Magus soon heard the door of the van open, letting the water drain out. He turned to see the leader of the robbers swing out, gun in hand. The man called out, "No hitchhikers," and began firing on Magus.
"Rude," Magus said, ducking low under the shots. He laid himself flat on the roof, making it almost impossible for the robber to see him while also giving him a relatively stable position that would allow him to stay on the vehicle. He peeked out over the edge of the roof and sent a quick spurt of water at the gunman. More than likely the attack would prove to be mostly a nuisance, but if it hit the gunman's hand, it might be enough to knock the gun out of the hand. He began to mimic his adversary's tactic, shooting almost blindly at his attacker, but at least providing a distraction. "You know, sooner or later, someone else is going to have to show up, and you won't be able to deal with them and me at the same time," he said, taking a few more shots at the gunman.

@Flamelord

Melissa stood up, pulled out a marker and wrote her number on his hand, giving herself another opportunity to hold his hand. Hesitating for a moment, she wondered whether to kiss him. If she were better-looking and more confident, she would, but she didn't know how he'd react.

"There," she said. "You can phone me later when you're free, and then we can get together." Still holding his hand, Melissa looked at him. Should she kiss him goodbye? That dating article said you have to leave a man wanting more, but not kissing him also counted, right? But she also had to make it clear to him that she wanted romance or it would never go anywhere... "See you tomorrow," she said, letting go and ducking around the nearest shelf to let her heart stop racing.

@RoflsMazoy

Previously...

"So, wait," David said, arms resting on his thighs. "You're all superpowered? You're all musicians, and you all live in an apartment together?"

"I don't live here, remember," said Kenny. "Just crash on the couch when I'm in town. The rest of them live here."

David glanced at her. "That was the least interesting part of what I said. How did you all even meet?"

Ernie blinked. "The Epics Subreddit. You never heard of it? It's run by an Epic who can tell if people are telling the truth, either online or in the real world."

Reddit? Seriously? David laughed. The absurdity of the idea. "No, I've never heard of that sub. What's on it?"

"News about Epics all around the world," Continued Ernie. Competitions and voting over who has the best powers, et cetera. You know there's a guy in Lithuania that can clone himself indefinitely? Or there's this guy in Ontario that can turn into a moose the size of a skyscraper. Talk about thematically appropriate. There's also pinned threads for meeting up with other epics, but the actual details have to be figured out in PMs, to avoid people being hunted down."

"You were actually on there today too," said Maria, and David felt a little shiver at the timbre of her voice. He knew that she could sound like anything she wanted, but it seemed most like she was appealing to him specifically. "Phantom, right? You put out the windows in a two block radius with that shout. It was one of the top posts, actually."

David flushed. "Fuck, that's...wow." He, of course, had not wanted to draw attention to himself, but he also felt a strange pleasure at his sudden fame.

Kenny leaned forward, her leg bouncing on the floor. "So you can, like, turn into anything you want when you're asleep? Anything at all?"

"Well, yeah..." David mumbled, "but I can't do much more than that. I can get really loud, but I can't really affect shit. It really sucks, because when those rats were attacking, I couldn't do much more than growl at them. The bigger I get, the less powerful I am. I don't know if that's my limit or what."

"But you can fuckin' fly through walls and shit, man!" That was Garfield, lying across Kenny, Vince, and Ernie on the couch. He and Vince had finally emerged from their room at Kenny's shouting, with the absolute minimum clothing required. Everyone actually seemed very comfortable with lack of clothing, he'd noticed. "Like, seriously, if I was you, I'd be robbing banks and shit, or somethin'."

"Good thing he isn't you," said Kenny, glaring at the man with no ill will. "Otherwise we'd all be fucked in a prison somewhere. You want that?"

"How do you try and control yourself in the dream?" asked Hannah, interrupting the argument. She was short, blonde, and curvy as hell. "I wasn't able to do a whole lot with my abilities until I changed how I thought about them. Like, I had to stop thinking about how I was controlling things, and start thinking more about what I wanted to do." She blushed as everyone looked at her. "Like the subconscious is more powerful than the conscious mind, you know?"

David frowned. He'd never thought of it that way before. Well, he had, but he'd just assumed that trying to feel his way through his powers wouldn't work at all. "So, what, like it's a part of me, instead of a tool?"

