Thousands of soldiers marched down the large highways of Bogota, where a parade was being held for the Supreme Commander in celebration of a sweeping victory against one of the militia groups friendly to FARC. Thousands of red berets marched in the streets with Galils and Uzis in hand, wearing formal military wear, as well as full combat gear. Tanks rolled down the streets with them, and so did jeeps, APCs, infantry fighting vehicles and other land-based combat vehicles. Every now and then, a few Kfir fighter jets would fly overhead in a formation of sorts, and as a small fraction of Colombia's military strength marched down the streets of Bogota, everyone waved and cheered as the passed. It was a spectacle, and an amazing sight of the brave men and women in uniform who serve the Supreme Commander and his staff.

The Supreme Commander himself was standing on the back of a military jeep, with his wife sitting by his side, his daughter Maria at the front passenger seat, and a trusted red beret as the driver. Supreme Commander waved to the crowd with his wife Damita as they were riding along in the parade, basking in their victory. His son, Antonio, was driving a flashy red convertible Gallardo in front of his family's jeep, waving to the crowd as well. The entire family was here, and while they were all easy targets, it was clear that none of them were afraid, and they proudly displayed that.



Macario, on the other hand, was still in the Presidential Palace. He was in his own (quite ornate, large and clean) bedroom, watching the events of the parade unfold on the large flatscreen TV ahead of him. Laying down in bed, he rested against a woman he spent the night with, both of them very naked underneath a set of blankets and sheets. With his arm around the red beret he invited to his room the night before, he watched the parade on live television with her. "Eres un buen hombre en una multitud, Cesaro. (You're quite a man in a crowd, Cesaro.)" He said with a soft smile, giving a kiss on the woman's forehead, rubbing her shoulder.



The Supreme Commander continued to wave to the crowds that have gathered along the streets. He and his wife were silent for the most part, until she spoke.

"La multitud parece amarte, Cesaro. (The crowd seems to love you, Cesaro.)" Damita said, waving to a group of children in the crowd. "En realidad estás obteniendo resultados por aquí, estoy realmente impresionado. (You're actually getting results around here, I am actually impressed.)"

"Tenías dudas? (You had doubts?)" Cesaro replied. "Esta era la única manera de obtener resultados, este desfile es mostrar que estamos siendo fuerte después de nuestra victoria. (This was the only way to get results, this parade is to show that we are still strong after our victory.)"

"Sí, pero a qué costo? (Yes, but at what cost?)" Damita asked.

"Había muy pocas bajas al eliminar el grupo militar hostil en las montañas. (There were very few casualties when eliminating the hostile militia group in the mountains.)" Cesaro replied. "Nuestros espías, así como los aviones no tripulados, indican que el resto del grupo se ha dispersado y abandonado sus puestos. Ellos ya no serán una amenaza. (Our spies, as well as our drones, indicate that the rest of the group has scattered and deserted their posts. They will no longer be a threat.)"

Damita thought for a moment. "Qué es exactamente lo que se utiliza para derrotar a ellos? Estoy seguro de que usted no ha utilizado la infantería normal. (What exactly did you use to defeat them? I'm sure that you did not use normal infantry.)"

"Metahumans, my love. (Metahumans, my love.)" Cesaro replied with a smug grin. "Uno que podría controlar la vida de las plantas así como uno que podría liberar venenos naturales. Mientras estaban apoyados por la infantería estándar, que eran eficaces en barrer al enemigo. (One that could control plant life as well as one that could release natural poisons. While they were supported by standard infantry, they were effective in sweeping up the enemy.)" He turned to his wife. "Ni siquiera tuvo necesidad de recurrir a la guerra química, que es una ventaja. Quiero mantener mi tierra intacta después de todo esto se acabó. (I didn't even have to resort to chemical warfare, which is a plus. I want to keep my homeland intact after this is all finished.)"

Damita nodded slowly. "Bien. (Alright.)" She looked away, waving to the others. "Usted sabe que las armas químicas están prohibidas por las convenciones, verdad? (You know chemical weapons are banned by the conventions, right?)" She looked around.

"Sí, pero no son los metahumanos. (Yes, but metahumans are not.)" Cesaro said with a soft smirk. "Con el tiempo he pensado en tener una gran cantidad de ellos dentro del Ejército Nacional de Colombia, para que podamos utilizarlos para derrotar finalmente FARC. Se tomará un tiempo, pero si tenemos cuidado, es posible hacerlo con rapidez, eficiencia y eficacia, sin dejar de tener un ejército permanente para hacer lo mismo en otras naciones ... naciones demasiado débiles para destruir sus propios flagelos del mal . (Over time I plan on having a large amount of them within the National Colombian Army, so we can use them to finally defeat FARC. It will take a while, but if we are careful, it is possible to do it swiftly, efficiently and effectively, while still having a standing army to do the same in other nations... nations too weak to destroy their own scourges of evil.)" He explained.

Damita nodded. "¿Qué pasa con los metahumanos en este país que están siendo detenidos y asesinados? (What about the metahumans in this country that are being rounded up and killed?)"

"Si usted está hablando de los que son amenazas claro y presente para las personas en nuestra sociedad, entonces sí, que era mía, si eso es lo que le preocupa. (If you're talking about the ones that are clear and present threats to the people in our society, then yes, that was my doing if that is what you are worried about.)"

Damita nodded. "Qué pasa con los que tienen poderes benignos? Ellos están siendo detenidos y asesinados también. (What about the ones with benign powers? They are being rounded up and killed too.)"

Cesaro turned to Damita with a look of confusion. "Qué? No he pedido que- (What? I did not order that-)"

DDDEEEAAAOOWWWWW!!!! A loud thundering shot cut off the Supreme Commander. Blood and gore had splattered all over the bright uniform of the Supreme Commander, and screams were heard almost everywhere. Everything was in slow motion for both Damita and Cesaro as the driver jumped in his seat, and the soldiers standing guard along the sides of the roads were drawing their weapons and looking for the source of the shot. Cesaro looked down, and as he did, he heard his wife nearly scream at the top of her lungs. He looked to the gored head of his daughter, who was sitting at the front passenger seat of the jeep. She was dead. His princess ceased to be. None of them could believe their eyes. He had brought her along for the ride for just once, as she preferred not to be in parades, as he wanted her to experience the joy and power in a victory. And now his daughter was taken from him and his wife, from his son as well... never to live another second on this planet again. His daughter, that he loved very much, gone, from a single shot fired from an unknown shooter.

While everyone was scrambling to find the one responsible and to get to cover, Cesaro just stood there while the vehicle was still. His driver had gotten out of the vehicle and taken his hysterical wife to a safe area, but Cesaro stood absolutely still, staring at the remains of his daughter. Looking up from his daughter's bloody corpse, he looked straight to where he heard the shot. In his fury, he sensed the culprit, the culprit's fear, up at the top of a building. Looking up to where he sensed him, his eyes filled with rage as he saw the shooter. Instilling an aura of terror upon the man on the roof, far away, he slowly pointed the finger at the man responsible.

"MÁTALO!!! (KILL HIM!!!)" Cesaro shouted, his raging voice of the tyrant made his orders quite clear. Almost immediately, almost all of the soldiers on the ground turned their aim towards the shooter on the roof. After the many deafening shots of the rifles that the soldiers carried, the shooter on the roof was turned into ground chuck. Cesaro watched as the man was shot by multiple soldiers on the ground, firing off into the air. After he was killed, Cesaro looked back to his daughter, a single tear dropping from his eyes. "No tengas miedo, María ... los ángeles te abrazará y le muestre el camino. (Don't be scared, Maria... the angels will embrace you and show you the way.)" He said gently among the cacaphony of terror all around him. And from then, he continued to stand there as soldiers and emergency services rushed to his aid.

The nightmare was just beginning.

---

Ben finally arrived at the house. His figure entered and slammed the door behind him, ears catching the subtle click of the lock when he backed into it. Noting no one there to help him, his lips pressed tightly as he then hollered again. “Guys! I need a little help, or I’m dropping your pies on the ground first!”

His arms grappled with the pizza, balancing them on his knee a moment before he adjusted the awkward load in his arms. It wasn’t easy since he wasn’t sure which was his own and last thing he wanted was to be sucking down one of Angelo’s disgusting slices. He had dismissed Emma earlier to avoid explaining why two fully grown individuals were taking residence in his loft, a fact he was sure the Spanish housekeeping and cook would’ve seriously frowned upon. Then, for his own safety, brought up the matter to Daniel or Lorrie. Things wouldn’t have gone over well at all and Ben needed time to come up with a reasonable excuse for it, partly enjoying the thrill of the challenge.

Hakeem, who was in the kitchen setting up a hidden surveillance camera, twisted a little to Ben’s voice. “Just a moment!” He called out before hiding the camera and the tools, taking the ladder and putting it up. Almost immediately, he ran to Ben’s aid and took the stack of pizzas from his hands, giving him a nod before bringing them into the dining room, setting them down on the table. “There we are…” He sighed. “Hey, thanks for ordering, and… I apologize on behalf of Carmen for her behavior… she… kind of sees things for how they are, if you catch my drift.”

“Yeah, I’ve got it all under control, hun.” Angelo spoke into the phone as he laid lazily on his bed. “Yeah, it’s a nice house.” He continued, yawning softly while rubbing his eyes. On the other end he heard the voice of Layla, and following common procedure, she needed to keep herself updated on current events. Rather, Angelo needed to keep her updated. Cutting through their conversation was however an all too familiar voice echoing through the house with the lower floor as a starting point. “Sweet, food’s here. Cya’, Lay-Lay.” Angelo winked, despite the lack of individuals there to see it.

Ending the call, Angelo returned the phone to his pocket and started out of his room. Hakeem had already gone to the rescue, helping Ben with the pizzas before they connected disastrously with the floor. It would have been a negative end to an otherwise slightly, midway positive night. So far, nothing catastrophic had come to pass and Angelo was no one to look a gift horse in the mouth. “Sorry about that, boys.” The Agent winked at the two as he descended the stairs and approached the pizzas. “Was on the phone. Now y’all got my full attention.” Angelo smirked, reaching his hands out to grab a slice of his Hawaiian delight.

Ben was relieved when Hakeem took the boxes, his ears caught the man’s statement. His eyes spotted Angelo coming down the stairs but ignored the statement for the moment to reply to Hakeem first, then enjoy his pizza. “She can join the club of assholes for all I care. As we’re learning, not everything is straightforward or to rephrase your statement, ‘how it appears’. A fact we need to get use to.”

The boy didn't care if his statement was harsh or uncaring. Personally, the day had been terrible enough for him and he didn't have the energy to sugar coat his mood. As he spied Angelo finally find his pizza and dig in, Ben shuddered then swiftly snatched one of the top remaining boxes. It was one of the thin crust meat lovers much to his pleasure.

Hakeem looked towards the kitchen counters, and with a heavy bassy booommmm his irises glowed a bright green. Within a split second, one of the drawers opened, and a pizza slicer flew out from it. Flying through the air, Hakeem immediately caught it and offered it to Ben, before hearing his statement, his eyes fading back to normal brown. “Huh? That’s a little harsh” He said, shrugging a little. “Well, I kinda thought the same thing when I first met her. But keep in mind, we were both fighting terrorists in the middle of the desert so… her being an asshole had a little bit of a justification.” He chuckled, using his powers of telekinetic bursts to open up the pantry and summon a stack of plates to his hands, to which he put down. He closed both the drawer and the pantry door seconds later, before looking to Ben and Angelo. “We brought a deck of cards if you wanna join us.”

He pulled up a wooden crafted chairs and plopped down, his hand reached for the slicer. He blinked in confusion then shook it off, his mind giving on the whole surprising thing or risk losing what little sanity he had. This day couldn’t get any worse when I’m apart of the freak guard, he thought to himself. However, he seriously doubted it deep down.

He recut across the premade cuts, making sure they were fully done this round and set the slicer aside. The boy was having issues trying to ignore the fact dishes floating from the kitchen onto the table. His expression was annoyed though as he tried to focus on his pizza, his stomach rumbling for food. He sighed then spoke. “Hard to be nice when I already stated I didn’t need help and rather do it myself. Too bad no one seems to trust my word for it.”

“I also see you’ve made yourself at home already by exploring the drawers.” Ben added, freeing a slice to bite into before speaking to Angelo between bites. “Chatting with a crush I suppose? And how in the world can you down that disgusting thing?”

“Hah!” Angelo laughed heartily, biting down on his slice before he dropped to a chair and leaned back against it’s softly creaking foundation. “No crush, I’m afraid. Layla would sooner use her boyfriend as a test subject than handing them a romantic phone call.”

The Agent chuckled, shaking his head after taking another bite. “I wingmanned for her, once. Damn, she’s socially crippled, that girl.” Unable to hold back another set of laughter, Angelo finished his first slice and went for the second.

“As for this beauty?” He motioned down towards the pizza. “You just haven’t been blessed yet, kid.”

Ben held out his hand, clearly not willing to accept the ‘blessing’. His attention returned to his own square slice, enjoying the crunch of the crust and savoring the grease and meaty flavors dancing on his tongue. He decided to ignore the offer completely as he pulled the box close, feeling starved oddly. Already about a fourth of the pizza was completely gone without Ben’s realization.

Turning his attention to Hakeem, Angelo offered the man a nod and shifted his chair towards the table. ”Sure, I’m up for a game. Also, nice trick there, buddy. I’ve met a few telekinetics before, unpredictable fuckers. ” The Agent grinned, looking at Hakeem with a teasing smirk.

Hakeem frowned at Ben’s response. “Alrighty dude. I mean, we’re kind of hired to protect you, you don’t need to take it all out on us.” He said with a soft chuckle, cutting himself a few slices, as well as a few slices for Carmen as well. “Oh, I was just making sure that this place wasn’t bugged.” He chuckled in response to Ben’s observation that he explored the kitchen. He then looked to Angelo, who spoke to him. “Cool. None of us have powers that let us cheat. Maybe pool but not cards.” He said with a soft smirk, and regarding his telekinetics, he gave a sheepish smile. “Thanks, I’m still in the process of learning. Still can’t hold objects up in the air though, I can only put directional force in bursts.” He explained. “Syria has a little… problem with metas, and that’s just putting it lightly. Didn’t have much time to learn.” He said before turning to Ben. “Hey Ben, mind if I grab me and Carmen something to drink?”

“No, I don’t. There’s some soda in the refrigerator, bottom right drawer. There’s a few coke and pepsi products in there. I’ve not looked lately. As for the card game, I’ll pass. I’m more into video games than sitting around a table looking like a human mockin a gorilla’s expression honestly.” Ben shot off, his arm pointed to the area he was mentioning. He was already about halfway down with his first pizza, eating faster than he actually realized.

“Videogames? Sweet.” Angelo pitched in as the other two spoke. He had kept himself out of their back and forth, unwilling to fuel the fire. Ben was in a bad mood. It was to be expected. The mercs were unused to this entire ordeal and as much as Angelo usually disregarded emotional additions to otherwise serious situations, this situation revolved entirely around emotional distress. It was the core of the whole issue. As such, Angelo knew how to approach it. Getting on Ben’s nerves would only accelerate an involuntary action from his part, given the virus coursing through his body. “We can play together later. What do you play?” With a soft smile crossing his lips, one of reminiscence, the Agent wiped his hands on a paper tissue. “Used to play a lot with Adrian. The nerd’s good at games.”

“I have Resident Evil 6, Doom, Dead Nation and Call of Duty: Black OPs III.” Ben listed off the topic choices in his collection.

Hakeem smirked. “Call of Duty, huh? I prefer World at War myself.” He said with a soft smile. “Well I’m going to leave you guys to it, you can play your games. Carmen and I would be in the game room playing pool if you need us.” He then placed a business card on the table. “These are our cells if you need anything. Angelo, you know our frequency.” He said before heading upstairs, taking his and Carmen’s pizza with him.

”Resident Evil!” The Agent shot up, the previously minimal smile stretching to a bright one. ”Love it! Reminds me a lot of my job...a lot. Like...damn, we might have a snitch…”

Ben jerked in his seat when Angelo stood upright suddenly. His eyes narrowed and mouth pressed tightly, seeming ready to say something, before he settled back down. The teenager spoke, clearly mocking Angelo’s reaction with his statement with a hint of his disapproval at being startled. “Easy Agent Redfield, it’s just a game.”

Turning his thoughts back to current events, Angelo shifted his attention back to Ben, seeing how the boy had devoured the pizza. Yes, that was the werewolf gene kicking in. Things were progressing naturally for him, and that was a double edged sword. “Ben.” Angelo broke through the short moment of silence. “We trust you, believe me.” He tried to assure the boy. “If we didn’t, you’d have been contained. I’m here to help you, not to keep you on a leash.” The Agency refrained from containing people who weren’t inherently a threat, but at times it was required.

Ben groaned quietly. He hated this being brought up again, even if he was the one that caused it, his hand flopping down his current pie piece. “Look, I don’t care. Honestly, I’m use to doing things alone and I think having a babysitter is blowing this whole thing out of proportion. I don’t understand this whole werewolf thing I’m suppose to go through or even if it’s going to happen, my mind still on the fence with everything that happened. I don’t want to believe even with everything staring me in the face.”

His figure turned to Angelo, facing while he continued. “When I depend on people, it never turns out well. Even you can agree, most of the time it’s best if you just depend on yourself and no one else.”

”You’re right.” Angelo returned, ascending to his feet before he made his way to the sink to wash his hands. ”I’ve been around for a long time. I’ve met a lot of people, and I’ve been screwed over.” The mutant informed, drying his hands before turning back to Ben. “Most of the time, it really is best to depend on yourself. I’m not gonna’ bore you with war stories and whatnot. I’ve been through two world wars and I’ve crawled through the backscene slums of others. Shit happens, but at the end of the day, you’ve got yourself to depend on.” Angelo finished before approaching the dinner table and dropped down on the chair once more.

“Most of the time.” He repeated. “But you’ll find yourself in these shitty situations where you’re just stuck having to rely on the competence of others. Sucks, I know. Though, it happens. It passes, but it happens.” Having been around for over two hundred years, Angelo had been through most difficulties the supernatural world had to offer. “I’ve been in your seat, Ben. Yeah, I know…” The Agent waved it off. “It doesn’t merit for much, hearing this crap from me, but it’s worth stating.” Angelo continued, getting to the point.

“The absolute majority of my missions are solo. In truth, when I need to rely on others, it ticks me off. Though, at the end of the day, it is what it is.” Angelo stated before he continued to motion towards the doorway, as if that would help in indicating what he was referring to.

“Video games are sometimes spot on, you know? Even the most superpowered soldier needs help sometimes. You’ve got a right to be pissed. I’m never gonna’ tell you to let it go, or to force a smile. You’ve every right to be ticked off, but eventually you’ll see that no matter how used you are to dealing with things on your own, sometimes you need backup.” The Agent finished.

Ben silently ate his pizza, his figure seemed to cast off Angelo’s wise advice. However, his mind was mulling over the spoken facts and gradually determining over how they made him feel. It was hard to accept in his case. His mom, dead now thanks to him, was the only one he ever allowed himself to be depend on and that was because he was a child. She understood him like no other, respecting his need for independence while trying to help him gain it. This situation was nothing like that. It was damage control and it frustrated him, namely because he couldn’t do a fucking thing to make living with this disease easier.

The boy picked up another slice then leaned over to devour it in a few fast bites. He wasn’t sure how to reply and trying to sound smart didn’t feel right in his current mood.

“When I turned twenty…” Angelo shifted the subject, trying to lighten the mood. “My mutation kicked in, and I stopped aging. How is it being a teen nowadays?” The mutant asked, scratching the back of his head. “When I was a kid, we didn’t really have High Schools.”

“Complicated as hell though I’m sure there’s some things that never change. The pressure of good grades, social expectations, etc. And your life must’ve sucked with no way get away from your family.” Ben stated blandly, his mouth speaking between bites. His figure leaned against his chair once more with only one or two pieces left in his box bottom.

Angelo chuckled, placing one leg over the other, thinking back on the ‘good old days’. “Dude, you can’t even imagine. I was adopted by a seriously religious French family. My dad was a fucking Priest.”

Ben choked on his pizza a bit, imagining the lifestyle Angelo just stated. Living in literal purgatory as he stood upright, trying to swallow, then walked over to the fridge. He opened the door then reached in for a coke before heading back. His fingers snapped it open and chugged about a fourth of it in one swallow to help wash down the stubborn chunk.

Trailing further back into the past, Angelo continued on his little story. “I remember falling in love with this one guy once! Shit that was a disaster. His dad owned the farm we lived next to. He tried to off me with a musket, damn. Yeah, those were the days. That was the old version of a dad telling you to fuck off.”

“Dating another guy was actually frowned upon back then?” Ben asked, wiping the back of his mouth with his hand. He paused a few steps from Angelo, unsure what to make of his sexuality. A big part of him was uncomfortable with the statement over him trying to date another guy, the notion unappealing for him and naturally was associated by unnaturalness.

”By the religious, yeah. Like you said, some things never change, eh?” Angelo returned, nodding to Ben’s question. ”Dad was the village priest. There was only one priest very village, usually. Put some pressure on me.

“Sounds wonderful,” Ben stated with thick sarcasm on the last word. Cautiously he settled down, his chair a little ways from Angelo, then flipped up the lid of his last pizza. He reached in to scoop out the first slice and started on a corner, his eyes studying Angelo with a wary eye.

”It was about as wonderful as it sounds.” The mutant replied, attempting to pick up on more stray memories. ”And then there was the whole mutant thing. Yeah, ma’ n’ pa’ had a lot of reasons to come at me with that pitchfork…” Angelo nodded softly, looking down in a sense of thought, rather than one of distress. Eventually, he managed a chuckle, obviously having gotten over the issues. ”Chased me out of the village! Damn, it was colorful. Still have the scar from that one. Tough love, right?” The Agent winked at Ben before continuing. “After that, I was swept up by the militia. It was what started this whole military career that lasted for the next two hundred years. The militia back then would hire anyone. Oh and...heh…” Clearing his throat, the young man averted his gaze from Ben, mumbling softly. “...the battlefield bromance...with a silent B…”

Ben’s spine shivered a bit, wondering if that wink was Angelo’s way of flirting now. Earlier he hadn’t given it a thought but know, finding out Angelo was either gay or bisexual, the gesture lost its reassurance. His natural instincts still kept his appetite from diminishing from the realization, but he was still trying to figure out his views on the subject. Never having any bi-sexual or homosexual friends, the through that Angelo might find him attractive didn’t fully help the matter at all since he wouldn’t return the interest. “I don’t even want to know… But, look just so you’re aware, I don’t swing that way and I doubt I ever will.”

”Oh, honey...” Angelo’s expression turned to an unexpected face of confusion for a brief moment before he felt the need to interject. ”Ben, I am professional enough not to hit on my charge. Also, sweetheart, you’re just a tad too young for me.” Being over two hundred, it was hard to find someone along the same age as Angelo himself, but he tended to keep his interest to people above the age of eighteen. Anything below that felt odd, not because of any specific moral values as he saw most man made rules to be based completely around a concept of morality he saw more than enough cracks in, but rather because of inexperience. Angelo couldn’t care less about age gaps, and his liberal views could draw him a hippie in some people's eyes, but he quickly lost interest in those who hadn’t grown to know themselves.

