---

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Oakdell Harbour, White Coast_

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---

Quentin's body had decided before he'd even had a chance to speak a word to his team, the mere mention of ZODIAC was enough to drive him into motion. He felt a tinge in his gut from where the scarring had remained after the last encounter with the organisation's so-called 'Sovereign' - or whatever other name that asshole chose to go by. Three years, it had been three years since he'd last seen the masked bastard, but there was a part of him which remembered things with a surprising level of clarity.

Gesturing with a single, free hand, he rallied his team into motion.

First, however, their captured, now semi-conscious berserker was a potential problem to address, so Quentin opted to take no chances here, "Brannagh, Marshall - secure our original target and make sure there's no interference run on this side. Crown, Parker - you're both with me." Crown was a pyrokinetic - it was only logical that he was brought along as heavy artillery, whilst Parker and Brannagh were both experienced agents of similar measure, but one had to hang back here - partially because it was better to have two pairs of eyes than one and partially because he wasn't entirely sure how their MISW counterpart would handle himself in a situation such as this. Sure, they'd dealt with terrorists in their own country, but Quentin wasn't one to measure the man's worth by how he'd heard of the agency's reputation for indiscriminately holding a tight leash around any metahumans that came under their jurisdiction, particularly when they hadn't faced the likes of the Changelings or the IU. This was the safest, best bet as he'd seen it.

Frank wasn't one to argue, either - he'd even said beforehand that he'd fall in line with whatever Taylor pitched, though he couldn't help but pick up a slight tinge of... something as the veteran RAVEN briefly pulled back to their armoured truck to rearm. No matter - at least it wasn't his arse being shovelled into the fire.

"Counterpoint here, we're pushing towards the B Dock."

---

Why in the hell did everything go wrong for Meifeng?

Why couldn't there be one day where a mission goes as planned? Just one. Now, all of Maximilian's and her fears had been realized; ZODIAC was on their ass. For what reason? Maybe they want the Devil's arm for their bullshit. Didn't matter. Meifeng was pinned down with Francis, and the rest of her team. She needed a quick plan to get out of here, and kill as many of these bastards as she could before ZODIAC could pull out of the engagement. Her team quickly took cover behind walls, vehicles, and other shipping crates, and returned fire. But every shot they took was easy enough to dodge as ZODIAC had the high ground.

Now she wished they had the ability to use explosives in this operation, but she had a better idea;

"Move! Get out of their line of fire!" Meifeng said as she lead her team out of there. Francis took point by activating his psychic shell and tanking the bullets that were headed towards them.

"Don't bother following them," Sovereign said, as he walked to the edge of the rooftop. "We have more important matters to attend to."

The soldiers nodded as Sovereign hopped off the rooftop without a fear in the world. When he landed, the ground underneath his feet cracked, but Sovereign was not even the slightest bit annoyed. He pressed his earpiece, and asked,

"Phantasm, where is the arm?"

"It's on the shipping boat in docks C."

"Hah... we aren't that far off then?" Sovereign said.

---

As Quentin had led the way towards his colleagues, reports of contacts and contact movement came in frequently enough over the radio to give him a rough guess of where some of the ZODIAC paramilitaries had positioned themselves, giving him some leeway to manoeuvre his divided team down a route which would ideally allow them to catch the bastards out without getting cut down, yet even such such information would only prove to be limited in utility - as the veteran RAVEN quickly realised when, just out of the corner of his eye, a dark figure scrambled across the rooftop of one of the adjacent buildings.

"Contact!"

He saw Crown shift her weight behind the corner of a building, whilst Parker hastily dove behind a low concrete barrier. Quentin himself was forced to squeeze into the rather spacious doorway of a building, narrowly avoiding getting caught up in the middle of a narrow shooting gallery - though now he was blind to what they were dealing with. Even with the helmet and body armour, he wasn't particularly interested in exposing himself to get a view. Then, it occurred to the veteran RAVEN that perhaps, just as before, these paramilitaries were equipped with and were using IR goggles - the kind which were susceptible to being temporarily blinded by powerful heat signatures. Not to mention, the angle the contact was probably at would work in his favour.

It was a gamble, but...

"Crown, put a fireball high on that wall, ten-meters ahead of my position!"

