---

The Canadian Wilderness_

---

---

A fleet of stealth helicopters marked the night sky... below them was forest after forest.

On the side of the helicopters had the symbol of the ZODIAC group.

They quickly approached their destination; a massive mansion in the middle of nowhere. The sides of one of the helicopters opened up to reveal the gigantic frame of Sovereign... the man in black, skin-tight armor, weaved almost like muscles.

"Don't start firing until I give the order," Sovereign spoke over the comms. "This is a peaceful operation after all."

"Affirmative." Every member of ZODIAC spoke in perfect unison.

"Now...." Sovereign said before he reached behind himself to pull out a massive light machine gun. They had arrived right above the mansion. "... Begin."

Rappel lines came down from the helicopters, as the dark armored members of ZODIAC came flying down from them. They all took position on every side of the building, near the windows. Primed to insert.

"... Begin tactical insertion."

At that moment, the ZODIAC soldiers kicked off the side of the building, and swung in through the windows. Causing loud crashes as the soldier's eyes glowed a bright red color. Screams erupted out of surprise as they were quickly dispatched by a quick blow, or were hit with a taser dart.

"Everyone get on the ground!" A ZODIAC soldier shouted in an electronically distorted manner as they charged through the building with their weapons primed. They made sure to secure every inch of the place, and that everyone was accounted for. One ZODIAC soldier kicked down a door, and aimed their weapons in a room full of children.

"Nobody move!" The soldier said.

And in a matter of moments, the entire mansion of secure. Every single person inside were lined up against the walls on their knees. With their hands behind their back, and a power suppressant collar around their necks. Everyone was scared out of their minds - and with good reason. They were being attacked by the infamous ZODIAC terrorist group.

It was a little while before Soverign made his grand appearance, he walked down the hallway alongside the prisoners. His large, intimidating, figure brought fear to the men, women, and children that were being held hostage. But, he was walking alongside someone. Someone whom not even he expected would be coming in person.

The Foundation Woman.

The two approached a large door that said "JAME's QUARTERS," and Sovereign slowly pushed it open. He took point in case of a sneak attack, but the humble room was empty except for one man. The burning fireplace next to the man illuminated his features. He was thin, average-heighted, and had well-groomed black hair. Lounging in a chair, with another chair across from it, and a table in between them.

Sovereign waited by the door as The Foundation Woman placed down a chess set on the table, and sat down in the chair across from his. She crossed her legs, and looked at James with a smile on her face.

"You know, the Family never found you in the decades they were looking for you," The Foundation Woman said. "But, it took me a few months to actually pin you down. That means I'm just that good, or you must really be slipping up."

She pointed at the chess table.

"Oh, mind playing a game of chess with me... James?"

"Your voice..." James said, "... You're the Foundation Woman?"

"Oh?" The Foundation Woman mouthed out of surprise. "Then that means we can skip introductions and all?" She asked as she leaned back.

"What do you want?" James seethed.

"James, James, James..." The Foundation Woman said, putting her hand up. "Why the hostility? I'm here on a peace mission... I don't intend on spilling one drop of blood."

"Oh, but all the blood you spilled before is perfectly okay?" James asked.

"It's all means to an end... you know that better than anyone," The Foundation Woman said, leaning in towards James. "The Philosophers, ZODIAC... we all have the same goals, right?"

James sneered.

"Helping people? Seeing the bigger picture? No?" The Foundation Woman raised an eyebrow. "I was thinking of a mutual alliance between us... you help us, we help you..."

"I would much rather die!" James shouted as he slammed his fist on the arm of his chair.

"... Oh, we both know that won't happen anytime soon," The Foundation Woman said, "But, listen to me James... bad things are coming, and you and me are the only people who could stop it."

The Foundation Woman shrugged as she playfully moved a chess piece in her hands.

"And we know the thing that would solve all of our problems..."

James grasped onto the arms of his chair tightly, as he realized just what the Foundation Woman was after.

"... Where is the Sui generis code?"

---

Unknown_

In a place far away from civilization, there was a woman sitting on the edge of a cliff. Meditating with her legs folded, and her hands lightly placed on her knees. The chill from the air ruffled her outfit, and she was coated in a layer of snow. The woman was fair-skinned, with a face covered in freckles. However, her black outfit covered a vast majority of her being. From her hat, to her long robe. With her eyes covered with a wrap, she pointed a finger towards the sky. With her hand close to her face.

"... Tell me world..." The woman trailed off. "Just what is heading our way...?" She asked, seemingly no one in particular.

However, a moment passed, and she shook her head.

"Why...?" She asked, letting out a sigh as she put her hands back on her knees. "Why can't I see anything?"

"... Maybe because your precious world got tired of telling you everything!" The woman let out an exclaim of surprise, as she whipped around towards the voice. "You rely on it too much, and you breed weakness."

"... Megan." The woman hissed.

"Oh! So you do remember me!? I'm so glad I was committed to memory," The tall woman with frizzy red hair walked through the snow. Ill-dressed for being in the middle of nowhere. "I'm shocked."

"So," The woman stood up to her feet. "Have you finally decided to turn back on your foolish ways?"

"'Foolish ways?' You mean doing everything but what you want me to do?" Megan smiled. "Sorry, but my fun is faaaaaaaaaaar from over."

The woman shook her head.

"Keep going down this path, you'll end up like your brother..." The woman answered. "Following fools, and locked in a cage because of it?"

"Oh, Ignatius?" Megan laughed. "I'd say Ignatius had the right idea, all he wanted was purpose, and he found it!"

The Woman stared at Megan as the red-haired woman climbed on a tree branch, and laid down on it.

"... Better than sitting around in Russia, acting self-righteous, right?" Megan taunted the woman. "All because you got yourself a big head because of your so called 'redemption quest.' Best joke I ever heard!"

The woman clenched her fists.

".... Verschlinger."

The woman was surrounded with a dark-red energy that flowed like a gas, as she willed the branch Megan was lying on to come crumbling down. It took Megan a few moments to recover, but the Verschlinger was already on top of her. She hissed the next sentence with pure venom;

"Daughter or not; never call me by that name again."

"Okay, okay, Ada!" Megan put her hands up. "You win."

Ada turned off, she took a few steps away. She let out a sigh.

"I let my anger guide me yet again..." Ada said. "I apologize for it."

"It's okay..." Megan said as she hopped up, "But, there is a pressing matter I must discuss with you!" She said, as Ada came to a stop.

"And that is?"

"Well, the big thing is that times are changing... more boys and girls need someone like you to guide them than ever!" Megan started off, she stared at Ada's wraps over her face. "So, are you going to sit on the sidelines like you are, or are you going to take a stand?"

This question was the one burning in Ada from the beginning... it caused her to go into a state of deep thought

"I am worried about the future, Megan," Ada started off. "The world... it refuses to tell me about the future. What does that mean?"

"Maybe it was what I sa-"

"No," Ada said, "I can't see anything past the end of the year... only blackness. Does that mean there's nothing to see?"

"Maybe it means you're gonna die!" Megan cheerfully said.

"I lasted this long already... I don't think there's anything on this Earth that can kill me."

"That's where you're wrong! Haha..."

"I must take time to see the world... decide if it's time for me to take action." Ada said, as she looked up at the night sky. "I'll start with Baybridge, the world tells me that something will happen there."

Then Ada took one step, and faced her daughter.

"But, I must ask..." Ada started off, "... Who's side are you on?"

Megan smirked.

"... The winning side, of course."

---

---

Greenflower Garden, Silver Hills_

---

---

"... Yeah, Lijuan is doing great."

Meifeng spoke, in a very casual and roundabout manner.

"She's having a very hard time adjusting, but I think she's better off with Jiao-Long. She's just.... feeling sad. But, honestly, we all are."

Meifeng sighed.

"Oh? My job? Yeah... RAVEN just isn't what it used to be. Funny, ain't it? Back in the day I would have killed to be a NEST agent. I used to think they were straight up superheroes in the flesh! But now... the Family changed everything, and I got to see RAVEN change right before my eyes. People... they just don't trust us anymore."

She went silent for a few moments.

"And it's all a mess, I thought it'd be easy going without the Family pulling all the strings from the shadows, but nah. Two more problems just replace one more. Ain't that crazy?!"

She sighed one more time.

"It's all a mess... I just wish I had your advice... your guidance. So I can fix it. Find Cindy. Bring her home."

It all came together in an instant. Meifeng opened her eyes, and looked around. Far as the eye could see was gravestone after gravestone. She focused on the gravestone she was kneeling over, and saw the words that reminded her of her own failures.

ZHAO LIHUA.

1972-2022.

"... God, I miss you."

---

RAVEN/DOVE Joint Headquarters, White Coast_

After that overly sentimental distraction, Meifeng knew it was finally time to check into work. She was probably late as all hell, and there was a major meeting between the important members of RAVEN and DOVE. As much as she was passionate about helping people, there was a point where she couldn't muster up the same passion. At least, not anymore. Even waking herself up every morning to head to work was a challenge. Personally, she'd prefer to be spending time with Lijuan, or trying to figure out just what she's fighting for.

Shaking her head, she walked through the halls of the Headquarters. Renovations were finished, and the place looked different... definitely a breath of fresh air from the old drab government interior she was used to.

Holding files tightly in hand, she made it to the meeting room. She placed her hand on the knob, and briefly paused for a moment as she tried to gather the motivation. But, she did what she was doing for three years now.

"... Hey, guys!" Meifeng said, catching eye of each and every one of her fellow RAVENs. Plenty of familiar faces, and people she didn't bother to get to know. "Sorry I'm late, traffic and all!"

The meeting room was a large room, with the most notable feature being the large wooden table in the center of it. Surrounding it was chairs, and Maximilian Cornell himself sat on the end of the table. Meifeng looked at him, wearing one of his trademark suits. Though, Meifeng could see the age in his beard.

He narrowed his eyes at Meifeng for a moment, he twisted up his face in a way that made Meifeng uncomfortable.

"... You're late, Meifeng." Maximilian said.

"Yeah, sorry," Meifeng rolled her eyes up into her head as she walked up. "Are we going to start this meeting, or what?"

"Dana," Maximilian said, as the room went dark. The projector on the center of the table was turned on via remote. "I was hoping agent Jean-Pierre would be back with what I really want to discuss, but I believe that, for now, we'll discuss other matters."

Meifeng leaned up against the wall, she wondered what Maximilian really wanted to talk about, but patience is a virtue.

"Starting with ZODIAC, and our old friend the Hound... or Sovereign as he calls himself now."

---

---

---

---

Hailey Boulevard, Silver Hills_

---

---

"... Ms. Delacroix, are you okay?"

His voice broke her out of her reverie, and brought her back to the real world. She let out a quiet gasp, but caught herself as she looked around. She remembered that she was in her classroom... what was the room number again? Room 308. She had to remind herself that she was no longer Veronica Davis...

... But, Noelle Delacroix.

Standing over her was a tall man that was in his mid-twenties. Obviously a Savior-Brat who's just enjoying that trust fund of his. She could just tell with that neat haircut that made him look cheeky, or that stupid designer outfit that made Noelle want to burn it. With him in it.

"Yeeeah, I'm just a little light-headed," Noelle answered in a French accent as she put her hand on her head. "What can I get for you, Justin?"

"Oh, do you know about that big DOVE event that's going down later on today?" Justin said.

"No?" Noelle knew about it, but chose to keep her distance from RAVEN and DOVE.

"It's going to be this big festival type thing where this jack-off from DOVE gives this speech about hope and whatever. My Dad's going to be there representing the Saviors, and making sure that nobody gets the wrong idea...."

Everything you damn own is from your father, stop acting so smug. Noelle thought to herself, but kept that smile on her face just to keep appearances. "Oh? That sounds lovely."

"I was wondering if you'd come with me." Justin said, putting his hands on his sides. "It'd be great. Free food, and everything."

Hmph. Noelle would had said no in any other situation, but she had a feeling a certain friend of hers would show up. That friend had the key for something she had planned. This spoiled Gorilla might be the perfect cover for her. Noelle smiled for real.

"... I would love to!" Noelle said in a very bubbly tone as she hopped up to her feet. "Just give me some time to head home and get ready."

Justin didn't say anything other than fist pump as Noelle walked off. He better not try not to "score" or something... that'd be the last mistake he ever made. She walked out of the university, and shook her head as she walked onto the streets. Hmph. Her car shouldn't be too far away.

Life was hard for Noelle under her new identity. Even though she appeared to be happy, she wondered what was next. Should she slip up, all of her enemies would be all over her. She wouldn't have the disarray that came with the fall of the Family allowing her to easily ghost. An older woman bumped into her on the street, and she hollered something that Noelle ignored as she gave her a short "Sorry" and kept moving.

Noelle had two enemies to worry about: What was left of the Family, and RAVEN. Remnants of the Family obviously made her more afraid than RAVEN. Because with RAVEN, she could at least blackmail her way out of it... but the Family wanted her head for her betrayal. And she sure as hell wasn't one of the tools that believed that they were really over and done with.

They're just lurking, waiting for their opportunity.

Not many understood the scope of their organization (spanning continents). Noelle hoped that they forgot about her, and just focused on restoring their empire. She shook her head as she made it to her car, and was about to unlock it. When she froze... she thought on her actions for a moment.

She wondered if she was really going through with this plan of hers.

One that would ruin everything she worked hard to achieve, and force her into hiding again.

... But, she assured herself that, no matter the price, it would be worth it.

---

Greenflower Garden, Silver Hills_

---

---

A large and conspicuous white hummer blasted rap music as it tore down the streets.

Inside of course was the fabulous Valos family... what was left of it. Jake Valos, wearing a black suit with a coat over it. having on his trademark designer glasses, and a pocketwatch which chain, sitting in the passenger seat. The much rougher looking Gabriela Valos in the backseat, wearing a leather jacket, and torn up jeans... with a very annoyed look on her face as she looked at the driver. And, finally, Jaska Valos, whom wore heavy clothing to hide his bestial features. The boy was a teenager, with very sharp teeth, and golden irises.... he was passed out asleep across from Gabe. Amazingly enough, given how loud the music was.

In the driver's seat was the fabulous Johnny Valos, wearing a brown pinstriped suit, and a long-coat over top of it. A wide-brimmed hat with shark teeth, and whatnot. He was headbanging like no tomorrow, as he grooved down the streets of this rather empty part of Baybridge. All that he could see was wine country! He would love to party here!

However, a certain occupant of the vehicle got tired of Johnny's antics.

"... Could ya' turn that down, Johnny?!" Gabriela loudly shouted over the music, and caused Johnny to turn the music down.

"Could ya' be anymore of a buzz-kill, Gabe?" Johnny retorted, as he raised an eyebrow up into the air at Gabe's rudeness.

Gabe ignored that comment as she said, "Thank you..." She sighed as she leaned back. "But, I have a question..."

"Shoot." Johnny said.

"... Did we have to come here in the most obvious damn vehicle in the world?" Referring to the gigantic white hummer he drove all the way here. "I mean, style is swell and all, but aren't we supposed to be incognito?"

"Pffffffft, Gabe," Johnny almost broke out in laughter. "We ain't got nobody on our asses, so why not enjoy a lil' style?"

"Comin' from Mr. 'I have twelve gangs after me'..." Gabe trailed off.

"You complain an awful lot, Gabe," Johnny snarked. "Learn to live a little."

"I don't know, Johnny," Jake finally chimed in. "Maybe we should remember that, you know, we're here for something important."

"Yeah, yeah... our big mission to find our sisters, I know, I know..."

"Then why aren't you acting like it?" Jake prodded Johnny.

"It's okay if you take a break for the moment to ease your mind, you two..." Johnny rolled his eyes up into his head as they approached their destination, the Liu estate. "Besides, we here. Jake, did you phone up your girlfriend tellin' her that we're on our way?"

"Yeah, she should be opening the-"

The gates to the Liu estate opened, and Johnny drove the vehicle all the way to the front. They weren't planning on staying that long, so Johnny didn't bother parking the vehicle. He just left it on the steps as the Valos family got out of their vehicle.

"Hey, Johnny..." Jake asked, "Forgot to ask, but what was this lead you had us chase all the way out here?"

"Well... you're probably not gonna' like it, but..." Johnny looked off to the side towards Gabe. "... It's a member of the F-F."

"What?!" Both Gabe and Jake said in unison.

"Johnny, are you fucking insane?!" Jake shouted. "They're the ones that started this shit in the first place!"

"I know, I know..." Johnny rolled his eyes, as he put his hand up. "But, they're the only god damn lead we have! Have you forgotten that we were literally walking around with our heads up our assess for three years now!?"

Both Gabe and Jake went silent.

"Look, our only reason for coming up to this dead ass, gay ass, bitch ass city is to find Ivete, Camille, and..."

"Sylvia." Gabe said, as she crossed her arms, she looked firm as ever. "Look, Johnny, are you sure we can trust this person?"

"Nope, but I'm goin' in alone," Johnny said. "So, you three don't have to fall if-"

"Okay, that is stupid as all hell," Gabriela was quick to say, "All you're going to do is get yourself killed, and we'll be down another brother."

They all took a moment in silence, before Johnny said.

"Rest in peace, Joshua..."

"But, that's just adding to my point, Johnny," Gabe narrowed her eyes at her older brother. "You need to discuss things with us before you start taking reins, before a moment there I thought we had a legitimate lead."

"Come on, guys," Johnny said, "I'm the leader of our little gang! It's been that way from the beginning!"

"If anything," Gabe trailed off, "Jake should be the leader... Daddy left him the business."

"He might have, but remember," Johnny grinned, "Neither of ya' have any street smarts."

Gabe groaned.

"It's a disaster waiting to happen!"

The door to the Liu estate opened, and stepping out, confused, was the daughter of Jiao-Long Liu, Lin Liu. Girlfriend of Jake Valos. She looked at everyone, before smiling,

"Jake! You're here!"

"Lin!" Jake said as he ran over to Lin, and hugged her. "It's so good to see you."

"Sa-" Before Lin could even respond, Johnny said.

"Hate to interrupt your touchy-feely moment here, Jakey," Johnny said, gesturing towards his watch. "But, we're on a tight schedule."

Jake rolled his eyes.

"Come in, we have much to discuss." Lin said, as the Valos family walked into the Liu estate.

"... Huh?" Jaska awakened. "What did I miss?"

---

Hailey Boulevard, Silver Hills_

---

---

A cigarette was slid in between his lips, as Daniel Forsythe remembered that he "lost" his lighter (In actuality, a friend of his took it). With a subtle movement, Daniel reached into his pocket to pull out a "lighter." He covered it as if he had an actual lighter, when he merely used his pyrokinesis to light a cigarette.

Ahhhhh... the bliss he receives from the almighty cigarette. It was almost enough to ease his mind about doing this.

Almost.

Daniel merely took a puff of smoke as he approached his "target," a woman who was walking bus stop, staring at her phone. Wearing one of the Savior Foundation uniforms. Hmph... she worked for the Saviors, yet she still takes the bus? What's the world come to? Daniel sighed as she got closer and closer to the bus stop. Damn it, he was almost too late for this. The second she gets to that damn bus stop, this will be a lot harder to pull off.

