---

---

"Nice to meet you, Lucy. You're... Edwina, right? Yeah... I'll explain everything in a few. Feel free to intermingle with everyone." one of the suits said, smiling warmly at her.

Edwina's face dropped a bit. "It's... never mind," Eddie sighed, wandering away from the suit. Pulling her headphones over her ear, Eddie was content to begin blasting rock music, when she spotted the ghost a bit more clearly. Or perhaps, half-ghost would have been a better term. He was going around, pretending to be Batman from the sound of it.

Edwina grinned.

"Jackson!!!!" she shouted, practically skipping over towards him. "Still dead, I see. Nice, nice."

She would have hugged him, but she was fairly certain her arms would go right through him. Grinning at him, she was dying to catch up with him, only to have the two suits call everyone to attention. The girl--Lisa--gave a long and dramatic speech, detailing the struggles and history of the mysterious Powerbound Alliance. Eddie nodded, taking the information in, wondering once more whether this was the right thing for her to do.

"So, how many of you will call yourselves proud members of the Powerbound Alliance?" Lisa finished, a soft smirk on her face.

Eddie paused for a moment. She thought over her priorities, her family, her little sister that may never see her again. She'd have to ask, to confirm, one last detail before diving in...

"Is there Netflix there?" Edwina asked, entirely serious. "That might be a deal breaker for me..."

But of course, even if they told her no, she would likely to decide to go anyways. She had been saved years ago from the clutches of evil--it was her turn to give back now. The irony--a superhero named Lucifer--never failed to escape her. She hadn't chosen the name, but it stuck. It marked her. And now, it was time to defy fate and law and all of the forces that tried to make the world crappy.

Yet even Edwina couldn't deny that she'd be rather disappointed to miss out on seeing Sherlock season 4 when it premiered.

---

The letter seemed like a blessing and a curse while Aja tried to relax in the late evening. Curse because here she was, first helicopter ride, still awake during the day, wondering how her life was going to turn out. She never left orlando before, but now she was going to leave behind her whole life, graduate school and her family to go and go to cali, who knows where else to play some sort of superhero or spy? Espionage? Who knew. And the idea that she had to take orders definitely sounded like a vice. Still, she was excited to see who she'd mesh with, and how her abilities compared to the others. If she wasn't anything short of third or second place when it came to offensive abilities, that would be a low blow to her pride, however, she doubted it would come to that.

She twirled her monroe piercing as the ruby jewel glistened in the artificial light. A small ray of sun also peeked through the crevices of her makeshift window cover. Almost immediately her face crinkled. No light please...Just set already. The little ray was contributing to making her a bit sleepy though. A flash of one of her close friends passed through her mind. Adrian. She had done a lot to repress that time, his disappearance and Aja feeling so helpless at the time. She shook it off though. She wasn't going to go down this road again, and not on the day that marked the biggest change in her life. Maybe she'd put her mind at rest for now...

The helicopter landed early morning as Aja woke up to a change in scenery. As she stepped off the helicopter, she took in a deep breath of air. It wasn't the same. Humidity, smells and for some reason even the sky looked brighter. She smirked. She definitely was bugging right now. As her black flats hit the each step, she could more closely make out the others who already seemed to be engaged in conversation. She sighed. Not being the first one there is crappy but being the last could work to her benefit.

At the first step, she was shocked from those heights to REALLY see how many others their were. Surveying the "competition" so to speak, she was even more surprised to one floating. Definitely more impressed than she'd care to admit by the big one though. If there were girls they wouldn't intimidate her, as far as she was concerned she was going to make sure at the very least, she was the alpha female.

Closer towards the dock where she could see the rest of the gang but still not within earshot, she noticed that there was a speech going on, too many of them staring the same way. Being that late didn't bother her. It was kind of like lab when your lab professor starts droning on about the things you already know before you can start the procedure. She hoped she caught the very ending of it anyway. All she knew was she was up for more traveling, honing of her skills and didn't mind the things she had to do to get there.

Aja would make no attempt at offering her name but decided if she were to be asked, it would be best to just give them her alias and let her abilities do most of the talking... Unless the letter had a detailed description of them all. She wouldn't have known since she stopped reading once she hit the section about traveling and abilities. Habit.

As she joined the rest of the group, she could hear loudly "So, how many of you will call yourselves proud members of the Powerbound Alliance?"

How many of them would be there had they not decided they were going to become members? Coming to a full halt, she could finally join in conversation.

"Is there Netflix there? That might be a deal breaker for me..." The red head asked. "Girl if you don't stop with the irrelevant questio..."She trailed off (Keep in mind that Aja didn't realize she actually said that, only believed she THOUGHT it). A waft of cheesy tomato goodness came her way. She could hear her stomach growl almost in tune, with the fact that all she had was ramen all morning (college kids are broke you know!). A smile widened as she picked up two slices and continued to stuff her face, practically ignoring the rest of the group.

Marcus gave Lisa a slight nod as she addressed him, but otherwise remained relatively quiet. He pulled his hands from his pockets, crossing his arms over his chest. The difference was fairly obvious, while otherwise he looked completely normal, the polished metal hand was more than clear in the darkness as he settled it atop his bicep. Normally he'd have had issue with even letting this much of it be seen, but then again he certainly wasn't the strangest one there, for once. There were a few people around in particular who caught his eye as he remained in the background.

The first was definitely the cartoon, the actual, real, living toon. Marcus had seen some shit in his life, some things that he thought were fairly ridiculous but this definitely took the cake. Lisa seemed to express the same sort of befuddlement at Light that he was experiencing, and at the very least, he appreciated that he wasn't the only one.

Marcus gave a good long look to each of the newcomers as they arrived, sizing them up and trying his best to discern what abilities they may have had if it wasn't already obvious, for the majority of them it wasn't easy, plenty of them looked rather normal. Except for the mirror-image kid, it was pretty easy to guess what his deal was. Tapping his metallic fingers against his arm slightly, his hand made the slightest whirring noise as the fingers moved rather easily.