"Isn't it?" asked Ernie. "We were all born this way, weren't we?"

Kenny nodded, juggling four marbles without looking at them. Her form was perfect, and each throw seemed to be exactly as powerful as the throw before it. It was sheer human perfection. "Not like we were given much of a choice, short of living around our weakness for our whole life. But hey, at least we're the lucky ones. Could have ended up as Freaks."

David decided to let that jibe pass. It was true: they were the lucky ones. Superpowers without any side effects. "Maybe for you," he said. "I haven't gotten a real night's sleep in months."

"Maybe you just need to get laid," Kenny guffawed. Everyone else smiled. David rolled his eyes. "So, you guys just hang out here, playing music, dicking around, having sex, and...not using your abilities?"

"Well, hey now," Garfield said, raising a hand. "Who said we didn't use our abilities? You know the Kryptonites, right?"

"Aren't they the Epic-killers?" David felt a little chill go down his spine. Dangerous people.

"Yup," Maria cut in, shushing Garfield with a glare. "We like to fuck 'em up." She looked at David with those deep eyes, and he just about melted on the spot. Not that he would let her know that. "They're dickbags," she continued, suddenly in a voice that sounded like an old radio announcer. "We gotta make life tough for those flappers!"

"Matter of fact," Kenny said, grinning at David slyly. "You might have come at just the right time. How would you like to rob a bunch of murderers blind?"

Edward awoke, shocked, he looked around the room, realizing that he was right in the heart of the High Venom's domain. He had quite a few questions, but he knew better than to question one of the High. He listened intently to all that was said, then looked at Nightmare and nodded.

"I owe you all my life, I won't disappoint you," he promised, lowering his head in respect to the High Venom, one of the city's great leaders. "I'm sure you already know who I am, but just in case, my name is Edward Iwan, the toxins are from my old friend Nudd Richards, he's a serial killer, and he's here to kill as many people as he can, I'll do whatever you tell me, but he's very dangerous, and he needs to be stopped as soon as possible," he offered, attempting to ensure that Nudd became a target of the High.

He then realized that they were in a cavern under Epic City, he looked around, noticing all the freaks, some on the walls, some on the ground, all of them deformed at least slightly. He stared with an open mouth.

"...Wow, I never knew this existed, this is incredible! How many people live down here?"

@Old Amsterdam

@Bluetommy
"We number in the hundreds, across the City," Nightmare answered.

"I am well versed in the particulars of the situation," Venom spoke up. "But the sentiment is noted. Disappointment results in death. You would be wise to remember this."

The figure stood, walking forward towards Edward. "Now, Comet, this is the second failure of yours in regards to the Swarm entity known as Nudd. I expect there to be no more repeats."

She drew nearer, entering the light. Her face was a mask, devoid of emotions, while her body would tempt most men. She was stunning, yet it was obvious of the danger that lurked beneath the surface. Her right index finger slid down Edwards face, the nail applying pressure ever so slightly.

"I will give you my blessings, with a gift and a curse," she announced. A knife appeared in her left hand, deftly cutting into the back of Edwards left hand. "You will bear that Mark forevermore. In return you will have my protection from the toxins and diseases ones such as Nudd use. Further more, you will not speak of what you have seen and heard here tonight, nor will you expand upon the meaning and cause behind the Mark. This I have proclaimed, thus it is Law."

Another cut, in her own palm this time. Blood dripped into the open wound of Edward's hand. "You will remove Nudd from this existence before seven days have passed," she said with a hint of a threat in her voice as she turned away, walking back to her throne in the shadows. Her form appeared to shift when she was seated, her voice becoming distorted again. "Do not disappoint me."

Nightmare stepped forward again. "Upon the Mistress's orders, I will direct you to the exit, blinded by cloth. It will be removed when we have reached a distance away. Ask any questions now."

Alto looked after her as she left, palm still upwards.

Didn't she say something about being normal?

There was paper right there so he thought it was kind of odd, but not that noteworthy. He went through the conversation they just had to try and figure out anything he missed. There was a big gaping hole in his knowledge that came with the word 'prom' because he'd only really heard how it was in passing. Well, mostly all he knew was that people went to it in formal attire and it was usually a significant event. He seemed to remember his mother watched some movies where a prom was featured prominently(note:ayyyyyy) but he was too young to remember anything about them.