The blonde's eyebrows raised when Angelo used the nickname honey, his body leaned away and faced the man. At first it sounded much like a term his mother would’ve used when she was trying to sooth him and a fact he didn’t appreciate. He didn’t want to be babied, pacified, or any other childish thing when he seriously addressed the subject. In addition, the phrase sounded vaguely strange coming out of his unwanted, male babysitter’s own mouth.

”But I do like blondes.” The Agent winked teasingly at the boy before pouring himself a glass of soda. ”In all seriousness, though. As much as I disregard whatever man made rules define relationships, I have a specific taste. Besides, I’ve already my eyes on someone.” With a long, almost longing breath, Angelo took a sip of his drink. ”Adrian, that nerd. He’s my type.”

Ben became relieved to hear Angelo was intent on someone else. It made interaction, a bit, easier now to know he wasn’t on Angelo’s list to date. However, he still didn’t know how to actually talk with the ageless man or handle his teasing fully. Ben knew he was being homophobic. There wasn’t any way to deny it or explain it away in a reasonable fashion, but he wouldn’t submit to it. “Does he know or you going to confess in a locker room with a song and flowers?”

”He doesn’t know, yet. Or rather, I mean...” Typically, Angelo was incredibly open and didn’t beat around the bush but when it came to Adrian, something stopped him. One could claim that it was that warm, insecure feeling you get when your emotions take center stage, but Adrian was something else. Angelo had been around long enough to approach these things with ease and express himself without hindrance, but for the first time in as long as he could remember, the mutant found himself at a loss of words. ”We’re both really caught up with work, and I can’t have Adrian distracted, right? His job keeps people alive.” It didn’t take long before Angelo cleared his throat, attempting to regain his composure.

”Or, you know...I’m just a pussy who can’t tell him straight up that I drown in his eyes...” Scratching the tip of his nose, Angelo placed his arms on the table, looking at Ben with a slightly raised eyebrow. ”Fuck it, know what...?” With that, the Agent reached his hand into his pocket and immediately dialed a number, all the while tapping his foot eagerly against the floor.

“Sure, I suppose that’s one excuse that would be plausible for you to avoid it.” Ben stated bluntly, tearing off a bit chunk from his latest piece. The cheese became a bit too cool for his preference but he still continued to eat it, enjoying the tender meat on top. His eyes watched the man pull out his phone then start to dial it. Secretly, he wished Angelo had waited until he finished his food before risking making him sick to his stomach.

A mere few moments passed before Angelo heard a voice on the other end, a soft smile managing its way to his lips before it brightened with his greetings. ”Hey, Blondie.” Angelo spoke, running his fingers through the dark strands of his hair. ”Honey, that name suits you just fine.” The lovestruck agent continued, followed by a chuckle, one which could be heard on the other end as well. ”Alright, I have a very important question I need to ask you.” From a chuckle to concern, Adrian’s voice shifted quickly at Angelo’s inquiry but the Agent could only relish in it. ”No, I’m not dying you nut.” He rolled his eyes, getting back on topic after a short exchange of words.

”I have a mission. It involves a dinner reservation with the doctor, and I am checking to see if he has time for an appoi-...that sucked, just go out with me.” Getting rather impatient with himself, Angelo began tapping the tips of his fingers against the table while listening to the burst of laughter on the other end of the phone, followed by a soft cough, along with a deep breath. ”Yes, I’m serious! Two days from now, sushi! Okay? Okay. Yeah, do th-...no! You don’t need to wear a suit! Just...come as you are...” Blinking a few times before hanging his head, Angelo closed his eyes along with a deep, long sigh. ”You want to hear me ask it...? Fine...” The Agent gave in, an unamused expression on his face. ”Adrian, would you like to go on a date with me?” Another exchange of words could be heard over the phone before even more laughter, the two finally agreeing on a time. ”Okay, see you then! I expected this to go smoother...” Ending the call, Angelo slid the phone back into his pocket and downed the rest of his drink before pouring more into the glass. ”I have a date, now.” He stated plainly.

“I don’t think the Mets strike out as easily as you did trying to set up that pitch.” The newly made werewolf commented, finishing half of his pizza already. It would’ve been more, but the conversation made him choke half way through and caused him to break for a limited time. The laughter over the phone, easily heard by him, seemed to agree with him over how humorous the request was. Especially since the usually smooth talking Angelo had stumbled over nearly all of his words. “So… what are you wearing and got reservations?”

”Huh? We’re just wearing what we usually wear.” The Agent shrugged softly, sipping from his newly refilled drink. ”I am gonna’ make reservations right now. Going to have to treat him to it, right? Of course I do, why am I asking you?” It was quite clear that it had gone a while since Angelo was last with someone, a pursuit he had abandoned long ago. It had just recently resurfaced with Adrian, someone who unlocked a desire buried within Angelo’s otherwise calm and collected heart. ”Might as well take him to a café afterwards, too. Flowers are too much for a first date, I mean, I already know the guy. Besides, he’s patched me up a million times so he’s already seen me nake-...nevermind.” Angelo cut himself off, looking up at Ben before he reached for his phone a second time to tap into the internet. Making the required reservations at a sushi restaurant of esteemed reputation, the Agent was more than willing to put money into the endeavor after so long.

“Good luck with that if you’re considering Sushi Yasuda. That’s place is usually packed unless you have the right connections.” Ben stated, a smirk plastered on his lips. He took a sip of his soda while he eyed the most likely scene about to play out.

”I am sensing some hint, hint, nudge, nudge in your voice.” Angelo returned, narrowing his eyes on Ben.

“Where was that brilliant sense of observation when you were wooing Adrien?” He teased in reply to Angelo, looking a bit smug at his hint being caught.

”I just wanted to make a show of it!” Angelo lied, crossing his arms with a pout. ”Can’t always be awesome, right?” Though his body language hinted at a disgruntled response, Angelo was truthfully blowing this over to see how Ben was cheering up in response to it. This was the first time he had seen the boy with anything but a frown. Indeed, Angelo wasn’t rolling this down in any smooth manner, but part of it was for show, mainly because it appeared to help Ben on the way to a better emotional spectrum.

“Well, I guess over… 200 years was it? Will end up making you dusty in more ways than one. I just hope all your batters in the cages haven’t dried up before you make it to first base.” Ben edged farther with his teasing, a wolfish grin on his cheeks. [color] “Now, would you accept a favor for a future I owe you? Or do you want to end up putting your date off until August?”[/color]

Unable to keep himself from bursting out in laughter, Angelo had to give it to him, Ben could loosen up. He could actually sting back, and it was refreshing to say the least. ”You deserve a point for that one, kid. Credit where credit is due.” He replied, chuckling at the comment. ”Hey, if you want to help me out with the reservation, I’ll owe you one.” He finished, unable to resist Ben’s offer.

The complement created a sense of accomplishment, something he didn’t mind. He wished it would’ve lasted long and the challenge had more difficult. The end result, as satisfying as it could be, was nothing compared to the challenge of getting there. It gave him a thrill and adrenaline buzz from the stress like no other experience. He had tried, and failed numerous times. “I’m sure I can arrange that after dinner.”

Ben reached into the box only discover something horrifying. There was no more left. His eyes snapped back to the box and noted there was nothing left, save for the grease stains. His eyes shifted to Angelo seeking an answer for why his pizza was suddenly gone. “One question… did you swipe some of my pizza or did I eat it all?”

_{banner credit to Hellis}

---

Time: The Next Day - Afternoon
Location: Central Park, New York City

“Good afternoon... Silvery-One. I hope I am not disturbing your rest.”

Mandate considered the human's greetings, her eye focused and her expression set into its unreadable 'line' state. It was rare for a human to immediately catch her interest, being the frail, fleshy, and often mundane things that they were. It was not that they couldn't be interesting, they often were, but most didn't show it so obviously.

But this one did, mostly in the way she walked with... Something. Mandate would squint if she could. It was there, she knew, but what was it? It tickled her perceptions, and that was something unfamiliar. Her vision was not infallible, and hardly worth mentioning, but it was also far from flawed. This was not her fault, she decided.

At last, her manners returned to her, as lost as they had been in her contemplative fugue. It was rude to stare and not answer! She nodded to herself as an appropriate response manifested in the back of her mind. "Hello, Blue-One! I am not disturbed. The grass is interesting, but you are too." she informed the human from her seated position, her tone light and pleased. Her 'mouth' went through its usual transformation, the neutral line smoothing out as her 'face' indented to form its pleasant V smile.

Bach and Odette shared a look for a moment, surprised. The response was more involved than a yes or no. Golems given the gift of speech were very limited, this one sounded as if it had multiple voices feminine and masculine mingling pleasantly. The singular red eye glassy but now that Odette had her attention she could see intelligence there. Self-awareness.

Bach crouched down beside the golem, studying her. The level of magic resonanting from her was immense, far above the typical one soul - one golem. Without a single rune or sigil mark on her body from what he could see raised more questions.

"Thank you, you are rather interesting yourself. What is your name?" Odette asked. Years spent in the Faerie Realms had bolstered her capacity for the strange. Approaching new or different things with diplomacy and caution were what had afforded her alliances with figures as the Archon of the Old Earth.

Her name? That was an interesting question. Tilting her head to and fro, Mandate hummed thoughtfully. She had already more or less decided on her name, but was it more or less polite to give the full, clunky thing she'd been... Born with? Embedded with? She didn't like it, but it was, by some definition, her name. But it wasn't what she chose for herself, and as far as she understood, choosing a name was something that could be done.

Finally, the curious golem turned her head towards the strange distortion, doing her utmost to focus upon it. The manner in which it moved around her was strange, and maybe a little confusing, but it was interesting too. It was... Magic? Or maybe a friend to the Blue-One. She considered it as well, for a moment, before she remembered the question. The Blue-One!

She'd simply give what she had chosen, she decided. "I am Mandate, Blue-One! Your friend is interesting." Was it a friend? She wasn't certain. She had walked with the confusing... Walking sensation upon her eye, so she was certain it was a reasonable assumption, even if she didn't understand how such a confusing friend could be managed. Questions to ask, things to learn. The back of her mind itched with small, learned-yet-not advice. Proper introductions. "What are your names? Or do you share a name? It's very strange."

Bach scratched at his head, green leaves gently falling to his feet. "I suppose Mandate can perceive me?"

Odette shrugged in response to Bach. She slowly bent down to her knees flattening her dress as she did, now looking up at Mandate gently smiling as the mercury golem rattled off her questions. "We do not share a name. My name is The Ambassador, my friend's name is Bach. It is lovely to meet you, Mandate."

Offering her hand to shake, "You are unlike anything we have ever seen before."

Mandate tilted her head as the distorted presence made noise. It was distant and strange, and thus captured the golem's attention for a few moments as she tilted her head back in its direction, but just as quickly her senses were pulled in another direction. It was exciting, how many odd and new things were present now.

For instance, the human. The Ambassador. She wanted to mull over that name, the manner in which it mirrored a designation, a role. Like her own, almost. But there were more immediate things to consider, such as the whole of the human herself. Mandate's crimson eye focused upon the features of the smaller being. Her blue hair was a strange contrast to the mundane, not completely new to Mandate but also not entirely common, and she decided that her doll-like features were pleasing to observe, aesthetically. The word 'aesthetically' came unbidden from the back of her mind, but she kept it. It was nice.

Mandate decided that the interesting human was pretty. She hummed once more, her larger hand extending to carefully clasp the Ambassador's own, followed by the other. She shook with both hands as she responded. "Hello, Ambassador, it is lovely to meet you as well! You are a representative? Who are you representing? To who? Are you here to speak about the strange feeling? Does your friend speak? Was that noise speech? You are very pretty! Why is your hair different? It is nice. You are not like anything I have seen before, but that is because you are all unique, I think. Can Bach shake hands? Does Bach possess hands?"

So much to learn. The questions shot forth from her subconscious rapidly and eagerly.

Bach pulled a notepad from inside his jacket scribbling away his thoughts and notes while Odette kept Mandate's attention.

Odette hid a small giggle behind her hand after shaking Mandate's cold hand. Inquistitive and intelligence unseen in golems. Odette decided then she would need to take responsibilty for the golem, she couldn't simply be left alone to wander Central Park.

For now, she would continue gauging the creature for more information but the mention of the strange feeling caught the ballerina's attention particularly. "Yes, I represent the Faerie Realms and those that occupy my city, Paris. My friend whom I assume was the noise you heard is him speaking. Given some time he will grow to become clear to you. Bach does have hands, he looks like a human but not quite." Odette said smiling all the while. There was a charming, innocent curiosity to Mandate.

She pulled her purse into her lap then removed her phone taking a quick picture. "For later. Now, do you have a home or anyone to return to? Are you lost? Do you know where you are?"

Bach gave her a thumbs up, rapidly scribbling his notes away.

In truth, Mandate had more questions bubbling away under the surface, but it seemed that the Ambassador had more questions in turn for her, and that was simply wonderful. The grass had been captivating, a lullaby of sorts to which she could reduce her thoughts to a minimum and simply observe, but interacting with this new face, these new figures, was stimulating to her mind.

And they came with revelations of their own, as well. Mandate 'hmmm'ed as she considered the answers, and the questions given in turn. Paris, Paris, Paris. The golem rolled the word around in her thoughts, as she did with most words. But it was a special one. It held a place in the minds of... Most of herself. She only knew this because it felt the same as such words as 'California' and 'Ohio', but different still. Not the same... Size? That larger feeling must have been the sensation of state. That felt correct.

And Bach, Bach was still strangely captivating yet difficult to look at, and impossible to truly... Well, observe. That he supposedly looked somewhat human was curious; that he possessed features that were also less human was interesting. But there was only so much that could be addressed at any particular point. Like individual blades of grass, Mandate had to focus to count the merits. Right now, the Ambassador was the target of her focus.

It was only polite, and she liked to examine the strange human. Even if her questions prodded ever so slightly at unkind memories. Driven by a strange instinct, Mandate's smile smoothed over for a moment, then returned. "I'm afraid I don't! Or, I'm not afraid, but I don't." She was glad she had no one to return to, when it came to her options. Strange men, strange women, pain. "I do not think I am lost. I am in a park?" She tilted her head, and reconsidered.

"I am lost, yes. But I'm okay. You are very nice."

Odette could see the thoughts churning in Mandate's smooth head, "I am sorry you were in pain, Mandate. Such cruelty to do unto a curiosity such as yourself. You are in Central Park, New York City. Not a typical place for a golem to be wandering around in. Other humans do not take kindly to... such unique things."

"I'm glad I found you here. You said you felt a strange feeling? As of last night?""

Mandate would have blinked if she was capable of such a thing, her focus entirely upon the Ambassador; she was very perceptive, surprisingly but pleasantly so. The living work of magic felt the decision to maintain her 'smile' becoming firmer, the instinct to become something less pleasant drifting away. Personally, she had yet to let what random humans cared about stop her, but what she perceived as concern was pleasing to hear.

Empathy and sympathy. More things to consider.

The mention of last night, however, finally earned a larger momentary lapse in Mandate's smile, as it inverted into her general representation of sadness, displeasure. It was a good symbol, simple but conveying much, like symbols were supposed to do. The pangs of that event were still settling downown, although the pain was long gone.

It was unsettling. But perhaps the Ambassador could assist her. Seemingly perking up, Mandate leaned forward as she replied. "Yes, very strange! Did you feel the tugging as well? It was not pleasant! I tried to dig for it, but I lost it." Her hand gestured to the dirt around her. She hadn't put much effort into the attempt, but it was still frustrating to fail. "I hope I find it again. Did you lose it too?"

"I felt it a little differently than you did, I felt it as a chill." Odette began recalling the night before. It was more than just a chill it felt invasive. She blinked taking less than a pause before carrying on, "You and I are of magical means, Mandate."

She plucked a blade of grass and folded her hands over it. "We are gifted by extraordinary powers that do not abide by the rules of this reality." She said looking into the red globe of Mandate's eye. She whispered a small spell urging for the grass to grow. Blue light softly peeking out from the creases in her fingers. The blade of grass slowly grew from inside her palms sprouting in various directions, until it became a soft bed of grass in the palm of her hands.

She offered it up for Mandate to touch a small frown giving her expression a touch of sadness. "I won't be here in the city for much longer... I would hate to say goodbye so soon to a new friend but my home is in Paris."

Mandate was silent as the strange and interesting lady spoke, enraptured and listening intently. Her single crimson eye was focused down upon her hands, the intimidating shape of her torso leaned forward in very obvious interest. Her v of a smile had solidified once more, and her wonder was obvious in the 'ohhh' of her hum.

Mandate had seen some magic, and knew that it existed; it was her very existence, after all, her lifeblood. She had seen desperate hand motions form barriers between her and her creators in her first moments of existence. She was certain she had felt something terrible brewing before she had crushed them, and yet... Desperation and pain were not good motivators to remember a moment, to view it in the full detail of its glory and enchanting nature.

Here, sitting upon the soft earth across from the Ambassador, was a far better moment to remember than those times. She reached forward slowly, mercury-colored and sharply-pointed fingers almost comically delicate in the way that they brushed across the bed of grass.

And, as ever, she could feel it. Despite her mercurial nature, the blades brushed softly across her surface, and fond... Memories- no, sensations- fluttered through her from her subconscious. She had felt this many times before, even as herself, but it still elicited that soft feeling.

The reminder that she was free.

It was the Ambassador's next words that drew her from her calm stupor. Her fingers flinched back from the grass as she loooked back to the kind lady's face. She would be... Leaving? So soon? Mandate wanted to speak something along those lines, but... It would be rude, wouldn't it? Her smile inverted as she considered this new reality. The smooth plates across her head momentarily flared up, giving the appearance of a lion's mane for the briefest of moments. Agitation, she recognized internally. And, upon contemplation, finality.

She did not like that sadness, and she did not want to be alone.

"I can come with you..." she offered tentatively, momentarily unsure, before her tone solidified. It was an expectant sort of hopefulness. "Can I? I would like to see Paris."

Odette's frown slowly, convincingly turned into a warm smile. She slid the patch of grass in her hands back into the ground, blue light helped the newly grown grass intergrate seamlessly. Bach stowed his notebook away wearing a smile of admiration for his pact partner. He walked around Mandate and helped Odette to stand. An intelligent golem in their possession would surely be a boon.

"I would be honoured to show you Paris." She said sweetly offering her hand out for Mandate to hold. "Come my friend we shall depart, the City of Lights awaits you."

@Fallenreaper @Hellis

The day had proceeded as it normally had for the young man after his guests had left. He continued filling out orders and dropping off packages like he always did. One thing that surprised him though was that It was rather quiet around this section of town lately...almost too quiet. As if it were the calm before a mighty storm came through. Jaden would've welcomed a bit of peace and quiet but at the same time both he and his partner knew better than to let their guard down.

The last time he'd done that he gotten a bullet in his head...

"Alright, Gaia, this is our last stop for the evening," Jaden commented as he came out of an alley next to a modest-sized apartment building. dropping his disguise,"Once we drop this off, we'll have the whole evening to ourselves." He motioned to a small package in his arms.

"Pfft, yeah, or at least we'll have it till one of your customers calls looking for more medicine for their athlete's foot, or something..." Gaia floated against the brick wall and sighed,"Can you at least let me play Pokemon Omega Ruby while you're dropping that package off?"

He reached into his coat pocket and handed over his 3DS. "Knock yourself out," Jaden then turned and walked up the stairs that led to the second floor. He headed down the hall to a door with the numbers 307 marked on the front and knocked, "Mrs Wilson? It's me Jaden. I got that refill on your medicine you asked for."

"Hang on,dear. These legs aren't what they use to be..." came a voice from behind the door. A few seconds later, it opened and an elderly woman with short curly white hair and fair skin wearing a cream-colored dress was standing there, smiling, "Oh, bless you, my dear boy! I apologize for the inconvenience. It's just my husband came down with a bad case of the flu so I been stuck taking care of him. If not for that, I would've picked this up myself."

"Eh, don't worry about it," The young man gave a dismissive wave, smiling,"Trust me, I know from experience that when push comes to shove, family takes priority over other things."

"Indeed it does," The elderly lady chuckled,"Oh! Would you like to come in for a bit? I just finished baking some chocolate chip cookies, and I think I may have made a few too many."

"Cookies..." Jaden hesitated for a moment, briefly pondering the offer...before shaking his head,"I appreciate the offer, Mrs Wilson...but I kinda already promised a friend of mine we'd go to Chinatown for a bite to eat."

"I understand, but at least let me put them in a bag for you," She beckoned him inside while she filled up a brown paper bag with cookies that seemed ready to fall apart, "I hope you and your friend have fun...just be careful out there, ok? Me and my husband been listening to the radio lately and it seems like there's some unruly individuals hanging around that area."

"Unruly individuals, huh?" Jaden's interest was piqued at hearing this,"Well, if me or my friend see anything
suspicious, we'll definitely call the proper authorities..." And by proper authorities, I mean a certain guy who treats plants like they're a flipping Green Lantern Ring....

"I have no doubt you will. You always strike me as such a good boy..." She smiled at him and went to fetch some milk from the fridge...however, at that moment, a brief tremor went through out the area, causing the both of them to stumble about on their feet, "E-Earthquake!!!" She tripped and tumbled over...only for Jaden to catch her, "Oh, thank you dearie..."

"Under the table! Quick!" Jaden and her quickly crawled under the kitchen table to wait out what they assumed was an earthquake. Several pots and pans fell off the counter and a shelf full of books toppled over...but after a minute, the quake vanished as quickly as it had come. The young man took a moment to see if it would start up again. When it didn't, he sighed with relief and helped Mrs Wilson to her feet, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, dear...oh wait!" She went to check on her husband...only to return a few seconds later, wearing a frown, "Typical...he slept through the whole thing...I swear, some days I think nothing short of a nuclear bomb is gonna wake him up..." Despite her choice of words, she still looked relieved as she handed him the bag, "Thank you again, dear, and please come visit sometime, alright?"

"I will, thanks again, Mrs Wilson." Waving good-bye, he smiled and headed on out...only to have that smile stiffen once he was far enough away, "Gaia?" His partner flew up next to him,"You felt that too, didn't you?"

"Kinda hard not to. Totally threw me off when I was right in the middle of catching an Luxray too..." Gaia sighed and closed up the game, "I suppose you want to track down who or what caused that?"

"You know me all too well...here, take these as an apology," He handed over the bag, "Just...don't get any chocolate on my clothes, ok?"

"No promises," She grinned at him before hiding inside the hood of his coat.

The young man rolled his eyes as he made sure no one was around...before ditching his human guise and returning to his costumed self before taking off, climbing to the rooftops for a better vantage point. He may've made it look easy but honestly? Maintaining a human appearance could be rather tricky, at times. He had to take so many things into account like height, weight, making his skin smooth enough, the right color for said hair and skin, the list went on.

That, and fire was one of his worst enemies. Heck, it was to the point that even being around a lighter for a while was enough to make him uncomfortable. It was actually a relief when he got the chance to change back as it let him cut loose without worry of people getting suspicious.

The plant warrior scanned the area from the roof...and he heard a car alarm off in the distance. Figuring he might as well check it out, he took a running leap and started sprinting across the rooftops, the noise getting louder as he approached. Before long, he arrived at what he guessed was the epicenter of this whole mess....and boy, was it not pretty, at all.