So, Daniel had to get a little desperate. He looked to the left, and to the right... nobody was paying attention. Either busy trying to get to work, or were on the phone themselves. This was stupid to pull in "Savior territory," as many would call it, but Daniel pointed his left finger at the woman's shoe - heels. He fired a thin beam of ice at her foot, which encased it in ice in a few moments. The woman loudly shouted as she tripped.

"... Ma'am!" Daniel shouted as he ran over to her, fortunately he was already close. Daniel, using his quick fingers, snatched the phone she was using while she was dazed. "Are you okay?!" He asked as he put the phone in his pocket.

"Y-yeah." The brown-haired woman said, as she looked back to see what made her fall, only to see nothing. Not a single trace. Daniel's handiwork. He sweat bullets as he hoped she would fall for it. If not, he had a lot of running ahead of him. Daniel helped her to her feet, as she said, "Where's my phone?"

That was what Daniel hoped she wouldn't say, but he had to play it off. He looked around, as he tried to convince her he looked for it.

"I don't see it," Daniel said, "Do you need me to call for help, or will you be fine?"

"I need to find my phone, but I'll be fine," The woman said.

"Are you sure?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah... thank you, though, I really wished there were more kids like you out there." The woman said.

"Thank you," Daniel said, as he finally escorted the woman to the bus stop. He made sure to break line of sight soon as possible. He dipped into an alleyway, and took apart the phone fast as he could. He took out the battery, and sighed in relief that everything went as planned.

Then again, she was not that bright. If she was anyone important, she would had questioned Daniel by now. Unfortunately, Daniel was walking away. Ready to meet his friend now that he netted her results.

Mr. Cornell is going to kill me...

---

Stonecliff, Silver Hills_

Before she even thought to question Daniel, he was already in Stonecliff. A completely different part of the city, but it certainly lacks the amount of Savior control. Now, his friend told him to meet him....

Daniel glanced at his cellphone for a moment, as he rode his bicycle. According to the GPS... he was here.

An abandoned car dealership. Oh, he had to give it to her. She definitely knew how to pick a meeting place. Daniel noticed that the lock around the gate was already broken, and merely pushed inside. He left the bicycle at the side of the building, as he also noticed the door was broken down. Huh. As he stepped inside, he was exposed to the dirty, murky, air of an abandoned building. He could just feel the dust entering his lungs....

Then he saw his friend sitting on the desk, enjoying a lolipop. The girl with the dyed red hair looked at him...

Daniel pulled the woman's cellphone out his pocket, and the girl smiled a mile wide.

"Fuck yes! Thank you, Daniel!" The girl said as she skipped over to Daniel, and unexpectedly hugged him. He gasped... before she pushed off him. Smiling cheekily as he held the phone in the air. "Know how long I've been lookin' for something like this? Too fuckin' long!" The girl loudly said.

"... What is it?" Daniel asked, an eyebrow raised.

"You know who that bitch is?" The girl asked, only to get a shrug from Daniel. "Some fuckin' scientist in the Family, I don't know. She probably knows somefuck that knows something!"

"Oh." Daniel said. "So we finally have a lead?"

"Fuck yes!" The girl said. "I just need to phone up my hacker-"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Daniel said. "We aren't certain, yet..."

"I know, I know..." The redhaired said, "But, it's been months, and we haven't gotten jackshit. This could be our god damn breakthrough!"

She looked at the phone.

"In the meantime, just go do something while mama gets to work."

"There's a DOVE rally going on today want to go with me?" Daniel asked, and the girl's face went red as she stared at him.

"You mean like... um, no, I have shit to do," The girl answered, flustered. "And... I'm not in the mood to hear some dipshit in a suit jack off about peace and love for an hour straight. But... maybe next time, Danny-boy."

"Yeah... later..." Daniel said, disappointed as he walked out. He wondered what he was going to do next.

"Penny."

---

---

---

---

Unlike most sleep deprived middle schoolers, Casey McCarthy was not a big fan of Saturdays. It wasn't because he loved school or anything (he didn't), but because of his rapidly decaying family, most of all his mother. Like most Saturday mornings, his mother lay passed out on the worn-out couch until late in the morning, dressed in only an old dressing gown and odd fishnet stockings. Her light blonde curls were in a tragic disarray, the acrid odor of cheap alcohol still faintly wafting around the house. She'd be awake and irritable in a short time, so Casey steered clear of the living room. Moreover, he didn't even go downstairs at all. He had no desire to be shrieked at and possibly assaulted by the hungover wreck that was his mother on Saturday morning.

He ran his hand through his tangled blonde locks, pacing around the small space he called his room. It was actually a repurposed closet, but he honestly didn't mind. It was big enough for his bed, one bookshelf (full of books he'd probably never even touched), a floor lamp and a few other oddities. That was all he really needed at this point in his life. It would have been nice to have a window, though. He wasn't afraid of the dark or anything, but it was a pain in the ass to have to fumble around blindly for the light switch every time he wanted to get his homework done or something.

Casey quickly came to the nauseating realization that he had absolutely nothing to do with himself today. It was relatively cold outside, which wasn't ideal for hanging around outside. But the more he thought about it, the more he decided that it was best to get out of his mother's way as soon as possible. If he could just stay out until the afternoon, she'd probably be inebriated on some painkillers and once again safe to be around.

He was already dressed in a red striped t-shirt and blue jeans, but hadn't been particularly motivated to comb his hair or anything else. He also hadn't eaten anything since he woke up about two hours ago, but he didn't want to risk waking his mother and there probably wasn't any food in the house anyway. He'd have to wait until later to see if he could convince his dad to go buy groceries, which probably meant that he wouldn't have anything to eat before dinner. Classic.

But complaints aside, he'd made up his mind to go explore for a while until his mother was too high to be angry with him.

He whistled quietly to himself as he tugged on his blue jacket and dusty red and black sneakers, walking out the back door and retrieving his rusty blue bike from the empty driveway. His parents couldn't afford to own a car, so the only things kept on the small stretch of asphalt were his bike, some assorted tools and a dead squirrel. He climbed onto his bike and rode off down the street, no particular destination in mind. Wherever he wound up, Casey was sure he'd be able to get back. He knew Baybridge like the back of his hand, so to speak.

Though he'd owned the bike since his 9th birthday 3 years ago, Casey had never been in the habit of wearing a helmet. They were more expensive than they were worth, he always thought. Besides, he didn't fall all that much. At least, not hard enough to sustain a serious injury. As he pedaled down the old, cracked street, he noticed that a flock of small black birds had gathered along the power lines, watching him go by in silence. Casey was at a point now where he no longer considered that weird. His ability manifested almost a year ago, maybe even more. He wasn't sure of the exact date, but it wasn't that important. Right now, he just had to decide on where to go. Preferably somewhere good and far away, since he hoped to be gone from his neighborhood for at least four or five hours. Maybe he'd think of something once he was out of the hive of scum and villainy that was Spring Town.

---

RAVEN/DOVE Joint Headquarters, White Coast|

---

---

The persistent clicking and clacking of the DOVE offices was the normal atmosphere, phones ringing - the job never ended, and especially this morning, with the upcoming rally today, it was seeming there was ever more work to be done. Extra copies to print out, extra documents to be written, more phone calls, more rushing, more boxes being moved, and more bigshots walking through to make sure that everyone was doing their part. Some of the big names would cut right through the floor without looking at grunt laborers to head straight to whatever meeting they were supposed to attend. The atmosphere, while certainly somewhat chaotic, also carried with it an air of excitement and foreboding, but not like a calm before the storm. It felt more like this was everyone's big chance. A chance to make DOVE and RAVEN look good, or for particular someones to make their next big break. Perhaps some wished to stand out to their superiors and finally snag that big promotion they've been aching for. Whatever it was, everyone was working at 110% to make sure everything went off without a hitch.

A blonde, tousled-haired young woman was off in one corner, without her own desk to sit behind, waiting anxiously to receive printed copies of one of the many different possible excerpts and notes that one of hotshots required for a speech. One of her arms were full of orange filing folders, and she pushed back a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She wore very simply garments, such as a pretty white blouse which had sleeves down to her wrists, and the tail was tucked behind the black lace pencil skirt at her waist which had black leggings beneath so that her legs didn't catch the cold breezes whenever someone walked past. As the printer finally spat out the last of the copies she needed she crouched down and rushed to organize them into the appropriate files. As though hearing a whisper in her head, she immediately sprung up and turned around to find a tall, suited older woman with brunette hair tied back into a bun making a very quick, albeit dignified, beeline towards her. She greeted this woman with a nervous smile and luminous blue eyes that shone gently like night lights, quite literally, but she was met back with just a shake of her supervisor's head.

"I'll never understand how you do that." The older woman said flatly.

"How I do what, Ms. Bayard?" The blonde one replied.

"Know whenever I'm coming? It's like you always see me before I see you."

"Is it a problem?" She asked anxiously. "Because I can--"

"Never mind it." Bayard said. "Are you done printing out those scripts?"

"Yes, miss."

"Good. Make sure they get to Maximilian Cornell and Deborah Javuant right away and then--"

"I-I'm sorry?" Andrea stammered. "You mean, Max and..."

"Yes, I do. Then when you're done, you can finish your analysis on the Ramos v. State of Washington case. After which, you can report to me."

"Uh, right, um. Are you sure it's alright for, I don't know, someone like me to walk in there?"

Bayard, who had just started walking away, sighed and, with a roll of her eyes, turned back around to face the younger blonde. "Look, Andrea. You're an intern. The only person you have to worry about is me. Deborah is my boss, I'm yours. If they don't get into that meeting on time, I'm the one who's going to pay for it and there's no one else in this damn city who's going to make these offices run like a well-oiled machine."

Andrea just nodded her head, and hesitated in asking one more question. "...After the Ramos v. State of Washington analysis, is it possible that I can--"

"I told you to not keep fiddling with that Happiness report!" Bayard said incredulously as she started storming across the room.

"I'm telling you--" Andrea persisted in hot pursuit of her, but her supervisor interrupted her.

"--And I'm telling you, that isn't our area. DOVE deals in meta-human relations, welfare, and regulation, and performing run-of-the-mill drug-busts would be a waste of RAVEN's resources and would be crossing the line into BPD jurisdiction."

"But my findings show that they're anything but conventional!" Andrea argued.

"Conventional drugs?" Bayard repeated.

"Happiness has shown to cause physical ailments and deformities unlike most other abused substances. Cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin - one way or another, they break down tissues and destroy the body, but Happiness has reports of stimulating the growth of body matter while breaking down most other essential functions. Not to mention the steady decline of cognitive ability of even sober one-time users--"

"Enough." Bayard ordered. "Are you a detective or a law student? I've given you a job. Now do it."

"...Yes ma'am, I understand." Andrea resigned. With that, she retreated down the hallway further from the offices and pushed a button for an elevator. As she waited, she couldn't help but think about that damn drug. It was so different. For something to remain so active after being ingested, even in a sober person, it was almost as if...

Ding!

The elevator door opened. With a sigh, she stepped inside and entered her destination. As the elevator brought her to the next floor she hurried down the hall with her heart jumping to her throat and looked at the clock.

'Oh God, oh God, oh God...'

She found the door to the meeting room. She hesitated as she reached for the door knob and took a deep breath. She turned it, and pushed the door open.

"...Starting with ZODIAC, and our old friend the Hound... or Sovereign as he calls himself now..."

Andrea quietly closed the door behind her and nodded to everyone, but remained silent and avoiding eye contact. She knew she was a couple minutes late, thanks to her little debate with her boss over that stupid drug. She could hear it now, some of surface thoughts of some of the few at the table. They knew she was late too - but she said nothing. She had already interrupted enough now, the last thing they needed was for her to start spouting the word "sorry" off like a machine gun. As she walked toward the end of the table, she caught glances of all sorts of important figures. Even that one girl, "Hero of Prague", who fought the Founding Family. If she wasn't the one in charge, she wondered what kind of person that Maximilian had to be. Or even Deborah. She wasn't a RAVEN, but if Andrea recalled correctly, she was at least apart of the original NEST organization.

She set the files down between Maximilian and Deborah and nodded to them quietly, before walking back to the door in a rush. Part of her also wanted to hear what it was they were talking about, though. She was always too curious for her own good.

---

^{Faircrest Woods, Roseview - A House on a Farm |}

---

---

A soft guitar melody mingled with the sound of birds chirping and a soft wind blowing. Today was one of those slow relaxing Faircrest Woods days. All the work had been done early-- well Marcus' portion of it. All he had to do was make sure the goats and horses were fed today, bring ol' Rufus to the house for a bath, and water mom's flowers; that latter bit was wholly optional but, he did it just so nobody else had to. Now he was seated on his side of the porch.

His side used to be made out of wood like the rest of the porch but, after he broke through it accidentally with his suddenly increased weight, it had to be rebuilt with a solid slab of poured cement. Marcus had been so embarrassed about the incident that he refused to enter the house by the front door or even set foot on the front porch for weeks. Tina, his mother who'd started rebuilding the porch one day, told him that he was going to sit on the damn porch with the rest of the family, just like he used to.



So here he was on his side of the porch, shirtless as usual, and wearing a set of cargo shorts. Marcus was watching Blanca, his other mother, braid Shane's hair into cornrows. The boy was wincing and his eyes were watering, every time Blanca completed another twist. Marcus shook his head then told Shane, "That's why you should let Mama cut it."

"But it look better--" Shane hissed in pain "--if it's braided like this."
Wane, who was strumming his guitar idly next to Marcus, laughed and asked, "Say's who?"

"Says me," Shane spoke up defensively.

"You a lie-- I bet it's that girl, whass'er name?" Wane teased. Shane went wide eyed and gasped at the sudden betrayal, just as Blanca manually positioned his head again. Blanca asked, "What girl, huh? Do I know'er?"

Shane whined, "Wane!"

"God be good-- middle school courtship," Marcus remarked, as Wane lapsed into giggles, "I remember those days."

"You speakin' like you a old man again," Blanca spoke up, repositioning Shane's head again, "You gonna recount the Wold War next, Mark?" Marcus buried his face in his hand as Wane somehow giggled harder. Marcus reached over and gave Wane a small shove. Even as Wane fell onto his side, he continued to laugh, controlling himself only enough to say, "Glad you didn't get trench-foot Mark, I mean, your foots used to smell bad anyway--"

"Feet, not foots-- Jesus," Mark corrected Wane with a groan.

"Whatever-- you knew what I was-- had said," Wane snickered, sitting back up, then repositioning his guitar to start strumming again.

Marcus grumbled, "When you gonna learn more than four chords anyway?" Wane stuck his tongue out at Marcus.

Just then a voice called out from nearby-- "MA!"

Hurried footsteps approached the front porch before Clayton, covered in dirt and grime, his brown skin slick with sweat, came from around the side of the house. He huffed slightly before shouting, "Ma, George's missin' again." Blanca looked up from her braiding, let out a heavy sigh, "Ay dios mio-- you serious?"

"Oooh. Rufus in the bath, too," Shane pointed out.

"--he was there just this mornin'," Marcus spoke up rather defensively, "That pen was shut up tight."

"Yeah well, he must got help or somethin', cause it was shut but he ain't there now," Clayton reported, shrugging, "I went lookin' all over but--"
"That horny old goat--" Blanca interjected, "--probably made his way out to play Casanova at Mr. Green's ranch again while Rufus in the bath." Blanca shook her head before issuing orders, "Marcus, go wake up Shiela--"

"Shiela 'bout half blind tho--" interrupted Marcus.

"--ya but she can smell a sausage on the frickin' moon, you know this."
Wane began giggling again as Marcus stood up-- Blanca snapped at Wane then told him, "Mister Giggles, go tell Lady T that we got a jail breaker." Wane nodded then dashed for the screen door, letting it close behind him with a loud clang, to which Blanca shouted, "--What I tell you 'bout the door?!" Blanca shook her head and began braiding Shane's hair again, telling the other two, "Go find that damn goat-- hopefully a frickin' Chupacabra ain't made it's way up here."
"I bet it's a Chupacabra," Shane snickered before wincing from his hair braiding.

"That's always the first possibility," Clayton said with a shrug. He sighed and scratched his head as Marcus approached him.

"Well. Looks like we got ourselves another adventure," Clayton mumbled as he and Marcus started off away from the porch.
"A real slow one too," Marcus noted.
"Aw, come on, Shiela ain't that bad-- she just a senior citizen who know she deserve a discount," Clayton replied with a smirk, "She need to be retired."
"She does," replied Marcus, "I sure hope it ain't a Chupacabra."
"Mark you--" Clayton paused then looked his brother's stony features over, "--I couldn't tell if you was jokin' before. It's impossible now."
"Stoic as a statue."
"Ay. Dios. Mio," Clayton replied with emphasis on every word.

The two eventually came to an old cooked apple tree, some forty feet away from the house. Beneath the tree lay a large St. Bernard dog, napping in shade of the tree. This was Shiela-- too old for anyone to recall and the mother of Rufus, the family's other dog-- well besides Brick who was dumb as, well, a brick. Rufus was the useful dog while Brick was the big dumb, very useless, cuddly house dog-- where had Shiela went wrong raising that boy?

Clayton let out a heavy sigh as they approached, "I really hate to wake her."
"Yeah," mumbled Marcus, "Same."
"Rufus had to go get primped today, huh?"
"Mom said he smelled like the inside of a horse's ass. Direct quote."
"He'll be smellin' like that soon again-- he just a smelly guy."
"We're stallin'."
Clayton groaned, "I know."
"Well?" Marcus looked over at Clayton.
"Wh-what? Me? You want me to-- no. No I'm not waking her up."
Marcus didn't respond for a few seconds before replying, "Me either."
"Ain't you got a thing to go to?"
Marcus crossed his arms then tilted his head, "Thing?"
Clayton shrugged, "That DOVE thing?"



"Don't wanna go," Marcus replied after a thoughtful moment.

Clayton shook his head and asked, "Why the hell not?" He didn't give Marcus a chance to answer before continuing, "Look man, there's a whole lotta more folks out there that're like you. I mean. Not. Well you know what I mean and, well, you could use folks-- folks that can be ya friend or support you-- I can drive the truck and trailer into town, Mark. Hey, come on man, them DOVE folks is real nice, ain't they? That woman seem nice, didn't she? Funny accent aside."

"What if somethin' happen at this rally, Clay? You consider that? Bunch of freaks like us gathered in one spot?"

"You ain't a freak, Mark," Clayton replied with an aggressive type of empathy, "And what if nothin' happen and you bein' paranoid?"
"I dunno," Marcus replied warily, "You know how folks feel 'bout us. Uh. Different folks."
The two fell silent as Shiela huffed and grunted a few times in her sleep. "We gonna disturb her sleep if we keep 'round here any longer," Clayton told Marcus, beckoning for him to follow. Marcus shook his head.

"We gotta find George," Marcus grumbled.
"Mama'll take care of that," Clayton replied, "I got the trailer already hooked up and everything."
"You kiddin' me?"
"Come on man, what if you meet some cute stone girl to date at that rally?"
"Stop..."
"And y'all kiss, hit it off, get married, and make cute stone babies-- gravlets!"
"Clay..."
"C'mon man," Clayton continued, "They'll be real cute. Like then tiny angel baby things, whatcha call'ems? Chay-babs?"
"Cherubs."
"Right," Clayton shrugged, "That's a dumb name."