They'd organized a date which he definitely knew about but she'd said something about being like normal people so he wasn't quite sure what tomorrow would entail. He didn't think she was too sure about what tomorrow would entail either.

"...Well, I guess I can just ask Jerry tonight." He said, leaning back in his chair.

@Regitnui

@Old Amsterdam

Edward uncomfortably shuffled when the High Venom touched him, he grunted slightly when his hand was sliced, but he knew better than to complain. He nodded as the High Venom returned to her seat, knowing that he really didn't have a choice in the matter. This time would be different, he wanted to see Nudd suffer for what he did, but now it was time to end his murders, for anyone that was on his list.

When Nightmare approached him, he looked at the mark on the back of his hand, already beginning to heal due to his accelerated metabolism, that would be a scar, not that his arms weren't covered in scars prior to today.

"Forevermore eh? I hope that means that this is permanent, because if so I'm going to have a new repertoire for party tricks, not that I go to parties... You get it right?" He asked Nightmare, timidly looking down when he realized what he was asking. "Oh yeah, you live down here, doesn't exactly seem like the party capital of the world."

"Right, so just between you and me, I wasn't trying to kill Nudd the first two times we fought, the first time because I thought I could fix him, the second time because I wanted to play with him a bit, but now, I promise he won't lay a finger on me," he declared with a determined look. "It would be nice to have a little help, but I doubt you'll give it to me, considering you're all 'yes governor'... er, no offense." Dammit Edward you're going to get yourself killed one of these times.

"Though the blindfold really won't be necessary, I'm not one to spread rumors about all-powerful godlike beings... Well, that and the fact that my brain works at speeds more then ten-times your own and I'm fairly certain I can outrun you. Anyway, do you have any idea what Nudd's weakness is? Because I'm clueless and that would be really handy to know considering he doesn't bleed and I can barely hit him in the first place."

@Bluetommy
Nightmare stared at Edward in almost bored way.

"It will last for a year. After that, I may deem to renew the protection," Venom spoke up, irritation coloring her distorted speech. "You will not outrun Nightmare for your own well being. Or must I get back up and remind you of your place, mortal?"

Nightmare began putting the blindfold over Edward's eyes. "Shatter will accompany you and assist in the fight. You may find yourself at odds with his powers."

Another voice, from behind, spoke up. It sounded like several figures speaking at once, all slightly different, all at the same time. "You'll land your attacks. I'll ensure it."

Nightmare spoke again, "It has been observed that Nudd avoids buildings with natural materials used in them. Given his other appearances, it would appear that wood may be his weakness, that being the one constant." His strong arm began directing Edward away from the scene.

-----

Sometime later.

The blindfold was removed, the only figure around being Shatter. He appeared to be a man in his late thirties, but he had four arms. This being the easiest part to look at. The rest of him looked blurred, sloppy, almost like he was made of gel. His eyes were slits, actual eyes being apparently absent. He was a touch shorter than Edward, and there seemed to be a distortion around him whenever he moved.

@Old Amsterdam

Edward listened, nodding along as the High Venom spoke, his eyes shooting open and his shoulders moving back as he was threatened. He took a few deep breaths and aided Nightmare in putting the blindfold over his head, feeling much less rebellious now. The entire trip to the surface, he never opened his mouth, deciding that he had already done enough damage through that.

---

Wood huh? There's a joke there that I'm too terrified to use. Edward let out a confused groan when the blindfold was lifted and he saw blinding sun for the first time in what felt like hours. He held a hand over his brow, squinting until his eyes finally adjusted and he saw Shatter for the first time. He let out a gasp and grabbed his chest. Realizing what he was doing, he stood fully and examined the surroundings and the odd person in front of him.

"Shatter, huh? Nice to meet you or something." He made a conscious effort to avoid referring to Shatter's mutations. "I guess we're bug-hunting, good thing I know where he lives, of course I'm sure the High Venom told you as well... cool effect by the way, the one your powers are making, pretty cool looking." He was also making a conscious effort to be nice to this person, considering that they were a servant of one of a group of virtual gods.

He scratched his head and looked around.

"So, you're probably all business, but it'd be nice to get to know you before we put our lives in each-other's hands, we do have the time, unless you're unable to take speeds past the sound barrier, in which case I don't mind going real slow, maybe around a hundred miles per hour? Should give us plenty of time..." He looked over the horizon. "...If I know where I'm going, I'm sure you know, so... hmmph," Edward stuttered out.