Parts of the street had large cracks running up and down them with other sections actually sticking up out of the ground partly. A street light had fell over and landed on someone's car which had likely set off the alarm. A number of the buildings around him were missing roof tiles and several fire hydrants had burst open,launching water geysers into the air.

Deciding to get some answers,Jaden swung on down to the street level and upon seeing how eerily quiet and deserted it was aside from the car alarm, he spotted a hanging plant outside a gardening shop. He walked over, "Yo, got a minute?" The flower leaned down to listen closer, "I trust you know what happened here?" The plant was seemingly quiet for a second, though Jaden somehow understood. "Yes, I know, you don't have eyes, but you must've heard something, right?" It nodded,"Great...would you mind sharing what you know?"

The plant reached out and attached one of its roots to Evergreen's head...and suddenly, it was like a audio recording was playing in his head. There had been people here, for sure, at least two women and a group of men. Sounds of fighting, though it was rather one-sided in the women's favor. Eventually, the men fled, and the women went in another direction. The recording cut off at that point, "Thanks for that. Be seeing ya."

With that, Evergreen swung back up to the rooftops and headed off in the direction that the women's footsteps had led them. If they had taken off, it was for one of several reasons. Either to flee from the police, to pursue those men...or to get something to eat. Anyone of them was valid. "I hope you plan to let me try one of the buffets over in Chinatown once this matter is dealt with." Gaia remarked from inside the collar of his cape while swallowing a cookie.

"We really need to talk about how much food you eat. It's not healthy.." Jaden retorted as they kept on moving...before suddenly stopping, "Wait..." He looked down from the roof to see two figures running together. One of them donned from head to toe in black attire and seemed to have some sort of mask covering their face. Totally not suspicious at all.

Evergreen leapt off the roof, letting his cape unfold into wings to slow his descent towards the ground not far from the two people he'd been pursuing. He landed as his wings changed back and he greeted the two rather politely, "Hi there! Apologies for stopping you in your tracks but I'm looking for any info on a mini earthquake that happened a while ago..." He glanced at his hand, "You two wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Despite his politeness, one of his eyes focused on them, a subtle sign that they were not to try anything funny.

The morning after Kayla’s appearance as an unknown archer was rough. While Jeremy had heard everything that had happened during the evening 6 days ago and allowed her time off to allow her to recover from the shock, still trying to get back into routine so she can get back to work was tough. She had managed to get a lot of the electronic components from her work store and the components for making arrows, especially for some of the specialized arrows that she had in mind for future use. The first arrow that she had in mind, which would become the basis of all of her special arrows was one that would assist in traversing the city landscape. While trying to learn parkour on the fly had come up with some mild success, she did admit that hauling two unconscious men up via ladder was a struggle and everything about the ‘interrogation’ would have been awkward if someone saw them on the ground. Despite the flaws, the night had been successful in getting some needed information.

Her body was sore while in her personal archery room in the apartment, adding things to the bare mind map that was on one of the wall. The room had initially been a spare room that Mia had for storage, Kayla had been using it as her personal room in which she could practice archery and had the key to enter the locked room. While it wasn’t perfect for a place where she keeps her new ‘night life’, but it certainly would be a good temporary place whilst Mia remained in hospital by Mark’s side, who remained in critical condition. She had planned to visit them later today, but she first needs to have a look and process the information that was retrieved. Picking up a personal voice recorder, she sat down in one of the revolving office chairs. ”Last night, at 2:18am,” she started, her cognac eyes looking at the mind map. ”… I had encountered two low-time criminals. While one of them remained unconscious throughout the questioning, the other one who I did interrogate was known in the area as the Argentine in relation to his origin and the main members of his small-time criminal organization. The man responsible for the bombing in the vicinity…” The image of the man came across her mind, causing her to pause. Once the image was gone, she carried on. ”… had been identified as a member of the Penose. They are a criminal organization, originating from the Netherlands, that has been rumoured to be a rising organization in Lost Haven. However, the Argentine didn’t give me a location or the general area in where the group is conducting its business. That was proven to be the case when he failed to give an account to who or where they got the explosives from. As tracking and questioning the organizations that sell explosives will take too long before the man disappears forever, the next course of action is to determine the construction of the bomb and look at the electronic components in the bomb.” She pauses again, not wanting to say what she had in mind in order to get a lead on the Penose. However, she knew she was running out of options and time. ”In order to determine the electronics of the bomb, I need to see the fragments. This will lead to one of two paths: to convince the police to see the fragments in the police department before they are sent off… or to break into the police department and get the fragments myself. Neither option is great, but I have to find another lead quickly.”

She stopped the recording and pushed herself towards a workbench in the room. On the top, multiple arrow shafts were grouped into two piles: The pile on the left side of the table looked like nothing had been modified, bar the arrow wraps, flights and nocks; On the right, the arrows looked similar barring metal wires emerging from within the shaft, a tri-pronged broadhead arrow with hinged head additions on the end of it. The first set of special arrows she had in mind would help counter the traversing problem she had on the first night, simply dubbed ‘grappling arrow’. Towards the right end of the bench, the gloves she wore were propped against the wall, the right hand now having an additional mechanism. The mechanism was to help with getting the grapple to work, made of an old cassette player with newer, stronger motors. Rubber cogs were attached to the ends of the motors, interlocking with each other with some test wire remaining in place as a test. Her eyes focused down on the arrows and carried on modifying the arrow shafts from the left-hand pile. Another lead needs to be found or everything done was for nothing.

---

Ever since the bombing, Mark had been in a coma. The doctors did all they could with the shrapnel that was lodged in his gut but any possible infection that came as a result from the injury was a concern of the doctors. The bleeding was no longer a concern, which was at least comforting news. In the end, the doctors were still pessimistic about his outlook despite his body being pumped with antibiotics and painkillers. Even if he survived the infection, he would never be the same person he was. The shrapnel, while it did not go through his body, was embedded in his spine. While a neurologist hasn’t examined him yet, the amount of shrapnel that was embedded in his spine was more than enough to hit the nerves. If he pulled through this, he would never walk again.

Kayla arrived into the ICU, unzipping her cloak as she walked in. She spots Mia, head lying on the bed next to her boyfriend. His heart monitor was still beeping away, which was a good sign. Kayla reached Mia’s side and gently nudged her shoulder. Her friend jumped up to see who it was but relaxed shortly afterwards. ”Another rough night?” Kayla asked, watching her childhood friend rub the sleep out of her eyes.

“Yeah,” she replied, the grogginess in her voice giving all the information Kayla needed. Ever since the bombing, Mia had remained at his side, only returning to the apartment just to shower. “Just don’t want him to get any worse than he is now.”

”The doctors would have that covered. He’s in the best of hands.”

“I know. I’m just worried for him.”

”And I’m worried about you. You haven’t been sleeping well. I’m sure he will be fine with you getting at least some decent sleep in a bed.”

Mia sighs, “I guess you’re right. I’m just regretting letting him chasing the bus for his silly phone. He wouldn’t be in this state if I just stopped him.”

Kayla frowned. She hadn’t told Mia about the real reason why he ran after the bus. I think that even if you did, he still would have ran for the bus. ”Hey, you don’t know that. No one really knew that something like this would happen.” And it will never happen again once I find out who had done this. He will pay ”Shall we get you back home?” Mia nodded and gathered her things. Before they were out the door, Mia leant over and kissed Mark on his forehead. Kayla, in the meantime, told the doctor that her friend will be back once she got some sleep.

Once they were outside and at the bus stop, Mia looked towards her friend. “I have one question to ask.” Kayla turned to look her friend. “On that night, before the explosion, you started walking after a guy. Why did you go after him?”

The question surprised Kayla. She had been focused on getting answers from the man that she didn’t even consider what her actions looked like with the other people of the group. ”I thought he said something about me,” she replied. ”He mentioned something about someone in Pasadena while looking at me and though it was something. Guess I’ll never know.” The last part was uncertain in Kayla’s mind. She was determined to find that guy as he had something to do with it, but finding him in Lost Haven would be like finding a specific needle in a pile of needles. But she still hadn’t given up, thinking about tonight’s plan of action as she got on the bus.

Rune was running a whole lot of ideas through his head. "So. I never been to albion. So I have absolutely no idea what awaits us. What I do know is the my rifle is there, and I really, really need it. Even If I have to fight for it. I don't suppose you have something you call upon, or you know, ask?" He had been many places, among those The Strange Sands where Fae went to die alone, In Tír na nÓg – where the Gaelic and Celtic fae congregated and he had spent years of his life in Alfheim. But Avalon, Avalon was new. And new things... Terrified him.

Eva nodded, as the man known as Johan or Rune, as his Hero persona would better be known as did some explaining of his own. It was nice to meet another Champion of sorts."So, you're another Champion, like, what my Senior? Does it even work that way. Am I a Champion?"

"I'm... Not sure. I don't think you're my junior. Other then age I guess. We are champions for different kings, legacies and realms really. There are a myriad of magical kingdoms and realms that exist beyond our own."

Dickens thrashed about wilfully in Eva's arms. Likely wanting to explore more."Sorry, looks like he's antsy. So. I guess that last part is undecided then, first though back on track. I might know someone who can get us to Avalon. I mean, he's been there, I just hope he remembers how he got there is what I'm saying."

There was a pause as Eva placed Dickens down. "We need to go to the Library, the magical kind. Just uh. Yeah follow me then right yeah."

"Alright. It is your show now. So this person, is he also tied to the Excalibur?" He said as he followed.

"You could say that, tied. Yeah. Person, not so much any more though."[/color]

There was a few minutes between leaving the Red Devil and the opening to Merlin's Library, it was a simple enough process and all Eva really needed was a door. As she cracked it open the Library started to reveal its wonders, magnificent ceilings as high as the eye could see packed with old books, older than anything Earth had, books that were scrolls, or mere parchment. Artifacts lined the walls with the most dangerous safely tucked away far from reach. It never failed to surprise Eva with how big the place actually was, "So, This is the Magical Library of a Merlin from another Earth, but the one we're looking for should be abou..."

And while they turned a corner, Arthur floated up, his Golden sheen giving him an aura of grandeur, which was highly rare even among higher spirits, most simply had a blue or green sheen at best. "She doesn't like guests, you know that. Who do we have here then?"

'This, Johan is Arthur Pendragon. Err, his Ghostly form that is,"

Johan stared. He was not ashamed of admitting it. He stared at the ghostly apparition. "You... Yo' a fokinn king." His accent suddenly heavy as the day he first learned english from watching too much BBC comedy.

Arthur took a moment appreciating the fact that finally someone was flabbergasted that King Arthur still hung around the mortal world. "I'm beginning to like this guy, he's someone who appreciates my legacy proper. Unlike my own Descendant."

"Johan is another Champion, wielding a powerful artifact. We found that a Demon is behind the creation of the Soul Stone, and he has a weapon that can help. Problem is it's in Avalon. We need a way to get there. And not everyone knows the legend of King Arthur."

"Avalon yes. Been ages since I was last there, if I remember I coated Excalibur in a magic oil, hmm. Give me a few minutes to remember what it was."

Merlin who up until now has been deep in her books came out and began to.furiously shout at the newcomer."Keep your filthy Elven scent off my Library. I know who you serve that Nêuvean Winterborn. I remember him from my World, and since he has a Male Champion I can only assume his taste differentiates in this one. I don't want his Elven stank defiling my Pristine Library, Sodding Islander."

"I will try to not rub myself all over your collection of 1400's erotica. Do not worry one bit." He said as he took one book, and as to demonstrate what he wasn't going to do, rubbed it in his beard." You don't wanna know what this beard has seen and done. Or where it has been."

"Considering Winterborn, in his arse." Merlin said as the halls began to convulse and spasm like the entire Library was one gigantic throat. With the walls shaking and the bookshelves moving perfectly to the sway the trio was spat out onto the street, a dust cloud following them.Eva regained her footing to see something odd. Within a moment of getting upright, she took out her phone and pointed it towards Johan. "Stay still."

"What. Why are you taking a picture?" Johan said, still a bit disoriented from the porting.

"No, real reason." The flash from the phone was quickly gone and Eva looked at the picture. "I could send it to you if you want." She said handing him her phone, with a picture of Johan's beard covered in pink smiley faced unicorn hair braids.

"...Fair game." He said a bit indignant. While Rune looked at the image, the hair braids began to laugh jovially.

"Well, what's next then Arthur?" Eva slid her phone back into her pocket.

"We'll need some ingredients, and a Paddle Boat."

Eva turned in surprise, "Really."

"With the spell Avalon can be reached by any body of water, even a pond, unless that is you'd rather take the weeklong way by boat across the sea."

"Makes sense I suppose.." Rune mumbled softly.

Some time later.

With the passing of a couple hours Eva and Johan had everything they needed and a Swan Paddle Boat to put the cherry on top. Eva ran the oil down the length of Excalibur and as it shone throughout the pond something mystical happened, as if the Pond cleared away and the Ocean lay before them. "I'm pretty sure it's working, that or this Pond is a lot bigger than I thought."

Johan, currently busy removing the braids from his hair, looked up. His eyes narrowed as he got rid of the last one. "Seems we made it. Getting in is always the easy part... Now we gotta find my rifle." He said as they seemed to drift towards a distant shoreline. A thick mist wrapped around them and brought a chill to Runes bones. Avalon, the Land of Mist indeed. A great tower seemed to lay further inland. But Runes eyes were affixed to the two massive wings that unfurled somewhere on top of said tower, barely visible in the mist.

"Ok.. So there are Dragons here. Great. Just... great."

Location: Lost Haven (French Quarter)

Sleep came slowly for Lekh, but once it came he stuck with it well enough. Enough to carry himself into the late morning and feel fairly well rested. His eyes cracked open naturally as a thin strip of light shone on his face through the crack in his curtain. He sat up immediately and went to his phone. However, it seemed Rook hadn’t run into any issues overnight because he hadn’t received any message on said phone, which he flicked through restlessly at the end of his bed. He casually threw it back onto the desk and allowed himself to fall back into bed, his dyed black hair tousled by uneasy sleep in stark contrast to the lightness of the sheets. His skin was paler now than it had been, the fake dye had worn out and his natural tone had returned. He slept in underwear alone, and in his somewhat compromising position the surprising muscularity of his body was more apparent than he usually let on. He was not absurdly built, but the strength was there, he had always found it strangely easy to exercise and lift weights and only had to train a little each day to maintain a powerful but more importantly functional build.

He rolled off the bed and fell into a press-up, beginning his morning routine. As his body worked through the motions his mind was free to wander, and as per usual, it wandered to all sorts of strange places. These thoughts and actions brought him into the early afternoon, when an altogether unexpected message came through his phone. An old contact had resurfaced, and his stomach was immediately filled with an uneasy feeling he recognised as worry. It wasn’t quite a premonition, but some part of Lekh recognised that if the Ambassador was involving herself in his life again, things were going to get complicated.

Are you free to have coffee with me soon?
I have some great news
~*~<3~*~

His eyes flicked back and forth as he read and re-read the message, innocent enough as it seemed that feeling in the core of his being had yet to abate. Still, there was also a degree of opportunity available to him here if he was to meet with the Ambassador. He had some very valuable information but only one person to sell it to. Now he had another, and that opened up new avenues, gave him options. He liked having options. Options were good.

Of course, are you planning to visit Lost Haven soon?
If it is of interest, I have some news about a mutual acquaintance of ours that left without saying goodbye a few months back.

He entered his reply and sent it off, a small smile tugging at his lips. Lekh knew it would be of more than just interest to the Ambassador. He had learned a fair amount about Ms Favre’s character, and from what he had heard about the encounter at the Ironworks, Ms Favre really wanted to find Miss Desdemona. That should lure her in, the sooner the better. The information he had would likely have a sale by date. Information was like that sometimes, it was a hard product to sell, but the profit margins were almost always sky high.

Rake

Location: Lost Haven (Chinatown)

Taut muscles put in one last effort, and she pulled herself up to the ledge where she knew Rook would be waiting, trying to keep quiet so she could surprise him. Of course, the moment she crested the lip she had a full on view of the kid’s bare ass as he mooned at her, Rook having heard her coming from a nautical mile away. His pale face was turned in a laughing grin as he took in her shock and annoyance.

“You’re such a fucking creep Rook.”

The boyish criminal laughed, but it was a cold laugh, marked with an edge of cruelty. Some people said it was the eyes that betrayed the real article, in Rook that little seed of darkness only really came through when he laughed. Rake regarded him with just a small touch of fear in her shrewd brown eyes. She was a couple years older and a little bigger as well, she had always regarded Rook as a little brother and an annoying one at that, but when she heard that laugh she couldn’t help but shiver. One day soon he’d be bigger than her, and a little tougher too. But not yet, thank god.

Rook pulled his trousers up and turned around. “Bout time you showed up Rake, can’t say much has happened though.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Weird guy walked over and chatted with the girl and the old lady, he looked like a bit of a poofter to be honest.”

“Don’t be a dick, Rook.” Rake spat at him, climbing up and sitting next to the younger boy. He shrugged, as if accepting he was being a bit of a dick. He looked down at the street below and then muttered something under his breath. It took him a few minutes to fill her in on everything that had happened. After which he let out another of those creepy chuckles of his, and Rake cuffed him on the head. “Get out of here kid, you’ve done your stint.”

“I’m going I’m going.” Rook grinned, the boy Rake knew returned to her in a flash after a departure so brief she always found herself second guessing what she’d heard and seen. She watched him saunter off down the street, after descending, and into the midst of early morning hustle and bustle where he promptly disappeared, something he had a gift for. She couldn’t help but admire it. Of course, when it came to hiding, Rake was a lot better than him. She couldn’t blend in with the crowd, despite efforts to the contrary she was too pretty, messy brown hair in a bob and a flawless Hispanic complexion made her stand out on the street. She was on the cusp of adulthood, and turned a few heads, the only thing she had going for her and her chosen profession of creeping around was her relatively short stature. She was a bit of a midget actually, just under five feet tall. Perfect for nesting in odd places, like a windowsill of an abandoned apartment room just across the street from where Racheli had last been spotted. Rook had even been kind enough to leave some potato chips.

---

After playing with Angelo for several hours, Ben retired to bed. His feet dragged him past the dirty clothes and other discarded materials, his zombified figure too forever to shuffle toward the bed alcove. Additional clothes were peeled off leaving him only in his boxers when he arrived. He twisted about and flopped into the mess of covers, his middle heavy from the massive two pizza he ate earlier and created a drowsiness in his mind. The fogginess added to his tired nature, his mouth barely able to stop himself from yawning. In moments his consciousness drifted off into slumber while his unwanted house guests made themselves at home.

However he didn’t stay that way hours later.

It started as an uneasy feeling. Something wrong, his mind restless and unable to calm. Then came the prickling heat. The hot, uncomfortable sensation spread across his surface and edged deep down into his very bones. It brought discomfort and misery the longer he ignored it. Sweat started to bead down his skin and soak his sheets, giving them a slight musty odor. His middle curled into itself causing it to become nauseated and his mind stirred to unwanted awareness. Still groggy, Ben thought an adjustment might help. Immediately his body flipped about, his legs sending several sheets to fall to the ground. He didn’t care they would mingle with the dirty clothes piled up near his bed edge and tried to drift off again.

Suddenly, his skin became tighter. It stretched across his surface and pressed down his muscles, the structure slightly odd in the way it budged. It then itched furiously. Ben scratched at his skin, his nails dug over his neck back. It became worst causing him to scratch harder. Something wet and sticky abruptly coated his fingers and shortly, something coming away into his grip tugging Ben from his sleep. He paused and cautiously pulled his hand to his eyes. A large, freshly flayed piece of his skin dangled in front of him.

Ben tossed it in a knee jerk reaction. It made a fleshy smack across the wall where it stuck, leaving a red smear in its wake on the way down. His eyes widened in horror, barely ignoring the itching sensation presence, to stare at what just happened. His heart thumped loudly in his chest while he jerked upright then scrambled against the wall, pressing his back against it.

He immediately bent his head over, Ben reached both hands to search his neck area. The teenage expected to feel his own muscles exposed to the air. Instead, he found fur. It was wet, sticky and plastered near his neck base. His fingers examined it, but when he yanked on a fistful… pain shot into his spine. He yelped in surprised that it hurt. In his hand were several chunks of blond fur which had came away.

The Ben shot toward the doorway, his foot just hitting the floor when a spike of pain nailed his Achilles tendon. His leg crumpled underneath him, bring him to face the floor on all four. Another sharp crack as bones altered their original form, first his foot growing longer and bent at a new angle while his upper thigh shorten. It was excruciating pain causing Ben to release a scream soon consumed by a spine shaking, eerie wolf howl.

When Angelo, Carmen and Hakeem managed to bust in Benjamin’s door, they would hear a loud crash when a blond, slightly humanoid wolf busted through the second story window then darted off the balcony. In moments, he vanished into the night. All he left behind was a bloody mess of shredded skin.

There was a rule, unwritten but often referenced: Where there are Champions, there are dragons. There is a reason to Wyrms, Wyverns, Drakes and Dragons appear in all the sagas to fight the man with the sword. It is because Dragons are beings of not only powerful magic, but boundless greed. They hoard everything, from gold to artifacts to knowledge. They are also intelligent enough to posses arrogance and completely despise lesser creatures.

Enter the Champions, bringers of justice, warriors of virtue, the long arm of their Patrons law. And there were no bigger culprits, no worse criminals then the dragons who recognized no kings, no laws. And so, Johan swore like a sailor as he got his spear charged up. They were still drifting towards the shore like they were being towed in, but he saw that dragon take off. And he had no doubt it was going to fly their way sooner or later.

Eva stared blankly at the Dragon soaring above them and thoughts of doubt streamed through her mind No freaking way, nope, Magic, Demons, Ghosts, this is taking the biscuit out of everything I've seen

"I fucking hate Dragons..." He said as their boat reached the shore. "I am gonna lay down a tracking spell. You keep my back clear Alright. I have no idea what kind of creatures live here aside that dragon..."

"Um, I." Eva stuttered her mind struggled to snap back to whatever reality she had been dropped into. "Oh just, Sodding hell. There's a Bloody Stonking Dragon, like. Like. I don't Bloody know how I'm supposed to respond to this. But fine, Arse everything! I'll keep them off ya with my grand personality yeah!"

"You got a sword don't you?! So sword them!" Johan shouted at her as he began to lay out rune carved bones and creating runes and circles in the sand around him. All the time muttering in odors as magic coursed trough him. The runes on his hands and his entire trench coat lit up like Christmas as power fluxed and surged around his feet. Even as he worked, he could see shapes in the thick mist, moving their way.

The winged figure began to break through the fog, it's head was that of a Lion, but the body it was attached to was horrifying, bat wings and a snake tail. Eva had no idea what it was but it was making a bee line for them.

"Good Evening!" The beast shouted sounding like a proper British Gent, before it's massive claws sprung out towards the two. "Forgive my rudeness, but I'm quite famished, and you two would go lovely with a simple balsamic glaze." The beast let out a roar.

Before Eva could respond, tentacles shot out from Dicken's mouth wrapping around the beast and since it was swiftly coming in for the kill all; it didn't take much for Dickens to easily swallow the beast whole, even in it's diminutive state. Snapping bones and spurting blood as it was sucked down through Dicken's maws.