As Lisa spoke up again, he turned his gaze back toward her, raising an eyebrow as she began to explain the situation to them all. Initially, he seemed to be hesitant, the idea of being a big superhero was not something which Marcus ever particularly wanted, he didn't see himself as such, after all, he was just a veteran with a metal arm. However, the idea of operating in secrecy made the entire thing far more interesting to him. That, and the fact that this 'sanctuary' was probably going to be a lot better than his tiny, one-bedroom apartment in Istanbul, he was already struggling to pay rent after all. "It beats any other day-job." He shrugged, essentially giving his answer as he nodded toward Lisa.

---

Mercury’s head began swimming with how many people were coming out of the woodwork now. ”Well… I wanted friends. Now I think I got em. But, holy fuck there are a lot of them. I honestly didn’t think I wouldn’t not like having so many new friends… But, I’m getting a little scared.” He walked away from Alexandra removing his mask revealing the empty bone chilling black void that consumed the entirety of the hood. He then began looking at his masks debating on which one to put on at the moment. ”hmm, daily, or Warlord… Damn it’s so confusing sometimes… Could also go with Magi, and do some magic tricks.”

He lifted his head at the scent of pizza then turned his head towards it facing Jennifer. He missed most of her introduction something about the pizza’s representing the layers of something or other. Then her name was it Jenah or Jennifer? He wasn’t entirely sure so just pointed at her, tilting his head slightly. ”You with the pizza! I love your entrance you gorgeous woman you. Thanks for bringing the pizza, I’ll take a slice of pepperoni and garlic.” Then turned the finger into a strong thumbs up.

He was watching all the people talking amongst each other. He supposed it was still normal for people to ignore his existence. After all why would things just suddenly change like that? No, his fate was to be alone a fate he obviously denied. Proof of that was the fact he was even here trying so hard to introduce himself to so many people. When suddenly some dude just appeared in front of him Mercury clumsily got into panicked karate stance almost dropping his two masks. "Spencer Davenport from Shreveport, Louisiana. Nice to meet you," at those words and the hand offered Mercury calmed. ”Hello Spencer my name is Mercury. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” After shaking Spencer’s hand he went back to mulling over his masks. While slowly moving a towards Lisa as he was feeling a bit crowded. He didn’t like it if people tried touching them.

He looked over Edwina as she said, "So, who wants to be my best friend?" He shot his free hand straight up while not looking away. Still trying to figure out which mask to put on. Finally he settled on his daily, and put his sly on his hip fidgeting with it for a bit before it was secure. He faced Lisa next his eyes flashed, and his white eyes focused in on her.

Mercury listened intently to Lisa's spiel about the Alliance taking in all the information. Wanting to know, and understand the full reason of why he was here. At the end he found one of the answers he'd been craving since he'd arrived. ”Lisa, Martinez? The one that sent the letters? That letter… That was you?” He slowly approached Lisa in slow stalking steps, and soon wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug holding her close. ”You are the reason I came, and boy are you cuter than I thought you’d be. Wowee I sure hit the lotto for friends that’s for sure!” He then pulled away from the hug, and held Lisa’s shoulders. A huge smile spreading on his face the line opened in his glee. Then looked at the others once more. ”Sorry… I just am really excited to finally meet you. I traveled all this way for you, to meet you.” He cleared his throat, and his smile faded slightly. Soon he let go, and just stood next to her rolling back and forth to his heels to his toes in excitement.

Soon his full attention was dragged to a strange a presence that was calling to him. He turned towards Aja, who was this woman? Why did her mere presence call to him so? This wonderful yet terrifying creature intrigued him to no end. As a being born of shadow an umbrella user like Aja attracted him like a magnet. But, the feelngs quickly turned sour. This woman he quickly felt, and believed was a threat to him. He forcefully pointed at Aja his voice becoming darker more demanding than before, ”You! What is your name.” The lines of his mask were fixed into an expression of raw anger.

---

While Mr. Terror was floating about, doing his little routine, 3 newcomers came to join the group, 2 ladies and a horde of the same guy. While one of the ladies came with Pizza, much to Light's delight, the other lady looked like your average person. And well, an army fo the same guy was interesting in its own right. "Hey... Jennifer. I'd take some pizza, but everyone else should eat first. Otherwise I'll eat it all." Light said to the pizza carrying lady, a toothy grin on her face. Others had taken the opportunity to grab a few slices themselves.

The guy with multiple clones of himself was probably the creepiest out of all the newcomers, having sent a clone to everyone including Light herself introducing himself as Spencer. Light was pretty ok with the hovering haunted guy, the cyborg, the guy who apparently had a mask face only, which reminded her of some eldritch thing without the tentacles, but yeah, an army of the same guy.... "Oh, uhm, hi. Spencer. I'm Light. Being in more than one spot must be a headache, I get the same problem when I'm crushed sometimes." Light said to the Spencer clone, shaking his hand.

After the newcomers made their entrances, introducing themselves to the group, the two 'coordinator' looking people that had gathered everyone here, began to make a huge speech about the group that everyone was invited in and their history. While Light paid attention, she got pretty bored at the long winded speech, and when Lisa was done talking and asked who wanted to join, Light said. "So basically we're superheroes that occasionally do mercenary work when someone buys a contract or something?"

Light didn't really care too much about the occasional mercenary contract, it only made sense with how shady or secretive this group seemed in the first place. The only annoying thing is that she might need to get serious occasionally, but she figured that if she needed to bump someone off, at least they wouldn't suffer. "Well, I'm interested. Adventure needs a cost sometimes." Light said, a smaller grin on her face. She was able to get back to her normal large grinned face though when Lucifer, (Who Light would call Lucy, as that name was much more fun.) asked if there was entertainment at the base. What made the joke better, was some lady with braids came out of the shadow and yelled at her for such a stupid comment, Light breaking into laughter at the absurdity.

"So, I hope everyone here can get along if we're all going to be on a team." Light said. Outstretching her arms, she said. "Who wants a hug? C'mon, don't be scared of the toon!"