"Copy." The pyrokinetic affirmed, before wordlessly following through on that last order, projecting a missile of flame towards the aforementioned wall, causing it to burst in contact in a haze of smoke and ash, obscuring any line of sight one would have had.

Once he'd heard that 'pop', Quentin hunkered as low as he could and peered out from behind the doorway, where in the few spare seconds he'd had identify where the would-be shooter was situated, he managed to briefly acquire vision of at least one figure positioned in a prone state on top of one of the larger industrial buildings at the docks, before instinct compelled him to place his weight back behind cover, just about a second before a nearby weapon crackled with gunfire and three succesive rounds punched through the brick-corner and scattered tiny pieces of shattered brick and cement at his feet.

There was definitely no space for movement now. In sighting their opponent Quentin had still exposed his own position, to the extent that any further movement would betray him. There was only one thing for it, be decided, hailing Crown again over the radio.

"Shooter's at my eleven, rooftop, about fifty metres- can you get a fireball that far?"

"Copy, it'll reach," She hastily answered.

"Alright, on my mark - fire!"

Once again, the pyrokinetic formed a flaming missile in a free palm until her entire forearm was wreathed in flame, then, after angling the trajectory of the missile to reach the position which Quentin had called, she propelled it outwards once more. It soared across the small dock like a phoenix for just a few seconds, before bursting into a consuming cloud of ash, smoke and flames as it slammed into the rooftop.

It was close enough to the shooter that the initial wave knocked them off their feet, then the flames quickly took a hold and the figure was seen staggering backwards and tumbling off what could only have been other side of the rooftop.

Almost immediately after, however, came another voice. "Counterpoint!" Meifeng almost shouted into the comms. "Sovereign is heading straight for the arm, and we barely have enough manpower to hold them off!"

"What direction?"

"Docks C, by the waterfront."

Shit, Quentin thought, before speaking up again, "Copy, we're pulling back that way."

---

Sovereign had personally led a war squad straight to Docks C. He quickly came across the great shipping vessel that held the arm within it, and he smiled underneath that helmet. Members of the Russian mafia took point at the edges of the vessel and opened fire, yet their poor discipline and desperation showed. Whilst the ZODIAC paramilitaries simply took up cover and began taking measured potshots at their assailants, Sovereign merely tanked the rounds off his ballistic armour, levelled his M60E4, then opened fire. Even with the high ground,the Russians were easily suppressed, rendering it difficult for them to even stick their heads out, let alone return fire. That was when Sovereign personally charged up the ramp, and turned his head. He opened fire on the Russian goons as the rest of ZODIAC followed up behind him (or found another way on top of the ship). A hail of fire eviscerated most of the remaining Russians on the boat.

He pointed towards one end of the boat, then turned around and pointed down the other. "Find me that arm. Go!"

---

Quentin's team had quickly regrouped just behind the waterfront, from where the veteran RAVEN quickly moved to intercept ZODIAC before they could acquire their intended prize. Taking up a position with a broad view of the cargo vessel, he withdrew from cover and took aim at one of the few paramilitary soldiers keeping watch on deck and opened fire, hoping to provide enough of a distraction for Crown - and just as he'd hoped, they quickly took cover and returned fire, playing into RAVEN's hands.

"Fireball on those positions!" He barked, as rounds buzzed past him.

And at that, a faint glow grew forth from another corner of the dock, before arcing beside and over the waterfront and into one of the shooters, bursting in yet another glowing cloud of ash and cinders and sending the poor bastard's body tumbling off the side of the deck - and that was just the first - Crown quickly brought up a barrage of smouldering missiles which had much the same effect on the other two visible on deck, giving Quentin and the other two, Parker and Marshall, a clear path aboard, whilst keeping a look out for any other contacts which might've emerged into her view.

Having reverted to his 870, Quentin took point and led the four man team up the gangplank and onto the surface deck of the vessel, passing half a dozen bodies which could've only belonged to the Russians (or, to be more specific, the unlucky bastards dumb enough to have ended up under their payroll) along with the smouldering corpse of one of the ZODIAC shooters that had been up on deck.

As they approached one the entrance hatches, the sharp crackles of gunfire in an enclosed compartment resonated outwards, all but indicating to the RAVENs where Sovereign had led his own unit - and where they still were. Pushing in, they could only hope that the bastard was still searching for the arm and that they'd be able to hold him down until further reinforcements arrived. Quentin had no illusions about that, at least.