"...Here, let me start, I'm Edward Iwan, I'm Welsh, and I can run really fast. Yeah, that's about it, though you probably knew all that and I'm just going to stop talking and let you tell me what to do."

@Bluetommy
Shatter let out a laugh. His multitude of voices made it idly eerie.

"It's alright, y'know. I came to terms with my oddities years ago," he said casually. "There won't be a need to speed, as much as I assume that will pain you." He considered for a moment. "I'm not all business, believe it or not. I miss whisky, most of all. My name was Alvin Dren, but that's so long gone that I prefer Shatter now. It envelops all that I am anymore."

The distortion spread around the two, giving a haze to their surroundings. "So, let's walk. It will give us a few moments before we arrive," he said conversationally. "I was born in Germany some time ago. I've honestly lost track, even though it's not been that long. Mhmmm." He shook his head. "But there's really not much too me. I'm a simple man at heart. Or is it men now? Mhmm. Why don't you strike up the topics, I'm not very good at it. Being a Freak messes with the mind." He let out that eerie laugh again. "Ask about anything. If I can answer, I will happily."

Man. Nothing good was on today. She needed to resubscribe to Netflix too... Maybe she should go out today, do some random errands. Yeah, that's probably not a bad idea. And you know what? She could use the cardio. The store wasn't to far from her house, and either were her electric company. She needed to pay her electric bill. Guess she'd better get started.

Putting some sneakers on, she headed out. First, her Electric bill. A brisk 5 minute walk later, and there she was. "Wattsons' Electric Company" the sign read. How creative. Peeking through the glass doors, there was no line. Just a bored looking woman leaning over her desk. Her blond hair cleverly hid her facial features while she was napping. Walking through the double doors, a pair of bells rang, signaling her presence. Flinching, the woman stood up straight and brushed her hair out of the way. After a relatively bleak conversation, her bill was paid, and her home would have electricity for a while longer.

Next... she needed groceries. Eh. She'd do it on her way back. How about, she goes to... her stomach growled. Man, she was hungry! Guess she'd be eating out. What sounded good? Anything, really. She headed towards a restaurant directly across the street from her. Neon letters above the doors read: "Fiesta!" Exclamation point included. Mexican huh? Guess her gut was in for a wild ride. Finding a nearby booth, she looked over the menu. Her eyes immediately set on a steak taco and fajita special. When a waiter came over, he looked exactly like you'd expect. A tan tall man with a rectangular head and short black hair accompanied by a thick black moustache. After telling him her order he departed and came back shortly with some water that she had ordered.

After goofing around on her phone, she was interrupted by the sound of clinking plates. Looking up, the same waiter had returned with two large plates with her food. With a polite "Thank you," she began eating. The steak tacos were Cooked to perfection. The juicy steak combined with other dried and wet ingredients created an amazing sensation. The fajitas weren't a joke either. Expertly placing an empty tortilla under her food, as she ate, the parts that would fall out would become a new burrito. Or something. Afterwords she looked down at her creation. Wrapping the tortilla up, she bit into it. It was amazing, as expected. Getting her check, she paid it off.

Stepping outside, she breathed in the fresh air. The groceries could wait. She needed a nap. She began to walk back to her home. Who knows? Maybe something would happen on the way back.

@Old Amsterdam

Edward reacted with shock to Shatter's laugh, quickly calming when the man began to speak, gently, casually even, despite his appearance and voice.

Edward sighed out of relief and began to walk as had been suggested. He looked around them at the all-consuming haze in awe, he loved shows like this, Spectrum's armor, his own body igniting when he ran fast enough, hell, that guy who he owed a sexually-charged hug and his flames even. He really got a kick out of the thrill of seeing something beautiful.

"I don't mind taking it slow if you'd prefer it, I'm still relatively normal, I can see the world at the same speed as everyone else if I focus hard enough," he explained, tapping the side of his head as he spoke. "I'm not exactly mister serious myself, as you can probably tell, though whiskey isn't exactly my thing, hyperactive metabolism you see, I get a buzz for maybe a minute at most, then an immediate hangover, and now that I'm toxin-resistant, probably not even that."