Soon the two were standing near a dark blue dualie with a black horse trailer hooked up to it. Clayton reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, jingling them briefly, before pressing the unlock button on the remote. "Might wanna tell mom that we ain't lookin' for George," Marcus mumbled.

"Such a responsible man. Gonna make a good dad to them babies, I tell's ya," laughed Clayton. He opened the trailer doors for Marcus and, in a terrible British accent said, "Your private shuttle, good sir." Marcus pressed his face into his hand then stepped into the trailer. Marcus didn't ride inside the truck cab anymore, due to the fact that his weight tended to break the seats. He didn't mind though, the trailer gave him quiet time, and the roads were more interesting to look at from this angle.

He watched Clayton close the doors then get into the driver's seat. A beeping caught Marcus' attention as the tuck's engine started. He took an old Nokia 3310 out of his pocket, the only phone that managed to stand up to the occasional button press that was a bit too hard, then checked his text messages. There was a message from Clayton from a group text.



Marcus shook his head. The diesel engine on the truck roared as Clayton began driving. Marcus lay down atop a couple of hay blocks as the trailer rocked and shook from going over a gravel road. Hopefully this DOVE rally wouldn't last too long-- he didn't know quite what to expect, though.

"Cherubs," Mark mumbled to himself, shaking his head.

---

Spring Town, Hedgemount
^{*Collaborated post with @Dioxide and @Oliver}

---

---

Of the bad habits that she has, staying out late was not one of them; everyone wanted to have a jab at each other, and the nice ones are too scared to go out. One had to make their own fun in these dangerous parts of town, and it can get boring when you’re out and about on your own, and approaching night there wasn’t a sane soul in sight. What else could she do? So every night Kannix arrives home early and just waits for the next day.

It was Saturday morning approaching afternoon. Her mom was still asleep - not especially tired because of overbearing work; it just became a habit over time. As Kannix learnt to become more self-sufficient, her mom had less to do, though it is not to downplay how much she actually does because she does do a lot. For the work that she puts in - the food, housing, what electricity there was, clothes - she wanted some reward. Rest was one of them. Being woken up to be greeted in the morning was another. It was procedural. Speaking of procedural, as Kannix walked into her mother’s room, she noticed the little white hairs interlaced in her mother’s matte black hair. Another weird habit: her mother did not like being seen as old, unwilling to accept it just yet. Whenever she spots any visible ones sprouting out of her hair, she has Kannix pluck them out. Well, Kannix did not really feel like doing that again. She could just dye her hair, she thought. But oh, she loved her so. Her hand met her mother’s arm.

“Good morning, mom.”

Her mother grumbled a guttural sound, dissent towards whoever woke her sleep - same as usual, every day.

“Mom, wake up.”

Another guttural sound, but she was definitely roused awake. She’ll get up soon. She turned around and, having already showered and dressed up, made up her mind to mosey her way to the kitchenette. The fridge had a few items in it. Good, it was stocked then. She pulled out the orange juice, the plate of ham slices, and cold butter. She knew that the cupboard above the stove had bread because that’s where she last saw her mom put it and curses why did it have to be so damn high. Kannix pulled out one of the table chairs. It scratched against the wooden floors, which prompted her to lift it up and place it instead. Last thing she wanted was her mom waking up annoyed.

She prepared herself a cold sandwich, because why not, and downed that sucker quickly.

“Kannix…”

“Hm? Yeaah?”

“You going out today?”

“N-”

“Because you’re pulling out my white hairs today.”

“Just let them be, mom. I think they’re fine.”

“Fuck off they’re fine. You don’t have to do it right now but we’re getting it done today.”

Kannix let out a sigh in between gulps of her orange juice.

“I heard that.”

---

Kannix over time learnt some tricks to getting to those pesky white hairs deep within the heaves of hair on her mom’s hand. It’s not a proud skill she has, but she loved playing with the tweezers - one of the many playthings she has. There’s something attractive about the usefulness, the functionality, the diversity on what you could do with what is otherwise just a mundane item. Kannix played with the tension that the prongs gave when she pressed hard; she tried to pull them apart; she looked at the name branded on the side. So much so, she’d spend a universe’s time just dissecting it, completely forgetting what she was doing, and getting yelled at to keep plucking.

Another minute or so, and her mom fell asleep. Now’s her time to escape. Kannix loves her mom, but goodness this was a droll task. She very, very carefully pulled her leg from under her mom’s head, bracing her arms and back against the arms of the sofa, while carrassessing her mom’s head, placing it gently to the sofa. A bloody escape artist, she was. Kannix looked to the door but knew that the sound of the gears would wake her mom up immediately.

...Then she looked to her room which had a window opening to the street and buildings across. She looked down and saw that no one was watching. It was far away enough from her mom, but Kannix closed the door anyway to muffle out as much sound as possible could. It was not that high of a jump anyway, a floor above street level.

She ducked her head and heaved herself over and out of the window, seated by the ledge . Without a concern for herself and the world Kannix pushed herself forward, making the landing just off the pavement. Her legs were firm and the crumbling, damaged road cracked even more under her. Figures that at that moment, after the cracks - and the dramatic entrance, that a boy on a bike had to be there. She stood still, unmoving - too slow to react - while he spun out of the way, out of control, to the pavement, muttering under her breath: "shit." She made her way over to the kid, side to the ground and bicycle on top of him, leaning over him.

"Hey..." she pulled her hair back over her ears, reaching down to pull the bicycle off of him, "really sorry about that, kid. You alright?"

Casey didn't answer right away, seemingly stunned into silence. It occurred to him, right then and there, why people with more money than him wore helmets. His head had hit the curb hard enough to fill his vision with black spots and leave him temporarily dumbstruck. However, it became clear that he hadn't acquired a serious injury when he rapidly sat back upright, ignoring basically everything cycling safety precaution regarding falling down.

"Shit! Oh god... that hurts like a bitch." He swore loudly, his hands quickly going to his head. Sitting up, he was able to fully assess how much pain he was in. Which is to say that his choice of words quite accurately portrayed how he was feeling. He couldn't quite see clearly enough to properly examine whatever or whoever he had almost hit.

Kannix daftly held her hands out but was not sure how to process the situation, hoping that somehow she would motion herself to help him in any way. She clenched her fists and ruffled her hair in frustration. "...Christ." she thought. She did not know this kid but she surely did not want him crying back home, to his mom, who'd then go crying over to her mom because "she's at it again, control her, she could have killed my son!" Her face was contorted in trying to deal with the situation.

"You... uh... you shouldn't be- no, you shouldn't have- you- okay so it was my bad. I didn't see you, it was my fault. I'm sorry, alright?" He wasn't bleeding as far as the eye could tell. She leaned forward even more, kneeling down at the pavement. She looked around, but no one was watching, still no one around. He didn't seem like any kid she'd seen before, though there are a lot roaming around these parts of Hedgetown - she just being one of the older ones.

"God, shut up. It's... it's not a big deal." Casey, the kid, replied in a tone that didn't match his harsh choice of words. It almost sounded like, in his own weird little way, he was trying to be comforting. The girl, who he could still only barely make out through his blurry vision, seemed more than a little upset. Casey wasn't sure how old she was, but she looked a lot younger than she happened to be in actuality. If he had to guess, he'd say she was 15 or 16.

Listening to her stammer and struggle to form a complete sentence, he could only assume that she was nervous about something. He couldn't help but imagine a few amusing scenarios, a brief smile flashing across his face before returning to his pained grimace. It was going to be a huge pain in the ass wandering around town in his current state, but it wasn't like going home was a reasonable plan.

"Geez, fine, be that way, like I even wanted to give a shi-" Kannix had stood back up again and held that sentence, hands clenched to her sides wanting to smack something. "No, no, can't do that - he could be really hurt and you owe it to him."

"Look, get up and we'll walk it off," as she reached down and held him by the arm, lifting and hoisting him up, see if he can stabilize and stand on his own.

"Okay." Casey replied immediately, oddly calm at the prospect of walking away with a stranger. At least in his logic, it couldn't be any less safe than home. Besides, Kannix was only about an inch taller than Casey was, and on the off chance that she decided to hold him hostage he could use his bird manipulation to get away, or something.

He allowed himself to be lifted to his feet, wobbling a little bit but quickly regaining his balance. Aside from the throbbing ache on the left side of his head and the fact that he was still seeing double, he seemed to be okay. At the very least, he wasn't in need of immediate hospitalization. He looked up at her, glad that she seemed to have moved on from fear to annoyance. He could deal with her being a little irritated with him, after all he'd almost run her over on his bike and hadn't been particularly polite in the aftermath. Besides, to be honest he was glad to have someone to spend time with for a while. It wasn't like he had plans or anything; he was just going to stagger around town until he thought he could go home without getting things thrown at him. Hanging out with a random girl who he'd just met on the street seemed like an infinitely superior option.

Kannix swayed her hands to her back then back to the front, clasping them together, as well as noting that the height difference was really not that much.

"Alright, so you're fine then. I'll be on my way - you... stay out of trouble. Yeah, that."

Casey's expression softened noticeably when Kannix uttered a phrase indicating that she was about to leave. This was a disappointing realization... he'd been kind of looking forward to having some company while he avoided his mother's wrath…

It was about then that he recognized her voice.

He reached out and grabbed her hand, tilting his head to the left to try and get a better look at her face. No luck; his vision was still a cloudy mess.

"...Hey, hang on a sec. Do I know you?"

Kannix had her back turned to him so he could not see that brief moment when her eyes grew wide, lips tightened, and nose flared. He probably does know her. Snapping back a reply but without turning back, she shook her head:

"Nope - don't know you so you don't know. Love to get to you know but I have to be on my way!" She sped up those words as well as her pace.

Casey instinctively sped up to match her pace, despite his unstable, wobbly gait. Normally he wouldn't have pursued anyone this far, but he felt oddly drawn to her, like he'd be safer somehow if he followed her. "Geez, just hang on. Isn't your name something like Candle or Kanster... Kannix, isn't that it?" Casey was almost sure now. He couldn't place where he knew her from, or even if she was even the person he was thinking of at all. "Holy shit, you're fast..."

Kannix then and there snapped back, turning around so quickly if she had not been careful she could have swapped the boy away. Instead of an instant reply, she had an instant, open glare - lips pressed and stare so focused but ill-mannered.

"Hi!", fake enthusiasm at best - her face sprouting a smile so broad it looked artificial, two front teeth bore like a shield to the world, eyes disappearing into a line along with her smile, "I'm Kannix, your friendly neighbour who didn't just almost kill you! Don't tell your parents, and let's just forget this all ever happened, yeah?"

Casey rolled his eyes dramatically, but held his hand out anyway. "Yeah. Let's." He grumbled, not really sure what else could be said. He didn't dare say anything about his parents; not after what happened the last time. That said, just her brief mention of his assumed caretakers stung a bit.

He saw right through her fake smile, but then again it wasn't that difficult, Kannix was hardly trying to be convincing. It was a mockery and he knew it, but he still felt like his best bet for the day was to fight tooth and nail for any minute he could spend with company. That said, he knew that he couldn't stalk her forever I've she really wanted to leave.

Right then and there, Kannix knew she could have just sped away. Leave the kid alone. His parents won’t notice that he got hurt - though he was still favouring a side with his walk and stance. The kid probably has nothing else to do, she thought. Kannix did jump in his way. Though in that reflection, she decided to jump right then and there, at that time, as if it felt right. The two crossed paths at that moment and it felt strangely non-coincidental.

What on Earth was she thinking about? There’s no way.

"Say, uh... sorry I never caught your name. Where are you headed?"

“Casey Jackson McCarthy. I'm headed to... fuck, I dunno. I'm just out I guess." Casey replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head until he realized that it made it hurt worse. "What about you, Kannix?"

"Woo, potty mouth - young, but I started early as well," winking to him. There were barely any cars in Spring Town that the two standing in the middle of the road made her wonder why there was a road system at all. She looked around her. She’d been meaning to get out of Spring Town for a while.

"Uhm… Nowhere as well, but hey, let's ask someone, shall we?"

Off of her peripheral vision, a door opened behind them and her neighbours opposite her house. She turned to them with the broad smile she’d just shown to Casey.

"Hi there! Have you any suggestions on where we could go today?"

“You know who they are?” Casey whispered behind her.

“Nope.” just loud enough that only he could hear.

" We're... going to the DOVE Rally."

"Whaddya say, Casey? Let's go?"

Suddenly, a loud screech - whose fury so hot it melts icebergs - Kannix's mom.

"Kannix! Where in God's name are you!?"

"Let's go."

Casey had no idea why anyone would want to attend a DOVE rally, or even what people did there, but he certainly wasn't about to complain. Even if it was a weird way to spend the afternoon, it would be far from boring.

He was once again grabbed by the arm as Kannix went back to his bicycle, which had miraculously not been stolen and was still lying on the pavement where Casey had left it. Lifting the blue metal contraption back upright, they both climbed on, Kannix closest to the handlebars so she'd be the one steering. They seemed to both realize that entrusting navigational tasks to a kid who just got knocked in the head was a bad idea. Possibly even worse than having 2 people on a small bike (really, Casey might as well have burned that safety manual).

---

---

---

DOVE/RAVEN Joint Headquarters, White Coast_

Shizuka Takashiro was out at the shooting range again; only that this time, he was hanging out with pistols indoors. He was here for the past two hours or so, rotating between different types of handguns and filling the humanoid target boards with holes in all the vital areas.

The shooting range hadn't changed much since he last dropped by (before he was away on numerous missions overseas), other than a vague feeling that it was a tad more spacious now. It was also one of the few places in the Headquarters that got spared from the Intimidation Unit assault on that fateful night three years ago. Not like the Hound's puppies needed to raid the armory for weapons when they already had their own - and better? - guns.

Besides, he felt more at ease coming here to polish his marksmanship than cooping up in his office room with mundane desk work the entire day. Also, he could have the range all to himself - he needed some time to be alone, anyway.

Even after the fall of the Founding Family, there were too many loose ends to tie up. Too many bullshits to deal with in the aftermath. Europe was thrown into a state of chaos as the governments of the various European countries began to weed out the remnants of the Family's supporters still hiding among their ranks, fueled by their own people protesting on the streets. The Family's idea of bestowing every human on this planet with superpowers didn't turn out quite as they had wished - it only made the people feared the Metahumans even more.

Nobody could be trusted with a power. Because so few of them could use their power with responsibility; even fewer not to harbor greed for more power.

Let's not even mention those who can truly understand the devastating consequences that come with unrestrained power.

He was greeted with the sound of clapping when he finally took off his protective gears. Turning around, he raised an eyebrow at the low whistle from the arsenal guard on duty.

"You never fail to amaze me, young man," he began when Shizuka returned the gears and emptied guns at the counter. "You've just set another personal record."

"Hmm?" Shizuka replied, then he saw the tabulated scores scribbled in the guard's little notebook. He shrugged, though not without a hint of amusement. "Nah, the Taylors are still better."

The guard chuckled at the Asian agent. "Well, you'd probably reach their level once you're at their age. 'Sides, you're still the best sniper around - no one has ever come close to beat your current best so far."

"Right," was Shizuka's offhanded response as he was picking up his belongings from the locker. He frowned at the time on his mobile screen. "Damn. Sorry, gotta rush."

"Running late for a meeting?"

"Yeah," Shizuka said as he stuffed his phone into his jeans pocket. "And a very important one. Later!"

...What a drag.

---

Thankfully, he had arrived right on time - his intangibility sure came in handy to take those shortcuts. Even so, he wasn't spared from the looks of scorn from the other department heads at his inappropriate dress code (today he was in a black long-sleeved turtleneck with dark jeans and sneakers) as he took his seat. He ignored them, focusing his attention on the one individual at the end of the long meeting table.

Maximilian Cornell. The director of RAVEN - and his direct boss. Well, Maximilian was a pretty chill guy whom Shizuka had no problems working with (or under, technically). He was here in this organization thanks to that old man. He could still remember the day Maximilian offered him the chance to join RAVEN after the end of the Verthaven Disaster.

Though, his reason for sticking around here, doing something that wasn't in line with his personal beliefs and policies had changed over the years. No, he still didn't believe in stupid things like heroism, but sometimes he couldn't help questioning himself why he was still staying in this organization for so long...

The arrival of another familiar face pulled him out of his personal thoughts. Zhao Meifeng. He hadn't talked to her ever since her mother's - Lihua's - funeral, and her best friend Cindy Keagan was still MIA. He wondered how she was coping these three years, but now wasn't a good time. Not like they could catch up with each other later anyway, especially not how distant their friendship was compared to most other Verthaven survivors.

...Whatever.

Meifeng wasn't the only latecomer. Another girl, this time an unfamiliar face, had tried to slip in as quietly as she could while Maximilian began to talk about 'ZODIAC'.

Disregarding those two late arrivals, he turned his attention back to the front of the meeting room.

---

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Welcome to the Metahuman Scene: A free online discussion board concerning discussion on Metahumans,
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Boards ➤ Announcement

➤ Topic: Metahuman Scene Closed Indefinitely by AdamAugust (ADMIN)

Posted on August 18th, 2024:

After a large-scale hack on the website that leaked the IP addresses and information of many of our members; it has been decided that the Metahuman Scene will be closed until further notice. This is not buckling to the demands and threats of anti-Metahuman terrorists. This is a decision the entire administrative staff made to protect members of the site after it became blatantly obvious that the hack lead to many members being harassed, brutally attacked, or even killed. We agreed that it'd be safe if we locked the thread before any more attacks happen. However, we are not deleting any discussions, and the threads before the board-wide lock are still available for viewing.

Someday we'll open the site again, when the climate calms itself down.

Page 1.

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Boards ➤ Profiles ➤ Green_Bird (Verified Dove)

Gender: ♀
Posts: 4802
Join Date: September 14th, 2019
Location: Baybridge, Washington.
Age: 30
Birth-Date: August 3th, 1995.
Last Visit: October 23rd, 2022

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Boards ➤ Metahuman Events ➤ Baybridge

➤ Topic: So, just what happened in Baybridge? by Dead_Editor (ADMIN)

Posted On: November 3rd, 2022.

So, apparently there was a gigantic shitstorm in Baybridge. Starting with the so called "Black Hound" and ending with a whole section of the city needing repairs. RAVEN & DOVE are being really hush about it. Can we get some discussion about this? There's so much that we don't know.

And let's keep the conspiracy theories to a minimum, guys. I want facts, not your crazy theories..

---

➤ Andro

Posted on: November 3rd, 2022.

This video is a start:

Youtube Video: Founding Family Reveals Themselves to the World - Uploaded by DarrenCross667 [+]

All over Baybridge, televisions and computer screens were intruded upon by the Family's finest hackers.

They all displayed the image of a very dark room, barely illuminated, and showing three silhouettes that belonged to the Blessed Three. Few would realize this, because they are obscured in shadow, but those familiar would recognize Blake, the defacto leader of the Blessed Three in the center, sitting in a chair with his leg crossed over the other, Ezekiel standing to his right, and Julia standing to his left. Shrouded in darkness, their eyes glowed an eerie white color. Everyone looked in confusion as to who, or what, they were, and why they were appearing on everything connected to the internet.