"You gotta be kidding me." Rune said, staring in terrified admiration. "Can I have one of those?" He said as he finished the preparation for the spell.

Eva stood just as stunned as Johan, she knew he'd eat practically anything but that; that was something else. "So. I'm gonna admit I didn't think he could do that. Good Boy?" Eva said as she rubbed the underside of his neck while Dickens stood content and happy with his meal.

"Well. The spell is ready. Stand back" Rune spoke as he stood in the middle of a very intricate circle. He raised his spears as he thundered out words of ancient Norse and a language few humans knew; the tongue of Frostelves, Feiylan. His spear lit up like a massive beacon for a second as the bones around him exploded into magic fire and the sand shifted at his feet. He kept chanting as beam cut trough the mist from the tip of his spear. Then the spell died and Rune staggered. A corridor had formed in the thick mist, and seemed to remain there.

"Trough that... path... is my rifle" Johan huffed. "Using my magic here is really hard on me apparently."

Eva beckoned and Dickens followed, as they stepped of onto the beach. "Okay," Eva said crouching. "Time to grow." Dickens stood for a moment, as his body began to change, the tentacles that created his muscles expanded as he began to tower above them becoming the giant that he really was. "Let's take the fast route, yeah. Nothing says fast travel like a giant Alien T-Rex." Eva hopped on his back and reached a hand towards Rune "You getting on?"

"uh... Yeah ok" Johan climbed up with some effort. As they set off, he marveled at the speed of the thing. "I am getting one of these" He stated. "It would make my life so much easier." Johan found that for the first time in a while, the cloud of self pity and anger was dissipating. He clung to the creatures back as they began to close on the massive tower they seen trough the mist. And that's when he saw the Dragon come swooping down at them. "Fock..."

With a sweeping force that could only be coma pared to a typhoon speeding past them; the force knocking them off Dickens and forcing him to stumble. The Dragon was something of a beast, even as massive as Dickens was it still outclassed him. It swung back around and let out a volcanic blast of fire melting the flesh right off Dickens. There was a roar of pain as it immediately began regenerating tissue wrapped around trunks of tentacles and Dickens grew even larger of all things.

"That is a goddamn dragon. Your alien pet can grow as big as it like, the magic nature of the dragon won't let it lose to it!" Rune spoke over the screeching, roaring and sound of ground scorching fire. "It is your job as a champion, to put that thing down!"

"Swell. Dickens!" Eva yelled, "Bring it down!" As Eva gripped Excalibur the Dragon came back round. "Johan! Until Dickens can bring it down, I'm pretty useless, unless you can make me fly, so if you can shoot spells or something, I'll leave ranged to you."

"What! This is your dragon dammit!" Johan yelled over the noise but none the less began to channel a spell through his spear. This one was rather straight forward as it only relied on his own innate magic and not his surroundings like before. Runes appeared like ghostly flames around the tip of his spear: Then as the beast made another sweep, he tossed the spear. The throw was half assed at best, but the spear shot off like a rocket,smashing into the Dragon. However, being innately resistant to magic, the Dragon seemed to be annoyed more then anything. It spit a single ball of magical fire at Johan who only barely managed to create a shield, throwing out a handful of stones and bones in front of him.

"Well shit. Those were all the shield runes I brought..."

"MY Dragon!" Eva shouted back. "Unless you wanna ask it, I don't think it particularly cares which one of us it munches on, I mean yeah, I'll toss the sword, sure. That'll bring it down for sure. Johan's attack did naught but piss it off, thankfully as it swooped back around again Dickens was prepared to lunge at it, leaping over the tree line and clinching it's jaws around the Dragon slamming it to the ground. Dicken's maws dug into it's flesh, through the scales. But was on a whole ineffective.

"Your blade holds unparalleled lethality in this realm! As its champion, you posses the power to put down anything native to Avalon!" Johan shouted only to add "I hope at least" He added more to himself then to her.

The Dragon struggled with Dickens, continuing to scorch his ever regenerating flesh. Eva rushed up sword at the ready for a heavy over hand swing."Shite! Blast it all!" Eva yelled out in a panic as her sword connected with it's throat cleaving a chunk away. As the Dragon began to bleed out Dickens lessened it's bite and sunk it again around it's head, ripping it from the spine, as Eva gave it one last chop to fully sever what remained.

Johan wiped some sweat from his brow. "That creature of yours sure is handy." He walked up the dragon and kicked the rather massive body. "Huh.. This must be a young dragon. I've seen one twice as big.."
"Let's not stick around then, I'd rather not run into another one of these." Eva turned to Dickens, who was more than happily munching on the carcass. "You okay, took a beating there?" Dickens turned with entrails hanging from its maws; cocked it's head and went right back to eating. As humongous as the beast was Dickens tore into it like it was an appetizer what took it seconds for the Chimera was Minutes for a Young Dragon. And if it weren't for Excalibur gaining power in Avalon, who knows how much damage it would have caused.

Although as Eva looked back on it, the Dragon probably didn't have reason to worry about visitors coming this far out.

"I guess, we're done here. Onto the tower then yeah?"

"Just a second." Rune used DIckens happy, and quite sloppily eating of the carcass to access and wrench out the dragons heart. He was elbow deep in blood as he held the bowling ball sized organ in his hands.. "Ok. Now we can go." He said, entirely unconcerned by the fact that he was soaking in dragon blood and holding a glowing, leaking heart under his arm. "What are you staring at?"

"That a thing? Ripping out Dragon hearts? What's next you gonna tell me we should bathe in it's blood?"

"No. That would only insult its cousins I bet. A heart is a powerful ingredient and often sought for by magicians. A dragons heart? I am gonna be set for a while." He hesitated for a second then said. "I'll split the profits 50/50, don't worry." He patted her shoulder, leaving a splotch of dragon blood on it. Then he strolled towards the tower, clearly in better spirits now that the dragon was dealt with and he had made some sort of real profit from the journey.

"Right, well moving on. I should bring Dickens here, more. He seems to be enjoying himself." Eva and Johan climbed onto of dickens once more. Setting of at speed towards the tower. Who knew what horrors awaited them.

Bak may was a woman of few needs, so her home was spartan to say the least. Little existed in way of decoration. Some religious memorabilia and a small shrine was put into the right corner of the living room. Of course, she always wanted to get some potted plants, so now she smiled at Evergreen like a rabbit eyeing salad. “And who might you be?”

Evergreen shrugged while looking up at the woman who had spoken to him, “Nobody important. Just one of the people who’s made it their mission to use what they have to try and make this city a better place…” He looked around….before sighing, “My apologies...this must be a really bad first impression I’m making right now. Complete stranger shows up here and starts acting all menacing and stuff…believe it or not, I do have my reasons though…”

“You’re about as ‘menacing’ as a tossed salad”, Rach stated, her figure shifted to fully toward him to observe. Immediately she noted he had been among those that saved her from the Ironworks, his statement made it obvious he didn’t recognize her due to the mask shrouding her identity.

He ignored the masked one’s statement and refocused on the people before him, “A little while ago, I received a tip from a...reliable source that two women were involved in an incident that set off the equivalent of a miniature earthquake. I noticed you two fleeing the scene and considering one of you is wearing a skull mask...yeah, you can probably understand why I got suspicious…”

“But if you need a name, just call me...Evergreen.”

“Yeah, I caused it. It was the ground or his skull, if you want the truth. I wasn’t too keen on killing someone because Icarus is still teaching me how to control this shit.” Rach stated, wondering if Evergreen would get the subtle hint she and him had a friend in common. At worst, she would have to be flat out blunt about it. Her arms crossed over her lower abdomen while she waited for a reply.

Evergreen tilted his head at hearing this, “YOU caused that earthquake? I…” He shook his head, “Well, at the very least, as far as I can tell, nobody was seriously hurt...wait a second…” That’s when the rest of the masked person’s statement sunk in, “Icarus? Don’t tell me…” He’d heard that Icarus had been wanting to mentor someone whom had similar powers to his own...that was at least three months ago...and that person had been the same one he helped rescue at the Iron Works...which meant…”Oh man...Rach, is...is that you?”

“Took you long enough, though considering I’m wanted in Lost Haven… I go by Nemesis. It was suggested by Icarus that I use an alias should I ever return back here. Been a while and I still owe you for the Ironworks.” Rach stated, happy he finally put two and two together. Through she wished he left out her real name as the less people that knew about her actual name, the better.

“Fleeing? You saw us strolling off after driving off some Triad thugs young….plant-thing.” Bak said, still eyeing the creature like he was a potted plant or a bonsai tree. “Oh if only Kaya was here to see you two. Maybe I could get through to that stubborn girl that solo missions are much too dangerous.”

“I won’t say we’re a team really.” She corrected Bak May, her head tilted in the old woman’s direction.

“I never said you were any such thing Dear. You assume that is what I meant.” Bak may said smugly. “But she could do with seeing others that struggle with their place in the world. She is frailer than she lets on. One day she won’t come back from her private crusade…”

Evergreen looked between the two as they talked. He tilted his head at them before sighing and putting up his hands, “Ok...can you two slow down for a moment, please? I kinda have a few questions I need to ask, if you don’t mind,” He ruffled the white rose petals he had for hair, “Who exactly is this “Triad” group you’re talking about? Also...well..”

He looked to Bak, “Might I ask what your name is, Miss, and what your connection is to
Nemesis here?” If Racheli trusted her, that was fine...but considering she was still a wanted woman in this city, it never hurt to be extra cautious.

“My name, Green one, is Bak May. I am a practitioner of Yiguandao, as was my late husband. I am also, a former world champion in Thai Boxing .” She stated with a smile. “As for my relation to Miss Nemesis, we just met as she was beset by thugs. These thugs belong to the Triads I spoke off. A name for the Chinese maffia more or less. They rule chinatown, and do not look kindly on outsiders.” She motioned to Rach. “Miss Nemesis did not want to use lethal force, and cannot rightly control her powerful body. I have decided to help her reign her strength in some, and teach her the ways of Thai Boxing. You are welcome to join her if you so wish.” She motioned down the street this time .”My house is not far from here, you caught us just as we were about to turn onto my street.”

Rach let Bak explain everything, her eyes panned the scenery as being slightly exposed came into her awareness. There was a few individuals within the dark alley, nothing able to concern her yet. She ignored most of the conversation as she wasn’t much in learning about the old woman, namely because she assumed they would never have the time or have the chance. So what was the point? The woman noted Bak May gesture to her as she continued to inform Evergreen, agreeing with the temporarily situation.
The only issue now became how she would distract herself during the day. Something to think about on when that was important. “Shouldn’t we be wrapping this conversation up inside?”

Evergreen listened along to what he was hearing, frowning when he heard about the
Chinese Mafia. Somehow, despite having no real organs, he got a sinking feeling in his gut, as if he had a worrying suspicion that this whole matter was gonna get very complicated very fast. Still, he nodded in approval at Bak May, “A former Thai Boxing champion. That’s quite the amazing accomplishment to have under your belt…” When he heard about how the Triad ruled Chinatown though, he visibly winced. “I see…”
“Oh great, so I suppose that chinese buffet is gonna have to wait,” Gaia flew out of Jaden’s cloak, fuming, “Seriously, partner, why you gotta go and be the good samaritan all the time…?” She finally noticed the other two, “Oh, hello there.”

“Guys, as hard as this is to believe...allow me to introduce...Gaia, Mother of the Earth…” Jaden gestured to the floating pixie, “I know, she’s not quite what you were expecting…” At hearing Nemesis, he nodded, “Agreed, let’s discuss all this somewhere a bit safer...lead on.”

“Why I am not surprised the spirit of the ‘earth’ is a midget?” Rach mouthed off.

Bak May looked taken aback, she bowed deeply and actually smacked Rache on the back of the head. “Show reverence for the spirits girl!” The elderly thai woman spoke, forcing Rach, who could if she wanted to simply, resist her, to bow her head in respect. “If you cannot even control and show respect towards something tied with all life, how do you ever expect to control yourself from using lethal force?”

“Alright, that’s enough, you two!” Jaden put up his hands to stop them before things could get out of hand, “Look, I’m sure Gaia appreciates the sentiment but she’s not the kind who looks to be worshiped...as far as I know.”

“I can stand up for myself, you know…” grumbled Gaia though she secretly did appreciate him coming to her defense like that. “He’s right though...I don’t really care too much for formalities, and I care even less to be shown respect...I haven’t really gotten it in years so I’m not exactly gonna start fussing over it now…” Jaden pat his friend and although she continued to grumble...she made no effort to stop him either.

The head smack caught Rach off guard, her skull stung on impact when she felt the old woman try to force her head down. Instinctively she resisted, Bak May’s attempt getting her head to bow and now only partly tilt down. Rach gave a glare toward the woman, but didn’t say anything. When the woman released her, she stepped back and ensured there was likely not to be a repeat of the earlier bow.

“Reverence is not worship, Benevolent Spirit” Bak May said as she got up from her bow. “All spirits are worthy of some modicum of reverence. I do not worship you, for to me, you are but one aspect of many. You claim to be of earth itself, and I see no reason to doubt you. And we tread upon your ward everyday, we reap its bounties and live in the shelter of the material it provide. The least we could do is to show the respect inherit in your position and station.” She shot Rache a look. “To do otherwise, would be to spit on the very earth that nurtured and given us life.” She said, as she led the others down the street towards her place.

Her place as it turned out, was a small but not by any means cramped apartment that lay above a gym. This gym as it were, was a traditional thai-boxing training ground. Complete with a large boxing ring, various sandbags and other targets. It was all very old, and the place was clearly well maintained if well used. She smiled at Rache and Evergreen. “Welcome to my home young ones.”

Location-NYC (Hours earlier 2-4 p.m.)

Ji swiftly escaped Ben’s house, the wheels making a loud and horrible screeching noise, shock filling her entire body. Her hands shaking with adrenaline as she clung to the steering wheel to keep her driving steady. She never expected to see another werewolf in New York. The entire year since their arrival, they had never, ever seen another one and it left Ji with a feeling of isolation. To encounter and being close to another, outside of the pack, had been definitely a slap in the face. She stopped the car about a block away from the house and placed it in park.

She slammed her head down against the steering wheel not acknowledging the pain that came with her action, emotions and thoughts going through her astounded mind. As the aftermath of the situation finally boiled down, she began to recollect over what just occurred not even 5 minutes ago. Realizations hit her like a freight train and excitement replaced her impacting feelings.

’Another werewolf! Me and Yeong aren’t alone! Is he in a pack! Wait!’ She stopped her thoughts as she comprehend the smells of the area surrounding the male’s home. There was no other scent giving her any indication of another pack. ’He must be either a newborn or a lone wolf. Was his pack destroyed or did he never have one to begin with?’

With her thoughts going a million miles an hour, her teeth began to bite into her lip, a sure sign that she was uncertain or worried.

[color=lavender]”If he is a new werewolf, we would need to return and make sure the transformation goes well. Could he already made his first one? This would mean trouble if he hasn’t” [/i][/color]. Getting more questions than answers, she turned her mind back to reality and put everything to the back of her mind. [color=lavender]’I need back to work before I get the riot act from the boss lady.”[/i][/color] Expression turning sour at the thought of the said lecture, she shifted the car into drive and continued her journey back. She became lost in her head for a while before a loud ding echoed in her ears causing her eyes to move towards the source. Seeing the gas light on, vehement curses against herself came out under her breath. She was so busy that she completely forgot that her car needed fuel. Stopping her swearing, she scanned her head around for a nearby gas station.

She perked up when she saw her old friend, the PDQ gas station on the left side. Ji straightened her body more and turned on her left turn signal before pulling into the lot and went straight to her favorite pump. She looked ahead and saw someone waving to her from the window straight ahead of her. Ji waved back with a large smile on her face.

”Ah my favorite stop and looks like Stacy is working” She turned the key off and got out of the car, gently closing her door, wincing at the loud screeching noise it made. She would need to get some WD 40 for the hinges again. She made her way to the building and walked in.

“Well howdy stranger” The clerk, Stacy greeted, her voice carrying a thick southern accent.

”Hello Stacy. I hope you aren’t expecting your regular, because I ain’t dropping it offJi went down the small isle to the car section and picked up a can of WD 40.

Stacy gave a mock gasp.”Oh darn. I was really hoping to bite my teeth into some very doughy deliciousness tonight.”

”Haha you’re funny. You have to make the order and then I could bring you your beloved pizza. Ji walked over to the counter.

“Yeah, but I have no money, so I was hoping for some free pizza tonight. So let me guess 30 for pump number three then?”

”Yes, oh hang on let me go get some water. I am feeling rather parched,”Ji rushed to the back of the store grabbing a small Fiji water bottle and handed the bottle to Stacy who scanned it.

“That would be $34.65 sweetie.” She said.

Ji counted the money out and gave her the precise amount. She grabbed her water, the grease, and made her way back to her car. While her gas pumped, she opened the door and greased up the rusty hinges thoroughly. She moved the door, relieved when she didn’t hear the horrible noise. Hearing the gas click, she pulled it out then placed it back on the holder and closed up the gas lid tightly.

Giving Stacy one last wave, Ji left and as she was about to get on the street, a person zoomed past her and Ji gave the steering wheel a smack.

”Go the speed limit asshole” Ji huffed and made the turn. She abhorred the people who would willingly speed and break any law for their own selfish reasons.

She eventually made it to work and parked in her usual spot behind the building. She took the bottle of water and took a big drink out of it. The bottle became empty before she knew it.

She reached over to the usual spot where she kept the thermos and had to resist the groan of frustration that wanted to so badly come out of of her throat. Her sister had once again took it.

”Ugh damn it Yeong. Perhaps I should consider her getting her own thermos so she doesn't keep taking mine.”While having the earth element power had its cool quirks and advantages, there was some quirks she abhorred, one being her thirsty for water. It’s like she was soil in need of the substance to survive and in a way she needed it, but it was difficult when two sisters shared a thermos and to get on her nerves even more is when said sister doesn't let her know when she takes the thermos or doesn't put it back.

Forgetting her feelings about it, she turned her body about 45 degrees and looked at a blue bag that hung from behind the passenger seat. In the center of the bag was the infamous recycling symbol. She placed the bottle into it and made a mental note that the bag was close to the top.

She made a mental note about it and let it fall into the back of her mind as unimportant and pulled out her phone and sent her sister another text.

’I found another. Please don't have anything planned tonight sis if you do, can you please drop them, I will explain everything when I get home. I don't know if he went through the first change’ She slammed the door shut and locked it.

”Well back to my oh so lovely job” Sarcasm just oozed out as she walked into the building.

Location: Apartment- Yeong’s room- |earlier that day-about 2 or 4 pm|

“I hope that everything will work itself out Yeong. Family is what everyone needs throughout their lives. If they're no longer there for you then this can cause you to slowly shut down or worse. So I advise you speak to them as soon as possible.” Eric calmly remarked before noticing her small frown.”My cousin was dating a very honorable man when she was just a high school student. Her father eventually found out that she was pregnant and tried to have her boyfriend arrested on the spot which caused a massive rift between everyone in the home. This in turn made the girl's life wretched. In the end my cousin tried to run away from her troubles. She pushed us all away until the young woman's unfortunate accident. No one knew my cousin had died until years later.” Her bailiwick on the subject was narrowed to some extent. The guy would sometimes mention his deceased cousin from time to time but the young woman didn't know the whole story until today.

The frown stayed in place as her thoughts slowly wondered what Ji would say in this scenario. The older twin was better at things like this and yet she wouldn't get off until later that night. Once the young woman’s words were planned out she slowly allowed them to slither out of her mouth in hopes to keep from hurting the guy's feelings.”Eric we know our parents love us but this is something that we need to figure out on our own. We just need some space from them for now. After that we’ll be able to call them and tell them that we're okay. This is all that I can promise.” she said knowing it was a complete lie. Yeong waited for him to mention something suddenly, only to notice that he had become quiet, dispute the human’s normal talkative personality. She wasn't going to break the momentary silence between them. They walked inside the dry cleaners not daring to look at each other in the eyes. This was becoming rather awkward for the young woman since they would always talk to each other or in most cases look towards the other. She opened her mouth then closed it as a worker beckoned them forward.

“How may I help you?” She asked making the guy slowly drool. The younger twin rolled her eyes and grabbed the envelope out of her companion’s hands. She looked through the contents as the man flirted to buy some time as well as hoping he would get her number. The young woman placed the ticket down on the counter then cleared her throat. The worker grabbed it, placed it inside the cash register, and then walked towards the back to get the item number. Thanks to the guy's flirting they were able to go without any problems. The two continued with Ji’s errands quickly, and once in her life actually used the coupons for groceries, as well as the membership cards. They both arrived at the apartment in the late evening which was no big deal since they were home before the oldest sister.

”I'm telling you Eric she wanted you to stay.” Yeong called loudly and gaining a chuckle for the comment. He had started talking in the convenience store when she went to grab something that wasn't on the list which was on purpose on her end. Since then they kept talking.”I'm sure she has a boyfriend Yeong. Allow me to put these up and then we can watch the last bit of the match. Unless your sister texted you while we were out.” She groaned.”Crap! Ji is going to kill me again. Her thermos wasn't put back and I left my phone home once again.” the young woman walked into her room and grabbed her phone from the side table. The first message was just checking up on the errands which wasn't usual but the second one completely caught her off guard.”Eric I need to reschedule! Something has come up!” she called while texting her sister one single phrase.’You're pulling my leg!’ Once the man left Ji would find her sister sitting on the couch.

Their journey to the tower went without any more problems. On the back of Dickens, they were soon in front of two massive oak doors, fastened into a granatie portal in the side of the tower. The portals arch was about twice as tall as Johan and carved into the shape of swords nad roses. A most impressive sight. Johan looked hard at the door. "My rifle is beyond these doors. Now, the question is.. what else is behind these doors." He muttered as he pushed the heavy oakdoors open. It took some effort, in truth they were more then a little heavy and he had to put his all into it. As the doors swung open, it revealed a large circular hall, with shelves that reached to the cieling. In the middle stood a woman, hips cocked and a eyebrow raised.

"Excuse me? You could have knocked you know?" A woman who was rather on the heavy side said. She was, despite her size, gorgeous in an oldfashioned way. Her eyes sparkled in the candle light. Her lips were red, as was her dress. Her hair was the same firey color as most of her. Johan knew this woman from somewhere, he was sure of it.

"Things have been less than Stellar getting here, strange creatures, Dragons even. I kinda half expected something to kill us by now. So, terribly sorry if knocking is the last things on our minds." Eva held out her hand for a greeting with Excalibur in her off hand. "Pleasure. Pendragon."

"Pendragon?" The woman's voice dropped into a cold, standoffish tone. As she shook Evas hand, she squeezed down like a vice. "Charmed. Guinevere, you can call me Gwyn." Johan face palmed audibly.

"You're the lass that ditched Arthur in the legends...." He groaned.

"Arthur was a self absorbed asshole. I hope his heir..." She stared Eva in the eyes. "Is of more humble a mind."

Eva winced as the woman lessened her grip. "Right, you knew Arthur then. Despite the wishes of my Family yeah, I'm the Black Sheep. Arthurs' teaching me what I need to know, seems he's so self absorbed he won't die even in death."