"Germany eh?" he continued after a moment of contemplation. "I've been there once or twice, never stayed for long. I remember this one race in Ulm, good time, had a lot of fun, got really drunk for a few seconds then spent the rest of the day lying in the darkest corner I could find so that my head didn't explode, I think my second boyfriend had a little German in him, nice guy, too bad he didn't like my personality that much," he reminisced, looking off into the distance with an almost sad look on his face.

"But enough about me, what's your..." he waved his hand up and down in Shatter's direction. "...Thing... I mean, I know you can make the sky look really strange, but other than that, what's your thing?" he asked with a hand on his chin, hunching his back and looking up at Shatter as they walked.

@Bluetommy
"Mhmm. How do I explain it?" Shatter replied slowly. "It's a little hard to comprehend for some. See, I no longer exist solely in this existence anymore. Hence my 'cool effect' and voice. Instead I overlap with all the other me's that exist. Now if that includes time, I'm not sure. I am neither here nor there, but rather every variation at once. But my conscious mind exists here in the now, so I can't alter the past or tell the future, or change things in a large scale."

He paused for a moment, glancing around. "What my actual powers do, however, is allow me to disrupt existence. Which is what I'm doing right now."

The haze dispersed from their surroundings, and they found themselves outside Nudd's hideout. "By distorting things around me, I essentially travel through them. A straight line, if you will, instead of a curve. I think, and I'm guessing here, but I think that I skip through dimensions. So it's like a form of teleportation, without disturbing anything. What I'm here to help with, however, will be directing that to essentially stop Nudd from moving. You will only have a few moments, a minute at most, and it will take me time to.... Lock on, shall we say? You will need to occupy him until then, say, ten minutes."

Shatter turned to Edward. "Prepare. This is your fight. I am here to ensure a killing blow can happen."

@Old Amsterdam

Edward was immediately confused by their sudden arrival at Nudd's hideout. He looked around before realizing where they were. He then cracked his knuckles and gave Shatter a smile.

"That's some cool stuff right there. Ten minutes you say?" he chuckled. "I can easily give you an hour," he stated confidently, brushing a few wayward locks of hair out of his face.

"So you hold him, I stab him with some wooden stick or something... speaking of..." he darted off with a crack then returned a few moments later, holding a sharpened wooden stake. "God bless super-speed, you can make things in the blink of an eye. Anyway, so you do the freezy-thing, I stab him, sounds like a good amount of fun to me."

Edward entered the building after one last look at Shatter, walking in with a scowl at Nudd, who had clearly just finished with a victim, whose body was currently being devoured by the horde of insects as Nudd cleaned his blade. Nudd turned towards the door with a jump.

"Hmm? Oh, hello again Edward, I'd have expected you to be free by now, and you've brought a friend! Well, isn't this just wonder-"

Edward shot forwards and grabbed Nudd's wrist, hoisting it over his head, in one smooth motion, he lopped off Nudd's arm with nothing but speed and the side of his hand. Nudd let out a cry of pain and attempted to escape as the wound spewed insects, but Edward grabbed him by the throat before he could move.

"I could have done this anytime I wanted, Nudd, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it." He tossed Nudd into a wall, which visibly buckled under the force of Edward's speedy throw. Nudd climbed up to his feet, a group of insects securing his arm back in place.

"I'm more impressed than ever, Edward, but if you could have done this all along, why didn't you?" Edward glowered in response.

"I wanted you to suffer, but now I'm just here to end this." Nudd actually seemed fearful due to this declaration, but he attempted to hide it by nonchalantly twirling his knife.

"You've really cornered the market on cliches, old friend, and it's no more true now than it was then."

As he finished speaking, Nudd grabbed Edward's arm and then flew backwards, as he had done in their first fight, Edward didn't even try to avoid it, though he could have. Edward proceeded to charge at Nudd as he retreated, a moment passed, and Nudd's mouth opened in shock as Edward closed. Edward's punch was powerful enough to shatter the nearby windows just by the shock-wave, and his fist traveled right through Nudd's body, impaling him on Edward's arm.

"What...?" Nudd asked in shock, his insects worthlessly attacking at Edward, their stings unable to pierce his skin. Edward pulled his arm loose, allowing Nudd to fall back in pain, reaching under his jacket, he pulled the scorpion loose, examining it as it frantically stung at his hand. He crushed it in his fist then turned back to Nudd.