Mattias stopped his car, a black '69 Mustang Mach 1 just outside the docks. Although he loved listening to music the only time he wasn't doing that was when he was driving. Because when he was behing the wheel there was nothing better then the sound of a V8 engine roaring angry under the hood. After he pulls off the car keys and puts them in a pocket of his jeans, Mattias opens the glove compartent, pulling out his Beretta 92FS and the extra magazine he had for it, well, he had many more but only one was used for carry. After inspecting the gun, Mattias gets out of the car, slams the door shut and sticks the gun in his pants, with the safety on and the hammer cocked of course, putting the extra mag. in another pocket and heads for the back of the car, opening the trunk.

After looking a little inside the trunk, Mattias grabs a duffel bag and takes it out as he closed the trunk, putting the duffel bag on the trunk and unzipping it as he took out his gun and the extra mag, placing them inside and closing back the bag as he headed inside the docks, trying to find Dock 32A, which was mentioned in the letter. Speaking of which, that particular letter, that Mattias still had upon himself, he read it many times to make sure he got everything correctly and it was making him uneasy and concerned. Whoever this person was he clearly didn't know the first thing about lycanthropes, or werebears in particular.

As he was walking through the docks, Mattias picked up a smell in the wind, or many smells to be correct. He started following them as they led him to his destination. After finally reaching Dock 32A, Mattias stumbled upon a mass of people as he imidieatly took cover in a safe place. His was a typical bear reaction right now. Staying hidden and observing others from a distance. He saw the people interacting with each other as he picked up various smells from them. Most of them were human, but there was also one alien, some ghosts, a synthetic and another lycanthrope, but this one was a werewolf though, not a full werewolf as he seemed to be half-vampire.

Then all of a sudden a woman starts giving a speech, offering them all kinds of information about something. It was clear to him now. She was the one that gathered all these superpowered people here. Then he noticed the helicopter. "Oh God! Please don't tell me that were actually gonna ride in that thing." He said to himself concerned as he wiped the sweat that started dripping down from his forehead and saw other late arrivals like him joining the group. As the woman was nearing the end of her speech, Mattias got out of hiding with his duffel bag in his left hand and with confident steps headed to the group, joining them as well.

The woman ended her speech with a question, asking everybody how many of them will call themselves proud. Mattias chuckled at this one as he looked away for a second and then back at Lisa. "So you're the one that sent us these letters right?" He said finally revealing his nordic accent after a long time as he pulled out his own from an inside pocket of his leather jacket. "I'm guessing it's you since I..." He stopped as he started sniffing the paper. "...can sense your smell all over this paper." He said as he crumpled it and threw it away. "Why me huh? If you sent me that letter then you must know who I am, or what I am to be exact. Trust me, it's not good to have someone like me in this merry team of superheroes you're trying to create here. So volatile, unpredictable and destructive." He said as he crossed his arms waiting to see Lisa's reaction.

---

"Who wants a hug? C'mon, don't be scared of the toon!" While Aja wasn't a touchy feely person, she did like the fact that this person was trying to be inclusive. She looked kinda weird though. Cartoon-like (hence toon?). Aja wondered how she walked around civvies that way. Honestly, the more she stared, the more she wanted to run tests on that girl. Sequence her DNA, do some work on her proteins...Tie her down to a hospital bed while the sounds of her surgical equipment went off and the toon squealed in terror. OK maybe her imagination got the best of her on the last thought, just nerd/mad scientist stuff you know?

After the crust of the second pizza hit her lips did she realize that she was rude for not thanking this woman for bringing the pizza. "Sorry about that ma'am. Thank you very mu--"

”You! What is your name.” Not a question, but a demand.The anger in his voice calling behind her was chilling but not something Black Cat would back down from. She dropped her plate and put her hands behind her back as she turned to face the mystery man.

"Black Cat."She said with a half smile. He had a very odd appearance that turned her expression into something more inquisitive. A masked man with a hoodie overdrawn. Blue probably so she didn't think he was KKK, but his odd appearance did have her captivated. Maybe it was more than that though...something she couldn't quite put her finger on. The anger in his expression was fiery and yet somehow made Black Cat all the more taunting. She took a step back in case this was to turn into a fight as hand to hand combat was not a forte of hers.

The words dripped from her tongue slyly and a bit flirtatiously if i may add... "And you are?" She paused briefly before adding "It's rude to ask a lady's name before giving their own." Quickly scanning the sky, she checked for any bit of light breaking through. Safe to say if this did breed potential for a fight, there would be no handicapping her today.

Jenny's giant grin would have grown even bigger at Lisa's comment, but it was already at it's maximum width. The woman liked her speech! At first Jenny thought that the spiel might come across as a bit stupid and awkward, but Lisa liked it! Lisa liked her! Lisa even called her adorable! That was the first time she could remember someone ever called her cute in person! Of course, some of her Tumblr fans had complemented her in similar fashions, but actually hearing the words felt so much better! Sadly, before Jenny could soak in the happiness for too long, for she was interrupted by a blonde young man. Being too tired to look around, Jenny failed to notice that there were duplicates of him, so instead of being surprised, she simply took his hand in hers and shook it.

"Jennifer Teller, New York." she said, giving a small nod. It was only then that she noticed the other ones, and her eyes widened a bit, her lips parting in amazement. "Woah...that's a lot of you's..." Then she heard one of him mention pizza. "Oh! That's me! I have the pizza!" she yelled. All of the sudden she was being swarmed by people requesting pizza. First it was the guy with Lisa, then he shadowy guy, then the cartoon (which Jenny had been to tired to question). "Don't worry guys, everyone's going to get some!" she called, before being silenced by Lisa, who began to talk. Jenny was completely attentive during the whole thing.

[b][ "So, how many of you will call yourselves proud members of the Powerbound Alliance?" Lisa said to finish off the speech. Instead of being impressed or excited, Jenny was puzzled. A few seconds later, she opened her mouth to speak.

"Wait...that's it? You're just letting us in? But you haven't even seen my résumé. I printed it out and everything." she said. But Jenny was suddenly distracted when a girl took two slices from the pizza box on the top, which was the cheese. She was going to call the girl out on it, but the girl quickly apologized, so Jenny decided not to. Then, seemingly in an instant, the same girl and the shadowy guy were looking like they were going to kill each other. That was something Jenny didn't want.