"Ah, poor girl." Gwyn said as she looked Eva over from top to toe. "Well then, Champion of Avalon, wielder of the Sword of the Lake, Kin-I am sorry, Queen of all that was once Albion." Her voice echoed around the chamber up, making the stone seemingly vibrate in the walls. "What brings you to the Land of Mist?"

"My rifle actually" Johan interjected only to be shot a glare that could freeze fire.

"You will speak when spoken to outsider." She looked back to Eva. "Well, speak up."

Eva raised her hand to signal her question. "Uh, Yeah. Queen? I, seem to have not gotten that memo."

"What? Oh. yes. Well only the heirs to Arthurs legacy may hold that blade. Arthur was the true first king of the Britons." She clucked her tongue. "I mean, of course the mortal realm would likely object to your claim on the throne... But know, that you are of true noble blood." She said as she turned to walk back to a high backed, massive share. She sighed. "I was a librarian before i reincarnated you know. Now I sit in some moldy old tower with memories of a time long gone…"

"Right. Can we not do the royalty bit, I've had enough of that from my own Family. Please of course. So, Johan here, has a Rifle to kill a Nasty Demon. Somewhere in your, Tower Home, which considering you have Dragons for neighbors looks lovely yeah."

"Had Dragon for neighbour, judging from your friends prize. Good riddance. Made gardening a chore that great overgrown lizard did. So you seek the Witch Killer?" Gwyn eyed Johan with a keen look to her. Like she was sizing up proper for the first time.

"I... I try not to call it that." Johan said hesitantly.

"But that is its name. A weapon fashioned by mortals who wish to kill all magic things, who believe the only way to be free is by the fire of a pyre." Gwyn mused as she looked back to Eva.

"Have he told you where he first got the rifle from?"

"No. Not really, but considering Excalibur fell into my lap, I kinda assumed it worked that way." Dickens poked his head in inquisitively. "This, yeah. He's Dickens. He's with me. Well, Johan is as well, but Dickens is mine."

"Awww. He is a adorable." Gwyn smiled then her eyes turned hard and cold. "The Witch Killer is a unholy weapon, unlike that sword of yours. It is evil. It was made by the same men who would throw you onto pyre. Its handle is carved from the human bones of innocent men and women whose only fault was a talent in magic. Its metal is iron from the very same nails they crucify people with. It is an accursed and twisted thing."

"That's," Eva cringed. "Really not pleasant. So, Evil weapon, Johan, we might need to talk about where it ends up after this yeah. Back in safekeeping would be a plus."

"Agreed..." Johan said, not taking his eyes from Gwyn. "I am taking it you want something in return for letting me have it back?"

"Yes, I do." Gwyn spoke "When you have taken down that demon you are hunting. YOu two will return here.... with a TV."

"....What?" Johan blinked.

"Did I stutter? A TV."

"Do you even get a network out here?"

"Magic. I got some tricks of my own.."

"Right, well I'm okay with that, anything particular in mind? Else I'm getting a 32 inch. And we need to stop a Demon with a powerful Soul Stone, who probably didn't create it for the Epic parties."

"Fair enough girl. 32 inch will do. Try not to die out there~~" Gwyn said as she got up. Now, follow me. I rather you take it yourself so I don't have to touch the damn thing myself." As she spoke, she led them up a long winding staircase that seemed to go forever. She pushed open a iron door into a large room filled with strange weapons. Swords, halberds, guns, knives and all manners of tools of destruction hung along the walls. And in the middle of the room lay their prize. The handle was smooth white bone, with intricate carvings in latin all along it. The barrel was of a reddened iron that seemed to pulse with something within it. Johan began walking up to it then hesitated.

"Cold feet, Champion?"

"No. Not cold feet. I just had to wait for the last of my sanity to leave me" He sighed, before reaching over to grab it. The second he touched it, searing pain shot up his arm and the entire gun flared with a sickly, pale purple color. He gritted his teeth as he fell to one knee, grabbing his arm by the elbow. Channeling his magic he sent a blast of arcane energy right into himself, the searing power of pure arcane force drove back the curse. He grit his teeth and waited for the pain to recede. "Alright." He gasped. "That was even worse then I remember." As he got up, he hefted the rifle over his shoulder. The glow had resided, and the gun looked its former, eerie self. But Johan could feel its evil pulsate within, it wanted to be used.

"Let’s go home." He said. "I need me some ol' fashioned New York pizza and a lot of booze"

Ben didn't know where he was going. Instinct lended a guided hand and helped him to navigate through the wounding back alleys, ultimately losing his trackers when they failed to follow where his supernatural powers led. By this time a massive headache flowed into his attention. It was caused by the city nightlife as every single light, scent, and sound mixed into a swirling, confusing mess to him. His thoughts couldn’t make head or tails, at least in the human sense, of the place he treaded. Those places that too powerful in stimulation were avoided and forced him into taking other routes.

Mentally, this thoughts were baser. The human within him need reason or explanation to why he was traveling this way, but his inner wolf was content enough to follow his instinct.

Ben continued to pad through the asphalt streets, his instinct demanded he knew his territory from head to foot, starting with the back alleys and working his way forward. His muscles coiled underneath him when he bounded easily over a metal fence. The steel tinged with each movement crawling over it and rattled loudly when he hopped down in the midst of a homeless man and his buddy, both smelt like urine, dirt and worst in Ben’s nose. The wolf snorted to clear his attention. Crawling on all fours, his coarse paws moved toward the two men causing their heads to shift toward him. All they saw were bright, blue eyes glowing within a large, muscular frame. They scrambled for cover promptly shouting things about a monster as they flew into the streets and into the blinding area.

Rain had started a short time ago, sprinkling at first then poured down in sheets. Surprisingly enough, the chill never reached his skin. It merely hung in his fur, weighing him down and held a musty scent. Ben didn’t seem to notice it when he grinded to a stop. His nose twitched and inhaled, analyzing the saturated air for several long moments. His ears perked upright soon after and he shifted, following it. It lingered strongest over a small hole pulling Ben toward where he continued to investigate the smell.

His paw reached out cautiously then scratched and picked at the crumbling brick. The hole began to widened, the scent mingled with rot and earth, causing him to pause long enough to sneeze. He backed up long enough to rub his nose lightly with his pads, his head wiggled back and forth. Once more the wolf started on the hole until it was big enough for him to squeeze through, then vanished down it.

A condemned building left a lot to be desired, but it was surely a step up from the starlit sky outside its relatively safe confines. Though the cold chill of night could not reach the young Efreet, his body maintaining a level of warmth, the dangers of darkness needed little to sway him. Skyler had no knowledge of his heritage, neither did he know of his legacy. The boy stood by his lonesome in the vast wastes of the unknown. A fear of the dark had long since accompanied him, and one could perhaps draw the conclusion that it fell in line with Skyler’s species, a Spirit of Light and Fire. Darkness was a distant source from the sunlit halls of the Efreet, their golden pillars stretching high across the desert’s might.

Balling up against a corner within the building’s confines, Skyler appeared taken over by the embrace of sleep, though not pleasantly so. With his breathing accelerating by the second, it was safe to say that the boy was plagued by nightmares, the air around him growing unnaturally warm. The already cracked wall he was leaning against had its paint crumbling further beneath the warmth caused by his distressed mind. As was the case, an Efreet is a creature of passion, a creature of emotion, and as such their powers are highly affected by this.

Nightmare fueled dreams did not show mercy, but rather plagued him one night after the other. Reaching a climactic terror, Skyler shot his eyes open with a gasp, the warm air around him bursting into streams of embers as he jolted up to his feet. With a heart as heavy as the breaths leaving his lips, Skyler’s tired eyes travelled across the empty building lit up by his uncontrolled powers. A constant string of distress plaguing the boy had however not gone without lasting effect. As his emotions grew stronger, so did his powers. With every passing day, Skyler’s Spirit Flames were maturing further as was common for young Efreet. Without proper training from those of his kind, the boy appeared unable to control their physical alterations.

With his Efreet side shining through, quite literally, a burst of intense flame conjured forth both a tail swaying behind his form as well as a set of horns atop his head, jutting out between his thick dark hair.

Corpse, despite his nickname, didn't sleep. He lost the need to after he died and woke up that very first time. He had to rest his body, but he was very much awake. To maintain the illusion he 'slept' close by, using his jacket as a makeshift blanket, even if it would be frighteningly cold to sleep like that. Halfway through the night, when he was sure that Skyler was asleep, he sat up, and thought. He spent most of his nights like this, he'd even gone as far as to dub them 'waking dreams', though that was more to comfort himself than anything else, he missed sleeping a lot, and being awake and alone every moment of the night was not healthy for his psyche.

He thought about how he came to be. The haze that came with each death, and the unnatural longevity he'd been given. Táph remembered the first time he was shot. He heard the shrill sound of a whistle, they fixed their bayonets and they went Over The Top. He didn't hear the individual gunshot but it knocked the air out of him when it hit, like he was winded, but he couldn't feel the air when he tried to breathe in with those raspy, broken breaths. He swallowed the dirt and he couldn't move. He couldn't remember it after that; what happened after he died. He just remembered the haze.

Maybe that was a misnomer, he didn't remember it, but the haze persisted over everything, it wasn't as much a memory as it was a constant fog that hid things from him, like a box of puzzle pieces with a few jigsaws missing. He remembered waking up though. He coughed and vomited up the dirt as he took the butt of his rifle and stood up. There was no one around but the dead. There was no second guessing or denial, he'd died. He glanced over to Skyler, the fidgeting, troubled sleeper, furrowing his brow into a frown as he watched him clearly go through the nightmare. He considered waking him up, but maybe that would be too personal? He mulled the thought over.

He took a few more minutes of staring, before decidedly moving an arm to try and shake him awake. At this moment, the Efreet woke up with horns a tail and the small gout of fire that came from it. Táph was surprised, but not shocked. He had always figured that he couldn't have been the only person to be different, at least he had hoped and prayed that was the case, and it seems those hopes were validated. He reached the hand back before he burned himself and pitched a question, looking a little unsure. "Are you still you?"

Stumbling back against the wall, Skyler lowered his gaze to Corpse with his heartbeat lowering itself to a slower pace. Gulping, the boy looked down upon his frame, noticing the tail with wide eyes before feeling the top of his head to trace the pads of his fingers against a set of black horns. One could perhaps claim that his reaction was rather lackluster, and left much to be desired, but Skyler had been waiting for something to show itself, for something to speak of his heritage.

Was he a demon? A devil? It didn’t make any sense. Snapping his attention back to Corpse, Skyler offered the man a soft nod and attempted to speak. “Yeah…” He managed, rubbing his eyes before grabbing hold of the slender tail behind him. “Shit…”

"Well, that's good?" He said, awkwardly, it was clear that both of them were looking for a bit more in the 'reveal', as if something would happen and it would all make sense. Táph sat down again, as if to make Skyler do the same. "It was just a bad dream, you should, uh, go back to sleep, we'll talk about it in the morning." His reaction was incredibly calm, reasonable even, in the face of the supernatural and the terrifying.

Go back to sleep? Skyler had just sprouted a tail, and a set of horns to top it off. Though his own reaction was far from a panic attack, he wasn’t treating it like a common occurrence, much like Táph had been. Speaking of which, Skyler’s focus would soon shift to the fact. How could this man be so calm in the face of this? “Sleep…?” Skyler spoke quietly, sliding back down to the floor with his back against the wall. In truth, he was far too tired to pursue the issue further tonight, but the physical alterations couldn’t just go ignored. Grabbing hold of his tail once more, the boy tugged at it softly. “Yeah…” He sighed. “It’s stuck…”

Ben's ears perked. The voices echoed off the building's decaying walls, each foul odor scented through his keen nose and nearly causing distracting pain. It was a blessing and a curse. Cautious, the wolf continued to stalk forward. His paws easily navigating over rocks, bricks, and worst without breaking the pad of his paw. A shard of glass jutted outright from the pile, unseen by Benjamin, then sliced on contact. The wolf let out a ear hurting yelp as he pedaled back and whimpered, his snout lowered to his paw.

His teeth tried to pick the sharp thing embedded in his 'foot', then gingerly stepped on it only to jerk it back up. Another sharp yelp emitted from his throat causing him to growl then plop down on his hind leg, his tail curled about him defensively. The other paw tried to dig into the wound, making it bigger but worse the deeper he dug.

Sleep didn’t seem to be available for any further moment of rest with a loud, barking yelp echoing through the air. Once again, Skyler’s attention shot up and his attention jolted to a defensive position. With another gulp, the boy turned to look at Táph before looking down the dark hallways of the decrepit home. “What was that…?” He spoke quietly, moving to his knees before he pushed himself up to his feet. As a sense of fear surrounded him, so did faint traces of embers across the air in a circular motion around the boy. A moment passed before he noticed them and took a deep breath, calming himself before the embers vanished. “I…I can’t control this, Táph…” Skyler sighed, taking a step away from his companion. If nothing else, it was better to keep his distance for now. “Let’s…let’s see what that sound was…” He finished, taking a few careful steps towards the darkness.

He looked out toward the sound as well, he looked just as lost as Skyler was, though was deathly quiet now, nodding at him when he spoke, and quickly taking point in front of the Efreet. Corpse, despite his name, didn't trundle or shamble along. His footsteps were quiet, as quiet as he could be in his worn trainers, as he walked through the abandoned house. It sounded like a wild animal, but they were fairly far into the city, so it probably wasn't anything too dangerous, probably an abandoned dog, he reasoned to himself.

Frustration edged into Ben's focus, his teeth narrowly missing the shard end and huffling at the pain edging along his paw. Giving up, he stood up on three of his legs with the injured one held close to the body. He carefully hobbled down the debris until he came to the ground floor. His snout lowered to pick at the shard a few more times, resulting in a whimper and more pain before again letting it sit. He merely licked the wound looking like a common, oversize puppy.

Proceeding down the darkness, Skyler kept himself close to Corpse as they walked. His hands were pulled close to his body, his focus circling the dark environment like a scared child as he attempted not to lose control of his powers. This would however seem like an impossible task once their journey came to an end. Upon reaching the source of yelping and whimpering, Skyler’s heart dropped to a pit in his stomach as he stopped dead in his tracks. Was that a dog? No, a wolf?

How had a full fledged wolf made its way into the city? Had it escaped from a local animal shelter? Luckily, Skyler was a sucker for animals and he had been around them for most parts of his life, considering his old family's large amount of pets. “He’s hurt…” The boy spoke, as if brushing aside the fact that he was face to face with a beast capable of ripping him to shreds.

There were times when Skyler abandoned reason and logic, when he was so captivated by something that he discarded his fears in lieu of a courageous outlook. Lowering himself to his knees as to not seem threatening, Skyler inched forward towards the wolf, keeping his head and body low as to not arouse aggression. As the boy got closer however, his eyes widened at the truth. This was no ordinary wolf, not by a long shot. "Oh shit..." Skyler spoke quietly under his breath, trying to believe what he was seeing.

That was bigger than a dog. Corpse looked at it and stopped, ushering Skyler to take a glance after. Before Skyler could get too close to the beast, Táph caught the teen by the tail and pulled back, not roughly, just enough to tell him that what he was doing was a definitely bad idea. The wolf was injured, but it's hard to tell how animals act when they're hurt, and while helping it was definitely a very noble act, he wasn't up for letting the teen do it.

Ben perked up, noticing the source of the odd scent from before lingered in front of him. His curiosity overwhelmed his desire to removed the glass and he gingerly stepped on his fingers, his bulky form edging closer. His nose twitched in crazy pulses as his ears pinned backwards, wary of the strangeness of it, and softly his tongue flickered out to lick the closest appendage.

Ben growled when Táph's hand jerked out suddenly and gripped the source's tail.

Turning his attention back to Corpse, his tail having been yanked, Skyler blinked a few times. It was safe to say that he had forgotten all about his own more animalistic additions. "I got this..." He returned, shifting his attention back to the wolf, or more accurately, the werewolf. Managing a soft smile as Skyler's felt his hand licked by the large beast, he couldn't help but giggle. Many days had passed since he last managed a smile, or less yet, any amount of laughter.

Slowly, moving to a sitting position, Skyler motioned for Corpse to do the same. "He'll get scared if we stand up..." In the animal kingdom, standing on two hindpaws always indicated a level of threat, after all. Skyler would continue to stretch his hand out, hoping that the wolf would trust him enough to eventually allow the boy to help. The knowledge that this was an actual creature of myth didn't scare Skyler more than it intrigued him. Perhaps as he was getting more in tune with his own supernatural self, other abnormal things scared him less, or he was simply struck with enough awe to erase any measure of reasonable fear.

Ben continued to lick and nibble, his teeth careful not rip past the surface. He pushed a bit too hard on his injured paw causing him yelp then retreat backwards, his tail between his legs and fresh blood oozed out of the wound. Once more, Ben started to gnaw at his paw vigorously.

He did as Skyler asked, going closer to ground, but he was still quite visibly nervous about the entire thing. He didn't know whatever it was the Efreet knew, and as such, was a lot more hesitant to let him get near the injured animal. He decided that if he acted quickly, the situation would turn sour much faster, so he remained waiting, not helping, not hindering, just waiting for the right moment to act, if he needed to.

Carefully moving forward, inch by inch, Skyler narrowed his focus to the damaged paw as he carefully crawled forth. "This might take a while..." The boy spoke. The last thing one should do when handling animals was to act rashly, to rely on speed rather than care. Everything had its time, and this would come to pass eventually. Something Skyler had noticed, something that came to mind right at this very moment was the knowledge that while around animals, he felt calmer. He felt as if his powers were easier to control when in the presence of animals and it made sense, in a way. Animals calmed him, he felt at ease and most importantly, at peace around them. As an Efreet’s flames were highly affected by their emotions, it was easy to draw the conclusion that whatever calmed an Efreet would also calm a young Efreet’s uncontrolled powers.

Noting the movement, Ben retreated a bit more. His ears weren't laid back but perked and curious, his eyes playfully hinting he wasn’t fully cautious, while he waited for Skyler’s reaction.

With his lips quirking to another soft smile, Skyler tilted his head in amusement and scratched at the tip of his nose. “He’s harmless, as long as he’s not hungry…” Skyler spoke back to Corpse, careful not to move his focus from the wolf. If this otherworldly creature noticed a shift in Skyler’s attention, he could use that to pounce at him. Even though Skyler understood that the werewolf wasn’t being aggressive at the moment, it was impossible for Ben to know gently he needed to treat the boy, and Skyler was more fragile than most. Not to mention Táph’s reaction to it, if Skyler was suddenly attacked, even if it was just a game to the wolf. Moving up to sit on his knees, Skyler narrowed his eyes at the wolf for a moment before waiting for Ben to make a move.

Ben was waiting exactly for that, his blue eyes studying the boy’s attention and willing it to shift. No such luck as the wolf whined then darted a short inch forward then jerked back. His ass plopped down, unsure what why his tactics weren't working, his paw still held upright from the ground. It was within Skyler’s grasp and if the boy was careful, easy to get. Through from the looks of it he would have a huge challenging in getting the wolf to remain still while removing it.

Moving from looking at the beast to yanking out a glass shard was a bad idea. They had to take this step by step. “Táph…” The boy spoke, raising his hand slightly and carefully towards the wolf. “Come and sit with us, he needs to get used to you…” Gently attempting to pat the wolf and stroke his hand down the creature’s fur, Skyler motioned for the man to join them. “Táph, after we make him understand that we’re not a threat, you need to yank out that glass shard, okay…?” If they wanted this to succeed, Skyler could not be the one to pull that piece of glass out of Ben’s paw. It needed to be yanked out in a single go and Skyler didn’t have the strength for that.

Táph was patient, and watching intently, as the wolf darted that short inch forward he was more than ready to throw himself at the beast, though as it was injured, it flinched back, and so did he, just about ready to jump before stopping himself as he noticed the beast’s forced hesitation. He whispered over to Skyler, not wanting to talk loud for fear of scaring the injured animal. “Keep your eyes on it, and don’t expose yourself.” He then began slowly moving over to the wolf, ready to take the glass out, and entirely unsure why he was doing this, beyond the fact that he was sure Skyler would attempt to on his own if he refused. This way, he was in the way of the bite.

Naturally, being a wolf, Ben’s attention was easily swayed by movement. His eyes shifted when Táph had changed positions causing his nose to flicker and inhale rapidly, his snout leaning for a whiff. The strongest odors were dirt, slight rot and the same odd scent Ben found on Skyler. His body clearly looked confused as it stiffened in alert and caution. His lips pulled back revealing his teeth in a low growl, then pushed forward to sniff deeper and repeated clearly unsure what to make of this new scent. Fear throbbed in his chest but need to understand was stronger still.

“He seems curious…” Skyler whispered in a soft tune, looking to Táph for a moment before carefully stroking Ben’s fur. “Let’s try to lay him down on his back, it’ll be easier for you to take out the shard, that way…” The previously shy and insecure boy appeared to have taken charge in this situation, feeling somewhat at home with taking careful steps to helping an animal.

Corpse was slow in his movements. “Keep his attention, he doesn’t like how I smell.” He said, almost ominously, having had a similar reaction with animals before, being the partially deceased person he was, they obviously didn’t find him palatable. He made all of his actions apparent to the wolf, letting himself be smelled if the wolf tried, but mostly trying to defer the close work to Skyler, since he was much more adept with animals. Nevertheless, he slowly tried to ease the wolf onto its back, though wasn’t sure the wolf would really like that.

When Skyler touched Ben, his head jerked right back to the strange smelling boy. His nose still twitching like crazy and promptly buried it into his palm. It seemed he was content to just sit and sniff the rest of the day. The wolf hadn't budged at first when Táph started to shove, but he didn't bite either. Merely a disgruntled growl and sounds of sniffing continued. Another good shove and he allowed himself to be rolled over to his back making undeniable about his gender.

Taking the moment granted to them, Skyler moved up the wolf’s snout and sat down in an easily accessible position for Ben to continue sniffing him and allowed for Skyler to gently pet the wolf, growing rather comfortable around the beast. “You’re really cute, you know…” The boy spoke, offering Ben a soft smile as he ran his slender fingers through the werewolf’s fur. “I used to have a dog…” He continued, speaking with the wolf as if to keep his attention on Skyler while Táph pulled the shard out. “Well, the family had more than one dog. We all had our own. Mine was named Mushroom…” Skyler continued with a soft sigh. “He was also a big guy, and my best friend…” Skyler gently scratched the wolf behind the ears.

“Mom and dad didn’t let me keep him when they threw me out, but they were giving all the dogs away before that so, I guess Mushroom has a new home now...I hope he does…” Living with a drug addict and an alcoholic was no place for a pet, or anyone for that matter. Skyler’s adoptive parents had been giving the pets away though, given their conditions. They didn’t want to be responsible for any animals, and before giving all of them away, they threw Skyler out. It was a descending path into madness, but at this point, Skyler didn’t much want to return, not to that hellhole. Four years of abuse had erased the twelve years of love he got from that home. The traumatic experience of incinerating his sister didn’t help, either. Seeing it happen broke him, and understandably sparked the descent into madness for his parents, people who never believed in magic to begin with.

Táph waited until the wolf went onto his back, finding the wounded paw and moving his hands close, but not pulling it out straight away, he figured the wolf might just lash out. He waited as Skyler spoke, comforted the beast, and then in one quick moment he grabbed the shard and deftly pulled it out, no fussing about with it. After he did that, he was more than ready to fight the wolf, defend Skyler or just put pressure on the glass-shard wound until it clotted and stopped bleeding. He wasn’t a doctor, but he knew the basics from being bossed about enough.