"Hello, denizens of Baybridge." Blake said, his voice was booming, and carried authority like a leader. "We have commandeered your devices to make an announcement - not just to Baybridge! But, to the world!"

Blake smiled from behind the shadows, few could make out his pearly whites.

"We are the Founding Family, an organization of science that has been operating in this very city and beyond for [i]decades[/i] now. You have most likely been hearing rumors about us, but we are here to confirm that the rumors are indeed true, there [i]is[/i] an organization ruling things from the shadows. Don't worry, we [i]are[/i] benevolent... until the foolish tests our patience. You have heard [i]wonders[/i] about our loyal subordinate, the Black Hound?"

The camera turned towards the Black Hound, who was standing tall and proud against the wall, eyes flashing red. The camera recentered on the Blessed Three.

"Personally, I'm not fond of violence - but, it's the only language you understand. Haha! But, more about the Family itself, because you all are most likely confused," Blake loudly cleared his throat, "Every human being alive is crafted through genes. Who their ancestors mixed with. Contrary to popular belief, not [i]everyone[/i] is born equal. Many are born better than others - all because of genetics. The Family believes this genetic excellence leads to great things. Better scientists, better athletes... and just better people in general to save you the redundancies. But, don't mistake us for being a bunch of Hitler master-race wannabes... the fallacy in his system was that he focused far too much on superficial looks, and didn't look deep enough. An African-American man is as likely to have perfect genes as his so-called 'Master-race.'" He finger-quoted.

"Now that you know the Family, now it's time to learn what we want from you," Blake said, "Not everyone can be perfect like us - if they were, then we wouldn't be all that perfect, would we? So, we service those with imperfect genes. For years now, we have been subtly leaking our medical and technological advancements to the world - some of which you may be enjoying as we speak! We have a grand goal that will improve the lives of [i]everyone![/i] But, only if you cooperate with us. That's it. All we want is the world's cooperation..."

Blake trailed off, laughing slightly.

"...But, yet your so-called champions, RAVEN and DOVE, insist on doing the opposite for whatever reason - I don't know why. You should all know that being lead by the blind does no one good. So, we once again have to do the [i]opposite[/i] of what the Family is made for, and will have to intimidate you into compliance."

His tone became much more sinister.

"What we want is Dr. Cross, Ignatius, and the Mannequin - just those three - and for RAVEN to, uh, let us work in peace. But, like I said, you're forcing our hand here... and I'd hate to see this city [i]bleed[/i]."

Blake narrowed his eyes.

"So, we're giving RAVEN five days to release the trio before everyone suffers on their behalf - and believe me, we have many ways to make [i]very[/i] bad things happen. If you want to try us, then go ahead, I'll tell you that it won't end well for you, your family, your friends, and all of your descendants." Blake threatened with a smile, he got up off the chair, and walked over to the side with his hands behind his back. "And, to RAVEN, I'd like to let you know that we have one of your champions of truth and justice."

A light flickered on behind Blake, and in the middle of the spot-light was Cindy Keagan. Strapped to a chair, and wearing nothing but a T-shirt and underwear - having been stripped of it by the Secretaries earlier. She had the power-suppressant collar wrapped tightly around her neck, and it was clear that she was beaten up a little bit going off the blood dripping out of her mouth, and the large bruises on her face. She was panting heavily as she looked into the camera.

"...Look, whateva' they want, don't give it to them!" Cindy loudly shouted.

"So valiant even though she is at our mercy," Blake said before he swung out full force with his elbow and clocked Cindy square in the jaw. "I think that concludes our announcement... Oh, yeah, almost forgot... How [i]could I[/i] forgot? You have five days, RAVEN."

Blake raised his fingers as if he was about to snap.

"...Just so you know we are being serious."

Then Blake snapped his fingers, and the transmission cut off.

The people responsible for everything in Baybridge are the Founding Family. A cult of lunatics. I saw this video with my own two eyes while watching Spongebob with my kids. After that, they knocked out the power for weeks... and I'll never forget them.

---

➤ Judochick

Posted on: November 3rd, 2022.

I'm sorry, but what kind of rock have you been living under @Dead_Editor? This was all over the news!

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➤ Dead_Editor

Posted on: November 3rd, 2022.

Sorry, but I was visiting my family in Australia, and when I get back, the whole city's in flames. I had to jump through hoops just to get back into the country!

I just want to figure out what the hell happened, because this is way bigger than Prague.

---

➤ AegisCommander

Posted on: November 3rd, 2022.

@Andro: They're more than just being a cult of lunatics. As it turns out; they have hands in almost everything! Politics, military, corporations, science, everything. They're like a world controlling conspiracy!

---

➤ Judochick

Posted on: November 3rd, 2022.

@Deadeditor: That's understandable, I'm sorry.

But, before you jump the gun on @AegisCommander; he's right.

It's turning out that this Founding Family controlled almost everything, and I'm not exaggerating. If you want proof, just google them.

---

➤ Iron_Cross

Posted on: November 3rd, 2022.

Most disturbingly of all, this Family had an army of slaves locked up in their headquarters. Men and women taken from all over the world, put to work in their tower. It's so messy that even the UN had to get involved to help sorts things out.

[Link to Article]

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➤ Exiled

Posted on: November 3rd, 2022.

A friend of mine was one of those people... She went missing like five years ago, and RAVEN found her there. In a far better state than she was when she went missing, yeah, but she had no idea of what even happened. In fact, she had no idea that five years even passed. So, maybe the Family was employing some kind of Cerebral ability.

---

➤ Dead_Editor

Posted on: November 3rd, 2022.

@Exiled: We're veering into conspiracy theory territory here, keep it to yourself.

---

➤ [BANNED USER]

Posted on: November 3rd, 2022.

you goys are alright, dont come into town tomorrow

Page 1-108

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Boards ➤ Profiles ➤ Papersister_07

Gender: ♀
Posts: 15074
Join Date: February 3rd, 2022
Location: Baybridge, Washington.
Age: 21.
Birth-Date: January 5th, 2004.
Last Visit: March 21st, 2025.

➤ Registration Information ➤ Delete Account ➤ Confirmation ➤ Yes.

Oakdell Harbor, White Coast_

---

---

Wendy played around on her phone, while lying down on the sofa of the RV. Mostly to distract herself from the welling grief that was associated with this city. She sighed as she deleted her account from one of her favorite forums! But, that place wasn't what it used to be, and it was for the best that Wendy removed her mark from there.

Then again, the world wasn't what it used to be.

"Yo, Wen," Jessica's voice snapped her out of her reverie. Her eyes were diverted away from her phone, to the red-haired woman (who was approaching her thirties, in fact). She was muscular, and just had a freckled face that inspired Wendy. She was the one driving the RV they were staying in, but kept her eyes on the road. "Sure you're ready to go back? You can stay with me and my pops in Texas if you need more time."

Wendy looked over to the research notes on the table across from herself.

"I'm sure." She said. "There's something I have to get to the bottom of in Baybridge."

"That missing scientist?" Jessica asked.

Wendy looked over to the research notes on the table across from herself, with "SEAN ROSIER'S NOTES" on the cover of the book.

"Yes, it all leads back to Baybridge," Wendy said. "I'm sorry, but I want to get to the bottom of it."

"Nah, it's cool!" Jessica said with a smile. "I should be the one apologizing... Wish I could help you, but me and Kai still got a lot more adventure ahead of us!"

"I understand... in fact, I shouldn't let my own ambitions hold you up from following yours," Wendy cheekily half smiled.

"But.... what about Rowan?" Jessica asked in a hushed tone. "What does he think?"

"What-what... someone want me?" A voice groggily called out from the back of the RV.

"Rowan, my maaaan," Jessica said. "What I was asking was if you were gonna stick with us, or go with Wendy?"

"Wait-" There came a heavy thud, followed by a brief grunt, before the sole male occupant of the RV emerged from the compartment at the back, a shirt having been hastily pulled on other his head during their journey. "Wen', so you're really going? I mean, I know you talked about it, but what with all that shit..." He trailed off for a moment as he made his way towards the front, placing his palms against the walls of the interior to steady himself, eventually plopping himself down in the sofa adjacent to Wendy's position. "You're serious about this, then?" He asked, idly rubbing at the mess of coarse hair along his jaw.

"Yeah... I want to look for something," Wendy said. "And, Kumiko says that she knows people that will help me find it."

"Yeah?" Rowan raised an eyebrow at that one, "Didn't know you'd been talking lately."

"We talk all the time," Wendy said with a smile, as she stood up. She grabbed the research papers, and walked over to Rowan. "But, do you remember our talk about that scientist? Sean Rosier?"

"Sean Rosier... Sean Rosier... just remind me, again."

She held up the research notes for Rowan to see.

"This? Remember? I got this from the Family's base... he's a brilliant scientist that was on the verge of discovering something amazing...." Wendy trailed off, before she said. "Dimensional travel."

She shook her head.

"But, then he disappeared, and the last of trace of him ends in Baybridge."

"Yeah, yeah - got you now," Rowan finally clicked, his groggy demeanour fading away. "And you want to find out what happened with this guy, right?"

"Yes, and possibly continue his work." Wendy said, as she turned to her blond-haired friend. "You don't have to come along with me... I can do this with Kumiko helping me."

"I'd rather go with you," Rowan said, before turning his gaze towards Jess and Kai, "No offence to you guys, or anything. It's been great here, the best couple years I've had, y'know? But if Wendy wants to figure this out, I'm in on it too."

Jessica smiled. "I hear ya' loud and clear, and I'd like to say it's been a real pleasure having the two of you on board."

Wendy was honestly flattered when Rowan said that... and a little flustered. Her face went red, she smiled. "And I wouldn't have anyone else by my side."

She got a similar response from him as he shuffled into thr back of the RV yet again, undoubtedly to collect the few belongings he had with him and pack them into his bag.

They had long crossed the Bravewater Bridg, and Jessica merely followed the GPS to the location that Wendy had given her. She raised an eyebrow as they approached a mansion on the beach front.

"You have arrived." The GPS said, and Jessica came to a stop in front the building. She looked behind herself.

"Well... looks like this is goodbye... damn..." Jessica somberly said, "I thought I was ready for this, but it's so hard to say goodbye, ain't it?" She said.

Having emerged yet again with his possessions, Rowan was the first to step towards two of the three people who he'd come to know as not just friends, but family. Slugging an arm each around Jess and Kai's shoulders, the once scrawny kid pulled them into a fraternal embrace, before whispering something to them with a wry grin.

"You better not give us a fake address, I don't think Wen' would appreciate knocking on the wrong Texan's door."

"Who do you think I am?" Jess said with a smile. "A bad driver? I get you to yer' destination!"

Wendy smiled at the scene.

"Well, I hate to hold ya' up, me and Kai have a lot more journey ahead of us," Jess said, as she tipped her hat.

"... And so do we." The door on the side opened, and Wendy loudly gulped as she mustered the courage to step off. Only because she didn't want this to ever end.

After everyone said their goodbyes, both Wendy and Rowan got off the RV that was a great part of their lives, and it slowly drove away. Wendy could just see the sorrow in Jess' eyes, but she was going to keep in touch with them. And that was a promise.

For now, the two young adults looked up at the mansion. Kumiko told them to come here if they needed help, and Wendy damn well was going to get it. But, the first obstacle was the large gates before them. She wondered if could just have Rowan open it, when the gates unlocked themselves and were pulled open. She was confused, until she saw a woman walk up. A tall, Asian woman, wearing jeans, and a dark-red blouse. Age was certainly setting into the older woman, as even Wendy could spot the wrinkles.

"... Wen!" Kumiko shouted as she ran over, and embraced her daughter. "It's been a helluva long time since I seen ya'... well, in person, but you know!"

"Same!" Wendy said.

"And you Rowan," Kumiko said as she let go of Wendy, "You're a handsome young man, now." She smiled.

"Uh... thanks.." Rowan said, caught off guard by the remark.

"Well, what are the two of ya' waitin' for?" Kumiko said as she practically yanked the two of them towards the entrance. "Come on in!"

"Wai-" Before Wendy knew it, they were through the front doors, and Kumiko whipped around to kick both of them shut. She let out a sigh.

"Phew..." Kumiko trailed off as she leaned up against the door. "Sorry about that, kids." She chuckled for a moment. "We have a looooot of enemies that are probably keeping an eye on all our movements, so it was for the best that we get inside, and in cover, fast as possible."

"I understand." Wendy said, giving Kumiko a quick nod.

"So, uh..." Kumiko pointed at Rowan, "Did you brief him on our little deal? Because if not, that was a real dick move, Wen. Real dick move."

That earned her a strange look from her fellow traveler, "What am I missing?"

"Diiiiiiiiick move." Kumiko almost shouted.

"Well, Rowan..." Wendy said, "Remember when I said 'I knew people who could help us'?"

He raised an eyebrow at that, "Oh, right - you said your mom could help?"

"Well, not quite..." Wendy said, "My mom works for this organization that helped bring down the Founding Family."

"... The Philosophers," Kumiko said. "They call themselves a benevolent group of scientists..."

She narrowed her eyes at Rowan for a moment.

"... Take that with a grain of salt."

"And, they're going to help us piece together the puzzle that is Sean Rosier," Wendy explained.

"... Well, hate to get your hopes up..." Kumiko sighed. "But, they're kind of busy... and - surprise - I'm the only field agent willing to help!"

Wendy sighed.

"... That's fine."

"Well, provided that you find it, I'm sure someone in here will gladly help you make use of it."

"It's not like we haven't done some breaking-in before..." Rowan said to Wendy with a hushed tone.

Wendy snickered a bit, as she said, "Yeeeeeah."

"But, I mean, this is the first time I seen the two of ya' in years," Kumiko hopped off the wall, almost surprised they were so formal. "Relaaaaax, let's have a little bit of fun before we go off on some adventure. Liiiiiike...." She remembered something. "There's a DOVE rally today... probably gonna end up being lame, but they're at least offering free food."

"I don't know..." Wendy trailed off, as she looked at Rowan. Given that the two of them were runaways in the eyes of DOVE, Wendy wasn't in a rush to change that. "What do you think, Rowan?" Wendy asked.

"Uh, I dunno... you really think they'll know it's us?" Rowan shrugged, shifting his gaze towards Kumiko for a second, "It's been three years, Wen' - we keep our heads down, we could be good. Worst case, we have to run - can't be too hard, right?"

"I guess..." Wendy said, still unsure. "Alright, we're going to go."

"Yaaaaaay!" Kumiko said, "We'll discuss this boring Philosopher stuff later."

She gestured down the hall.

"We'll take my car, let's go!" Kumiko said.

---

Lower South Royer Town, Prince Ed-Field

---

---

Courtney stared deeply into her own eyes. They looked fake, right? She squinted and leaned closer to the dirty GoodBurger bathroom mirror. A set of green cosmetic contact lenses were covering her natural eye color-- they definitely looked fake. Shaking her head she readjusted the pink wig, which was tucked into the hood of her black hoodie, then turned away from the mirror. This was very necessary precaution that would help save her a bit of grief in the long run, she hoped.

Without another glance toward the mirror, she left the bathroom, then exited the restaurant. This was just a stop on the way to check and see if her prosthetics and latex were holding. While Courtney didn't doubt it, she also didn't want to risk half her cheek peeling off mid-conversation.

Today, all she had planned was to attend the DOVE rally, so why the makeup? She told herself it was to not be recognized-- that if anyone potentially knew who she was, followed her channel, recognized her face, she didn't want to be seen associated with Metahumans, in any way or form. The last thing she needed were internet trolls taking that information and eating it right up. People were freakin' hostile sometimes, so of course she wasn't going to go broadcasting herself all willy-nilly....

"Willy-nilly? Voice of inner me, that's a grandma word," she mumbled as she walked down the city street. There was a lot of traffic today it seemed and maybe that was because this rally was getting a larger gathering than she expected. Either way, Courtney had thickened her cheeks, widened her brow and nose ridge, and even went so far as to give herself a false gap between the teeth-- not to mention the wig and hoodie. She looked unflattering but not suspiciously so, maybe-- hopefully.

Taking out her phone, Courtney opened up A1-Chat then began typing...



Courtney smirked, typed an excessive amount of heart emojis, then put her phone into her pocket. Wasn't she already being careful? Sure, maybe attending a giant rally full of freaks and weirdos wasn't the most careful thing, but at least she wouldn't be recognized immediately. She halted when she came near a bus stop. Right on cue the bus came around the corner. After boarding the bus and a brief exchange of money, she was seated with headphones in, playing music as the vehicle lurched down the street.

And shit, was this bus slow.
Well.
This was almost immediately extremely boring and Courtney found she couldn't sit still. Eventually she had her phone out again.



Courtney smirked at that last one as "K4tMomGreen is typing..." popped up on the screen.



"Aw shit," Coutrney mumbled aloud in response to that message. She pressed a hand to her forehead and mumbled, "Damn it cat..." Ninja, the family's cat, named so as a joke because of his horrendous clumsiness, was a large orange bastard with too much time on his hands--er--paws. There was a running joke in the family for naming Ninja's attacks after weapons or corny anime moves. For whatever reason, he liked to leap at objects set on the counter tops and bat them off with all his strength. He was an unstoppable maniac that absolutely hated the milk jug-- Courtney was sure she was wholly responsible for this particular incident of Ninja assassination.



Deciding to leave that particular train of thought right at the station, Courtney put her phone away then stared out the window. Wasn't very long now until she would be at the DOVE rally. The thought of it put a couple of renegade butterflies in her belly. Taking a deep breath, Courtney sought to calm that anxious nonsense. Hopefully it was just a nice meeting, some fliers, propaganda, and maybe she would meet someone who could advise her.

It was very important to Courtney that she learned what she was supposed to do with her... stuff.

There was not a day that went by that Courtney didn't feel right having her abilities. Everything about them was unnatural, wrong, perhaps a little awkward to posses. She wasn't as over the top or flashy as some Metahumans she'd seen but, Courtney felt a strange sense of insecurity to have this mess.

Plus people hated her for having these powers even without knowing her-- wasn't there already enough society hated her for? Courtney just wanted to be somewhat normal again, honestly. She hoped that maybe at the rally, there would be someone that could help her. Maybe. She didn't know. Would it be like chopping off a part of herself to get her powers removed? Were they more of a gift or blessing rather than a burden? These powers had come to her in a time of need but, that time was long passed, right? Was this as natural as breathing was but stranger?

Thoughtful and confused, Courtney bit her lower lip, then turned her music up. Thinking wasn't too fun right now so, she focused on her tunes instead-- like she should have been doing in the first place. Asking all these questions would only hurt her dumb brain, Courtney determined. Moral and ethical debates were for smarter people than her, after all.

---

Director's Office, DOVE/RAVEN Joint Headquarters, White Coast_

---

"... Yeah? Next Saturday? Sure, next Saturday - we'll talk more then. Thanks, bye."

Reed Taylor sucked in a breath of fresh air as he set the phone back down on his desk. Yet another matter of minor importance to address another time.

