. "Glad you could join us, Ms. Tonbel. David is not here to introduce you but I can lead you to where several of the others are." Nodding the robotic woman followed the man to what was apparently the kitchen. While she had no need for food there was still the opportunity for interaction. Not that she particularly was keen on befriending everyone. However if they were going to work together it would be better to be on their good side. Stepping past her escort she spoke with a clearly robotic voice. "Sorry for the delay. David didn't think it a good idea for me to introduce myself without looking a little more familiar."

There was no real good way to break the awkward moment without it being more awkward. It was almost exhilarating to feel something other than stoic for a change though. The moment passed quickly and she advanced toward everyone. "I should probably introduce myself. My name is Heather Tonbel. I was captured about a year ago so I've been out of the public eye for a while."

"Did they treat you well?", a concerned voice was heard on the other side of the line.

Ajax found himself in a room. It resembled an internet cafe, without the cafe. There was one single computer and it was a pretty outdated one by government standards. They either had budget cuts, or the low-tech vibe they had going on was a countermeasure to something bigger. Maybe they wanted the facility to look as normal as possible? Ajax had no idea, in spite of wondering about it briefly. He wasn't willing to delve into the government's dirty laundry. He was just there to do his own thing, and maybe, with some luck, he'd get back to his less hazardous life.

The woman on the other side of the screen was his sister, Alecto. Objectively speaking, it was her who won the genetic lottery - slender, pretty, smart and just as quick-witted as Ajax. Their Dad was reportedly a huge Greek mythology nerd that he named both siblings after famous mythological figures. "Reportedly" because Ajax had never exchanged a word with him, EVER. He was as callous as a stray cat on steroids. The indifference gene must have skipped a generation though, since Ajax's sister was arguably the best person to ever enter his life. She stood up for him when both of his parents decided to bail and even confronted both of them for their behavior, although that didn't have any effect on their course of action. She refused any type of financial assistance from them, worked shitty part-time jobs while looking out for her weird brother. If there was anything that Ajax regretted, it was going home all beat up at four in the morning and seeing the concerned look on her face.

"Yeah, it was pleasant. It was almost like I was a guest, not a prisoner.", Ajax lied through his teeth, failing to mention the head accessory that knocked him out cold on his very first day, or the fact that he completely lost track of time due to the grueling treatment he received.

"Are you coming back?"

Ajax froze. He didn't know what to say. That was a question not even he knew the answer to.

"Yeah. I just have to do a thing for Uncle Sam here, then I'll be home."

"They'll set you free just like that? They're the government, Ax. They don't let people like you..Gifted people just walk away." , she spoke, a lingering trace of concern on her tone.

Ajax squeezed the bridge of his nose. It was moments like this when he wished he had a more gullible sibling.

"Look, I give you my promise. I'll be there, and everything will go back to normal."

"Define normal! Like, 'before you got your powers' normal, or..?". Her incoming slew of questions was kinda getting on Ajax's nerves.

"We'll talk about what kind of normal it'll be once I get back.", Ajax maneuvered through, hoping his answer will satisfy her. She sighed audibly, lowering her head and throwing her palm on her face. There was a good thirty seconds of awkward silence. There were even times when Ajax could swear she was shedding tears, but he didn't want to say anything out of fear of making it even more awkward. Finally, he decided to break the silence.

"I'm on a time limit here, Al. We'll talk again tomorrow."

She apparently looked at the screen for a couple of seconds, and then nodded. "Alright. Come home soon, okay? I love you."

"Love you too.", Ajax declared, and on that note, he went offline. The genuine smile he fashioned gradually disappeared. He was in deep waters.

After taking directions from one of the staff, he managed to find his way to the main lounge. He could hear the noise from outside, and it sounded like they were having fun. But, again, uncharacteristically he wasn't ready to interact with anyone. He wouldn't admit it if persuaded, but he was somewhat intimidated by his fellow teammates. He targeted one of the stools at the far end, and then went in for the Coca Cola vending machine. Popping it open, he took a sip. It was cold, just the way he liked it. He saw Archer sipping a beer, and then watched as they enjoyed a game of Mario Kart. Some of their shenanigans put a smile on Ajax's face, as he nearly emptied his drink. The benefits of working with the government; there was no shortage of drinks. Just as he was about to get another one, a stranger walked in. A she, seemingly. At first, it appeared as if she was sporting a full on biker gear, but it took a closer inspection for Ajax to realize that she was not human. The words she initially spoke and her resonating voice confirmed his suspicion. So what was she; a cyborg? A robot? No. Couldn't be a robot, since the Doc only recruited Gifted people. Or did he? He never made that clear.