Ben yelped. His own actions had embedded the shard fairly deep causing him to growl, rolling over onto his legs and fur bristled defensively. His eyes narrowed on the walking Corpse with teeth bared. Gingerly, his snout lowered to his paw- still slightly tender- and licked it once. Before Skyler or Táph could react, Ben lunged at the latter.

“It wor-...” Cut off from finishing his sentence, Skyler found himself pushed back from the quick movements he could barely follow. “Ouch…” The boy spoke quietly, rubbing his behind and pulled his tail out from beneath him. It was safe to draw the conclusion however, that the wolf wasn’t being aggressive. If anything, he was grateful, but not too careful in showing it.

Placing his hands on the floor, Skyler pushed himself back to his feet and dusted his palms off, watching the scene unfold with a soft smile making its way to the corners of his lips. “Heh, well done, Táph…” The boy finished quietly, his tail now swinging from side to side a bit more excitedly before he noticed the appendage and grabbed it. “Ugh…” He had barely been given time to deal with the fact that he looked more like a demon than a person now. Speaking of which, Skyler gulped for a moment and placed his finger against his teeth.

Yes, his assumptions were correct. His teeth were like tiny daggers, sharp and dangerous. “This is going to be hard to get used to…” He sighed, lowering his head. At the very least, things were starting to reveal themselves, but not in a good way. Sharp teeth, horns and a tail, what else than a demon could he possibly be? Not the most comforting truth. Though, on the plus side, there was a werewolf in front of him as well as a man who appeared to be anything but normal. He fit right in with this group oddities. He was one, himself.

Táph raised his arm to defend himself, or at least take the bite rather than his neck or face, he had enough time for that, at least before going to ground from the sudden weight of the wolf pouncing on top of him. He then felt his hand being warmed by the rough tongue of the wolf. It was licking him. He lowered the arm back down and looked up at the beast with a small sigh of relief. He didn’t like being attacked by animals, and this one was a lot stronger than he thought it should’ve been, it was able to bring him to ground, after all.

Ben’s tongue flicked out and ignored the earthy taste each time. His weight pinned Corpse easily to the ground and rested primarily on his waist, his snout pausing long enough to memorize the scent for the future. When Corpse’s arm lowered, the wolf immediately moved to his face before retreating to sit back down on his rump. His tail wagging back and forth like an oversized puppy.

“You’ve got a home, buddy…?” Skyler spoke up, approaching the wolf before he dropped down next to the beast and gently petted him, running the boy’s slender fingers through Ben’s thick fur. “He seems a bit lost…” Skyler continued, turning to Táph as he spoke. Now that Skyler had let go of his tail, it would appear to wag almost in tune to Ben’s but at a much slower pace. “Or we can keep him, I guess…” It was an alternative but how were they going to explain a local werewolf? It wasn’t exactly a pet you could buy in the store. Speaking of which, Skyler brought his fingers up to his horns with another sigh.“I can’t really go out in public like this…”

Táph looked up at the wolf, not realizing there was anything different about it rather than being an exceptionally friendly (and powerful) wolf. He glanced to Skyler, recognizing the differences about him now things were over and sighed out, leaning his head back against the floor, not bothering to get up. “Go back to sleep and we’ll figure it out in the morning.” He said, parroting the advice he’d given Skyler earlier. “I’ll get a bandage for the big puppy, I just hope he doesn’t eat it.”

“If it doesn’t smell like food, he won’t…” Skyler offered, leaning against the large wolf with a breath leaving his lips. It was safe to say that the boy was attempting to fill a gap in his heart by being so close to the beast, by leaning against him and keeping their distance nearly non existent. He was closed to his dog, and he loved the pet. It was his best friend after all and the one thing he missed more than anything, was Mushroom’s company. Ben appeared to be lost just like Táph and Skyler, making him fit in rather well with them. “I’ll keep an eye on Fluffy…” Skyler finished, absentmindedly tapping his horns to listen to the bony sound echoing from his nails coming in contact with their surface.

Ben snorted at the mention of ‘Fluffy’, clearly not liking the name. His massive shape lowered to the ground and laid down, stretching out to relax for a brief rest. Naturally he enjoyed inhaling the scent Skyler gave off.

Táph shook his head. “You ever had an injured dog? They always gnaw at the stitches.” He said, rifling through his backpack to get out a battered and very old-looking first aid kit. Thankfully what was inside was newer than the box it was kept in, and he wrapped the bandage about the wolf’s paw, very slowly, after being sniffed and licked and the like, offering a pat onto the canine’s head. He was warming up to the thing, even if he wasn’t entirely trusting of it.

Ben stared at the wrap. His nose sniffed and tongue licked it, nibbling the cloth a bit. It was slightly nice to chew but beside that, the taste wasn't something he liked. His head lowered as he let his eyes closed for a moment to rest.

After a tired yawn, Skyler laid down against Ben and balled up against his thick, warm fur. Of course, Skyler himself was warmer than the wolf, given his fiery nature, but it was more the fluffy softness given off by the wolf which offered Skyler a sense of comfort. Most nights in the past were spent with his dog, and this way, perhaps he could pretend nothing had changed, just for one night.

Táph decided to watch over the two of them, now, the wolf chewing on his bandage as dogs did, and Skyler having a friend to combat the nightmares with. Leaning up against the wall and struggling to remember, he spent his night in silent vigil, the very image of a dutiful soldier.

"We are entering Colombian Airspace." Aidas voice rang out. Kaya nodded and began to fasten her parachute and wingsuit. She breathed slowly and controlled, even as images flashed before her head. This brought back many memories she had buried deep within her.

"Ready."

"Wait shit, hold on. We got company" Suddenly there was a sound of air being torn apart as a yet streaked past over them. It continued on like nothing, unable to see shit due to its hightech stealth system and being partially in the clouds. Once the fighter jet was gone agian, the plane began to drop in altitude.

"You know the drill. Green light is go!" Aida shouted as they reached optimal altitude for a halo drop. The bay door opened slowly and the green light lit up. Kaya didn't hesitate. She was out of the plane and soon was in controlled free fall. She aimed for a area that was mainly clear of trees and not to close to the mountains. It would land her neatly on the border of Loyalist territory. As she landed in the high grass, she immediately discarded the wingsuit and parachute, grabbing her trusty Mossberg and hurrying towards the treeline.

She moved with purpose, hardly hindered by the jungle as she was no stranger to tropical climates or forests. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, spotting the odd trip wire and trap every now and then. This was certainly no place to hang around for long. As night fell, she found a suitable, large tree and climbed it. Curling up within some particularly sturdy branches, she hung a hammock there and took some time for shuteye.

----
Burma/Mayanar.

"For Hong" Kaya mumbled to herself as she lay in the grass, the stock of her gun firmly planted against her shoulder. One eye closed, the other looking through the scope. They had set up their killzone pretty well. Small ditches made footing uncertain, the little wooden spears doubly so. What claymores they had left were set up among the treeline.

They had been waiting patiently and their patience was rewarded with a loud explosion as the first boobytrap exploded among the trees. There was screaming as someone unfortunate got their leg blown into a cloud of bone fragments and blood. She focused on the location of the explosion and soon found their would attackers sneaking trough the thick foliage. She breathed slowly, squeezing down on the trigger. "This one is for Hong, motherfuckers."

The bullet hit home right in the temple of the young man head. He went down like a sack of wheat, collapsing in front of his comrades. Soon her comrades were firing away in tandem with her. Brunos M16 cut down with accurate bursts of gunfire and hernandez hosed down his flank with machinegun. Lighting up the poorly armed, but numerous militia members they held their attackers back for a while. That’s until a rocket flew out from the woods and hit the base of the rickety tower that Kaya was firing from. The entire building began to crumble and Kaya threw herself out the back window, away from her attackers and onto the tiled roof below. She bounced, felt her shoulder dislocate and bounced again, spraining her ankle. She was still behind cover, but without her fire position, their killzone lessened and more militia began to make it to the ditches.

Hernandez and Bruno retreated slowly towards their fallback line. Kaya for her part, grabbed her arm and screamed as she ran into the wall hard enough to shove the arm back in place proper. Her face was pale from the pain as she dragged herself to the best cover she could find. 1911 in her good hand, she began firing against the advancing enemy. They had killed at least thirteen or fourteen. She kept firing. One more, and another. Then among them walked a man dressed in a officers uniform. She aimed and screamed. “FOR HONG!” The bullet flew true but stopped suddenly. Then it slowly turned in place and shot back. Suddenly, a pang of pain shot through her from the shoulder.

Blurily, she looked down to see blood run down her already worthless arm. The officer walked unconcerned towarders. The barrier or what ever he had protecting him redirected both bruno and Hernandez fire as well. The man lifted a revolver, ready to kill her when Brunos massive form tackled the spindly sadisticly smiling man aside. The massive Bruno shoved the mans face into the dirt. Hernandez kept the few remaining attackers at bay while Bruno and the Officer struggled.

She felt her head grow foggy with pain. She could see the shape of Bruno smash the officer of the head but he just laughed. He rose to his feet again and again, hitting bruno back with much less force but it was certainly adding up. Then Bruno missed and the strange man jammed his thumb into his eye. The sound nad the screams were horrifying.

“NO!” A sudden flare of white from Kaya and then her world was nothing but white, righteous fire…

----------

Kaya awoke cold with sweat, breathing heavily. Staring around, the panic didn’t subside at first as she saw jungle. For a second she was afraid she was still stuck in the dream. When her brain catched up, she sighed and climbed down. That is when she heard gunfire and shouting. Little did she realize how close she was to her destination. Hurrying toward the sound, she came to where the jungle gave way for a small town. A town seemingly under siege. There was screaming, and men and women wearing loyalist colors having a very intense firefight with what seemed to be mercenaries and what must have been some plain clothed Colombian officers. The loyalists where heavily pressed, but their leader was a sight for sore eyes for Kaya. Hernandez held of most of the mercenaries by his lonesome, having found a exellent defensive position ontop of a hill among a natural rock formation. Kaya closed her eyes, took a deep breath then began to running. Her 1911 in hand, she waited until she was sure she could hit reliably before letting up on the mercenaries flank.

Caught unaware, two mercenaries fell as they got hit from the side, one of them in the head. The mercenaries, trying to pivot on the new threat while still holding the Loyalist down, was met with sight of Kaya moving much to fast for a normal human. White fire wisped about her feet as she literally jumped into the frey.

With the sudden appearance of Kaya, the Mercenaries were soon fleeing, leaving bewildered colombian officers in custody of Hernandez and his loyalist squad. Kaya walked straight up to the big, bald colombian and hugged him hard. Hernandez returned the nearly bone cracking hug with gusto.

“Kaya. What on earth are you doing here.”

“Getting you out.”

“I can’t do that Kaya. Not with Zepata hunting down anyone his paranoid mind percieve as against his grand vision. And before you tell me this isn’t my fight? Zepatas little goons have cartel help, and this is my home Kaya.”

Kaya sighed. “Yeah… Yeah I know. So I am here to help in that case. Now, tell me exactly what is going on.”

And with that, the two set off towards the closest Loyalist stronghold.

Collab between me & @Luna

~Location-The Apartment (Between 12 a.m. to 3 a.m.)~

Ji sighed tiredly. Today was a long day and it was going to be a longer night. The shock from before had left her feeling rather drained, but she couldn't let it affect her. She had to make sure that the guy, Mr. Reeves, she thinks he said over the phone at the time of the pizza order. Standing outside the door, she pulled out the key fob and used it to unlock the door. Hearing the familiar clicking noise, she opened the door and closed it gently.

”Yeong I am home. Did you get everything done. You never responded to any of the text I sent you earlier”She called out knowing by smell that her sister was within their home, probably in her room or something. To her surprise, she was sitting in the living room.

”Oh I thought you were in your room or something” She placed her purse in her room since it wasn't far from the living room and came back, plopping herself on the couch beside your sister.

”Yeah I was in my room. Eric was putting the groceries up while I checked my phone. I thought I sent you a text but it must have never been sent. Sorry about that.” She said with a frown. The girl shifted in her seat in thought about how to handle this new problem.”You know what we need to do Ji.” She said under her breath.

The woman knew her twin would object to the idea since they were victims of being kidnapped as children. But if this new wolf was indeed a newborn and without a pack there wasn't much choice about other options. Besides that was how their own pack had done things so it must have been the correct next step in the process, granted that if they were a high known figure things would become quite a shit storm.” I'll get the chains and sack. Best to get this kidnapping done and over with before he changes. Hopefully the person isn't well known or else the cops will be sniffing around here.”

[color=lavender]”I hope we get to him on time. He did order big pizzas meaning he wasn’t alone at the time I delivered to his home, but that doesn’t mean he is not with those same people”[/coor] She stood and looked at her sister.

”I am going to change out of uniform while you get everything ready”

She went into her room sighing for what seem like the umpteenth time tonight and shut her door. She took her hair out of her braid, the chocolate color strands falling down her back in a sea of waves. She carefully unbuttoned her shirt and let the fabric fall off her shoulders onto the floor. Underneath the shirt was a spaghetti strap white tank top. Since she had no bras available, she had to use the tank top as a substitute until laundry was done.

Next came her pant and she was quick to get them off as quick as she was to put them on earlier that morning. Once the uniform was removed from her person, she quickly placed it back in her closet for her next shift. She stood there for a few second, wearing nothing but the tank and some matching white boy shorts, she contemplated on what she could wear for this encounter.

’Good clothes are out of the question for tonight, this could get messy thats for sure’ Shuddering at some of the memories she had of other newborns transforming for the first time and recalling how messy it was. She quickly got her mind back to the current situation at hand.

’Our transformation could be triggered, a big possibility of that also happening means no clothes that are useful to us. Perhaps my sister has something I could wear’ Figuring no other clothes she had would work, she opened the door and walked over to her sister’s room and knocked.

”Yeong, I need to borrow some clothes from you” She noted that her skin was starting to peel bit by bit and she cursed, it was happening now..She banged on the door urgently, the hair on the back of her neck standing at attention. She rushed to the bathroom.

The young woman stayed in place for a little bit until her skin started to itch. She sighed knowing that her skin was slowly drying out from her element which was the rather annoying. The girl stood up from the couch and slowly walked towards her room wondering where her old ragged out clothes were on the floor. The opened slightly, getting caught by a pair of pants, making the younger twin sigh out of frustration.”I really need to start cleaning up after myself and trying to figure out how to copy Ji’s system.” the woman thought to herself.

She knelt down and removed the bothersome fabric out of the way. The door was able to be opened all the way allowing her to walked straight through. Something didn't feel right in the air tonight but the girl just shrugged it off as if it was only because they had found another werewolf. She walked walked toward her right and was able to find a pair of ragged out clothes. Yeong placed them on the bed and scratched at the back of her neck feeling something something on the tips of her fingers. She slowly brought them back, eyes widening at the sight of her own skin, now realizing something was definitely wrong.

The woman heard bagging upon her door and opened it quickly.[color=mintcream]” You're kidding me! Why are we shifting right now!?” She said peeling more of the skin from her arm. Black fur stood where the skin once was. The fur on the back of her neck was standing straight up on end.”Any brilliant ideas?”

Her sister peaked out of the bathroom, most of her brown fur already shown where skin had peeled off. The look of panic was obvious on her face. She stripped herself of her clothes quickly before the fur growing on her chest had a chance to rip it into pieces. She stripped her white boy shorts, fur already in place to cover any private parts that normally would be exposed in her human form.

”He is transforming. Get into the bathroom before you get a bigger mess on the floor. You know the routine!” She exclaimed, the sounds of bone breaking rather painfully filling the air, but Ji seemed unaffected of the pain it would bring. Her mouth and nose slowly morphed into canine looking face. Ji, giving out a snarl of frustration, went back into the room. Within seconds, fur pushed passed, making more skin fall, and in the place of Ji was a fully transformed werewolf.

The form was beautiful, yet the claws and big canines made her look more threatening than she really was. Chocolate brown fur seemed to shine in the bright bathroom and flowed like rivers of chocolate. Her eyes, looking completely black, was actually a dark brown color.

The look of panic that her sibling showed wasn't much of a comfort to Yeong. She knew the routine but two full morphed wolves in a small bathroom didn't really mix well. The girl ground her teeth from the familiar shooting pain as her bones cracked. The pain you learned to live but the itching feeling always felt ten times worse turning into wolf form. At times she wondered why she even turned both into a human. Then again the best way for their kind to hide was in plain sight. The young woman shook her head, as a growl worked its way up from her crest, as she began peeling layers of clothes off herself.

The woman scratched some more skin off as her jaw cracked and extended into a dog’s snout. Her head throbbed as it slowly morphed in order to match the newly formed snout. Yeong's ears lengthened to the perfect height as she fell to all fours. Her legs snapped as they lengthened and bend to create what looked like two sets of wolf legs. The woman's hand turned into paws and fur slowly covered every single inch of her body. The normal brown eye color was lightened to a nearly white. She took a step on the floor, noting that now she had a reason to finally clean the disaster that laid inside her bedroom, before picking the outfit off of the bed. The wolf then flung the pieces of clothing off to the side and walked out with a slight sway of the newly grown tail.

Once outside the youngest twin couldn't resist but shake herself off. One reason was to make sure all of the skin was off and the other was it just bug Ji.”Well then looks like the kidnapping idea is ruined. Any ideas on what just happened or do I assume that we already know?” she mentally asked in an tone.

”We must find him, now. He needs people of his kind there with him to make sure he stays put” She said mentally, outwardly growling like usual. She, careful as she could be with her claws, grabbed random bought of clothing making sure they had underwear and put them in a small duffle bag. ”You are cleaning your room when we get back”

She ran to her room and grabbed her journal, grabbing it carefully not to tear anything and placed it in the bag. Draping the bag over her large and scrawny looking shoulders, she went to the window that faced the back alleyway. Opening it she looked at her sister.

”Ready?”

”That's all you have to tell me? You're cleaning your room? Really!?” Yeong complained as she watched Ji, who seemed to roll her eyes at the comment, jump out first. The younger sibling scoffed as she followed, waiting for the older one to close their window, and off they ran into the night towards the possible new companion’s home.

Milling about on the busy afternoon street, the teeming hordes of pedestrians moved in a seemingly mindless wave, the fast overtaking the slow, subsuming them in a mostly peaceful manner. In this grand display of the societal cogs in motion, one could almost miss the ramshackle van parked in front of the Hendleman Park Bank, its illegally-tinted windows hiding a certain cog very much out of sync with the machinery of normalcy.

"Seriously man, this won't end well."

Cheesy Peake held firm that his friend had gone bonkers, dressing up like a fool and planning schemes like a cartoon character. That didn't stop him from calling dibs on a share of the profits as a getaway driver of course.

"Hush, what's the time?"

Peake reported back, 3:45 sharp just as Dirk so meticulously planned. His 'astute research' guaranteed that it would be the optimal time, but of course we could seldom trust the scientific methods of a man who called himself Bonefist. Wordlessly, Dirk made a vague military signal with his hands that was interpreted to mean Peake should be on the look-out, and hopped out of the van, fully costumed and ready to go.

In an instant, odd glances were thrown his way and some even stopped in confusion, only to be jostled from behind by over-eager walkers. Slipping quietly into the entrance of the Hendleman Park Bank, Dirk powered on the SKELE Power-Fist. It was go time, and not a moment too soon.

"Are you out of your freakin' mind, you can't be dressed like that here!"

A security guard, as expected, had little patience for a masked man in such a premier financial institution as Hendleman. And while the near-child-like quality of handiwork afford to his costume disarmed the guard slightly - perhaps concerned that this man was less a threat and moreso a lost mental patient with the mind of a kindergarten artist - he hovered his hand over his right-side, above his holstered firearm.

With an audible grunt, Dirk swung his fist at the poor guard, colliding his Power-Fist into his stomach at nearly full-force. The impact threw him into a high arc and at its apex, he collided with the no-doubt priceless chanderlier suspended from the ceiling, bringing both crashing to the ground. As shards of glass sprinkled across the room, the entire bank floor collectively whipped around, some screaming, some cowed into silence. The security guard remained in a heap; he wouldn't be getting back up anything soon, or even at all.

"This a stick-up...and I am Bonefist!"

Not the most graceful statement, but it served its purpose, as people focused their attention on Dirk, some even dropping to the ground. Looks like they knew the drill. With bold strides, he began to march up to the teller windows, just as two additional security guards emerged from the backroom, no doubt slacking off. Dirk snatched the nearest civilian, an elderly gentleman who looked less scared than most, and held him firmly in his grasp.

"Another step and going senile will be the least of gramps' concerns, you understand me? Now drop your guns and slid them over - quick-like!"

Hesitating, the senior of the two guards relented and kicked over his firearm, his partner following suit. Releasing the old timer, Dirk pocketed one of the pistols and smashed the other, his Power-Fist reducing it to little bits. Seeing an opportunity while Dirk got a bit overzealous in checking out his newly acquired weapon, the two guards rushed him. Taking a shoulder to the gut, Dirk hit the ground hard, but unfortunately for his adversaries, he went down swinging. A single connection was all it took to render the junior guard out for the count, suffering a glancing strike to the side of his head. Likely not lethal, but boy that would leave a reminder.

The senior security officer remained, and in the scuffle had snatched back his gun from Dirk. A single shot was dispatched into Dirk's chest before his jab struck the man's hand, breaking it in the process. The crowd understandably took this moment to descend into anarchy, many storming outside as their last protectors were downed while Dirk had fallen to a knee, the wind firmly knocked out of his sails. Silently, he thanked whatever god was out there for the invention of bullet-proof vests.

Rubbing his chest where the bullet hit, he stood back up and made a quick beat towards the tellers once more, sans interruption this time hopefully. A raised fist was enough for them to produce the bank manager, who was more than happy to give Dirk a tour of their vault. Gathering what he could stuff inside the satchel he brought along, Dirk began to flee when the tell-tale sound of sirens filled the streets outside. Of course the police were called in, and of course Dirk forgot about that little detail.

Wisely, he figured that his vest wouldn't stop an entire police force from gunning him down, so in a strike of (relative) brilliance, he thought quick about an escape route. Again with a raised fist, Dirk found his hostages very compliant in giving suggestions, and so it was that he learned that the other side of the vault wall just so happened to be an alleyway, one that few would suspect to cover in a bank heist. Ever gracious, Dirk threw a $100 bill at the lucky hostage with great planning capabilities and ran back into the vault, delivering a flurry of blows against the wall, each hit warping the metal inward. At the cusp of breaking a sweat, the wall gave and a hole crumbled out.

As Dirk crawled out into the outside world, with enough cash to live very comfortable for a good while, he couldn't help but smile. Sure, he had to off a few guards, sure he got shot, and sure the police nearly turned him into swiss cheese. But hey, baby steps, right?

“Someone kill that söldner hund!”

The sound of the an angered German voice rang over the loudspeaker as gunfire erupted in the secret research facility of the legendary figure from WWII, The Good Doctor followed only by an explosion and the scream of countless lost lives. The facility was located on an island in the North, a rocky spire rising high above the icy cold waters of the Arctic Sea.

And today, the facility burns.