He launched a furied assault on the man, knocking him everywhich direction even as Nudd covered his body in an armor of insects. Wherever Nudd flew, Edward was soon behind him, knocking him across the room with each blow, soon the floor was littered by the dead of Nudd's insect armor. Finally, Nudd was knocked through a support beam for the ceiling and ended up planted firmly in a wall, wounded despite his armor.

"Let's go Shatter, get charging, I'm starting to wonder if I need you."

@Bluetommy
Shatter raised an arm lazily. "I've been charging since I told you the time limit, you know." A finger pointed towards the outside. "If you looked outside you'd notice. Though no one outside would notice. It's quite a conundrum, this power. But why try and understand it?"

He walked around the edge of the fight, insects seemingly going through him instead of connecting with him.

"Nudd, I have been instructed to deliver a message before you die," he said humorously. "The High Venom is disappointed. Were you of more worth, I suspect she'd have came herself. But here we are."

Shatter suddenly did exactly like his name, shattering into a bunch of shards.

The shards disappeared, reappearing beside Nudd and reforming into Shatter. All of his arms latched onto various parts of Nudd, and the two of them blurred beyond recognition.

Insects all around the room fell to the ground, no longer moving, wings frozen in place, legs frozen in movement.

The distortion on the two stopped, first their outlines becoming visible and then the rest.

Nudd stood bare for the first time in ages. No insects spewed from his wounds, and nothing on him moved besides his eyes.

Shatter stepped backed, gesturing at Comet, disappearing into the shards again.

"You have between twenty and sixty seconds. Make it count," his voice sounded from everywhere and nowhere. "It was enjoyable while it lasted, Edward."

Finch

The water was unexpected, but Finch managed to hold on to his weapon for the moment as they began tit for tat back and forth while driving down the road. Neither seemed able to get a decisive advantage here, since one would shoot while the other pulled back, leaving them in a delicate equilibrium for the moment. It wouldn't last, but the only question was how Finch would twist it to be in his own advantage.

"I don't know about that," Finch yelled back as Magus pointed out the obvious. "I hear Swarm attacks can be pretty distracting. Besides, they may show up but you won't be here." After all, he figured Magus had made a critical miscalculation in his attack plan, though he couldn't be blamed for that. Not all of them could be graced with intelligence.

Specifically, as Finch popped out to take a couple more potshots, at the same time he gestured to his men the general area where Magus was on the roof. That was enough for them to take what was left of the glass blade and stab it upwards, hopefully hitting him and giving Finch the decisive blow that he needed. "Forgot about them, didn't you?"

@Sedjwick

Actually, Magus had been so focused on fighting the ringleader of these miscreants that he had forgotten about the underlings in the van until he got stabbed in the side by one of them. Fortunately for him, the wound wasn't fatal, but it was certainly painful. He immediately rolled to the side, grabbing onto the roof of the van with his free hand just before he fell off the vehicle altogether, which almost certainly would have been fatal as well as painful. He looked across the vehicle at the leader of the robbers who was still hanging out the door on the other side of the van for the time being. Magus slammed the head of his staff against the window on his side of the van, knowing he had only seconds before the robber started shooting at him again. He hit the window a second time, causing cracks to spiderweb across the glass. A third strike broke a hole in the window. Magus took a moment to aim his shot, then sent a fireball directly at the robber who had been causing so much trouble for him before losing his grip momentarily, causing him to scramble at the roof of the van before managing to catch his finger in one of the holes near the back. It was his hope that his strike had at least knocked the robber out of the van, but he hadn't been able to see as he had been forced to try not to die at the same moment as his attack would have either succeeded or failed. He took his staff in his mouth to grab the roof with both hands to try to reestablish a stable position.

@Flamelord

It was a quiet night.

Usually a city like this was in constant turmoil, Freaks fighting Freaks, Epics abusing their powers, the Kryptonites trying to take down another target. It was the kind of place that kept people like Guilt busy, and she liked it that way. Constant activity forced her to remain in the moment, to act on her instincts and training. When she was hunting down criminals there was no time to consider her future, no time to mourn the loss of the only family she had ever known, no time to doubt her actions. But it seemed that tonight the city seemed determined to rob her of her little escape. Not a single robber, not a single mugger, no rogue Epics or psychotic Freaks, no Kryptonite gang or even a standard, normie criminal. So Guilt just sat on the edge of the roof, teleporting from spot to spot on her patrol route, staring at empty streets and the occasional late civilian scurrying home.