"Hey guys!" she said, stepping in between the two. "You two don't look like you like each other! But, um, why don't you just keep those feelings inside! Over the years, I've learned that expressing your emotions can be dangerous, so instead of expressing them, suppress them!" Suddenly, Jenny was walking over to the girl. She stopped when she got right in front of her and shoved the box that the cheese pizza was in into her arms. "Here! All yours! Just don't kill him." she then marched back over to the shadow guy and shoved the garlic pepporoni pizza in his arms. "Are we all good now?" she said, stepping back and looking at the both of them, with only the supreme pizza in her arms.

---

”Pleased to meet you, Alexandra,” Alex glanced down quickly at the outstretched hand, and shied away slightly as she realized that her arms were still completely hidden by her overly large sweater.

"Oh, uh nice to mee-" Alex was cut off by a masked man who had taken to using her as a meat shield. He introduced himself as Mercury, or Masquerade. Quietly thanking the man for interrupting their little interaction, she turned to face him.

”Hi, you’re very pretty. You don’t mind if I hang out here do you? Hmm… you smell like calamari. Did you have some before coming?”

Completely flustered by his direct approach, Alex froze up. She knew that her arms caused her to produce a unique odor, but she figured that the ocean would at least somewhat mask the smell. Fortunately, Mercury's short attention span drew him away from her. Alex looked on as what appeared to be a ghost flew by the dock. The weird just keep getting weirder.

A girl, Jenny, had given a whole speech upon arrival, where she compared herself to... Pizza. It was a bit strange, and Alex didn't really see where the comparison was accurate, but she let it slide. At least she was trying to be friendly. And, she brought pizza for everyone. Alex, having just eaten, decided to let the others claim their slices.

Alex turned to Lisa as she gave a brief speech on why they were here. In essence, they were recruiting "superheroes" for the Powerbound Alliance. At least, that's what Alex took away from the speech. The most important thing that Alex took note of was the fact that they couldn't turn back once they had chosen. "So, how many of you will call yourselves proud members of the Powerbound Alliance?"

It only took Alex a moment to know that she wasn't backing out. Already, she had been accepted by so many others. Of course, they had yet to actually see her arms. Though, with the sheer weirdness of some of the others, surely she would fit right in. "I'm in," she said.

With her being officially committed to the Alliance, Alex took off her hoodie for the whole world to see her for who she was. She wore a worn black t-shirt, with the sleeves ripped at the shoulder. Everything about her outfit screamed "street rat," which is exactly what she was. Stains from the liquid that her arms secreted covered the baggy shorts. Her hair was tangled and matted from never being properly washed.

Alex figured that she should start making friends with the others. She looked around for anyone who wasn't currently conversing, and settled on the man with the iron arm. He had been somewhat quiet so far, which intrigued Alex. Alex quietly dismissed herself from her current group, who seemed to be escalating to a fight. She didn't want to be any part of a fight on her "first" day.

Alex approached the man from behind, where she lightly tapped him on the shoulder. "Interesting group of people, isn't it? My name is Alex, by the way. I'd offer to shake your hand, but, well..." Her words drifted off as she gestured to the arms that hung at her side.

---

Nyt smiled one last time at Alexandra as shied away and approached the Iron Hand. She looked around at the sea of faces: how in the hell would she ever remember all of these many names and personalities? Not to mention their unique abilities! Oi, Nyt… What have you gotten yourself into?, she pondered and moved towards the back of the group to hang out next to Black Cat and Masquerade. As she absentmindedly paid attention to their conversation, her heart began to sink and she found herself getting clammy. She realized she was extremely anxious to continue adventuring with these people and she almost said, “I’m going home,” were it not for Lisa speaking up.
"So, how many of you will call yourselves proud members of the Powerbound Alliance?"
Yes, how many? She looked around. They all either nodded silently or agreed with all their heart. She could just walk out if she really wanted to – and she did want to; she longed for nothing more than to drive up and down the West Coast one last time. Then she realized… She had finished the Gilmore Girls on Netflix and now was out of ideas for the next show to binge on. Crap, I guess I’ll stay. She gave Lisa a decided nod of approval and a sincere smile. If only her space-bound sister could see her now, ready to take on this world called Earth.
She looked around to see if anyone else would be joining them and spotted a fair-haired girl who looked quite startled at the numerous amount of people that had gathered up for the superhero club. She gave the girl a welcoming smile and then looked up at the clear night sky that was twinkling with stars. Her ears became piqued by a sharp metallic sound and she winced hard as her ears picked up several more of them. There was meteorites passing overhead, invisible to most of the people’s eyes as they weren’t in any danger. But Nyt knew they were there – she could hear them. After all that, she began to smile again and pointed up, getting the girl's attention who happened to reveal her name was Daphne. ”There are some meteorites passing by. I wish we could see them. They’re gorgeous to watch on a night like this.”

---

After Lisa finished her speech, she looked to Amado, who gave her a nod of impressive approval. She looked back to everyone, who then preceeded to ask questions. Hearing the question about Netflix of all things, she looked to Edwina with a 'seriously?' look. "We do. Even if we didn't have Netflix, we would've set it up for you." She said before smirking a little. "Can't live without Game of Thrones. huh?" She joked before looking to the others. Hearing Marcus say that, she nodded. "Beats everything, my friend. Or at least I believe so." She said with a soft smile. Once Mercury came to her, she nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I sent the letters." She said with a smile before yelping in surprise from the hug. "Eep!" She yelped, looking to him and hugging him back. "Well... alright, that's nice I guess..." She said awkwardly. "... well, I'm here... I guess." She chuckled. "I assume you're willing to take on the risks of being part of the Powerbound Alliance? If you were listening at all?" She asked.

Once Light spoke, she looked back to her. That unnerved face came upon her once again, still trying to shake it off. "Well... uh... not really, we have plenty of income and funds to do whatever we like. It's just our mission to be heroes, and to bring good and purge evil from the world." She explained. "Oh, okay, cool. Glad to have you onboard!" She said, while happy to have the toon with them, she's still unnerved about her existence. It's gonna take a while to get used to.