Countless chemical fires had erupted in the base, no doubt from the large steel chemical vats ripped open as if they were tin foil and set ablaze. The heat from the crackling infernos licked at the sterile hallways, singing the spilled blood and bodies of countless hired guns who stood in the way of the intruder. Shattered glass littered the floors, evidence of the countless scientific experiments smashed to smithereens and splattered all across the walls, medical equipment and foreign devices bent, battered, and ripped to shreds.

But the fight was far from over, as what remained of The Good Doctor’s forces gathered before a large defensive plaza designed as a holdout before the final untouched laboratory, taking whatever was left of their arsenal with them. Machine guns, shotguns, mounted turrets, and all manner of firearms to protect the few secrets The Good Doctor had, their weapons pointed down the only hallway at the oncoming intruder. The facility was made to bottleneck adversaries, hoping that if any invading force were to get this far, they would be forced into engaging from only one entry point.

Of course, they never thought they would have to use this strategy, the clacking of metal rang out as the men pulled up behind the large amounts of cover within the room, hiding behind storage crates, sandbags, and large metallic walls that covered the large metal door of the final lab. The barking of the last remaining captain rang out over the men as they scampered into firing position.

“Hold your fire!” Called the captain, his voice desperately trying to hiding the wavering fear by yelling louder than usual. “Wait until we get a clean shot before we riddle the bastard!”

Tension rose as silence permeated the room, the present sense of dread finally sinking over the remaining grunts. Cold sweat rushed down their faces, their shuddering hands gripping a firm hold on their weapons as they pointed down the hallway, the lights flickering on and off from the intense and rampant destruction that the facility has suffered, clearly the power had taken a severe hit from their intruder.

However, their thoughts came to a grinding halt as the sound of footsteps on the tile floors began to echo from down the hallway, causing the men to stand at attention, their bodies tense, their muscles taught, their trigger fingers shakingly hovering from the split-second decision to fire.

“Doc, baby, honey, what’s with all the hostility?” Came a cocky voice from the hallway, the form of a single man becoming visible in the flickering lights. “We were all buddy buddy before, weren’t we? What’s a few dead bodies between friends?”

“You ungrateful bastard! You come in here, destroy my lab, kill my men, and now you make jokes?” Came the Doctor’s voice, his German accent highlighting his rage as his torso was broadcasted on a large screen above the door his men were now protecting. His face hidden by his trademark six-slitted mask as he sat on a velvety red throne, “I bring you into my fold, I give you the opportunity to join the new world order, the future, and you repay me by killing my emissary, storming into my lab and destroying my experiments!”

“Okay, to be fair Randal was creepy, I was doing you a favor. He had the worst case of serial killer vibe with the exact same suit he wore all the time and he did not understand personal space. You should be thanking me.” The man said, the silverish glint of his suit flashing in the flickering lights. “However, I hardly call putting me as your little scapegoat for the attack on Lost Haven ‘bringing me into the fold’. I do all the heavy lifting and hard labor to set up your plan, and what do I get for it? I get STRIKE on my ass and goodie two-shoes calling me a terrorist, you didn’t even pay me!”

“You were going to be paid once you succeeded!”

“Last I checked, I got 3 out of 4 poison vials in the water supply. Are you saying you couldn’t get the job done without all 4 in there?”

“STRIKE purged the poison within hours! They were able to follow your trail of destruction right to them!”

“Eh, you never said I had to be subtle about it.” The man said, offering a casual shrug with his comment. “And if subtle is what you wanted, then you bet on the wrong horse for that race, Doc.”

The man took a few more steps, causing the guards to shudder in fear as the infamous mercenary deemed ‘War-Pulse’ come into view, already radiating in kinetic energy as he nonchalantly strolled towards the awaiting sea of hunkered down firearms.

“Either way, Herr Doctor, what’s done is done, and I got a job to do here.” The kinetic beserker said, a sneer popping through his face mask as he cracked his knuckles. “Call it my own little ‘community service’ from STRIKE.”

“STRIKE? Those pathetic engstirnig Schweine?” The Doctor said, the slits in his mask glowering in frustration, his fist banging on the armrest of his velvety red chair. “Good, now when my men are done killing you, I know who to take vengeance on for this travesty of an attack on my hard work!”

“Right, because these guys have what it takes to stop me.” The kinetic beserker sneered as he stepped into the room. He took a moment to scour the room, seeing each determined face lining their sights to him, the metallic wrenching of metal clacking against one another as the mounted turrets whirled into position , the echos or alarms ringing out in the background permeating into the tense atmosphere as the mercenary’s kinetic aura flared out, crackling across the room. “Just like the last hundred men that tried, right?”

The German supervillain’s hands gripped tightly onto his chair, the mask barely hiding the seething rage in the old War veteran as his subtle snarling turned into a full blown roar of frustration. Leaning forward in his chair, the Doctor pointed through the screen, screaming out his orders in a furious rasp before the screen flickered to black. “Der Mann, der mir den Kopf dieser Fick bringt bezahlt Doppel seinen Lohn und ersetzt Randal für seine efforts!”

“Oooo, pissed him off so much he went full Kraut…” The merc muttered to himself, raising his arms to the defending squad, giving them an arrogant beckon to gesture them towards him. “C’mon boys, you heard the Wienerschnitzel! Who wants to die first today?!”

And upon his words responded an ocean of gunfire. Every weapon erupted into a hailfire of bullets, spraying ammunition in hoses of metallic murder at the intruder. The sounds of the turrets firing off shook the very foundations of the building as the .50 caliber rounds thudded into the mercenary, sparks shearing off of the force of nature’s body, as smoke and dust kicked up from where the bullets ricocheted. Shotguns, assault rifles, submachine guns, each adding to the cacophony of discharges, followed by the slightest tingle of the shells bouncing along the concrete floor.

Each second felt like it lasted a bit longer as the point where War-Pulse stood was layered with rounds, ending only when every last clip was emptied into his general location.

Silence, the smoke obscuring the entirety of the location where the mercenary stood, the results of their attack unknown at this point.

Until the sound of a slow clap was heard among the smoke.

“God damn, boys, didn’t think everyone would volunteer at once.” Came the voice of the cocky merc, emerging from the smoke as if nothing had happened. He brushed some stray dust off of his coat, undamaged from the assault much to the fear of the grunts. He let out a demeaning snicker, taking a few more steps into the room as he cracked his knuckles causing kinetic energy to snap out of his hands with each crack. “Now, how many of you do you think I can take out before anyone reloads?”

Before a soldier got to answer, the merc was upon them, briskly bursting forward with a kinetic blast and sending a man flying into the steel doors behind him with a firmly placed punch to the sternum. The man next to him fumbled to grab a clip, but his hopes were dashed as back kick to the face caused his body to cartwheel end over end until it smashed into the ceiling. The turrets moved next, whirling in their position to gain a mark on the force of nature. But War-Pulse was one step ahead of them and with a quick turn he outstretched to release two kinetic blasts, one for each emplacement. The turrets never stood a chance, the kinetic energy ripping them apart like they were tin foil, exploding to cause numerous soldiers flying across the room.

Of course, the mercenary was not fast enough to stop all the men from reloading, but what men were left after War-Pulse’s initial assault had the fight taken out of them. They dropped their weapons, scrambling to get away from the assailant as another man was launched from a right hook delivered by War-Pulse, absolutely pulverizing the man’s jaw before he bounced off of the bunker behind him and skidding across the floor to a halt.

“Aw, c’mon, is that it?” War-Pulse shouted, grabbing another runaway by the back of the collar before delivering repeated strikes to the man’s face as he spoke. “I thought there would be a little bit more fight from the men guarding the legendary Good Doctor!” He tossed the limp body to the ground, strolling to the thick steel door protecting the Doctor’s office. “Oh well, I guess not everyone can live up to expectation.”

The mercenary surveyed the door for a few seconds, his hand brushing up against the metal as he tried to get a read on what he was dealing with. Of course, he could only tell it was metal, but assuming who was behind it, it had to at least be of titanium quality with ceramic reinforcement.

Which, to the kinetic warrior, was nothing but an obstacle. Lining up a shot, the force of nature let his hand sizzle and crackle as energy was drawn to it, the room lighting up as his palm ignited in kinetic power. He shuffled his hips, planting himself firmly for the release, the air becoming thick with destructive might.

“Knock knock!”

The resulting blast knocked straight through the door, ripping it off of its hinges as the plates flung back into the room, bent entirely out of shape as the Good Doctor was forced to abandon the phaser he was going to use on the intruder and leap behind his chair for cover.

“Daddy’s home.”

But the Good Doctor was not deterred by the impressive

“Alright, I give up,” The Good Doctor said, his hands raised in an indignant manner as he scoffed at the mercenary. “If only your display at Lost Haven was half as good as what you displayed here was..take me to STRIKE so they may lock me away.”

The merc’s brows raised from the reaction, followed shortly by a boisterous, mocking laugh, causing the Doctor to cock his head in confusion.

“Is that what you think this is?” War-Pulse asked, his laughter petering through his words. “You think I’m here to arrest you?”

The Good Doctor, whose attitude had been relatively confident up until now, began to shudder as the reality of the situation sank in. His knees buckled, hunching down and shielding himself futily as the assailant stepped ever closer.

“W-w-wait War-Pulse...hold on a moment…” The Doctor started, backing away from War-Pulse as he advanced forward, the fear beginning to show. “W-w-we can work something out...you’ve worked for me before, you know what I’m can do for you, what I can offer…”

“Yeah, a sense of guilt and a lab in the arctic, apparently.” War-Pulse shot back, throwing a table aside as he continued his pursuit, the wooden structure shattering against the wall as the contents on the table went spilling across the floor.

“P-please!” The Doctor pleaded, taking a few more steps before he bumped against the wall behind him. “Don’t do this! You ca-ACK!”

The pleas of the Doctor were silenced abruptly by the hand of War-Pulse wrapping around the villain's neck, hoisting him into the air as he emitted struggled gasps, grasping at the arm firmly holding him in a deadly vicegrip.

“I will give you this, Doc, between all the fighting back at Lost Haven, I had a shit-ton of fun. The fights, the flash, the colorful costumes, I ate up every damn minute of it like the fat guy at a pie eating contest.” War-Pulse began, pulling the Good Doctor off the wall to let him hang freely into the air. “But more importantly, I learned something there. Y’see, twice I was bewitched by a bitch of a sorceress, and a particularly nasty one at that. She got me to...see things, things that would make even you a bit uncomfortable.”

A flick of his wrist and the Doctor careened across the room, crashing through a lab table and sliding into the wall.

“You aren’t the only monster in the room, Herr Doctor. In fact, I think you and I probably have around the same kill count. Sure, we can reason it away as the casualties of war or in your case, the progress of science. However, that doesn’t excuse it, it just makes us feel better about what it is; murder. Cold. Blooded. Murder.”

The Doctor said nothing, merely cowering in fear as War-Pulse outstretched his hand, energy coalescing around his palm as he cornered the scientist.

“Here’s the difference between you and me, though. I’m aware that I’ve been a monster, and moreso, I do willingly agree that I’ve made some bad decisions in my life. Hell, I’d give anything to take back some things I’ve done, and I’m starting to realize I can learn from the mistakes I’ve made. Does that mean that’s going to save me from my own personal seat in hell? No, probably not, but at least I can make the world a little better when I leave and have some company there before I go.”

The Doctor only whimpered as War-Pulse pulled the arm back.

“Commander Anderson sends his regards, you kraut son of a bitch.”

A thrust of the arm forward, and the kinetic blast was launched into the Doctor’s body. His chest compressed as the impact landed, the flesh being ripped to shreds from the sheer impact as his body was all but pulverized against the wall. War-Pulse did not stop though, his orders had been clear since he got here. Another blast flattened the Doctor’s body, and another reduced it to shreds. Again War-Pulse fired, over and over again kinetic waves slammed into the wall until the infamous World War 2 veteran, the world's’ first real Supervillain, was reduced to a bloody pile on the floor, only his mask remaining intact.

Of course, that had been intentional, evidenced by the fact that War-Pulse picked the mask up after the deed was done. He snickered to himself, the feeling of killing a legendary figure washing over him with a sense of pride. He needed a win after his experience in Lost Haven, and his attack on the compound had allowed him to get a sizable amount of stress out of his system.

He took some time to admire his trophy, his eyes locked on the item as he strolled back through the devastated facility on his way back to the landing pads.

“Ooooo Waaaarrrrrdeeeennnn...Waaaaarrrrrrdeeeennnnnn.” The mercenary called mockingly, placing his finger on his commlink to bring his broker to his attention. “I've got a pulverized supervillain and a trophy mask with our names on it.”

“And the facility?” Came Warden’s monotone voice, always straight to the point.

“Completely toast, everything this guy was making is now muddled piles on the ground, not to mention this place is rigged to blow when I leave since I ruptured the generator. The Doctor’s work, his friends, his memories, they’re all going to die here.”

“Good, after this STRIKE will hold up their end of the bargain. Once you deliver the mask back to the drop point, you will receive a full pardon for your actions in Lost Haven. They cannot say the same for local law enforcement, heroes, or interpol, but they personally will no longer pursue you for your actions.”

“Awesome, I was getting real tired of downing STRIKE aircrafts whenever I wanted to make a cross country flight.” War-Pulse joked, pocketing the mask. “It’s a shame we won’t be getting any money for this job, though. Or credit for that matter, STRIKE's going to keep it all hush-hush, they could at the very least say that I'm the guy who killed Hitler's homemade superfriend!”

“Oh...I wouldn’t worry about that.” Warden replied. “I already have a well-paying job lined up for you…are you worried about going back to Lost Haven at all?”

“Worried?” War-Pulse replied, his eyes flaring up as a hungry little scoff left his lungs. “On the contrary, Warden….

I’m god damned thrilled.”

Mia had been sleeping in her room for the past couple of hours, entering slumber in mere minutes after her head touched the pillow. During this time, Kayla had been in the study area. Her right hand holding the compound bow that was used in her first night, her focus on the Danage target that was also in the room. She remembered the motions and the steps she needs to take each shot from her bow. The only problem with her shot cycle: she used the full 40s per arrow when in competition. If she was to be doing her investigation into the bombing for the duration that it needs to be, she needs to shoot her arrows as accurately as possible, while at the same time quickening her shooting speed. So, she spent the time since the bombing doing just that. Now, she is shooting an arrow every 10 seconds. Fast, but still nowhere near faster than she could go. Thud went another arrow, hitting the high-compressed foam target. ”Still 10 seconds,” she muttered. By now, she is going over the steps in her mind. Pulling the arrow, aiming and shooting the arrow constituted at least 4 seconds. Grabbing an arrow from the quiver on her leg was another 2 seconds, leaving the other 4 seconds to load the bow and attach the arrow to the string and getting the clamp of her release aid. She knew that a few of the seconds in the shot cycle could be cut by changing the type of release aid from a tension-based release to a trigger release. As for loading the arrow, which Kayla thinks is the reason why she hasn’t broken the sub-10s shot cycle, the arrow rest she has been using was the problem, with her fumbling to get the arrow on it before she can think about pulling the arrow back. From there, she reached for the computer and purchased a new trigger release aid and a drop-away arrow rest that is specifically used for hunting.

Once done, she walks out of the study and closed the door, locking it away as she did so. She reached for the glass of water that was left on the counter, she looks towards Mia’s bedroom door. Despite knowing who had caused all this suffering, she knows that she is nowhere near discovering who was behind the attack or why it occurred. If she was indeed the target, then why are the people behind this after her? How do they recognize her from her life 8 years ago? So many questions are revolving in her head about the events, yet little to no answers to ease her mind. However, there was one thing that could ease her mind at the present moment – cooking. She remembered that she had been doing nothing but ordering take out for the past few days, which isn’t healthy for her system. She walked over to the refrigerator and opening it, inspecting the contents inside. Apart from leftovers from the takeout the night before her first adventure, there weren't many ingredients to choose a meal from. Sure, there were peppers and some vegetables, but nothing that can be combined together. She checked the cupboards and noticed there was still a bag of rice and some ingredients for a golden curry. Having an idea for a meal that both herself and Mia could have that night, Kayla grabbed her coat from the side and walked out, rushing to get to a store before it closes for the evening.

Once outside, she began walking towards the costal edge of the French Quarter in the general direction of the nearby store. While observing the busy street, she noticed one guy leaning on a wall in a nearby alleyway, his eyes looking in the general direction of the apartment complex she came from. At first, she thought it was nothing, just another guy who was watching the world go by. However, she remembered that he was on the bus that her and Mia were on when coming back from the hospital. Either one of us has a creepy admirer, she first thought, turning down the first left street she came across. Or he is spying on one of us. As she looked into the nearby shop window, she noticed the same guy walking, always making sure he is on the other side of the street. His face, now that it was a little closer than when she left the apartment block, was unfamiliar to her. Even through her mind, she didn’t recall this person. The worrying thing about this is the idea that this guy might be working for the Penose and they could now have a general location to where she lived to one building. On the one hand, she really needed to get something from the store before it closed. On the other hand, she really need to know about why he was following her.

After a few minutes, getting to within 5 minutes to where her choice of grocery store was, she immediately took a turn down an alleyway. The guy, who was wearing a baseball cap to try and hide his face from any CCTV that was around, looked both ways before crossing the street. He approached the alleyway, noticing the lack of trace of the woman he was following. Thinking she had caught sight of him and ran down to the other side to try and lose him, she started to jog to the other side of the alley. Suddenly, from behind one of the dumpsters, Kayla emerged from it, her right leg in motion for a round kick to the general area of his shoulders. With the speed he was going, the sudden appearance and the speed & power of the kick, it wasn’t much time before the guy somersaulted to the ground, his head hitting the concrete floor. Dazed from the attack, the man took a few seconds to recover. Which gave all the time Kayla needs to make sure he didn’t get away. Placing her left foot on his crown jewels, she applied pressure with her foot. ”Now that I have your attention and show I am more than capable of defending myself against you, I would like to ask you a few questions. Why the hell are you following me?”

Unlike the Argentine from last night, the man instantly blabbered everything. “Some guys came to me and asked if I could follow you, getting information about where you live, who your friends are and your everyday routine. They said they will pay for my college tuition if I did this.”

Oh Jesus, she thought, taken back by the second part of his statement. He’s just a kid. Her hesitation in this revelation gave the guy a chance to recover. He grabbed her left leg and lifted it up. The force, although weak, was enough for her to topple over, falling flat on her back. The guy instantly gained control and was on top of her, his body pressed against her pelvis to prevent her from using her legs in retaliation. It wasn’t long before Kayla was fighting for her life, his hands clamped around her neck. She tried everything she could against her unknown assailant, but with her body in this position, her punches were severely reduced in strength. She could feel her body and mind slipping, but there wasn’t much that she could do. In a last-ditch effort to throw him off, she rammed her right thumb into her attacker’s left eye. That seemed to work as his hands flew from her throat to his eye. Coughing and gasping for air, Kayla started wiggling back and kicked out at the guy’s head, forcing him off of her. Slowly, she managed to get herself onto her knees and looked back at the writhing man. While questioning him might help with a new lead, he clearly demonstrated that he can overpower her and kill her. The next best thing to do was to get out in the open and get help. She can always confront him at the police station. See how he likes attacking someone with a loaded bow in their face. Getting onto her feet and supporting herself against the wall, she slowly made her way to the other side of the alley and screamed for help.

_{banner credit to Hellis}

---

Time: Present Day - Evening
Location: Paris, France

The Ambassador watched her newly acquired ally, Mandate be lead away by a trusted ally. Heading presumably to tourist spots to keep the golem's attention occupied.

Finally having time to respond to Lekh's text message her fingers tapped across the touchscreen.

-`ღ´- I will be in the city tomorrow. -`ღ´-
✿ That is very interesting! ✿
I would love to hear more, you pick the time and place.
I'll be there ~ ♪ ♫♩♬

Allowing Lekh to have control over the environment would give him an illusion of control while they talked business. Even from the brief time working with him, seeing him in action, rereading his reports from the CDC it gave her a strong impression of intelligence. More than just an criminal opportunist and someone she had to be cautious with. Months have passed and a smart man wouldn't allow to be fooled twice by something even as outrageous as magic.

She wanted information on Racheli, wanted to know everything she could so it would only be a matter of pinning her to a wall. From the reports she received from her spies, Racheli seems to be rather new to her powers but unfortunately the good samaritan Bak May had given her shelter. Bak May's belief in the mystic had her home bolstered with handcrafted wards powerful enough to repel the likes of the sprites. The elderly woman was a blindspot.

If she was careful she would get what she wanted from Lekh.

The Polish criminal, Lekh Antol (AKA Silence), had a time and place in mind almost as soon as he read that message, which was impressive when you consider the fact that he was reeling, taken aback by the fact that the Ambassador was going to be visiting Lost Haven so soon. It was too soon, he needed more time to plan. Still, he was nothing if not flexible, he'd have to improvise.

So soon? Luckily I am not busy tomorrow.
We can meet at Dark Brews and Bakery around midday.
It is on the corner of Elm street in the French Quarter.
Until tomorrow.
-L

---

Time: The Next Day - Midday
Location: Lost Haven, Maine

The air conditioning at full force in the taxi cab droned out the sound of the radio. Odette had arrived to Lost Haven in the middle of a heat wave. Thankfully, she dressed appropriately for the weather in a light breezy dress. Still adamantly fashionable regardless of who she was going to see.

"Do you think this will be easy?" Bach said, sitting beside her in the cab. "A pretty dress and a few practiced smiles won't convince someone like Silence to trust you."

"You are as transparent as a window, Bach. I know what I am doing." She replied quietly, speaking in French. "This will be a simple transaction of services."

"He will want to know more about the Soul Mark."

"I wouldn't doubt it."

Bach spoke firmly as the cab pulled up to the curb just outside of Dark Brews, "Whatever trust you have will be shattered when he knows what it does."

Leaning forward, handing the cab driver the fare money and a generous tip she replied tight lipped to Bach, "You can wait outside while I meet with Lekh, since you are so concerned over earning his trust. Your presence will be a distraction"

Odette left the cab, waiting the extra second to let Bach out. She waved to the driver then faced the shop front. Bach looked sour, turning an indignant lip up at Odette. She glared at his back as he sulked away.

She entered the small bakery, presumably locally owned. Several tables were occupied with the lunch time rush. Chatter filled the bakery from an assortment of languages, she recognized splashes of French here and there but it mixed generously with Ukranian, Swedish, German, and Italian. While the smell of freshly baked bread was welcoming it was equally stifling in the heat of summer.

Lekh had arrived shortly before midday, and had already finished a cup of Inka, czarna specifically, which was essentially dark Polish coffee. Dark Brews was one of the few shops that actually sold his preferred brand of caffeinated beverage, which would have been more of a hardship if not for the fact that he drank coffee quite rarely. He sat alone on a table for two just off to the left of the main entrance, and he was almost unrecognisable from the man the Ambassador had first met. Sure, he was of a similar height, but he was paler than she would remember, his hair gelled back and no longer dyed a reddish brown but black. He was dressed casually in a black polo and dark blue jeans, basically indistinguishable from anyone else off work for the day or out of business dress. Even his eyes were a different colour, a pale blue today, though it was unlikely she'd looked that carefully in the first place to note such a small detail. Luckily perhaps, he was paying attention to each visitor, and raised a hand in greeting to Odette after giving her a few moments to walk through the cafe.