As she familiarized herself with the clique, Ax looked around expecting someone from the 'welcoming' committee to approach her. In the end, he decided he'll do it himself.

"Hi.", he waved from the back, moving towards her at a steady pace while holding the unopened bottle of coke in his right hand.

"I'm Ajax Barnes. Nice to meet you, Heather.", he offered her his hand, hoping she at least would have the common decency of a human being.

Heather
Seemed that most of the people there were occupied either talking or playing a game. Most games were lost on her now given her ability to function like a computer. Every fine little detail of programing could be utilized to win. Although she could try just playing and not digging into the code she still quickly learned the finer details of the mechanics to win most of the time.

The lackluster greeting was broken though as she was approached by a teenage boy. At least someone had the decency to respond. Despite not having any apparent eyes she turned toward him which indicated that she could indeed "see". Having been greeted she took the offered hand and shook it. Unsurprisingly it was a firm grip, maybe a little firmer than she intended. But thankfully she eased up. "Sorry, new body takes some adjusting to. It's good to meet you." Letting go she looked around. This seemed far more casual than she expected. "I thought this was supposed to be a more serious operation. Did I miss something?

---

---

Vivian finished strapping her various knives into place, only to look up and see a stranger enter the room. There was hardly anything human about her, aside from the shape of the robotics... Frowning a bit, her memories of who she was before the radiation came back to her -- a Computer Science major, ready to crack any possible code.

And here there was what appeared to be an incredible advancement in robotics.

"Holy fucking shit," Vivian gasped, temporarily forgetting the game. Looking up and down the cyborg, she attempted to guess how she worked. What coding language did she use? Java? Python? BBC? HTML? Blinking a bit, Vivian shut those ideas ahead. Quietly watching as Ajax and the cyborg interacted, she frowned, attempting to figure out who was able to walk a robot right into the Gifted HQ.

David wasn't freaking out about it, though. It couldn't have been that much of a threat. It would be entirely too... lazy, almost, for a villain to step out and strike now.

But then again, David hadn't shut down their idea of the glorified fight. Perhaps he wasn't as quick thinking as she originally estimated.

Stepping towards the cyborg, she stared at the two, her eyes narrowed. There was no possible way that... well, a machine could be alive. The machine seemed to have self awareness, perhaps, the singularity had been achieved.

Maybe that was what the government wanted from them.

"Name's Vivian. Who are you?" she asked sharply, hoping that some of the other Gifted had come that way. It would help for them to look intimidating.

Not that she figured a computer could be frightened.

"Uh, guys... I've got food here. Lots of it." Light said, approaching the group of Gifted carrying the boxes of take out on one hand while eating a whole pepperoni pizza with the other, large bites taken out of it. It was around this time she noticed the new robot girl. Must've been someone David had just grabbed or something.

"So, we got a new friend? You playing nice there Vivian?" Light said with a smile, putting down the boxes and patting Heather on the shoulder with a grin on her face. "Dunno if you or Mr. Cyborg over there eat, but if you do, I got a lot of good stuff. Much better than that prison food!" Light said with a chuckle, finishing off her pizza.

Seemed she was starting to gather attention. She supposed it should be expected. There was no other robotic body as advanced as the one she had right now aside from some she had in the past, at least not to her knowledge. Which meant that she probably blew everyone's expectations for a machine. Though they may not realize that she was more than the mechanical thing with programing.

Case and point one of the woman that had been playing video games took one look at her and practically dropped what they were doing. Making her way over she seemed to be scrutinizing what she was looking at. Of course there was no way for Vivian to read the new arrivals reaction to her behavior or pointed question. The current form lacked any kind of expressive traits that were often used as cues. However Heather did seem to lean to one side and would have rolled her eyes could she do so. "Hello Vivian. My name's Heather."

She was slightly interrupted by Light stepping up and putting a hand on her shoulder. The acton wasn't a surprise thanks to her sensor's ability to track the full 360 degrees around her. Still she turned her head as if to look back. "That would be Ms. Cyborg. But a cyborg implies that I have both organic and synthetic parts, which would not be true. An android would be more accurate as my entire body is robotic. And I don't have to eat, but thanks for the offer." Turning back to Vivian there were surely more questions to come. But to clear one thing up she spoke as to address the one hanging in the air for everyone. "I came from the same prison you did. I just didn't have a form that I could move around in so I was late to the party. I assembled this in the jet while you were all out here doing whatever it was you did. And in case you're wondering, yes I am a Gifted."