She then looked to Aja. "Oh... uhm... Aja, right? You're rather late." She said. "I just got done making a speech about the Powerbound Alliance. Long story short, we're a group of superheroes that live in a large mansion called The Sanctuary, and we do a variety of missions to help bring good and purge evil from this world. In exchange for your services, you'll be reimbursed with cash, and will be given shelter and food to your heart's content." She said with a soft smile. "However, these missions are extremely dangerous, so I recommend a careful decision before we take the bird into the sky." Lisa recommended before turning to Matthias.

Once Matthias revealed himself, Lisa looked to him. "Oh, hey there! Quite late to the party, thanks for showing up, regardless." She said. "Mhm, yep, I'm the one who sent these letters. Lisa Martinez." She said with a smile. Once she listened to him ask her these questions, she shrugged. "Just like oil, huh? Volatile, unpredictable, destructive? Yeah, when used in the wrong hands. When treated with care, you can use it as a very effective and efficient force." She said with a smirk. "And that's what we need. We are in need of new heroes... and unfortunately, you guys are kinda all we got right now." She explained. "You must be Matthias, right? I read your dossier. I hope you heard what I was talking about earlier... I really hate having to repeat my epic speeches." She said with a soft chuckle.

Lisa looked to Jenny. "Hon, our hiring process doesn't require resume's. We make our own out of yours. Our hiring process is just a little different." She said with a soft smile. "Once we get to the Sanctuary, you guys will soon prove to me how useful to me you are. You can quit anytime you'd like, but we don't drop people in the hiring process." She said. "I'll explain it all when we get there." She said. Once she heard that Alex was in, she nodded to her. "Glad to hear that." She said with a smile. "I can make accomodations in your room if you'd like." She said, giving her a knowing nod, indicating that she knew about her tentacle arms. One Nyt nodded as well, she nodded back with a smile. "Alright, that's nice." She looked amongst the others.

Lisa looked to Amado. "Am I forgetting something?" She asked.

Amado looked to her. "No, I don't think so."


Fenrir stood almost as still as a statue, his face of scorn and his scowl remaining still as well. Seeing all of this, it just made his blood boil. Nearly cringe if he had the capacity to do it. He simply shook his head and turned around, leading out and into the shadows, behind a few shipping containers, heading home, back to isolation.

Lisa looked up to Mercury. "Oh hey... uhm... can you go get him for me please?" Lisa asked. "Apparently we have some explaining to do..." She said worriedly.

Adrian inhaled deeply. His lungs were on fire and every inch of him was in searing pain. He blinked slowly trying to wipe the tears from his eyes as he dared to take another breath. "What the hell just happened?" The words and the world still spinning in his head. He closed his eyes willing, pleading with the pain to subside. Images of light and dark, pushes and pulls, distortions and waves had burned their fading afterimages into the black canvas of his inner eyelids.
As the tinnitus faded from his ears, the ringing was replaced by dogs barking and car alarms echoing off in the distance. "How did I get here? I was just..." "GRISSOM." As quickly as the word left his lips he could see the outline of a man standing before him. A rush of adrenaline; Adrian moved like a cat that just had a something nip its tail. A blast from his hand went sailing right past the man's head, blowing his bath robe to the floor. He screamed and ran in the other direction; A bed slipper abandoned on the sidewalk.
"Wasn't him." Adrian muttered as he staggered to his feet. His head throbbed and his legs were wobbly. A black hoodie clung to his shirt, revealing the golden "I" from the movie Incredibles, which he used as a substitute symbol for when he went out paroling as Impulse. The rest of his uniform wasn't any more impressive. Casual black jeans and some black Air Force Ones that he also played basketball in made up the rest of his superhero uniform. If it was sunny outside, he'd wear black shades to cover part of his face. Besides partial face obstruction, his main strategy for not getting recognized was the same strategy he used in a fight. Don't get seen and Always to strike first. Impulse was no assassin but he didn't want to be unexpectedly shot or swung at at either. His powers (although strong) didn't have any duration. It was like firing a thousand cannons in all directions but if he blinked, they would all disappear. Gunfights were the especially troublesome. He could block a million bullets and have a building fall on him but if two people alternated their shots, one just after the other, he could rely only on blocking one of them and hope to dodge the other. Because of that risk, he preferred to hit first and have that one hit be the only hit he needed.
The pain was almost completely gone as he stretched, cracked his knuckles and his neck. Something was still odd though. His clothes had shrunk... or rather, he had grown. He felt heavy, unnatural, off balance. Almost as if he had borrowed someone else's body but kept his height and voice. The streets looked ...newer. No, they didn't have that clean look like new things do... Instead, they seemed more advanced. Sheek. The power lines were made out of carbon fiber. He noticed that the street lights had sensors in them. Every one he walked past had a blue light blink at him and then turn off when he was out of range. "Were there cameras installed in them now?" He became absorbed in deeper though as he noticed more and more 'little' changes all around himself.



Suddenly, a spotlight shown down on him. It illuminated the sidewalk and was bright enough to devour all the shadows around him. He blinked and covered his eyes from the blinding light. "This is the police! Put your hands behind your head and lay face down on the ground!" said the voice through a speaker. The speaker was attached to a drone, which was shining the obnoxiously-bright light down on him. "We said get down on the ground! NOW!" another voice shouted from down the road. A cop car whirred around the corner. Then another and another. They kept flooding in from all directions until Adrian was surrounded. "We go em' surrounded. Closing in!" another cop said into his voice comm.
"Where's the gun?" yet another police man asked to the team.
"I dunno, I don't see it!"
"Are we sure this is the terrorist who bombed the buildings?"
"I said get down!"
"It has to be. He fits the description!"
"Well then, where's the gun?"
"He must have tossed i... I said get down! You have till' the count of three!"
Adrian wasn't even going to wait for the officer to count to "two". He heard the two magic words that get people shot; "Terrorists" and "Gun" and he wasn't about to wait and see which one was going to get him in the most trouble.
"ONE!..."
Adrian squatted and spread his finger out, palms facing down. A soft boom sounded from underneath and he could feel the rush of wind on his face. As he thought, the police were only startled for a moment before Adrian heard them open fire. Simultaneously, Adrian detonated his impulse barrier and blasted a powerful force out of his hands. He saw bullets distort his barrier like ripples on a water's surface, each one being deflected like flicking an ant off a table. He had angled his second blast so that this time he went further up and moved away from their line of sight.
He was higher than most four or five story buildings at this point. "Videogames wish they could double jump like this." he smirked. Another blast. The third one just added to his momentum and he was rapidly climbing higher and higher and moving into the city.
"I hope mom's asleep already. I don't want to explain to her why I'm sneaking into my own house."
Another blast. It seemed like even the stars were chasing him.
It was a good night.