Expecting to see him in the security guard disguise was a silly after thought when she arrived to his table. His hair was noticeably shades darker but her initial impressions of his appearance were all but lost to memory. It was strange of her to forget small details. Then again, when she thought back to the kidnapping she often saw red and in gross detail had remembered everything she could about Racheli. Anger had a funny way of colouring memories.

She brought an easy pink lipped smile, "Bonsoir, Monsieur. Lovely little bakery you've picked." She realized she hadn't a single clue what his surname was, her expression didn't falter at the awkward note.

Lekh returned her smile, it even looked real. "Bonsoir, Madame Favre. I quite like it, reminds you of home does it not? Please, sit if you would."

"Merci. It certainly does." She said pulling the wooden chair out and flattening her dress beneath her legs as she sat. "I can't quite place your accent. Where is home for you?"

"I like to think my home is wherever I find myself, Madame, but my heart belongs to Polska"

She pushed her sunglasses on top of her head as she fixed him with blue eyes of her own, "I have never visited Poland. In spite of my skillset, I am not the most well travelled European."

She smiled again, entirely for the irony in her comment.

"I'm glad to see you are doing well for yourself here in Lost Haven. Most of what I hear is from the disjointed grapevine, whenever Parisian and Lost Haven associates cross paths." Letting her eyes wander the cafe casually checking for any eavesdroppers, not lingering on any one person for long. "I have personally not stepped foot in Lost Haven since we last met."

"Oh? Bad memories perhaps?" He asked, quite seriously.

"Something to that degree, I wouldn't count my last visit as enjoyable." Odette replied with a slight shrug. She had comparible experiences with failure but it had been a while since she took such a heavy hit.

"Yes, I had heard you encountered difficulty at the Ironworks, I am sorry I could not be there." He wasn't, really, in fact he was quite glad he hadn't been there, but he sounded sincere enough.

"A kind sentiment but difficult to believe." She said not unkindly, "Until a few days ago, I saw no opportunity to rectify the mistake. Now however, I have confirmed our mutual acquaintance's location here in the city."

Lekh only smiled in response to her disbelief, she had him worked out, at least that far."Oh, you have? She has been spending time in Chinatown, with an elderly lady of all people." He chuckled, for the sake of anyone listening, but his remarks were deadly serious and revealed that he in fact had Rach's current location as well.

She nodded, "This older woman is of the superstitious sort, from what I have heard. Believes in wards, sage and other such silly measures as protection." She was glad to know Lekh had taken steps to watch Racheli as well.

"What I was hoping to discuss today was along the lines of information, I remember distinctly you are skilled at gathering information. From your part time work at Lost Haven's CDC. I was hoping you could revisit our dear friend's past."

"I am sure we can agree on terms, but allow me to do something else for you first." He stood up. "I would like to buy you coffee, do you have any preference?"

Odette smiled having nearly forgotten her thirst, "Skim milk caffè latte, please and thank you."

Lekh used the time while ordering coffee to think about Odette's reason for speaking with him. He was a little off balance, though to look at him you wouldn't have thought it, because some of his most valuable information wasn't any worth to him. He hadn't predicted that the Ambassador would know about Rach, he'd underestimated her resources in Lost Haven. Still, there was nothing for it now. He returned to the table, placing her coffee before her without spilling a drop.

"Your coffee, Madame." He affected his best waiter voice to relieve some of the tension that he felt building and then took a seat and sipped his own drink. "So, you are interested in learning more about our friend's sorid past?" He smiled faintly.

She hid a small giggle behind her hand, "Your accent needs a little work, Monsieur. Credit goes to the timely delivery." The cream had a artistic swirl across the surface of the coffee. Wrapping her hands around the white mug leaning her elbows against the table.

Answering his question settling her gaze upon him, watching for hints to what he was thinking or feeling. "I am interested in seeing what makes her tick. I find the best traps are better set when they are intimately personalized. Wouldn't you agree?" Lekh was proving to be incredibly difficult to read in spite of feeling the distinct touches of magic she left behind on his soul.

"I would agree in so much as that more information is always of use, but information is my business, so perhaps I am biased. The past often holds leverage over people, it should be closely guarded. I suspect that our friend will not have taken great care to conceal her past." As he mentioned leverage, he rotated his right hand around his coffee cup, displaying the mark there seemingly by accident.

Her eyes flicked to his wrist then returned in a blink, "Our friend also seems to be lacking in other areas as well, not just in intelligence. As information is your business, I am fully prepared to pay the appropriate rates for your service. If you are interested in the work, of course."

"I must admit, it would feel wrong to ask for any significant sum for such a simple task." He shrugged his shoulders. "Yet there are other things that demand my attention in Lost Haven, I am quite busy as of late, you must understand." He looked apologetic, for what it was worth. "Still, I like you Ms Favre, so I will do what you ask. However, rather than money, perhaps you could answer a question of my own about your, ahem, world?"

"An exchange of information? I must warn you, Lekh. Explanations will not make sense of how my world works. Not without a..." She waved her hand trying to remember the english phrase, "Acte de foi, hrm... Leap of faith if you will. Are you absolutely certain that is what you would prefer?"

She expected this to come up and she truly hoped he would not have pressed the question forcing her to be truthful. Possibly leading to severing their new friendship. While she could carry on without his services she hardly wanted to add Lekh to the list of enemies that seemed to be growing in the past few months.

"I am certain. I do not believe I can continue to operate in complete ignorance of your world, Ms Favre." Reluctance, attempts to dissuade his pursuit of an answer to an unasked question, curious. "So, do you agree to answer a question of my own in payment for me giving you the information you seek?" As always, his demeanour failed to betray the seriousness of his question, in fact, he seemed almost painfully casual about it, almost as if he were but a child asking an adult questions about how the world worked. In a way, perhaps he was doing just that.

Odette readjusted herself to sitting up straight, her shoulders automatically shifting into a perfect posture. She took the slight pause to think, now resting her eyes on the coffee. Lekh knew she needed the information as he needed to know what the mark was. As she was sure there would be no guarantee of keeping a tether like that on him for a long period of time even when she initially placed it. There were always other ways to keep Lekh close.

Careful, she had to be absolutely careful.

"Very well. I agree to answering your question in exchange for information on our friend." She said firmly looking him in the eye she held out her hand to be shaken. "A handshake is as binding as a contract to folk such as myself."

"Excellent, I must confess that curiosity is a flaw of mine. I will look forward to sating it once I am able to honour my end of our agreement." He shook the hand offered, his mind flashing back to the last time they had shaken hands, nodding at her remarks in regards to a handshake being binding.

Oh, I know.

At least, with the blessing of time to prepare her answer the buisness had been concluded. Now, she was free to simply enjoy the rest of her coffee date with a tentative friend.

One Year Ago. Night Time.

He played his guitar with a special kind of relaxed enthusiasm, the sort that comes with unleashing after an exhausting, stressful fight. He sighed into the warm, dry air of the small apartment, and although he could hear Puma get up from the bed behind him, he was happy to focus on the music alone. He sang softly, with his eyes closed, and let his mind be carried away by the soothing succession of sounds.

"Hubo un tiempo que fue hermoso
Y fui libre de verdad.
Guardaba todos mis sueños
En castillos de cristal..."

Before long his thoughts became a series of melodic, if somewhat non-linear images, smells, tastes and sensations. In his head, he felt the cool lakeside breeze of the black sand beaches in autumn, smelled raspberries and pine trees, and saw Puma chasing him up and down the roofs of Buenos Aires. The big, ugly bruise on his right cheekbone throbbed painfully with the memory of their struggle , and he absentmindedly tasted the dried blood on his lower lip.

At least his stupid boyfriend had come out unscathed from the clash between both meta-humans.

"That song is so boring..." Said the shapeshifter in question as he wrapped his arms around Ludo. There was a rumbling to his voice, and his breath upon Ludo's skin sent shivers down his spine.

"My love... go fuck yourself."

Puma laughed. "Don't you like AC/DC? Metallica?"

Ludo parted his lips to answer, but when he felt Puma's warm breath ghost over the skin of his neck, he could only shudder from the sudden goosebumps. Puma's kisses only made matters worse, and he had to stop playing for a moment, just so he could retaliate with a quick little kiss on the other's lips.

"I should dump you for such blasphemy." He said and chuckled as they parted, giving his shoulder a small shove. Then he turned his eyes back to the strings, and began to play again. "I grew up listening to this song. It makes me happy."

Puma was quiet for a moment, apparently just basking in this singular moment of calm intimacy between them while Ludo whispered the lyrics.

"Te encontrare una mañana
Dentro de mi habitación
Y prepararás la cama
Para dos..."

When the criminal finished, the vigilante spoke again.

"Why don't you dedicate yourself to that? Music?" Asked Puma, burying his face on the side of the other's neck. "Leave Condor behind and just do this. Go to a conservatory, write a few songs..."

Ludo plucked a single string, producing a high note, and did not look Puma in the eyes. He was quiet for a moment, before he chuckled again.

"Because I like being Condor." He said with a tiny, lopsided smile, leaning into Puma's warmth. "I like feeling that I'm making a difference in the world, that I'm changing something real. I think I'd lose my mind if I spent the rest of my life just playing the guitar and painting."

For a while, Puma was silent and motionless, and Ludo could almost feel the other's displeasure.

"We can't do this forever." He said at last, and there was sadness and resignation in his voice. "One day we won't be able to just take our costumes off and go on with our lives pretending everything's alright. Things will get ugly."

Ludo plucked another string, this time producing a lower note, and put the guitar down. He sighed, and twisted in his seat to face the other young man.

"I can't give Condor up, Puma. Not even for you." He placed his hand on the other's cheek, and leaned in. "But I do love you, and if anybody ever hurts you, I'll wreck them."

"Aww, you're so protective of your kitty." Puma gave Ludo a wide smile, showing off a bit of his feline teeth, and pulled him up from his seat and into his arms with a happy growl.

"Mhmm. My kitty." Ludo grinned, kissing him in the lips. "My kitty with really shitty taste in music."

"Those are fighting words."

"Then fight me." He said with a giggle, straddling the other as they fell together on the bed. His voice became a mischievous, sultry whisper as he looked the other in the eyes. "Better yet, punish me, my mighty superhero."

Sex ensued, of course, and both arrived at their classes quite late. It was a lovely summer day, the perfect aftermath for a long night spent in their costumes, getting themselves into all manner of trouble in the name of altruism or amusement, and both of them enjoyed it as best they could.

For a time, their lives were full of fun, love and shenanigans.

---

Present Day. Late Night.

Condor exhaled a small puff of white smoke, closing his eyes as the herb-scented cloud faded into the nocturnal air. His ears were filled with the sound of that same song he had once played in his guitar, and that song that Puma had dared to call boring. He hummed along with it, and the happy memories of loving bickering in between nights of costumed action monopolized his thoughts.

After five hours spent assaulting police officers known for their excessive use of force, using the money he stole from them to give a few homeless people a nice warm meal, and hanging out with some prostitutes and marijuana dealers while he protected them from police and vigilantes, it was nice to take a short break to smoke and think. Besides, he had some important stuff to do, and he knew he would probably feel guilty if he spent the entire night getting distracted from his main goal. Specially since Colin had pretty much handed him his next target on a silver platter.

So here he was now, sitting on the rooftop of a very old apartment building, holding a blunt between his talons, and watching the dilapidated complex where the next link in the chain of Zepeta's arms supply line awaited.

Maybe it was because he was a bit of an amateur on the topic, but Condor failed to see the brilliance in using abandoned warehouses and docks in the slums of New York City, of all places, as the front for an arms smuggling operation. It felt painfully obvious, and he could not help but question the logic of it. Perhaps the American and Colombian agents were staunch believers in the 'hiding in plain sight' philosophy, although that hardly explained the conspicuously well-equipped people patrolling the place.

If his goggles' thermal imagery was anything to go by, within the buildings were two dozen armed agents, a very cute stray dog that kept them company, and an awful lot of rats. They had not yet loaded their shipment onto the old freighters docked behind the complex.

"Hey, man, pass me the blunt!" Said Beaumont, one of the dealers he was protecting, reaching out to him without much fear now. Undeniably a teenager, despite his tough guy attitude, he had claimed that he sold marijuana to support his ill mother, which Condor thought was probably a load of crap. He did not judge him for it, though. And besides, Beaumont seemed like a cool person to hang out with, well worth taking some asshole hero hostage for.

The wounded meta-human moaned a plea behind them, muffled by the gag, as he squirmed in his bindings. He had called himself "Lieutenant Maverick" or something, and had the ability to turn almost anything into a projectile. He was also a major dick who blamed all drug dealers for his cop father's death, and so took it upon himself to kill or maim even the youngest small-time marijuana dealers. Condor had definitely enjoyed blowing him from window to window.

He gave the vigilante a nonchalant glance, then handed the blunt over to Beaumont with a nod. "I thought dealers couldn't use their own stuff."

"Not my stuff, though. I bought this one from Laverne down the street." Said Beaumont before sucking in. He let out a small laugh when he exhaled. "My stuff is shit, dude."

"Hey, have some self-esteem." Condor said, patting him on his shoulder, turning his eyes to Lieutenant Whatshisname as the vigilante moaned again, louder. "Cut it out already. I didn't break a single bone in you. I double-checked."

He spared another look at the warehouses. The agents were still there, still moving crates full of arms around and generally acting like nobody would ever catch them in the act of sending weapons to an infamous populist dictator under the American government's sponsorship.

Now, Condor hated being angry, because anger was not a nice, pleasant emotion, but that stuff made him angry. And not just because the whole scheme reeked of a repeat performance of the same bullshit South America had put up with in the decades before his birth. It angered him, because these people probably had no idea, no sense of the consequences of what they were doing in there. They were partially responsible for whatever had happened to Puma, his Puma, and they did not even know it.

He swiftly pulled the blunt from Beaumont's fingers and took another drag, filling his lungs. It made him a bit dizzy, but he liked it. He felt like it added a spark of kinetic energy to the tension within him.

After a long sigh, he gave the blunt back to Beaumont and got on his feet with a jump. "Alright. The little bird has to go hunting."

"What are you doing with this guy here?" Asked Beaumont, nodding towards his still squirming hostage.

"Oh, yeah. Him." Said Condor, grinning. "He's the bait."

He and Lieutenant Whocares stared at each other for a few seconds, until the other let out a whine that was an almost heartbreaking blend of confusion and terror.

"Now now, that's not a very manly sound." He said, giving him a small kick to the side. "I promise you'll be relatively fine by the end of this. And if you behave really well, I'll even leave you at the nearest hospital."

Condor then gently pulled the vigilante up on his feet, and placed a small device around his neck. Once he was finished with that, he adjusted his own headphones and hummed along to that same Sui Generis song as it looped. Satisfied with the state of his bait and equipment, he tied his long brown hair back and paused the music.

Feeling as ready as he could possibly be, he pushed his hostage towards the edge of the rooftop and bumped fists with Beaumont one final time. "Thanks for the company. You're a great guy."

"No problem, man." Answered the teen, grinning. "I'll look into this floriculture thing you talked about."

Condor grinned back. "You do that. I really liked the look of those jasmines you were growing."

And then Lieutenant Whatever was sent flying through the sky by a sudden gust of wind, dozens of feet above ground, and glided towards the supposedly abandoned warehouses. More specifically, he glided towards the large, mostly broken windows of the top floor, and then went right through those with a loud crash.

A cacophony of confused shouting, heavy steps and objects being pushed around filled the air in the following seconds, providing the perfect cover for a darker, bird-like figure that, much like a bird, flew elegantly over the downtrodden streets of the slums and into a gaping hole in the nearest warehouse's roof.

The inside of the warehouse was darker than the night outside, but Condor still landed deftly on the dusty and broken cement floor. His feet did not make a single noise, although that would not have been much of a problem, given how loud the sudden chaos in the next room was.

There was an agent inside with him, but from the sounds of it he had been taking a strongly needed bathroom break, and so he did not notice Condor's arrival until it was too late. Namely, until he was thrown out the nearest window with a bit of old cloth stuffed in his mouth to keep him silent. He would certainly live, although Condor did for a moment wonder what sort of life he would have after falling from an abandoned warehouse with his pants down.

Through the thermal imagery of his goggles, he saw that almost all the other agents were in the adjacent room already, forming a circle around the bound and gagged figure of a costumed hero. In the floor immediately below, the bulk of the arms shipment awaited, guarded by one particularly cold-looking female and the cute stray dog. Colin had told him about that one agent: a Colombian cryokinetic, charged with keeping an eye on the American agents, making sure that their government was not double-crossing Zepeta in some way.

Condor turned his attention back to the gathered agents beyond the rusty door. They had taken off his bait's gag, and begun to shout all manner questions, threats and orders. All his bait could produce were frightened and baffled half-sentences, none of which came even close to revealing why he was there. That exasperated the agents, and their threats became more explicit. They now pointed their guns at him with murderous certainty.

It was time. And to be honest, he was looking forward to this.

He closed his eyes for a second as he put some music on. He had never liked the Rolling Stones, but Puma had. "Paint It Black" had always been his favorite song, and that was as good a reason as any to make it the soundtrack of what was coming next.

"I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black..."

He walked closer to the door and reached under his cloak, pulling out a small object with a button at the front. His finger ghosted over it for a second, and he took a long breath and shuddered.

"Ready?" He whispered to himself, and opened his eyes with a nod. "Yeah. Ready... and angry."

He pressed on the button with a smile, and it made the softest click.

An explosion of noise suddenly drowned out the shouting in the other room. A blast so powerful it shattered the lightbulbs hanging above the people within into countless pieces. It caused so much pain to their ears that many fell to their knees in the darkness as they clutched their heads and cried out. It likely left Lieutenant Whosis deaf, since it all came from the device around his neck.

"I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love, both never to come back..."

The iron doors swung open, and Condor jumped in, followed by an explosion of air that blew them all back with great force. He landed with a barrel roll, not stopping for an instant as he kicked a recovering agent in the head and tore her rifle from her hands. With it, he delivered a single shot to another agent's leg, then hit another in the groin with an upwards swing. Leaving it behind, he reached for his boleadoras and threw them at another that was running towards their own weapon, making them trip headfirst into a pile of rubble.

"Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black..."

The lack of light did not deter his targets from firing at him, and a pair of shots missed him by an inch, which did wonders for his mood. He blew the culprit through the windows and into the night sky, but not before stealing a grenade from him and throwing it at a trio of his peers. The explosion overwhelmed the thermal imagery of Condor's goggles, which gave one Colombian agent the chance to land a very painful hit to his jaw with the butt of a rifle.

"If I look hard enough into the setting sun
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes..."

Condor staggered for a moment and took another blow to his stomach. He groaned in pain, and in his exasperation he dispensed with good manners and threw the asshole to blame into a fragile-looking column with another surge of air. The column predictably fell, and the asshole was soon buried under piles of broken concrete.

Someone else tried to attacked him from behind with a rusty pipe, but Condor quickly retaliated with a series of kicks, and took the pipe from the other's hands. He definitely broke something upon hitting the other's face with it. And with that same pipe he tripped and broke another's leg, which he immediately felt a bit guilty about, although not enough to keep him from using that person as a human shield against a barrage of poorly aimed gunfire.

"I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes..."

Over half of the agents were still standing, which meant Condor had to get creative quickly. And that was where his whip finally came into play. With it, he got one of the unconscious agents by the foot, and used him as a very heavy morning star against the others, aided by the ever helpful air. Another he caught by the neck, and with one strong pull his head struck the floor.

And then the real fun started.

Condor became a flurry of movement, unrestrained and enthusiastic. He jumped, pirouetted and swung his way through the remaining agents, and the wind dealt with those that his talons and weapons could not subdue. A series of explosion, courtesy of a few grenades, rocked the building, but they did not halt his advance. If anything, they encouraged him, and he responded with explosions of his own, bursts of air that sent even heavy objects flying. As he came across boxes full of grenades, he turned them into improvised demolition charges, destroying a large part of the shipment and making the warehouse tremble.

That was when the Colombian cryokinetic appeared, with the floor beneath him collapsing as giant spikes of ice broke through it. All just when "Paint It Black" ended, and a song he actually liked started playing.

Condor regained his senses as quickly as he could, which was not quite fast enough to avoid being hit by a blast of icy air that threw him against a crate. Once he got his footing, he grinned and bowed. She did not seem impressed.

"Enough! Surrender now!" She growled as she threw a rather intimidating ball of ice at him. He evaded it, barely, and struck back with a gust of hot wind. It was not intense enough to make her lose her footing, but it distracted her enough for him to draw his pistol.

"Sorry. I don't answer to fascists." He said as he aimed and took his shot.

He missed her by a few inches.

The cryokinetic had been prepared, and she responded by charging at him with ice-covered fists. They clashed in the midst of what remained of the once vast shipment of Israeli arms, much of it set on fire by falling debris from the top floor. Condor was glad to take advantage of this and blow the crates towards her as he tried to dodge her attacks. That was easier said than done.

As soon as he thought he had the upper hand, she created a very strong shield of ice that withstood most of his blows, and one mighty punch of hers sent him flying across the room. He landed with a loud thud, and his nose bled, but he got back on his feet and struck back. He applied a bit of parkour, moving through the warehouse with agility as she threw every ice trick she could at him, turning half the dilapidated building into a frozen wonderland. With a high jump from one of the taller crates he pounced on her, kicking her in the chest and throwing her into a collection of fuel barrels. Just as he was about to get up, he shot one of them, its contents flowing onto the floor and beginning an inevitable journey towards the still raging fire nearby. That gave her pause.

"Enough. Surrender now." Said Condor, smiling.

She smiled back. "Where are you from? You sound Argentinian."

"Yes, I'm a South American brother of yours."

"And you think you can stop what the Supreme Commander has begun? We're the future of South America. We're going to stand up and..."

Condor shot another one of the barrels.

"Honestly, I don't give a shit about your ideology." He said, turning his gun towards her. "But you are done using the Americans to help you massacre your own people."

"You're just another stupid kid, thinking that you can have peace without men like the Supreme Commander." She said defiant, rising to her feet. Her hands began to take on that pale blue glow again. "South America needs us... not you!"

She cast a wall of freezing air and solid ice, and when he fired his pistol, the bullet was stopped and swallowed by the ice. It grew larger and larger, covering every inch of the warehouse, suffocating the fires and leaving only Condor untouched by its deadly cold. Her entire body began to glow that same pale blue.

Condor had no time to think or to run, but his emotions, chaotic though they were, swiftly took over his powers. And to the wall of cold air and ice they responded with a tempest that beat it back. The cryokinetic's attack lost momentum, then stagnated, and then it began to succumb under the countless air currents that now joined the tempest from everywhere nearby, until it felt like a hurricane would be born within the warehouse's walls.

With one final push, the ice crumbled, and the cryokinetic was thrown back, pushed off her feet and towards the wall. She hit it with a groan of pain, and fell back on the floor, unconscious.

A few seconds of silence passed. Then, with a long sigh, Condor took off his headphones, and untied his hair.

The Argentine meta-human took a long look at the warehouse, ruined beyond repair, and Zepeta's shipment all but destroyed. All in two songs. It felt... pretty damn great.

The neighbors had probably heard the whole thing too.

He sighed again. "God, I think I deserve some tea."