Nowadays, that was a significant chunk of his job, yet all the same an important one given it pertained to his role as Director over the local branch of DOVE. Meetings, discussions, administrative work, legal matters, etc. After his appointment to the role of Director, he'd made a point to make a regular acquaintance with the BPD, so as to try and keep staff on both sides aware of any issues ongoing in the city that they might stumble across in their work, metahuman-related or otherwise. Then, of course, was the matter of the MISW agent who'd be joining their ranks as part of the foreign exchange program being spearheaded by the Western Nations, a man by the name of Francis Marshall if memory recalled. Judging by the report he'd read of the man, he hoped the British agent would prove helpful enough, but with other matters on his mind Reed couldn't help but wonder how smoothly things would transition.

Whatever way he looked at things, he sometimes felt his ability to multitask stretched to the limit.

At one point he recalled that Javaunt had recommended he re-assign one of the DOVEs on desk work to function as his Personal Assistant, but somehow he found the idea of pulling a valuable pair of hands off the office floor for the sake of his own convenience a little too much to bear, particularly if he could still manage just about. That, and the notion made him feel a man a decade older than what he actually was. Which, as it happened brought him onto his next musing on his list of woes - all too often he'd heard the same comments from detractors, that he was still young and inexperienced for his role. Part of him couldn't help but concede they were right, in some form - at thirty-six years of age, he stood as a very senior figure in metahuman regulation working around the largest metahuman population on the West Coast.

Sometimes he missed his days as an investigator, doing both the field and paper work alike - but there was a bigger picture to it all, in the end. Javaunt had chosen him three years ago and he had no intentions of letting the Chairwoman down, not after everything that DOVE had worked for these last ten years.

Thoughts briefly drifted to the old man, if only for a second and at that, Reed glanced over the desk and couldn't help but crack a thin smile at the Terminator statuette standing vigil at one side of his desk, brandishing an M134 minigun. "What would you do, Arnie?" He mumbled to himself, before hearing a faux-Austrian accent inside his head. Terminate them all. Certainly not the best piece of advice, he decided - though seeing the one of old man's favourite shelf-pieces gave him a brief moment of piece before the realities of management brought themselves back to bear on him.

Of course, the old man never quite had to deal with something like this. Cass was a senior figure in the VPD, respected well enough, but even he'd never had to deal with desk work like this.

Still, he thought, the old man would've been proud.

Realizing that he was distracting himself, he cleared his throat and turned back towards the workstation on his desk. Today would be a long day, with much to do - this speech of his at the rally being just a single part of it.

With a brief, fleeting sigh, Director Taylor set himself back to work.

---

Waterbridge Airport, Roseview_

---

After two consecutive flights, Frank couldn't help but feel an aching sensation building in his legs after what must've been almost a dozen hours' worth of sitting and standing still without any significant degree of movement. He'd spent most of both flights keeping to himself, erecting a mental barrier between himself and the other passengers and their varying thoughts and emotional states - the last thing he wanted was to be picking up on the stress and unseen terrors of some eight year old girl on her first flight. Once they'd hit solid ground, however, he was glad to be off the plane because, as he would admit, he wasn't exactly a fan of flight either. It was funny, come to think of it - despite all the training and experience with what was once one of the most tightly-run metahuman agencies operating in the West, even he found himself balking at the venture across the Atlantic.

Then again, when one considered the dangerous times they lived in, maybe his reservations hadn't been unfounded.

At any rate, he had brushed through the check-out with relative ease, though picking up his luggage (a suitcase and backpack containing the few belongings he'd figured he'd need) had been something of a headache after a brief dispute with a Chinese tourist over which suitcase was his. Frank, admittedly, had perhaps made an ethical faux-pas by using his ability to mentally subdue the irate tourist with a projection of some calming thoughts, but given how quickly he wanted to be out of the airport and into the city, he decided he could live with that particular dalliance when it was weidged against the many others he'd committed in the name of Her Majesty and the MISW.

On his way out of the terminal, he balanced a hot dog he'd hastily purchased from a vendor stall in one hand whilst the other hauled along with him his suitcase, though by the time he'd hit the exit point he'd already devoured the entire thing, such was his hunger. Then, for about a second he wondered just how he'd go about hailing a taxi, at least until he realised that not too far from the entrance to the airport were a fleet of them parked up, ready and waiting for new customers. Guess I won't need to waste my time with an Uber. Lugging his suitcase and backpack along with him, he quickly caught an asian man in what was probably his late-thirties finishing off a vaping session whilst leant back against a car. Coming into range, he quickly raised his proposition to what he assumed was the driver.

"Eh, excuse me, are you booked up?"

"No, I'm free," The driver tilted his head downwards, stuffing the vape-tube back into his pocket as his gaze turned towards Frank's suitcase, "Want a hand with that?"

"Yeah, please." Frank quickly nodded, relinquishing the greatest of his baggage to the driver who quickly lugged it into the trunk of his cab. The backpack he set on his lap after climbing into one of the rear passenger seats, the driver soon joining him afterwards, "Where to?"

"Uhrm, the DOVE-RAVEN Headquarters site, please - would prefer if we avoided the scenic route and just got straight to it."

"Sure thing." Instinct made his gut clench for just a moment as the driver pulled out onto the right side of the road, before he realised that, among the many differences between Britain and the US (aside from about four thousand miles of Atlantic Ocean) this would be yet another he'd be getting used to.

Still, it couldn't be that bad, he supposed - the weather in this particular state wasn't too different from back home and the food would be cheap and varied enough. He looked forward to the notion of trying one of the local Chinese restaurants or takeaways, at least that would be a comfort staying with him on this venture.

And then, as they passed through the varying districts of the city limits, Frank couldn't help but let his thoughts drift back towards home.

Since he'd set foot on that first plane from Heathrow, part of him wondered whether he'd made the right call, volunteering for this post and leaving the very few people he knew behind to clean up the ongoing mess, but with the situation as it was back home he figured there wasn't much else he could have done if he had stayed. Mass rioting and protests still raged on in London, Glasgow, Manchester and even places like Sheffield that were very close to home, some which he'd seen for himself and had been on the receiving end. Not to mention the fact their government had been puppeteered by these Founding Family types, along with the same organisation that he'd come to regard as the place where he belonged.

He had to face facts - the MISW was a shell, right now. Headquarters had been wrecked in the bombing, a good chunk of their administrative staff killed in the process along with a few of their field agents, the much-vaunted Grayson Williams included. And the new figures in government were regarding them with almost as much scrutiny as the public, if not moreso. The way they saw it, the 'old' MISW was a relic of the Cold War, the 'new' one would be a lot different, nowhere near as heavy-handed as before and a 'kinder' organisation overall. Frank had to agree, they were right, but still... old habits died hard, he supposed. And at this point people back home were still restructuring things, still figuring out how to handle this new threat from the so-called 'BASILISK' terrorist group which had claimed responsibility for the bombing of their HQ.

Maybe some time away could've done Frank some good, he hoped, and give him a chance to learn from the Americans whilst here and bring something useful back home. He owed his people that much, at least, and given the unseen blood that had stained their hands a dozen times over it would be some measure of atonement. Once upon a time, he'd been turned onto what he thought was the right track by the MISW - now was his turn to try and do the same for the organisation whilst it was in its weakened state.

Eventually he took another glance out the window and, judging by the brief research he'd undertaken in the weeks before his journey across the pond, he suspected he was close to his destination. After all, the DOVE/RAVEN Headquarters Building was a difficult sight to miss, and was larger by a wide margin than the MISW Offices back home. Americans always have had a thing for going big, he supposed.

Soon, the car pulled up in the visitor parking area and the driver told Frank the fee, to which the Briton fished a wad of dollar bills out to the exact sum he'd asked. It was only then that he realised the cab driver was half-expectantly waiting for him to, if that sliver of emotion bleeding into his thoughts was anything to go by - yet another US custom he'd be getting used to. Without a grumble, he fished a few extra dollars out and slapped them into the driver's palm. "Keep the change, and thanks for the lift."

---

---

RAVEN/DOVE Joint Headquarters, White Coast_

---

---

Meifeng leaned back in her chair, she put her hands behind her head as she noticed a blonde-haired woman with a DOVE badge scutter in...? No, nametag. She didn't have a clue who this woman was! Then again, without Cindy to inform her of things going on in DOVE, it was a reeeeal pain in the ass keeping up with them. She ignored the urge to ask her to get her some coffee (because that'd honestly be annoying) as she merely glanced at her for a second, before she turned her attention back to Maximilian. She sighed for a moment. She didn't want to deal with him right now, but it was her job to do so. Especially since it was because of him that she got this far. So, she swallowed her pride, and raised her hand.

"With all due respect, sir," Meifeng said sir rather venomously. "Everyone here should be aware of ZODIAC, and Sovereign? How couldn't we be given all the times he kicked our ass?"

Maximilian groaned, he held his tongue as he merely looked at the papers Andrea placed near him. He opened it for a moment, and realized that it was something for the rally later on today. He pushed it over towards Deborah to give her a chance to read it.

Shizuka shared the same sentiment as Maximilian at Meifeng's passive-aggressiveness. Even if that girl had been through hell in her life, it didn't mean she could throw a tantrum into the face of their in-charge, right here in front of all the other higher-ups in the room. He rolled his eyes at her but continued to keep his mouth shut, merely staring at the stack of papers between Maximilian and Deborah that blond DOVE agent had brought in and wondering what it was about.

Quentin, on the other hand, who had been seated quietly at the other side of the room, found himself sharing his old friend and colleague's sentiments - even if she was a little headstrong about it, Meifeng was right. There was no room for missing out facts in this, the veteran RAVEN knew - he'd been on the receiving end of the assassin's wrath and barely escaped with his life, not without scars, either. "There is a point - the Hound, or Sovereign - or whatever that animal calls himself now, he did a lot of damage with the paramilitary outfit he ran for the Founders. That they're still out there is not something we can tiptoe around."

"My point exactly," Maximilian said.

"Though," Shizuka had to point out. "The Fags--" his choice of words made a few agents arched their eyebrows at him, "--were more deeply inculcated into the world than we could've expected. Three years ain't enough to fully weed out every remnant supporters still hiding somewhere out there... or even among us. We've got to stay vigilant, yeah."

With that, Andrea uncomfortably slipped out of the door without a word. As soon as she was outside, she exhaled a huge sigh of relief. She was just so glad that nobody really said anything aloud about it - not that they had to. Every little surface thought that sprung through their head were practically screaming at her. Most amusingly, one of them even wanted coffee from her! Still, there was something bugging her about that meeting. One would think it'd be about the event later today, but there was something else behind the scenes. What was ZODIAC? Who was Sovereign? Andrea felt strong feelings coming from her when she mentioned how ZODIAC shouldn't be covered up, which meant that RAVEN and DOVE were hiding something big. If such a name like Meifeng took issue with it, Andrea couldn't help but feel curious about whatever was happening. Her eyes darted down both ends of the hallway before she scurried into the dark, empty office just across. She closed the door behind her and sat on the desk, looking to the side at seemingly nothing.

"Show me," she muttered.

Her eyes trailed off towards the door and waited patiently. Within moments, her mind was filled with visions and sounds...

"What you are unaware of is that there have been sightings of ZODIAC activity in the US," Maximilian replied, as Dana switched a slider on the projector to still images of members of the ZODIAC terrorist group in different places. From a member making a deal with some drug dealers, to a lone member in a gunfight with RAVEN, to another merely creeping in the shadows, nearly out of sight. The last image rested on known ZODIAC assassin (and former Intimidation Unit agent) the Phantasm. In the headquarters of the Savior Foundation, with a smoking pistol in hand as he fired it at a security guard. "The biggest of which was the infiltration of Savior Headquarters in Boston. It was unknown what ZODIAC was after there, the Saviors are being unhelpful..."

"... As usual." Deborah briefly chimed in, irritated.

"So, they are telling us that the Phantasm damaged some equipment, and then left." Maximilian finished, he crossed his arms.

"What about ZODIAC activity in other countries?" Meifeng Zhao asked, as she wondered if they're focusing their efforts in the states again... her worst nightmare.

"According to some sources, they haven't stopped for a moment." Maximilian merely groaned as he leaned back with his arms crossed. "They've slowed down their activities, yeah... but the problem is that the organization is so damn sporadic that we have no idea what in the hell they're going to do next."

The way ZODIAC operated, Meifeng and Quentin were both at a loss as to how to fight them either. Their use of portals made it impossible to track them to one location, and it was obvious they picked their battles very carefully.

"It might be a tough move... but it's becoming clear, to effectively battle ZODIAC, nations of the world may have to work together much closer." Maximilian added on, before he let out yet another sigh. "Or else... we're going to have a lot more Moscow's."

And that word was accompanied by Dana changing the image in the projector to Moscow... well, the part of it that had a smoldering hole in the middle of it that took up a large chunk of the scenic area.

In the next room over, Andrea released a faint gasp. 'Ah...! A terrorist group?' To think that there was an organization that has gotten so big and out of control that it could cause such widespread damage and required the joint effort of individual nations... the very thought was unprecedented. To an extent, Andrea agreed with Meifeng. Why should it be kept secret? Wouldn't that work to the enemy's benefit anyway? If they really cared about invoking terror, they'd be much more flashy and conspicuous about their targets. At the same time... Maximilian, in a way, was protecting the public from this information. Four or five meta-human terrorist groups was enough to throw relations out the window. Who really trusted metas at this point? He probably thought that the last thing they need is another tank of gasoline to throw onto the fire. Part of her felt regretful about eavesdropping; these weren't the kinds of decisions she felt equipped to make, it made her drug case feel insignificant. 'But it's better than remaining in the dark.'

The mention of working together with other countries around the world made Shizuka cringe inside. While Europe and North America were focused on cleaning up the mess left by the oh-so-great Family and the leftovers of their insanity, the Eastern side of the globe had their plates full with their own issue: the rise of Polaris.Only that the Asian cult was smarter; instead of revealing themselves to the whole world like the foolish egomaniacs of the Blessed Three, they merely continued to pull the strings from the shadows... instilling fear into the people when they least expected it. A complete opposite of ZODIAC, and most other terrorist groups. Rather than directing all the hate to one source - to the organizations claiming responsibility for the attacks - Polaris made the people fight among themselves. It was made harder to form coalitions when you couldn't know who to trust, and who were the backstabbers.

With how secretive they had been, it was difficult to pinpoint anything concrete about them... or even how deep they had inserted themselves into the Asian politics. For all he knew, at least half of the government officials across the Asian countries were probably Polaris' dogs. Gathering allies whom he could trust felt like an uphill battle to the Japanese agent. Shizuka had to be extremely careful with the people he conversed with; even if he might be spared from an immediate death due to the cult taking a strange interest in the twins, he couldn't say the same for his comrades.

He managed to bag Japan, South Korea and numerous Southeast Asian countries, but the bigger nations - China, India, and even Indonesia - hadn't been cooperative. He couldn't push them too hard either, or else he'd be giving them the perfect excuse to wage an all-out war on US, and that was the last thing anyone would want at this time of uncertainty and terror.

"Thankfully, ZODIAC doesn't seem to have too much interest in the East," Shizuka spoke up again, his eyes traveled from Meifeng to Dana, then to Maximilian. "Besides, they have their own problem to deal with to care about the Hound - or Sovereign, or whatever dumb names he's calling himself now. I can enlist some help from some of the Asian meta groups I'm dandy with, but don't expect any large-scale assistance from them. I don't need to explain why - politics."

"Actually, there has been some ZODIAC sightings in India and China... Otherwise, they haven't done much in that region." Dana noted to Shizuka. The younger agent didn't seem surprised, but his eyes narrowed upon hearing those country names.

"Yet," Maximilian raised a finger in the air. "I'm not saying we should stick our noses in their business, but we definitely could benefit from some cooperation."

"Well, I doubt it needs to be said that we won't be expecting anything like that from our Russian counterparts?" Quentin remarked. For the most part, he'd kept his head out of the social minefield of of politics, but anyone in the room would've figured that the odds of co-operation with the WLC were about as slim as they could've been. Even if relations hadn't been at the same low they'd remained at for the last ten years, the reclusive organisation was loath to co-operate with the other services operating in its homeland, let alone one from a nation on near-Cold War terms with theirs.

So far, it had been Britain, Germany, France and the Czechs who had been the key contributors to their international efforts and even so, the foreign exchange and training program that they'd had going was perhaps the biggest result they'd yielded from it so far.

"Speaking of which, do we know when our new arrival from the exchange program will show up?" The veteran RAVEN asked, aware of the MISW agent expected at their doorstep, "I'm sure we'll want to keep them involved on the ZODIAC threat."

"In fact," Deborah spoke, she raised a finger in the air. "He's on his way now, he should be here by tomorrow."

"And..." Maximilian trailed off, as he looked for the right words to describe this. "I doubt that Britain will be of much use given the whole political storm that they are going through." He leaned back letting out a sigh as he placed his hands on his chest. He was worried about BASILISK... and, he had an idea of just whom was at the head of it.

"Probably not, no..." Quentin nodded, "But we'll find out soon enough if this guy was worth the plane ticket."

Meifeng herself didn't have an idea of who this guy was - again, she relied on Cindy waaaaay too much for this information - but since they had another transfer that was incredibly useful, she was going to come at this with an open mind.

Andrea felt a lump in her throat as the severity began to sink in. Even after all these years, suffering through the Founding Family and so on, Baybridge was still dangerous to live in. Then another intense realization sunk in: this was far above her pay grade, and wasn't nearly valuable enough to have this information. If anyone found out, she'd... and Ms. Bayard! She's still waiting! She immediately canceled out her scrying, and dashed to the door as best she could in her heeled shoes, opening it up and narrowly running head first into a dark-skinned fellow a few inches shorter than her, causing him to stumble slightly and drop his papers - "I'm sorry, sorry - sorry!" She blurted, and mid stride, turned around and pointed at the papers as they ducked and weaved to the ground. After a brief delay, they all gracefully fluttered back into the air, and gently landed in the man's hands. She waved him goodbye and continued to hurry down the hall into the elevator, leaving the stranger with a confused look on his face. As the elevator brought her to her floor, she anxiously straightened out the wrinkles in her clothes, dreading the impending conversation with her boss.

The man was honestly confused, but kept it moving.

In the middle of their conversation, the door opened.

"... Really, really, sorry, sir," A short man with obvious African roots from his skin, to his dreadlocks, stepped into the room. He wore a formal suit with the RAVEN insignia over his breast as he stepped in. Many knew him as Francis Jean-Pierre... a transfer from Brazil. He faced Maximilian. "I have a really good reason for being late, and I'm not talking about the traffic." He rolled his eyes into his head as he spoke in a thick Haitian accent. It became clear that he had files in his hands as he walked in.

He raised it in the air, "... But, I have that report you wanted."

Maximilian smiled in a very pleased manner. "It's okay, Francis," Maximilian said as he stood straight up, he took the files from Francis, and quickly ran through them. Before he handed them to Dana, he looked before the conglomeration of RAVENs and DOVEs before him, speaking, "Now, time to get to the real pressing matter."

"So, Sovereign and his group of super-terrorists were just small-talk?" Meifeng snarked.

"No, there is a more concerning matter I have to discuss," Maximilian said, before he pressed both hands on the table. "Everyone here should be well acquainted with the Verthaven Disaster... and more importantly, the person behind it? So, there's no need to go over it?"