---

Mercury was glaring at this so called Black Cat, which was quite obviously an alias. ”You don’t get my name until you tell me your actual name. Nice fucking try.” He was reaching for his Magi mask to fry this woman. But, his attention quickly snapped over to Jennifer as she brought him one of the pizza’s. Then put it in his hands at the smell he was enraptured he didn’t even realize how hungry he was till then. ”Yeah, alright she gets to live… For now. Thanks Jennifer I appreciate this. He gave the girl a side hug which was surprisingly warm, especially for a spirit made of shadow.

He turned from Aja, and pulled out a small squirt bottle of rare fire honey from Brazil. Then proceeded to drizzle it over the pizza, and lifted his mask slightly before he started scarfing the pizza. Which just seemed to vanish into nothingness. ”mmm Oh god so good. I didn’t realize how hungry the flight over made me.” The sweet soft spicy taste of the honey meshed perfectly with the savory flavors of the pepperoni, and garlic pizza. As the saying went sweet, and savory are meant to go together. It was never truer than in this moment. He looked at Jennifer, and offered her a slice. ”Huh, well now I seem to like you even more. As your a sweetheart.” He then winked at her, and chuckled at his pun.

Mercury was halfway through his pizza, and still going strong when Fenrir turned leaving. He watched the guy vanish into the darkness. When Lisa asked him, "Oh hey... uhm... can you go get him for me please?" "Yeah sure no problem. Mind holding onto this for me Jenn?" He handed the pizza box back to her before taking off after Fenrir he’d brought out the squeezy bottle of honey. Figuring it’d put the guy into a good mood as everything sweet put him into a good mood. Soon both of them vanished into the darkness. *Yipe~* ”Hey now! No need to attack me! Now look at you you’re covered in my Fire honey. That was expensive stuff you know. There was more silence for a while. Mercury let out a scared yell, and then sounds of a fight. Then silence fell again, *gulp~*

Soon Mercury came back looking a little roughed up he was adjusting his mask his expression was that of fear. He walked over to Jennifer, and looked at the pizza. He made a soft gagging noise. ”Thanks for holding onto this, but I’m… I’m no longer hungry.” He then looked over at Lisa, and cleared his throat. "Lisa grouchy dude is not coming back… I tried.” He then grew a bit distant for a while as he set a hand to the mouth part of his mask. He was shaking a little bit as he thought about what he’d done. He’d just eaten a man, he’d never done such a thing before. He knew he wasn’t normal by any standard… But, to do that?

In the middle of Jackson's dettached muttering over how insane it was for a fucking cartoon to be an actual, living creature sitting in front of him; he almost completely ignored the copy of the cute motherfucker sitting in front of him, giving him a simple nod of the head and muttering his name at the guy. Not soon after though, he heard a familiar voice grace his ears and he was pulled out of his brief funk. "Oh dear fuck." he told himself as he focused back on the real world and saw a figure from his past appear in front of him.

Jackson's lips curled into a wicked smile and he rose quickly into the air with a shout "EDWINA!!!" he twirled all around her while floating, expecting every inch of her for scars, bruises, or ripped clothing. He was about to gush at her, but their reunion was interupted as the woman who called herself Lisa began speaking on why they were all called here.

Jackson smiled as he heard her speak, it sounded like a good place to conduct the kind of manhunts he did by himself. Oh the rescources at his disposal to find his daughter and make sure he could keep other people from ever having to go through what he did, or at least punish those who put people through what he endured. "Shit man, I'm in, 100%. Now uh, riddle me this, do you have rescources to hunt down a missing person?" He asked, not expecting and immediate answer.

The ghosty dude went back to looking at Edwina for a second and was about to try and gush at her again and was immediately distracted once again by the creature that jumped over him before. The thing seemed to just swallow things into blackness. Mercury as he called himself was immediately a thing of intrigue to Jackson where before, like 10 minutes before, he saw him as something to avoid. Jackson watched the thing go into the darkness after the man who calmed himself Fenrir and felt deep in his stomach upon Mercury's return that Fenrir was no longer in existence in this world. Jackson was completely, morbidly fascinated with this idea and made it a mental note to get to know the guy.

Meanwhile, pan camera to girl who was almost forced into black market prostitution. Jackson shook his thoughts out and turned back to swirling in the air in front of Edwina. "How the hell have you been, didja visit my and Chloe's grave this year?" He asked with as warm a smile as he could muster. The last time he had seen Edwina he had told her about his wife and his near death experience and the two had the crazy idea to make a gravesite for him. Kind of a way to celebrate the fact he was still alive while mourning the fact part of his life had been snuffed out. God she was his favorite.

---

---

Eddie crinkled her nose, trying not to giggle as Jackson sped around her like an overprotective parent. It was almost as if he had tragically lost his daughter and was looking for a way to fill the void. Of course, his overbearing nature had to be put on hold, while Lisa was going on and on about her speech.

--

"We do. Even if we didn't have Netflix, we would've set it up for you. Can't live without Game of Thrones. huh?" Lisa said, smirking a bit.

Eddie shook her head, rolling her eyes a bit. Please. She wasn't into Game of Thrones--she watched sophisticated shows. Anime. Subbed, not dubbed. Like a real fangirl. She wore her knockoff wigs with pride, going to conventions each and every year, in order to show her dedication. She wasn't some summer patriot--no, she was the winter soldier!