Suddenly, there was a series of loud crashes nearby. A series of brief 'hops' brought Guilt closer to the source of the commotion, what appeared to be a rather repugnant building. As she watched one of the walls buckled outwards, and there was a lot of noise coming from inside. A fight, then, and based on the damage to that wall (and the exploded windows) there was at least one Epic or Freak involved. It appeared her particular skillset was required, and she appeared on ground level. A glance through one of the shattered windows allowed her to appear in the room itself, even as a strange figure dematerialized around a repugnant-looking Freak. There was also another, a muscular looking man covered in dead bugs and bug goo. Figuring that this was an epic vs freak match for unknown reasons, Guilt reasoned that both were probably guilty here. This was probably a grudge match, or a disagreement between gangs. Until proven otherwise, it was probably best to incapacitate both.

"I am Guilt. Surrender now."

With just these words Guilt herself moved into the fray, appearing between the two combatants in the blink of an eye. She gestured towards both of them and a slight purplish glow can be seen crackling through the air before a sudden gust of wind would blast both to opposite ends of the area. It was a little trick Guilt had learned a while ago, create a vacuum behind the target and then release a bunch of air in front of them in order to create spontaneous blasts of wind. It was tricks like this that she used to hide what her real power was, to keep people guessing as to what exactly she could and couldn't do. If they thought her power was based on the manipulation of wind, they were more likely to underestimate her.

"Confess your sins, or die. You have 15 seconds." Her voice was raw and rasping, like that of an ill person. The muffling of her gas mask didn't help her sound any friendlier. But even if her voice had been beautiful, there was no mistaking the edge in her voice. She was indeed prepared to kill everyone currently in the room.

@Old Amsterdam@Bluetommy

@thewizardguy@Bluetommy

Shatter's voice sounded again, an unmistakable edge to it. "You are interfering with the High Venom. I suggest you think hard before your next action."

A slight pause, enough for his words to sink in, and he rematerialized. "You are abetting a serial killer in interfering, you know. The High will be very displeased if Nudd remains alive," he said quickly, crossing all of his arms. "And I would much prefer the High Venom remains pleased, as should you."

----
<Back in the Lair of Venom>

"Shatter should be back by now," Venom stated simply.

"Perhaps there have been complications, Mistress?" Nightmare suggested.

"I'll give it another five minutes. If he's not back by then..." She left the statement hang in the air.

@Old Amsterdam@thewizardguy

"Oh, another guest, how unexpected! Perhaps introductions are in order..." Nudd spoke first, spitting up a host of scorpions and spiders due to the many internal wounds he had suffered as a result of the fight.

"Eisht, Nudd! By christ I'm right going to rip your kokum head right off yer body!" Edward yelled across the room, his Welsh accent reappearing due to his heightened emotions. He looked at the new arrival. "And you, you twp in the 'ead boyo?" he asked angrily as he pushed off of the wall and clenched his fist.

"As me four-armed butty says, you be messin' with the wrong guys, as I asked, you twp in the 'ead? Only you're fucking with a right nutter who don't bleed..."

"I wouldn't say I'm crazy-" Nudd interjected before getting cut off.

"And you're fucking with the High Venom ya' is, mochyn brwnt."

"That means dirty pig." Nudd helpfully translated. Edward took a bit of fabric from what remained of Nudd's last victim and tied it around his fist.

"And I'm not no pansy meself, boyo, can run up to mach 200 I can!" he said, noticeably leaving out the fact that at that speed hitting anything would probably snap every bone in his body. He vibrated his hand in the air, and the fabric upon it burst into flames due to heat from friction.

"Now, ye'd better move, because I'm about to punt that mask off your face, and you'd better hope it's not that attached, because if so, wave goodbye to your 'ead!" Edward was already frustrated by having to see Nudd twice in the same day, and the fact that he was being prevented from killing him already drove him over the edge.

While Edward was posturing, one of Nudd's insects, a poisonous spider, approached the new arrival slowly. Nudd watching the scene quietly, attempting to avoid notice.