Those words sent shivers down Meifeng's spine. It reminded her of the hell she went through ten years ago that she was desperate to put behind her, but the damn thing kept catching up to her. Especially since, every time she turned around; some other problem the disaster caused was becoming a pain in the ass for Meifeng.

Francis coughed as he heard the words. He took a seat. He knew that many people in this room were survivors of that incident. And how couldn't he have heard of it? The second it went down, it changed everything. Even going as far as Brazil, where it lead to the CESRM being formed, and a lot of Metahuman criminals popping up.

"No? Good." Maximilian said as he looked over his shoulder to Dana going through the documents. "Alright, so three years ago, after the fall of the Founding Family, much of their horrific research either fell into the black market, or into our hands."

Maximilian started off, he took a few steps around the table. He kept his eyes on the group before him.

"As it turned out, the body of the Devil fell into the hands of the Founding Family, and they were performing experiments on her," Maximilian continued, "However, after we destroyed the Family, the remains of the Devil, of course, disappeared into the depths of the black market."

If it weren't for the fact that people died in scores because of fuck-ups like this, Quentin would've rolled his eyes. Instead, he found himself exhaling through his nose with a deep push, mentally running a palm along his face.

"Oooooooh..." Meifeng quietly said to herself in a mild shock. She didn't like the sound of that.

Diagonally across her, Shizuka raised an eyebrow, looking from Maximilian to the newcomer, then back at the RAVEN director again. As much as he didn't have a great opinion of the Devil (she tried to kill everyone in Verthaven - including his precious family!), to think that the once-powerful freak Metahuman being reduced to a pathetic piece of corpse passed around from one mad scientist group to another...

What goes around, comes around.

"And... as it turned out... everyone wants a piece of the apocalypse-inducing Metahuman..." He groaned for a moment. "... Literally." He pointed at Francis as a silent cue to pick up the pieces.

"Me and my team have been assigned to look for the pieces of the Devil, whom had been separated into five whole parts," Francis started off, as he stood straight up... and awkwardly fiddled his thumbs as he tried to figure out a good way to phrase this. "We haven't obtained any of her parts yet... but my team can report that at least two pieces have left the country."

"So, wait," Meifeng trailed off. "What do you guys think they're even doing with her? Turn her into some kind of Frankenstein and sic her on the world?"

"I've been wondering this myself too," Shizuka chimed in after a moment of silence. "Didn't the Fags base the Beasts off the Devil? She was in their possession after the Verthaven disaster - they'd have all the time in the world to dissect her atom by atom until their eventual fall."

"According to the research notes, the Beast was partially based off the Devil," Maximilian said. "However, we weren't able to recover all of it... so I cannot give you a solid answer. But, we all know that there are many members of the Hands, and the Family, still out there... someone out there is going to be able to make use out of her."

Maximilian leaned in.

"... And, regardless of what they do; it's going to be bad for us."

"What's worse is..." Francis said, before he gave the room a good glance from left to right. The news he was about to drop was probably going to be worse for the agents than knowing that the Devil is being used by someone. "... My team has tracked a piece of the Devil back to Baybridge."

"Shiiiiit..." Meifeng leaned back in her chair, as she held her hands on her face. "Should I get Lijuan out of dodge...?" She muttered to herself.

"And that's why I'm making it top RAVEN priority to recover the piece of the Devil before this gets out of hand," Maximilian said. "That is why I am assigning the very best of RAVEN and DOVE to this case. The very best being you all... but..."

He trailed off as he sat down.

"... This remains top secret. If word of this gets out..."

"I can just see the riots starting already," Deborah chimed in, before she shook her head. "Especially how things are going."

Maximilian and Deborah nodded their heads at each other.

"I think, for now, we best prepare for the rally." Deborah said. "We need someone to inspire some hope." She nodded.

"Any questions?" Maximilian said, to a silent audience. "No? Then meeting dismissed, let's get a move on."

---

Greenflower Garden, Silver Hills_

---

---

The "new" Liu estate looked fabulous!

The old one got burned to the ground, or blown up, or something (Hey, another common thread!), but it was good that the Liu family got their shit together. Then again, Jiao-Long gets that paper! Though, Johnny found it weird that somebody with such a heavy part in the Anti-Metahuman scene has a family of nothing but Metahumans! It was probably one of those "I can't be racist, my best friend's black!" type deals. Eh, wasn't important.

The Valos family was lead to the living room of the estate! They each sat down on one couch, while Lin sat down on a couch away from them. He took one glance around, and noticed all the bookshelves, expensive paintings, and other bullshit - but no TV. The fuck? The Lius had the best damn house in all of Baybridge, but not a television that took up an entire damn wall.

Either way, they had to get to business! There was no way they could sit around here.

"So, how are you this this fine morning, Ms. Liu?" Johnny asked the woman. "Is there any alcohol in here? I could really go for some whiskey..."

"Sorry," Lin smiled, "But, we don't drink."

Johnny turned his lip up as he said. Really disa-fucking-pointed.

"Cool, cool," Johnny shrugged, "So, should we get down to business, or what?"

Lin nodded her head as she said, "Jake had informed me of what happened..." She somberly said, as she looked off to the side. She diverted eye-contact from Jake, to a vase. "I thought that all of you... I just wished I could have helped."

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Jake said. "I should be apologizing for not being there." He smiled at her.

Johnny rolled his eyes as he leaned back, he looked to his side, "Yeah, yeah... circumstance." He shrugged. "Can we get on with it?" He impatiently said, and earned a glare from his siblings.

"But, now, I can help," Lin said, "The Founding Family... they've done so much to my family... so I know exactly what to do to help." She nodded her head. "My power... nobody can hide the truth from me."

"I don't know, Lin..." Gabe chimed in, as she leaned in, worried. "You're a Liu. That means you're going to attract attention. The wrong attention." She looked up at Lin with her sole eye. "I like ya' Lin, and I'd hate to see you get hurt by some pro-Metahuman jackass trying to help us."

"Oh, that's no problem," Lin smiled, as she revealed a side of her power that she didn't normally show. She focused for a moment on their thoughts... then transformed into a completely different person. A woman that was Indian, with rounded facial features, and, odd to the demographic she was mimicking, bright green eyes.

The Valos responded with shock, and confusion, as Lin shapeshifted.

"... The fuck?" Gabe asked, her eyebrow raised. "Isn't your power fuckin' telepathy or something?"

Lin turned back to her "default" form, and said, "Yes... and no." Before she looked off to the side. "I can also shapeshift based off the thoughts I read." Lin explained.

"She... just doesn't like talking about it." Jake explained, before he leaned back in the chair.

"This is all good! So good!" Johnny said, as he leaned forward. "We're gonna go to this rally, and meet this jackass who worked for the Family, or something... and you could be perfect for filtering out the bullshit." Johnny said.

As much as Gabe and Jake didn't like the idea of meeting a member of the Family... they had to admit it was a good idea to bring.

"My father's going to be there," Lin said. "So, I at least have a reason to go."

"Good! We'll come with you!" Johnny said. "Errr, but... could we maybeeeeeee..." He trailed off.

"... Stay here awhile?"

Lin smiled.

"... No."

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield_

---

---

Just as expected, Regal Square was set alight with crowds of people this fine saturday evening.

An entire neighborhood (Mostly a market district, with many restaurants) in Prince-Edfield had been set aside for the rally. Many vendors offering food, goods, and entertainment were set up. As arranged by the DOVE leadership, the majority of them were free, as means to entice people to come. However, they were kept behind gates, and whatnot. Teasing the many people, as they had to sit through a speech. In the center of the rally there was a large stage, in which the heavyweights in DOVE and RAVEN gleefully stood at attention. Before the enormous crowd before them.

The atmosphere was kept lax as possible, with few RAVENs as possible... in the open, that is. Through a series of agents disguised as average people, and agents hidden, the entire venue was kept safe. Just as an extra precaution, people were required to show ID at the entrances.

There was a nearly awkward silence, before Deborah Javuant walked up, and took the stage. She grabbed onto the microphone, and put it up to her lips. She felt like a singer for a moment, but resisted the urge, as she said,

"Hello, and welcome everybody! I am Deborah Javuant, chairwoman of DOVE." Deborah said with a smile on her face. "We got a bigger crowd than expected, and I know everyone is ready to have some fun, but we have to get something out of the way."

She nodded her head, as she looked to Reed.

"First; look around you," She paused for a moment, as some members of the crowd did as she said... others just kept they eyes ahead. "A few years ago, this place was ruined. Nothing but a mess of dust, and broken dreams. The same could be said about a majority of Baybridge, as our kind people were terrorized. Terrorized by monsters who deemed themselves superior for arbitrary reasons."

It was obvious just who she spoke of; the Founding Family.

"However, as you can see... everything has been repaired. No matter what happens to this city, no matter what happens to the people, we can rebuild it... we can get it back. I'm not saying we should forget about the past - Oh, no, that's impossible. With the tragedy we sustained, there's no to forget it. But, we have to move on from the past... and build a brighter future."

Everyone clapped as Deborah took one step away, before she turned back, and said.

"But, that's not all; Director of the Baybridge region, Reed Taylor, has more words for you."

She stepped away from the microphone, and quickly gestured for the young Director to walk up. After what seemed like a moment of stiffness, the ex-cop stepped up to the microphone and began to speak, projecting himself to the crowd with confidence.

"Many of us, a lot of us - people who I wager are standing in this crowd today, have known some form of loss in these last ten years, and I know what it feels like . It's unthinkable - one moment someone you knew, cared about's with you, the next they're not - taken away by something that feels as though it's outside of your control. It's frustrating, it makes you want lash out at the world - but you can't, because it won't change the fact that you've lost. It takes time to grieve, to get past it and, well... I'm not here to talk about that - because that isn't what we're here for."

"There have been some hard truths - I won't sugarcoat, times are rough. You can see people shouting at each other from whatever side of the fence they're on, and who knows - maybe some of you are among those people, right? Face it, we've all been there - I've seen both sides of myself, as a kid growing up in the projects, then back when I was a cop and after I first came to this city with a harsher outlook on life." He paused for a moment, clearing his throat outside of the reach of the microphone, before continuing. "Getting to the point, I can see some of you are napping already," A brief chuckle emerged from the depths of the crowd at the comment, "I suppose what I'm trying to say is, well... we're all human, at the end of the day, warts and all. Sure, there are some people out there with a 'meta' prefix attached to that, but at the end of the day we're all of the same species, descended from the same ancestors at one point or another. We think, we feel, we bleed, we destroy.... and we hope, then we build - and what's what this is about."

"Together, we can do what we can to do the right thing - we can honour the people that haven't made it this far by striving to improve and rebuild, show some decency and compassion towards one another even if we might not deserve it at the time, prove we're better than those who would've had us living to their will, afraid to step out of their shadow. And..." Reed seemed to trail off for a moment as he patted at his pockets, though one who was observational could tell that the Director was intentionally leading the crowd along. "Well, unfortunately, my cat ate the rest of my rehearsal paper, so that's it from me." A few more giggles erupted from the crowd, before he finally cracked a smile and leaned back into the microphone.

"Thank you, everyone, I'm proud to be an agent of this city, let alone Director. Now, as a great man once said, I'll be back." On his last few words, he raised a thumbs-up to the crowd, backing off with yet another wry look on his face. Everyone clapped, though Meifeng was tempted to shout "You suck!" from the crowds.

"You heard it folks!" Deborah said, as she stepped up where Reed stepped off. "That was a great speech... now, that the main event is out of the way..."

The DOVEs that were blocking off the vendors and entertainment walked off.

"You can now have a nice, safe, evening, on us," Deborah said. "Enjoy yourselves!" She loudly said as she stepped off (Going into the building reserved for DOVEs and RAVENs), and the enormous crowd went into the festival as music started playing. As promised by DOVE, the atmosphere was quiet and relaxed as everyone just decided to have a good time. People were enjoying themselves.

It would be a night to remember.

"God-damn, and I thought the old man could drag on," Quentin planted a palm on Meifeng's shoulder from behind, having quickly emerged from the arrangement of food vendors with a box of fried chicken balanced in his free hand, "Still, free food makes it worthwhile, I guess. Drumstick?"

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield|
_{@Mr Allen J}

---

---

That wasn't much of a speech. Definitely not the one she had written.

Andrea had stood off to the side of the rest of the DOVE faculty along with the rest of the minor players. Office workers, interns, and everyone else that played some part, however small, in making this whole event happen. She wore the same outfit, being sure to maintain a professional representation of their organization, only that she wore a black wool peacoat over it to keep warm in the cool weather as the sun gets closer to the horizon. With her, she had a professional looking messenger bag hanging from her shoulder carrying some "much needed" resources, some work-related, some she wished that was. She also stood rather uncomfortably close to her supervisor, who was quite keen on prying the truth behind Andrea's particularly extended absence in delivering the rally papers to their meeting. Not fond of lying, she told the truth - part of it. Helped a man pick up the papers he had dropped - but Andrea wasn't really interested in this show. She suspected, given the skeletons hiding in Baybridge's closet and the director's lackluster speech, neither did he. There were monsters on the prowl and this was just one remedy of many to ease the tension of one disaster before the next one storms in... and there wasn't anything wrong with that. People deserve breaks.

The organization was uneasy though. She could feel it coming off of most of the high-ranking members, like waves of heat emanating from a bed of embers. Security was provided, courtesy of RAVEN, and they were on the lookout for any especially suspicious behavior. Perhaps, unconsciously, Andrea was too. She might even be able to detect them before they do. This was an odd feeling, as though she were a part of this grand conspiracy without any of the actual participants knowing she's a player, too; but this also wasn't a battle Andrea wanted to fight. It wasn't a battle she was suited to fight. She figured if she really wanted to help, she can do what she's been doing, even if the people around her think it's nothing that DOVE should worry about. Andrea believed that the threat of Happiness was very real, even as mundane as it seemed.

Frankly, super-terrorists were more exciting.

Andrea scanned the crowd as they dispersed, quite content to remain where she was and of excitement's way. It appeared as the she was looking through the people as she stared. The number of people who had attended this rally... 1,479. Given the approximate five hundred grand population of Baybridge... carry... nearly 30% of 1%, or nearly a third of a percent of Baybridge's population came to this rally. Not a tremendous number. Even considering the people who had to work today, were busy with something else, or didn't support the organizations enough to warrant coming, or maybe they'll come later for the food and entertainment, and avoiding the crowds and the bureaucrats patting themselves on the backs. Then... ah... oh. Oh no. The guy she ran into earlier today was here. Was he high ranking? Maybe he wasn't and just... then he wouldn't be on the management level... but Andrea was also there - Andrea's glowing blue eyes fixed on him and refocused with an intensity as she dug deeper... deeper... memories of Brazil flickered behind her eyes - no, too deep, more recent. Reassignment... dropping papers... the meeting. He was there at the meeting, so apparently he was a big shot, which was enough to put her on edge, but one word kept echoing through her head. Devil, devil, devil...

It didn't mean anything to her. How could it? It could've been one of any word said at the meeting they had, but it carried enough weight behind it that left a lasting imprint on his psyche. Andrea wanted no part of it. The man earned his privacy, and quite frankly, she wasn't interested in learning any more of the dark secrets RAVEN was keeping. Odd, though. He didn't look Brazilian. More Haitian.

Still, part of her wanted to apologize to the man properly, especially just in case he really did have the power in his hands to fire her. That being said, she also kind of wanted to fade away with the rest of the crowd, but she learned long ago that you can't fix problems by hiding them. She focused on the path in front of her, and muttered a small phrase under her breath.

"Find a path."

Through her eyes, a number of featureless, ghostly apparitions formed a line - almost like a chain weaving through the crowd, suddenly falling into place, leading Andrea directly to him through a path that would leave her uninhibited. Most people might not be able to find a specific person in a crowd of people, so perhaps he had not seen her coming, but Andrea cut her way through the crowd without having to squeeze by or a single person, almost as though the crowd moved around her. It was one of many subtle advantages of such multifaceted telepathy, knowing almost intuitively where multiple people will end up going and through where.

"Um, hello?" She softly said, tapping the back of his shoulder. "I don't think we properly met."

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield_

---

---

Meifeng, of course, was positioned in the crowds as an "undercover" agent. She was wearing a leather jacket, and some jeans, with a plaid button up on full display underneath the jacket. But, under that was some really lightweight, convert, body armor that was easy to conceal. She was fairly comfortable out here in the crowds with her hands in her pockets. She didn't want to be trotting around in that uncomfortable armor that is the standard for RAVEN.

She shrugged.

The speech went on, and Meifeng couldn't help but suppress laughter at how bad it was. She only smiled. It seemed Reed was good at administrative duties, but still needed to work on his speech writing. Meifeng's hope was so uninspired that she felt it silently cry out in death. Once the speech was over, she scrolled on past while the heads of DOVE went straight into their special building.

It was a hall that was specially reserved just by RAVEN! It cost a bit of money, but apparently Deborah herself used a bit of her own check to buy it. It was a large room with plenty of chairs, tables, and drinks... but, no food. She saw everyone here! From Reed, to Deborah, to Maximilian... she gave the last person a brief look before she moved on straight to Reed.

"Heeeeey, Reeed," Meifeng said with a smile. "Remember when I said you needed to take a speech writing class?" Meifeng cheekily said.

"No? Well, it was for situations just like this one! I'm amazed they clapped," Meifeng continued. "I bet they were letting you down easy."

She chuckled, as she was only teasing Reed.

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield_

---

---

Instead of being in disguise like Meifeng, Francis was in fully RAVEN bodyarmor (except he had a cool heavy padded leather coat over top of it). He sat on the outskirts of the crowd, leaned up against the wall. He kept his pistol close to him as he kept an eye on the crowd. So far, everything seemed calm, and he could sigh in relief (after hearing what happened three years ago at the festival - mainly because Deborah was a target). But, he knew he couldn't let his guard down for even a second. Because he knew that there was still a lot of enemies out there, who would just love to.

For once, he wished they wouldn't put innocent people in the crossfire.

After the speech (which, fortunately, he didn't pay attention to), Francis merely stepped off the wall, and started walking. Even after two years of working here in Baybridge, he hadn't become that close to the heavy-weights in RAVEN (Other than Maximilian, whom he had to work hard to earn the respect of). He didn't have a whole lot of reason to go awkwardly talk to his co-workers about the speech. Instead, he went to patrol around.

He kept his hands in his pockets as he walked around. He wondered if he should get something to drink or something (and what? Get poisoned?), but he felt someone tap on his shoulder, and he quickly looked around his shoulder. He had to look up a little bit, since it was that tall blonde that he bumped into from the meeting. She greeted him.

He gave her that trademark wide smile of his.

"Oh, yeah? Better fix that," Francis enthusiastically said as he put his hand out. "I'm Francis, a transfer from Brazil. You're a DOVE, right?"

He asked.

"I don't do too much business with the DOVEs, so that explains why we haven't met yet, yeah?" Francis talked fast, and with a thick accent. It was probably difficult for the girl to keep up.

Dove Building of the Raven/Dove Joint Headquarters, White Coast

---

"Can’t you help me at all?”

“I’m sorry sir. I really wish that I could, but there is no reason to believe that Levi Dobson is missing. Without an official report, I cannot help you.”