"How the hell have you been, didja visit my and Chloe's grave this year?"

Eddie chuckled a bit, turning her attention away from Lisa. She figured that her not running off implied that she was going to join up. "Yeah, I visited...But to be honest, it was on my way to Emerald City Comic Con, just spent a few minutes there."

For a moment, Edwina pondered making up an elaborate tale in which she was taken hostage, abused, and nearly killed. It would have been funny for a moment, watching Jackson spiral out of control, and insist on killing all of them. Instead, Eddie merely shrugged her shoulders.

"Just been doing the same old things. Go out and call myself Lucifer sometimes, play with the lights," Eddie explained. "You?"

Marcus glanced from person to person as they all spoke up with their agreement, everyone seemed relatively on board, well, mostly everyone. Marcus watched the larger male, Fenrir, as he seemed to ponder the offer. Rather, he didn't particularly ponder anything, he seemed like he was almost seething at the mere idea of it. Marcus was more amused than anything, both by the overreaction of sorts, and by the whole being of the man. He simply had gotten a bad vibe about him the second he saw him, was almost positive he wouldn't be getting along with him. As a result, at the very least, he was not upset to see him go. He felt a tap on his shoulder then.

"Interesting group of people, isn't it? My name is Alex, by the way. I'd offer to shake your hand, but, well..." Turning his gaze back toward the voice, his eyes settled on the woman, and specifically on her arms. He wasn't going to say anything to judge, after all it'd only be hypocritical. Smiling softly in her direction, a semi-genuine smile at that, he shrugged his shoulders and glanced back around. "It's certainly something." He put it simply as he turned back to Alex, chuckling. "I'm Marcus, it's nice to meet you." Taking a moment to glance about again, everyone seemed to be following a similar lead than Alex, a number of those present conversing over whatever such thing, some seemed to know each other, others just getting introduced. It was an interesting bunch, and he would have been lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to getting to know them all and working with them, it'd been too long since he had a real team of any sort.

---

Daphne didn't consider herself a hero. Did anyone really consider themselves one? Sure, she supposed Doctors were heroic, they helped save lives and keep people healthy. And police. police risked their lives to make sure the public was safe. Scientists could be heroic, researching new things to make life better for everyone.

But how could one explain hunger? Depression? Drug overdose? Violence? The world needed heroes, but could the heroes meet the needs?

Daphne had been blessed with powers. Or cursed, if you were feeling particularly gloomy. It wasn't until she was in 2nd grade that she first found out about her gifts when she saw her father's death before her eyes. It took a strong soul to be able to withstand the brunt of that and all of that power fell on a little girl's shoulders.

Since then, she didn't want to use her gifts. She didn't want them anymore. Often times she would stay awake at night for fear she would dream about scary future events. Her mother comforted her, her brother supported her, but she feared every day she would see their deaths. For years, she blamed herself for her father's death. She could have stopped it. Heck, she even convinced herself she caused it. What was it about superheroes in comics? Sometimes a traumatic event spurned the awakening of their powers. Perhaps that is why she got her abilities? If that was the case, it definitely was her fault.

it took many years after, but she finally accepted her gifts and wasn't afraid of them. She found that she could actually help others. The odd man or woman she could warn or use her gifts to circumvent any problems that sprung up. She buried it deep though, basing her uncanny knack on pure luck. She didn't want to be poked and prodded by white lab coats.

She got the letter on a lazy afternoon. And here she was, about to step on to a dock. She already saw a group of people conversing. She was late to the party, it seemed. She noted a variety of people. Surely, there would be something here for her?

She walked up, paid close attention to the helicopter, and walked up to the group. "Hello, my name is Daphne, I believe I was called here? I am late, I know, sorry," she said with a weak smile.

Here we go, she thought.