“Please, can’t you just check again.” Jackson urged the front desk receptionist, his voice raising the more he talked.

The receptionist, who was a caramel-skinned woman with dark hair and chocolate eyes, would look at Jackson. First, she noticed his plaid-patterned shorts that came just two inches lower than his knees and his light red t-shirt that he was wearing, and dark red walking shoes The next thing, she seemed annoyed - or so Jackson would assume - until he saw her eyes, then she sighed. To him, that was an admission of defeat.

Jackson heard her start to type. A moment later, she made a curious sound. Whether she knew it or not, she had Jackson in the palm of her hand. Whatever she was humming about to herself was causing Jackson to reach over the counter, and see what it was that she had stumbled upon. Just as he would, however, she looked at him. As if a kid had almost caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Jackson perked up straight, trying not to appear impatient.

After a moment of silence, Jackson couldn’t take it anymore. “Well what is it!?” Jackson shouted, finding his patience at its limit. His voice was alarming to those around him, causing them to watch him with wary eyes.

A moment later, a couple of security guards approached Jackson from behind. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down.”

“I am calm!” Jackson retorted back, turning around aggressively. When he did, he took notice to the three guards that were behind him, gripping what looked like batons - or something like it, at least.

“…What’s going on here?” the bored voice of Shizuka broke the ongoing drama as he stepped into the front lobby area. He chose not to head straight back to his office after the dry meeting and planned to go for another round at the shooting range, but he hadn’t planned on walking into trouble right now.

His dark eyes traveled from the security guards frozen in their tracks to the source of the commotion - a man with dirty-blond hair at the reception counter - and they narrowed at him. Strolling up to the blond, Shizuka asked, “Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” There was something about this man that felt vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite pull out the name from his memory to match the face before him.

“Just a mild disturbance. We have it under con—” As one of the security guards tried to explain to the man that just appeared, one of them realized who it was. “Oh, I didn’t realize it was you. My apologies, Sir.”

Jackson raised an eyebrow at the guard who was just trying to calm him down not even a full minute ago, and watching him almost falling when he saw whoever just appeared. Speaking of that guy, Jackson brought his eyes upon the face, and something about his eyes reminded Jackson of someone. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was definitely an aura of familiarity around him. It was as if Jackson knew this guy, but his name escaped him.

“I want to say no, but the old noggin here—” Jackson knocked on the right side of his head three times“— insists that I do. But hey, guess what? I have no freaking clue....whoever you are.” Jackson said, laughing at the entire situation. Apparently, for the moment, he had forgotten about what he came here to do.

Shizuka couldn’t help but doing an internal facepalm, wondering if this dude was too deep in the heat of the moment to actually realize what he had just said was throwing more fuel into the fire. With one hand in his jeans pocket and the other running through his hair, he let out a sigh. The old him would have used the hard way to silence this man into obedience, but he wasn’t his edgy teen self anymore. Besides, he didn’t want this stupidity to drag on any longer.

Shrugging, he spoke to the blonde once more, “Whatever. I don’t think you’re here just to make a dumb scene like this. How can we help you?”

“Ask dat caramel broad there. I’ve already told her what I wanted, but according to her, what I need help with is impossible.” Jackson gestured to the receptionist aggressively.

Shizuka merely raised an eyebrow and glanced at the receptionist - he wasn’t expecting him to do the explanation anyway - and she gave him a brief, which made the Japanese agent frown at the mention of a name. Of a DOVE agent named ‘Levi Dobson’.

Shizuka wasn’t close with Levi since they were from completely different departments, other than the occasional polite greetings if they happened to pass by each other in the building. He vaguely remembered Levi talking about how he missed a certain someone, a person he considered close friends with.

Was that person this hot-headed idiot before him?

“Right.” Shizuka had to suppress his urge to roll his eyes, keeping his attention focused on the receptionist instead. “Can you try to check the leave records? And when was the last time he’s checked out?”

“One second,” the receptionist said as she searched Agent Dobson’s sign-in records. “According to his official DOVE account, he last logged out exactly seven days ago at 7:33pm.” She then showed Shizuka what the search produced.

“Oh surrre, you tell him, but not me.” Jackson scowled, muttering ‘bitch’ under his breath.

Shizuka glanced at the blond man with a look before he turned back to the receptionist. “Last sign-in was a week ago, and no leave records for the absence. He’s not even reported missing by anyone…”

This smells fishy. He wasn’t in the office often enough to keep track of the people around him; besides, DOVE was a separate department functioning under different rules and regulations even if they shared the same building with RAVEN. If this man hadn’t come to make a scene here, no one would have noticed this oddity now - or ever.

It was as if Levi had just vanished into thin air.

“Anyway, what’d you want with Levi? Did he told you to meet him here?”

“That’s why I came here,” Jackson stated bluntly, “do you really think I’d put myself through the unbearable torture of dealing with the worst receptionist in all of Baybridge time and time again if I knew where Levi was? Well, do you?” Jackson sarcastically asked, but did so in a way where he was genuinely curious about Shizuka’s response.

This time, Shizuka had to do the facepalm, though cleverly disguised as a gesture of thinking rather than irritation. “Like the guards told you just now, you gotta calm down. You can’t expect people to help you if you keep up with this attitude, y’know.” Sighing again, he went on, “While I’m not particularly close with Agent Dobson, I’ve talked to him a few times.”

“Say what now?”

That certainly got the blond dude’s attention, but this was still getting nowhere - not with how the receptionist and the guards were staring hard at this man and Shizuka now. Placing a hand on Jackson’s shoulder, Shizuka said in a tired voice, “…Let’s talk somewhere else, yeah?”

“Uh, sure,” Jackson was a bit taken aback from this guy putting his small hands on him. Still, if it meant getting away from the peering eyes on him, Jackson was willing to follow his lead.

As they were nearly out of the door, a curious thought came to Jackson’s mind, prompting the blond male to stop abruptly. He would turn to Shizuka, and ask, “you said you knew Levi - how?”

“Seemed like we first met each other back in Verthaven,” Shizuka replied, taking the lead. “He and his friends were trying to help my brother fend off some bullies, but I beat him up instead because I thought he was with those hooligans.” Then his tone softened, “funny how we could get along well even though our first meeting had started off on the wrong foot.”

Jackson stood there almost as if he couldn’t believe what he just heard, but that wasn’t entirely true. He could believe it. The thing right now, with him, was that he was mentally slapping himself for not realizing that the person beside him was Shizuka Takashiro. Why didn’t he recognize him? Well, it has been almost a decade; people change in that amount of time.

Still, Jackson hated that it took him this long to piece it together, because of course it was good ol Shizu. Who would have thunk it? And he no longer had that grey hair that made him look like a premature, middle-aged man. Almost a decade sure made a lot of difference.

---

Cafe not far from DOVE/Raven Headquarters, White Coast → Regal Square, Prince Ed-Field

---

When Jackson had followed Shizuka from the DOVE building, the two of them would walk for about five or ten minutes along the concrete sidewalk. Most of that time was spent talking and reminiscing about the good old days — well, Jackson talked, and Shizuka listened. Surprisingly, Jackson had a near-endless string of words that formed sentences. He didn’t even know if what he was talking about interested Shizuka or not. Regardless, it sure helped pass the time until they arrived at some local cafe.

Once they were seated at a table, the waiter had taken their order. While Jackson had went with hot chocolate because he’s obviously an adult, Shizuka had went with a coffee. Black. From the time it took them to sit down, to their drinks arriving, they started talking about why Jackson was there at the DOVE building in the first place: to get information about Levi.

First, Jackson told Shizuka what had happened that raised his suspicions. He told him how he had came back from traveling abroad Brazil and how he first went back to Verthaven to visit his parent’s graves and then went to Levi’s parent’s house, only to be told that Levi had joined DOVE a few years prior. He then told how he returned to Baybridge not even a full week ago, and went to go see Levi at his house. When he didn’t seem to be there, Jackson referred to calling his work, but there was no such luck. He then explained how he had gone to DOVE headquarters day after day and they told him pretty much the same thing that they had told him today prior to Shizuka intervening: there was no record of him ever gone missing. Jackson mused that maybe he hadn’t asked the right questions.

After he left it out on the floor for Shizuka to consider, Jackson went through about two full cups of his hot chocolate (anticipation made him thirsty). About halfway through his third one - and one small bathroom break - Shizuka had told Jackson that he would look into this, for he was also curious about the circumstances surrounding Levi’s sudden disappearance. He cited that it was weird no one was notified, that his disappearance was reported, or that no one seemed to have noticed.

And, for his services, he wanted Jackson’s help as his own personal informant. Seeing as how Jackson lives in a neighborhood that was known to be filled with criminals and the like, it was a perfect ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ transaction. Jackson had no other choice. At least, this way, he would also be getting extra pocket change.

When it was decided, Shizuka would give Jackson his number so that they could keep one another updated on their respective needs for the other. Jackson would phone him if he had any juicy bits about the local criminal scene and Shizuka - hopefully - would reciprocate with news about Levi. After that, Shizuka had bowed out, leaving Jackson to the remainder of his cup of hot chocolate.

Feeling partially-satisfied with how that meeting went, Jackson paid the tab, and took to a walk. As he did, he overheard someone talking about a rally happening not too far from where Jackson was now. It seemed to be hosted by DOVE. At the very least, Jackson’s immediate thought was, “maybe I should go check it out? Might have some clues about Levi. Or future job opportunities.”

And with that, Jackson had made the decision to go to this rally. He heard one saying it was happening at Regal Square in Prince Ed-Field. It was definitely too far for Jackson to walk there, so he would hail a cab. It wouldn’t take too long.

Traffic didn’t prove to be too bad until the last couple of miles where it was backed up pretty far. Jackson paid the cabby, and would walk the rest of the way. Eventually he would get to the square, and, as he had surmised, there were a lot of people of all shapes, sizes, and colors. And it wasn’t like a protest kind of rally, but rather it was the kind that had food, drink, and even entertainment. Certainly not what Jackson would’ve imagined, but he’s not going to shoot it down completely. It looked like fun, and this meant he would be getting a free meal. Nothing wrong with that.

So Jackson joined the fray, diving head-first into the crowds. He didn’t exactly cater to politeness, not caring if he bumped into someone, or if he knocked them over. Word of the wise? Don’t get in the way of Jackson Drake and his meal. It’s not going to end well for you.

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield_

---

---

It was a shame that Penny didn't want to come along with him, but she had her own agendas and goals to seek out.

And he just couldn't blame her if she prioritized them.

Daniel arrived a little later, because he didn't want to stand through a boring speech, and just wanted to get to the main event. He had enough of long-drawn out speeches. Though, he caught the end of it, and wondered how the people around here would react if they found out that he was with the Family. He took a look around as he saw all the people that supported DOVE and RAVEN (or were just here to get out of the house)... the real citizens of Baybridge. The same people that he was taught were inferior to the likes of the Family.

... These people would kill him if they found out.

However, fortunately, not a soul knew Daniel as anymore than just a kid in the crowd. Though, he dressed rather good with a leather biker jacket on with jeans, and boots. His outfit was black-coded, but he prayed nobody would see him as "emo." He would have to kill himself if that was the case. He scrolled through the crowd towards the building that RAVEN reserved. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a note. The one that Maximilian handed him that allowed him access into there.

Before opening the door, he stopped. He reached into his other pocket, and pulled out a carton of cigarettes and ducked into an alleyway. Cigarettes were the one vice of his he couldn't ignore. He leaned up against the wall, lit the cigarette, and threw his head back as he felt the nicotine fill his lungs.

"... Echo," He heard a familiar voice as he felt his cigarette get snatched from between his lips so fast he could barely open his eyes in time. He saw a golden light over top of him, before he realized it was Maximilian's Echo. A glowing copy of himself. Daniel himself paused for a moment as he stared at the copy... before he turned his head down the alleyway at Maximilian.

"Daniel," Maximilian started off, he crossed his arms, and leaned up against the wall. "Don't you know smoking is bad for you? You don't want to ruin your lungs this early."

Echo promptly crushed the cigarette, and threw the remains over his shoulder into the dumpster.

"How did you find me?" Daniel asked.

"... I saw you walk up to the door, then turn off," Maximilian couldn't help but chuckle a tiny little bit. He clapped his hands together as he walked up to Daniel. "But, Daniel, don't you have friends from the Academy to hang out with? You don't have to spend your time with RAVEN."

Those words hurt Daniel a bit.

"I had plans, but she changed at the last second," Daniel scratched the back of his neck, and he awkwardly shifted his feet.

"Oh." Maximilian said, and what followed was a very awkward silence. "How about this, Daniel?" Maximilian said, and caught Daniel's attention.

"How about you go get us some funnel cake to eat and we'll chat inside?" Maximilian pointed at the building. "There's a lot of free funnel cake around..."

It was something to do, Daniel merely shrugged as he said.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

The two silently bid farewell, as Daniel turned and walked off, and Maximilian went back inside.

---

The woman stood above a pair of graves. The breeze brushed through her hair, messy in its current state, untied and dancing in the wind. She gazed down at the two grave markers, simple stone plinths with names and dates chiseled into their smooth faces. A bottle of vodka was clasped firm in one hand. The other held a small bouquet of flowers. She set the bouquet down between the graves, splitting the flowers between the two. With her hand free, she uncapped the vodka bottle and took a swig. A hearty sigh escaped her lips as she stared down wistfully at the graves, taking in each crack in the stone facade, every chisel mark in the names inscribed on them.

"I hate you both, stupid little idioty."

She spat the last word with all the contempt she had for the dead men. Strength left her legs as she sat on the dirt, the cigarette clamped in her mouth flaring as she puffed in anger, smoke plumes spraying from her nostrils.

"Just had to be heroes, both of you. Fucking glupyye idioty. Mixed up in all that shit. And then you had to be heroes when the disaster hit. Went and got yourselves killed... Left this poor ztarushka all alone."

Tears began to fall from her eyes as she stubbed out the cigarette in the dirt. She stood and stamped the crumpled butt into the ground with her heel, grinding it with barely repressed frustration. The woman brushed hair from her face as she shook her head and took another hit of vodka.

"I'll never did understand you two, and now I never will. But... You two were the best parts of my life, and I loved you for that. You never knew it, but I cared for you as I did my own deti. My own children. My little angels."

With the bottle uncapped, she poured a splash of vodka on one grave, and then the other.

"To you, Marcus and John. I will never forget you both. Proshchay. Ya lyublyu tebya."

Audrey capped her bottle of vodka and strode off towards the exit. The graves of her friends, worn by wind and rain and weather, still stood proudly amongst the countless other unnamed graves.

---

Present day, Regal Square, Prince Ed-Field

With her hands stuffed into the pockets of her windbreaker, Audrey wove her way through the crowd that was slowly dispersing after the Director's speech. The rally was, for the most part, over. The nearbyfood was something she could sink her teeth into, literally and metaphorically of course. She had a hot dog in her hand, idly munching away while she people watched. The rally itself was boring as far as DOVE rallies went. The usual support garnering for the whole human-metahuman relations thing, trying to lift people's spirits in spite of the terror events in the recent year. She was here mostly to scope out the whole thing, since all her employees were either on their break or schooling at the moment. Her cafe was closed, and Audrey was here, spending time alone.

She briefly wondered if there were any other metas here, when a familiar face caught her attention. Just out of the corner of her eye, she saw a vaguely familiar Chinese lady disappear into the main DOVE building, flanked by other men, presumably her retinue. Audrey paused, plate in hand while she racked her brain trying to remember where she'd last seen that woman. The memories came back slowly. The incident with the Fiends more than ten years ago. Verthaven.

Marcus and John.

The NEST agent that arrested them. Took them away from her like a predator stole away the helpless young of its prey animal. Not directly responsible for their deaths, but part of that troubled period of her life. She was determined to catch her on her way out. Just to see if these...DOVE types were the type to remember past losses and to feel them. Audrey kept her distance from the entrance, but if and when Meifeng chose to leave, the old Russian would be close enough to intercept her for a few words.

---

---

---

@Mr Allen J
DOVE Rally | Regal Square, Prince Ed-Field_

Similar to Meifeng, Shizuka was also part of the undercover squad, though less for the patrol work and more for the free food! This time, he tried to dress less casually: a dark midnight-blue coat with a lightweight RAVEN armor hidden underneath the nice clothes, still jeans but with boots instead of the usual sneakers. He had mentally turned off Reed's speech - not because the newly appointed director of DOVE was boring, but Shizuka had other things in mind.

Things that made this rally a waste of everybody's time unimportant, as far as he was concerned.

He could care less about his reputation among some of his co-workers as a professional slacker off desk work - he was never an office nerd anyway - but he did earn his place as the head of the intelligence department at his age. Promotion that came with both pros and cons. For one, he could take the necessary actions more promptly without having to wait for the retardedly long chain of command to reach him - just like old times - but it also came with much bigger responsibilities. A heavier burden to bear.

Intel was the thing that could make or break an organization like DOVE/RAVEN. With useful and timely information, they would be able to plan ahead and think of better strategies to save the situation; red herrings could potentially send everyone to an early death.

How troublesome.

Work woes aside, there was another reason for putting his mind elsewhere. Something more personal.

It had been a long time since he last saw - or even contacted - his twin, Haruka. He had hoped that his brother had been well, wondering when he would be coming back to Baybridge. That he wasn't giving Jennifer Caspin unnecessary troubles (and vice versa, of course).

Now that he was through with the main course, time for some desserts!

He made his way through the crowd towards the cake area. There were your standard, conventional fancy ones, but also the less appealing and funny-looking types. Well, it wouldn't hurt to give them a try - just a small piece for tasting.

As he went for the funnel cake, he bumped into a someone. A really tall man who was probably younger than Shizuka, but the height difference could easily reverse that around. Shizuka muttered a quick apology, but stopped to stare at this person.

"You look familiar..." Shizuka trailed off, then it clicked in his mind. "I think I've seen you somewhere before? With Quent - I mean Quentin Taylor."

---

One year ago | Somewhere in Ginza, Tokyo_

The most expensive district in the already costly city, Ginza was truly decked out with overpriced goods and services, reeking of filthy rich snobs drowning themselves in tobacco and booze. Fancy-looking shops and restaurants lined the street with bright lights that truly lived up to the nightlife of Tokyo, but that would be incomplete without a pretty hostess in your arms as you wobbled out from the red district, with numerous host clubs that could provide all the 'extra services' you would need as long as you had the money to pay for them.

Even with Japan being a country with one of the lowest crime rates in the world, that didn't mean zero crimes. Not in such a place where too much money, alcohol - even sex - were involved. Beneath all the materialistic glamor and sinful desires, that was where the darker truth lies. Law and justice had no place here; the underworld had their own set of rules, far more severe than some hypocritical court punishments. Especially when the stakes were much higher... where loyalty and trust would be tested to their literal limit.

Dealing with numerous classified information and intelligence exchange for as long as his time with RAVEN, Shizuka was fully aware of the danger in his field of work. Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if he had been marked by various organizations and syndicates for all the dark secrets kept inside his very head.