Adrian touched down just a few houses down from where he lived. Pulling his hoodie tight, he avoided walking in any direct light from the streetlights, weary to any cameras or sensors that might have been installed in them. He could hear a few dogs barking throughout the neighborhood. His powers were probably a strange and unfamiliar sound to their sensitive ears. Sirens whaled off in the distance in all directions but non of them sounded like they were headed towards him. He could safely assume that he successfully evaded the cops for now. He was exhausted. All Adrian could think about was crawling into his bed and worrying about what was going to be reported in the news tomorrow.
As he approached his front door, he glanced back over his shoulder one last time to indulge his paranoid nerves. "The last thing I want to do tonight is explain to my mom why I am wanted by the cops for unorthodox use of superpowers." he thought to himself. Adrian reached for the door knob and slid his key into the hole to unlock it and go inside. Except... the key didn't turn.
Adrian felt stupid after fighting with the lock on the door for several minutes and still not having access into his own home. He was as quiet as he could be, as to not wake his mother but he was getting frustrated at being outsmarted by a simple wooden door. No matter how hard he tried, his looks of disdain and contempt did not threaten the lock into granting him access. Defeated, he trudged through the wet grass and the darkness until he made his way onto the back porch. The back door was locked too. Adrian wasn't surprised. He checked for the spare key he had hidden away under one of the loose stones on the pathway leading up to the door. Adrian slid the key and the rock back in their resting place after he unlocked the back door.
"Did mom get a new couch today?" he thought, scanning the room. Adrian flicked on the light. "Woah mom. You redecorated the whole house? Where did you get the money for all of this? ...and why did you buy such ugly things?" Adrian continued to mutter to himself about the unusual decor choices his mother made in his absence as he made his way to the fridge. "Even the fridge is new. But why throw out the stew we made this afternoon? I was looking forward to some when I got home." Adrian settled on some of the store bought chicken and a hand full of peanuts from the can on top of the fridge.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?' An angry voice came from behind him. "Don't make any sudden moves bub. This here is a Glock 26 and I don't think I'll need all 20 shots to take your dumb ass out." Adrian froze with a drumstick still in his mouth. "You've got to be the stupidest burglar I've ever seen. What robber turns on all the lights from the house he's stealing from anyways?' The man behind him sounded like he was ready for a fight and Adrian didn't want to agitate him any further. "Matthew, sweetie. Look at his clothes, they're all worn down. I think he's just homeless and hungry." A woman spoke not too far away from where the man was standing. "Don't be so hard on him. He probably just needs help." Adrian stood with his back to both of them, listening. "Homeless or not, he's probably on drugs and I'm not risking you getting stabbed or hurt because we went easy on him."
"I'm not homeless and I'm not on drugs." Adrian called out. "In hindsight, that probably wasn't the best thing to say..." "So you are robbing us and you're incredibly stupid. Lilly, call the cops. I want this trash in jail where he belongs as soon as possible." "Go ahead and call them. I'd like to watch you explain to the cops what you are doing in MY house!" Adrian turned to face them, scowling at the man. "Boy, you must be off your meds. We've been living in this home for 4 years. Just paid the mortgage off it this year too."
"Four years, you've got to be..." Adrian choked on his words. He just noticed his reflection in the glass of the microwave. "Do you have a mirror?" Adrian turned and headed for the full length mirror in the living room. "What the hell are you babbling about no... HEY! I still have a gun pointed at you! Don't move again or I'll shoot!" Adrian was too fixated on the mirror to pay attention to the man's threats.
A stranger peered back at him from the mirror. When he blinked, the stranger blinked too. His hair looked like Adrian's but longer, his face looked a little older. The piercing violet eyes that he knew so well peered back at him. The reflection looked confused, scared, worn and tired. "What year is it?" "What?" "What's the date today? The full date?" Adrian asked with angst, turning to face the man. "Honey, I think he's schizophrenic. Do you see a hospital band on his arm with a phone number that we can call?" the lady whispered to her husband, as she clung to his sleeve. "Look boy. I don't know if you got a few screws loose but I see that you really do need help. Do you have someone we can call to come get you?"
"The date. It's very important that you tell me the date. Please. The man sighed and looked down at his phone. "It's April 2, 2026. But why does that matter? What's so important about today's date? Look, I'd rather not be on the news for having a mentally ill person arrested in my home. If you just give me a number to call I'll..." "2026?!? I've been gone for FIVE YEARS?!?" Adrian felt the color draining from his face. "Here. Call this number. It's my mom's phone. I can't even imagine how worried she is!" Adrian spoke the numbers as Lilly called the number and let her phone ring on speaker. "The number you have dialed has been disconnected. If you'd like..." Lilly tried again. "The number you have dialed has been disconnected..."
"Do you have someone else we can call? That number doesn't seem to be working." she asked after the third attempt. "Son, can you at least tell us your name?" Matthew's tone was softer this time. "I'm Adrian Hunter. I used to live here five years ago.
"Hunter, Hunter... Why does that name sound familiar?" Lilly started searching through Google on her phone. "Alright Son, I believe you. Can..." "I KNEW IT!" Lilly's excitement was an unexpected change to the current tone. "Hunter. Yes! Here it is! I remember this from when I was looking up facts about this house before we bought it! It says right here "Andrea Hunter and her late husband Mark Hunter lived here with there son Adrian Hunter. Andrea was attacked and killed by a brute named 'Grissom' a few months after the disappearance of her son 'Adrian Hunter'!""And look. There's a picture of the two of them right here. Gosh. He looks just like you." Lilly held up the glowing screen of her phone for Adrian to see. The screen might as well have been headlights and Adrian was the deer because all he could do is stare frozen at her screen.
"My mom's dead? ...Grissom killed my mom?"

---

Once Jackson asked Lisa if they had the resources to track down missing people, Lisa scoffed and looked towards him. "Hon, if we managed to find you guys, I'm pretty sure we can find just about anyone." She said with a soft smile. Once Mercury returned, Lisa frowned once she heard him say that he couldn't bring him back. "Oh... that's fine." She said softly, nodding. "Thanks anyways." She said with a soft smile before hearing someone else step up.

She set her eyes upon Daphne, to which she smiled. "Oh, hey Daphne! Better late than never." She said with a friendly smile. "I'm Lisa Martinez, I'm the one who sent the letter." She introduced herself. "And this is Amado. He's gonna be piloting the helicopter tonight." She introduced Amado, to which he gave a nod and a soft smile. "I just got done going over what was going on. We're part of the Powerbound Alliance, a group of supernatural beings that seek to purge evil from and bring good into the world. We have a vast amount of resources at our disposal, and we have an insane amount of cash, so you will all be reimbursed properly. We live up in the Sanctuary, were you guys will be boarded at until further notice. While you guys will have access to all of the food, internet and stuff you guys like, as well as shit tons of cash, our missions that we undertake are extremely dangerous and very often life threatening." She then turned to everyone else. "The type of people we will be up against are more often than not going to be criminals, terrorists and maybe even a government organization or two. We may be facing off against supernaturals who use their powers for evil, and we may go into some extremely dangerous areas. Our Sanctuary is also located near a small mountain village in Colombia, so... yeah." She said to everyone as she gestured to Amado.

Behind her, Amado got inside the helicopter and opened up one of the doors, revealing a nice airliner-styled cabin inside. He then climbed up to the front and began operating it.

"Right now this is your last chance to leave! After this, there is no turning back!" Lisa warned, gesturing to the helicopter behind her. "If you're willing to put your life on the line and live in nearly complete solitude with us for the greater good, in exchange for lots of money, food, and a great shelter, I suggest you board this helicopter if you have agreed to the terms and conditions!" Lisa shouted as the helicopter was starting to power up behind her, gesturing to the open door, allowing people to board the helicopter. "If you don't agree, I suggest you turn back now!"

---

---

Eddie grinned, flashing a smile. "Let's do this!"

Climbing into the helicopter, Eddie quickly found a seat in the back, but one where she was able to look out as they went. Squirming a bit with excitement, she could hardly believe it was happening. This was it. A chance for her to actually give back, beyond traveling to random countries and playing the victim in order to take down a few low level thugs. This was it--her destiny awaited her.

Finishing off her energy drink and blasting music through her headphones, Eddie settled in for what she was certain would be an extremely long flight. It wasn't like they were going just one or two states over -- they were going to Colombia!

At least it's not Brazil, she chuckled to herself.