He brisked down the drizzling street, the black hoodie covering his head from the light rain, hiding his face from passersby as he strode through a meandering alleyway. If it wasn't for the tip that Ryu Koizumi, an agent friend he got along pretty well with from the Japanese Metahuman force Suzaku, had given him, Shizuka didn't want to be here. He'd be lying if he didn't feel one bit uncomfortable to be in such a place, seeing pairs of drunken geezers being towed around by women in glittering dresses and heavy makeups from the corner of his eye.

The sight of it was revolting.

He continued his way down the road towards the rendezvous point - a rundown rental apartment near the outskirts of the district - occasionally glancing around to make sure he wasn't being tailed. Sucking in a breath of cold, damp air, he pressed a palm to the wall, channeling his power across the wall and door.

...Seemed like this informant wasn't guarding at or anywhere near the doorway. Whipping out a gun before crashing into a suspicious place like this was pretty much standard cop procedure, even if bullets were useless against his ability. Still, it was best that he didn't provoke this broker unnecessarily, and so the concealable pistol around his ankle was left as it was.

He pulled back the hand, then he rapped against the metallic door three times. He could hear the sound of approaching footsteps, and the heaviness told him the person still had his shoes - maybe boots - on.

There was a pause, then a raspy voice spoke from beyond the door, "In the cicada's cry, no sign--"

"--Can foretell how soon it must die," Shizuka finished the haiku, the 'pass code' to identify each other as taught to him by Ryu. Poetry was his older twin's forte than to him, but he could feel an irony hidden in between those short, succinct lines.

There was another pause, and the door finally creaked open outwards, causing the agent to take a step back.

"Please come in."

The speaker was a man who appeared to be in his fifties, but he didn't even have as much gray hair as Shizuka used to have before the latter dyed them black (about a month ago). The wrinkles around the man's face deepened, seemingly surprised that his supposed client this time was a young man who could easily pass off as a teenager given how casually Shizuka had dressed for a meeting like this. However, those sharp, steely eyes didn't degenerate with his aging look as they studied Shizuka closely.

"Sorry for the disturbance," Shizuka muttered when the man closed the door behind him, careful to avoid direct eye contact with the man - unlike the Western society, direct eye contact from someone of less seniority were seen as rude, a form of disrespect. Once the formalities were done and over with, the young agent looked up to survey the interior.

The apartment was empty - not a single furniture was in sight sans the worn-out tatamis under their feet and a bag of trash at the back corner of the room. There were some graffitis on the peeling walls, ranging from childish scribbles to the more aggressive swearings that could be pretty much summarized to "FUCK U METAS".

The man waited for Shizuka to finish his check before leading the younger man to the middle of the room, gesturing for him to sit on the floor. "I have nothing to hide here," he chuckled. Then he tapped a finger to his temple, giving Shizuka a knowing smile.

Shizuka raised an eyebrow at the gesture, but otherwise he was impassive towards what the man was saying. "As they say, 'the most dangerous place is also the safest', huh?" He finally looked at the man in the eye. "I think it's time we get straight to the point. I believe Koizumi had already given you a brief."

"Of course, of course." The man bobbed his head, still smiling. "I apologize that I don't have any tea to serve you..." He gave Shizuka a small bow, but the younger agent raised a hand to stop him.

"Uh, I don't think that's necessary. I'm sorry, but we'll have to skip the formalities - time is running out. We both know that."

"...Very well." And the man stretched out a hand.

Shizuka hesitated for a moment but still clasped his hand around the man's in the end. His vision suddenly turned black, then it refocused. He was no longer in the room - or even in Japan anymore. The scenery around him felt much warmer, more humid - probably somewhere in the more southern parts of Asia. Though, sepia was the only type of shading that filled his sight. He knew that this wasn't teleportation - not even time-travel, for the matter - because he could still feel the man's rough hand in his.

"I can share part of my memories with other people through touch," the man's voice explained in his head. "This is how I'm able to exchange sensitive intel only to specific individuals I choose. After all, the stakes are much higher in our line of business, don't you think so?"

Without waiting for Shizuka's response, the man led the young agent through a blur of buildings before they paused for a short moment, enough for Shizuka to make out a street sign just in front of a fancy, European-style bungalow. Speeding through the gates, through the door, they reached a posh study room lined with wooden shelves filled with books. On the table just before the glass doors that led to a balcony beyond was a table strewn with papers. All written in Chinese. The man zoomed into one of them next to a photo frame.

Shizuka's eyes widened. Both at the picture in the photo frame, and the information on the magnified paper.

The vision disappeared when the man pulled his hand back, breaking the physical contact with Shizuka, and he stood up. "I guess that's it. I have returned the favor I owed to Inoue-san. I wish you all the best."

The two men parted ways and silence filled the apartment once more, all empty and deserted with no signs of any person around or within.

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield|
_{@Mr Allen J}

---

---

"Oh, yeah? Better fix that!" Francis enthusiastically said as he put his hand out. "I'm Francis, a transfer from Brazil. You're a DOVE, right? I don't do too much business with the DOVEs, so that explains why we haven't met yet, yeah?"

Francis talked fast, and with a thick accent, which made it surprisingly difficult for the girl to keep up. As soon as she felt her ears lagging behind, she focused on him a little more - and his words and thoughts were coming to her easier. He seemed to slightly remember her and she didn't detect any sense of animosity or annoyance, so he clearly wasn't too bent out of shape about what happened earlier today. Still, it didn't keep Andrea from appearing just a little taken back by whole slew of words dumping from Francis' mouth. She followed it with an amused smile, and reached for the gentleman's hand.

"My name is Andrea." She replied. The girl had her own accent as well - Polish, if one were familiar with it, but was otherwise difficult to pin down to anything more precise than northern European.

"And no," Andrea explained, "not exactly. I'm just an intern for DOVE. I actually wrote an outline for today's schedule, as per my supervisor's request; including the speech, but..." Andrea huffed a little. "I guess they weren't exactly... interested in it?"

She rubbed her shoulder slightly and made an awkward shrug. Looking down, she found herself clicking her pretty red nails together, nearly picking at them. She had a purpose in talking to him other than chit chat, and she ought to get it out of the way. She bit her lip a little bit. She continued, "I wanted to formally apologize for startling you earlier today and making you drop your paperwork. I shouldn't have been in such a rush and I should have been more considerate."

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield_

---

---

It was simple enough, get some funnel cake, and spend the rest of the evening with his mentor, Maximilian.

Only problem was that he didn't know what flavor he wanted.

This fried batter bullshit was fattening as it got, but Daniel was in pretty good shape - and he had enough self control to restrain himself most of the time. He could afford to eat a little, especially since he was out here. It was a strange comfort... maybe it would help him see through the perspective of the people of Baybridge. Or maybe he was just being foolish. He shrugged as he turned around...

... and bumped into somebody.

"Hey!" Daniel said, he tried to hold his tongue to avoid saying something rude. While he also stopped himself from dropping the food. He grit his teeth for moment out of irritation, before he let out a sigh. Thank God he didn't drop anything! Or that would be quite annoying. He looked at the person, and had no idea of whom he was. But, he looked a little familiar.

Before Daniel could speak, the man did.

"You look familiar..." The man trailed off "I think I've seen you somewhere before? With Quent - I mean Quentin Taylor."

That made Daniel raise an eyebrow.

"Quentin?" Daniel asked, "Oh, yeah... Quentin is a friend of mine... you probably seen me around headquarters?"

Now that made him more curious as to who this guy is.

"I'm... Daniel Forsythe, I'm just someone Maximilian is mentoring," He said, shrugging, "I think I seen you somewhere, but I don't believe we met."

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield_

---

---

Oh? Intern?

Francis didn't know that they even hired interns. The more you know.

"Ahhhh, don't sweat it," Francis said, merely shrugging. "I don't mind the little things - I ain't like the others... just be careful with them."

And that was Francis' motto for life; never worry let the little things bring you down. It was obvious that Andrea was an intern that was nervous out of her mind. It would just be wrong to hold a simple mistake against he. Though the name Andrea rung a bell. He had to think on it for a moment. In the meantime, he reassured her.

"And don't worry about the chairmen," Francis reassured her, before his smile turned upside down, and he looked off to the side. He shrugged before he finished, "They... just have a lot to deal with. Trust me." He had no idea that she was spying on them, and kept his mouth shut because ZODIAC and the Devil are shoulders above her.

Best not to stress her out even more.

Then it hit him; she was that intern all his coworkers complained about! Normally, he stayed out of the affairs of DOVE, but he has a few DOVEs on his team. They didn't like that Andrea person whom went after Happiness instead of just dealing with what her bosses tell her. Those kinds of hotshots aren't that well liked, especially in an organization they work for.

"Oh! In fact, I have heard of ya'," Francis said, before he laughed and scratched the back of his head with his eyes closed. "Some of my coworkers think you're a huge pain in the ass... hehe...." Probably not the best thing to say, but he had something more substantial to say.

"You're up in arms about that drug... right?"

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield_

---

---

This place wasn't Johnny's style.

In fact, his style was thoroughly cramped.

DOVE and RAVEN were the last people that Johnny gave two shits about (in fact, he has a long record with them, even their predecessor, NEST). He personally care if they burned, or saved the world! Well, maybe all the times they saved the world was helpful, since he, you know, lived there. But, they were a group of self-righteous bitches.

He wasn't happy to be here, but his little contact in the Founding Family was here (For whatever stupid reason, why would you go to a place crawling with feds?). Only explanation he could come up with was that he was hiding in plain sight, or something stupid like that, Johnny didn't know. Personally, he had half a mind to shoot the bastard the second he got what he wanted.

Thankfully, because he was here rolling with the Lius, he got to bypass all that stupid bullshit.

The little place the Lius set up in the lobby room of some fancy hotel. It had to be fancy if it was practically set up in the very heart of Baybridge. It had a nice atmosphere, and there were tables and waitresses all over the bitch! But, that atmosphere which would be stunning for the average person was absolutely dull for Jonathan. So dull that if he looked away for too long, he would completely forget about it!

He was leaned up against a pillar, and had his arms crossed as he had nothing better to do than think. He tipped his sunglasses as he looked at Jake, and the rest of his siblings, abso-fucking-lutely chatting it up with the Liu family. Eh, they were close to them... Johnny was just an acquaintance. He shrugged. While he hated the very concept of it, the Liu family were far more important and influential than the Valos family ever would be. Well, that was what happened when you dedicated your work to changing how Metahumans work, opposed to dolling in clubs, and glorified brothels.

Shit was disgusting!

Though, he looked at his watch, and realized that it was almost showtime. He hopped off the wall, with his cane tightly grasped in his hand. He scrolled over towards the group of people, and clapped.

"Gabe, Jakey, Lin, Jaska..." Johnny announced. "Hate to ruin your good time, but it's shooooooowtime!"

"Oh, um, Jonathan," Lin said, and awkwardly played with her fingers. "There's been a slight change of plans...."

"Oh, come oooooon..." Johnny whined. "You shouldn't tell me this shit at the last second."

He took off his hat for a moment, and ran his hand through his hair, before he put his hat back on. He crossed his arms, and then looked Lin down.

"Well, what is it?"

"... I'm going to be coming along," Another voice stepped in that Johnny immediately recognized, and shook his head almost immediately.

"Mika..." Johnny said as his eyes rested on the rotund (and oldest) Liu sister. "Shouldn't you be busy gaining another fifty pounds?" He hissed at her.

"And shouldn't you be trying to look stupid as possible?" Mika retorted, before she made a comically shocked face and put a hand over her open mouth. "Oh wait! I forgot... you can't get any stupider."

"Will you two cut it out?" Before Johnny could come up with a come back, Gabe groaned, with a hand on her hip. "One; you're both annoying me, and two; I know you two are like cats and dogs, but Johnny, won't a second telepath be helpful?"

"Fiiiiiine..." Johnny rolled his eyes, before he muttered underneath his breath. "At least her fat ass will make a good distraction once it jumps off." He snickered to himself.

At this point, Jiao-Long stepped in. The elderly man was as tall as Johnny, but it was hard to tell since he was hunched over all the time (Seriously, he needed to fix that before he got a back problem!). He walked over to Johnny with his hands behind his back, and smiled.

"Johnathon, it is good to see you," Jiao-Long said. "You have grown so much."

Johnny looked over to his side, and saw Gabe give him a scatching look, which got her message across really well.

"And it is great to see you again, Jiao-Long, thank you for helping me." Johnny spoke as respectfully as he could.

"It is the best I could do," Jiao-Long said, before his smile faded, and his eyes got sad. "After I heard what happened to your family... I figured that I'll do everything possible to help you with your mission."

Johnny nodded his head.

"But... please keep my daughters safe. I have no problem with them helping you, they are old enough to make their own decisions, but this could be dangerous."

But, this made Johnny widely smile as he yanked Gabe, Jake, and Jaska close to him. He wrapped his arms around their shoulders as they loudly protested.

"Keep them safe?" Johnny said with a smirk. "I promise you, Mr. Liu, there won't be a hair missin' on them by the end of this journey. We're the Valos... we get things done."

While Johnny sincerely meant to reassure him, Jiao-Long couldn't help but get deeply worried.

"Now, let's get a move on, boys and gals!" Johnny said as he raised his cane in the air... and groaned once Mika stood up. He lead his group out the front doors, but before they could take another step, he raised a finger in the air for everyone to stop. "We go in groups of two, and keep our distance from each other but stay in sight."

He explained... his reasoning was that if this bastard was crazy, they had the option of jumping in.

"Jake with Lin... of course. Jaska with Mika, and Gabe..." He looked at his sister, and smiled. "... With me."

Gabe couldn't help but feel a welling grief inside of herself, but went along with it. After all, Johnny was their (self-appointed and mildly retarded) leader. After all.

Following these instructions, the group split up into many smaller groups, but Johnny underestimated the amount of people here! It would be hard for everyone to keep each other within their line of sight with all these chucklefucks! He kept moving, and kept his head down sooo he could conceal his face, and look really cool. Johnny's contact said to meet him by a nearby river... but Johnny didn't remember the name.

He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his phone, quickly going through the text messages....

"... Johnny!" Gabe tried to warn him, but it was too late.

Johnny bumped headfirst with a chucklefuck who was just standing there.

"Oh!"

He dropped his phone as he took a second to collect himself. After he did... the first thing he did was reach down and snatch his phone up. He saw that his precious cellphone didn't have a scratch on it! Nice! But, there was the matter of this guy... and God damn he looked like a complete and utter fuckboy. Like the kind of guy that would go to the gay club every single night if he could. From his hair, to his clothes, to his face... ugh! Johnny has never seen anything more disgusting in his life. Get it away, get it away!

"Hey, faggot," Johnny hissed. "Stop standing around like a retard and get out of the way!"

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield_

---

---

Well, Noelle arrived at the rally... arm in arm with Justin.

Part of her wanted to shoot herself, but she had to remain focused.

As much as this limp-dicked daddy's boy annoyed her, he was the perfect cover. She just felt like someone like her would stick out if she didn't have a "hot" boyfriend to come with. Though, she had to question his taste in women if he was willing to look past that scar of hers. Noelle shook her head. Didn't matter. Noelle kept walking while the boy looked smug.

"Hey," Noelle said, "Where are you heading?"

"I wanted to, uh, maybe go play some games?" Justin asked, "Win some prizes? Then we can get something to eat."

Noelle smiled.

"That sounds great, how about you go ahead?" She said. "I need to head to the bathroom..."

"Oh, that's cool." Justin said, before he pointed. "I'll be over there."

"Be right back."

In actuality, Noelle was going to quickly meet her contact in DOVE. Then she was going to come back here and enjoy a few games, pretend to have fun, and then leave early. She could probably take as much time as she needed. This meathead probably didn't know the first thing about women, so he would take "lady problems" as an acceptable excuse.

As she walked, she passed someone, and it felt like time slowed down. He was unremarkable... but just looked very familiar. He was Asian (Japanese if she had to take a guess), and had some cooky hairstyle. Noelle saw someone she knew in his face... but if she had this much trouble trying to recall just who he was, then he wasn't that important to begin with. If he wasn't a contact, then he can go fuck himself.

Noelle continued on towards the heart of the DOVE rally... as she searched for a special someone.

---

Regal Square, Prince-Edfield|
_{@Mr Allen J}

---

---

"Ahhhh, don't sweat it," Francis said, merely shrugging. "I don't mind the little things - I ain't like the others... just be careful with them."

"I appreciate that." Andrea replied as she softly smiled.

"And don't worry about the chairmen," Francis reassured her, before his smile turned upside down, and he looked off to the side. Andrea saw this and nodded in understanding. 'They just have a lot to deal with.' She thought to herself. Francis shrugged and finished what he said, "they... just have a lot to deal with. Trust me."

Andrea was grateful for Francis' understanding. He seemed to be more down to earth and reasonable than some of the agents working with DOVE or RAVEN; not to suggest that most of them weren't reasonable, but took to such a degree of professionalism - which she could respect - and bureaucracy, that she felt could blind them to alternatives or possibilities. Her head was not so far up into the clouds as some of her colleagues might believe. 'I just know things they don't. I can't hold that against them.'

Then it hit him; she was that intern all his coworkers complained about! Normally, he stayed out of the affairs of DOVE, but he has a few DOVEs on his team. They didn't like that Andrea person whom went after Happiness instead of just dealing with what her bosses tell her. Those kinds of hotshots aren't that well liked, especially in an organization they work for.

"Oh!" Francis exclaimed. Andrea raised an eyebrow. So something about her struck a chord in him. Scratching the back of his head, the man continued, "In fact, I have heard of ya', some of my coworkers think you're a huge pain in the ass... hehe..."

"Oh..." Andrea muttered. "Is that right?"

She knew that her fixation on Happiness was cause for some frustration in her supervisor, they might've been out of earshot when she was at home, but those feelings stick with a person. She always figured that her vendetta was a topic of conversation, but hearing it actually being said was an entirely different matter. She felt Francis' words pierce her chest and her eyes fell to her feet.

"You're up in arms about that drug... right?"

"Yeah." Andrea confirmed. While she felt rather somber in this, ah, moment of sobriety, she also felt her share of frustration. How could she not? She was thrown under the bus by her superiors - not much of a practice in good faith. Still, she understood why they might feel that way. It didn't change that they were wrong in ignoring the problem. Francis seemed different. The man stood differently, he was thinking in an odd pattern - and he was going somewhere with this. She didn't want to pry too hard; she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him explain himself before brandishing the key. She was thereby left wondering if he had taken her side - but a persuasive nudge in the right direction would help her make sure.

"Are you with them?" Andrea asked, her ordinarily soft voice carrying a little more bite this time. "Because if so, I'm sorry, but I've already filled today's quota for dissenting opinions."

She made sure to stress the last two words spoken in her effort to be as diplomatic as possible in her "rejection" of Francis' input. Though goading, there was still genuine frustration dogging her over this issue. She really wasn't looking for criticism anymore, but she wasn't looking for yes-men either. She just wanted the case resolved. She felt personally invested in this, and she knows for a fact that nobody in the organization had looked into the Happiness drug as much as she has. She had more to go on than any of the rest - she just wanted someone to help her uncover the truth. If what she sensed from Francis was true, he may yet help her.

She sighed to relieve some of the tension that she had built up, and was beginning to pick at her nails a little more intensely.