Frank, on the other hand, kept his head focused - if anything he'd read about the assassin was half-accurate, they were without a doubt facing dangerous odds. Just a few years back this 'Sovereign' had murdered an MP back in his home country. On the orders of the same bastards who had been pulling the government and MISW's strings. By extension, he had rendered them all an accomplice to their crimes, unwitting or no. No. Frank cleared his head of such thoughts and focused as best he could on the task at hand. They would need everything they had for this one.

Slowly, the team inserted further into the bowels of the vessel, descending down a flight of steps into its dimly lit confines.

Despite their best efforts, Sovereign and ZODIAC were far ahead of RAVEN. They had the boat completely covered, and he was slowly descending on the arm....

---

However, the Russian mobsters weren't going down without a fight. In a dimly lit room, the "leaders" of the Mafia assembled. With the arm placed inside a specialized cryogenic cooler. One man, was bald-headed, and was covered in tattoos. Extremely muscular.

"Who would have thought we'd have such a showing for us," The man said in Russian, grinning at the destruction that took place overhead. Before he was smacked by his older partner.

"Don't be stupid," His partner said, "Wurdulac wants this arm. We're going to give it to them."

"I don't see that being an option," He answered, as he peered out the window. "Perhaps we should leave the arm here, and let those bastards fight it out..."

"We still have plenty of options, Anatoly," The man said, as he turned his head towards a woman with a shaved head, and lots of tattoos. He threw a thumb at her. "This is Alina..."

"And she can do what to help our predicta-" Anatoly tried to say, but Alina hopped up, and got in his face.

"Well, dumbass, how do you think we got the arm in the first place?" Alina said, as she clutched her hands together. She seemingly created a ball of electrostatic that grew larger and larger. She raised the orb over her head as the other men in the room stepped back. "After I do my thing, you either run, or get left behind. Your choice."

That was when the orb exploded, and effectively sent out an electromagnetic pulse that shut off all electronics on the boat. From the boat's electronics, all the way to ZODIAC's hardware. It was total darkness, as the Russians got what they wanted.

"... Let's move." Anatoly said.

---

The ZODIAC army were pushing through the bowels of the ship... when the pulse hit them. Sovereign came to a stop, surprised that all the tech in his helmet was dead. He reached down to his wrist, and pressed some buttons... only for nothing to pop up. The ZODIAC soldiers were bathed in complete darkness, with not even access to night vision (or flashlights). Underneath that helmet, Sovereign was laughing. He was having a riot.

"Ahhhhh... they are clever, aren't they?" Sovereign said, before he slung his machine gun over his shoulder. "No matter, stay close to me, and point out any targets."

---

The high pitched squeal which erupted across the comms was enough to make Quentin wince, causing the veteran RAVEN to tune off for a moment as the lighting across the ship died. EMP? He thought, recognising the hallmarks from a similar situation that occurred several years before. All other voices on the comms had fallen silent, but he wanted to be sure.

"This is Counterpoint, do you read, Crown?"

No answer came.

Most of RAVEN's electronic equipment had been retroactively hardened to military specs to avoid a repeat of the massacre three years back, where their equipment had been fried by an overloaded metahuman's EMP blast, but that didn't mean their equipment was entirely infallible, especially judging by the fact that their mounted torches were dead.

At the least, it would possibly have taken more than a few moments for the comms equipment to tune back in, time which they didn't have. Instead, the veteran RAVEN pressed onwards, into the bowels of the vessel, well aware of the viper's nest that they were entering.

Soon enough, they heard footsteps - albeit very faint. In the darkness below deck, it was hard to make anything out - though that uncertainty quickly changed.

A near-deafening crackle resonated through the narrow corridors below deck, briefly opened with a series of dim flashes from the other side of the corridor. Rounds buzzed past, narrowly missing the RAVENs.

Quentin answered by firing off a slug at the source of the flash.

---

"It was only a matter of time..." Sovereign groaned to himself, as he came in contact with RAVEN. He pulled out his machine gun, and pushed aside the other members of ZODIAC, before he opened fire on the hallway. Holding it with one hand, he raised his other hand, and gestured for ZODIAC to go down the other halls while Sovereign took full attention of RAVEN. I wonder if he's here. He thought to himself, as he reached down to his belt, and pulled out a grenade, and tossed it at them. Either way, they are none of my concern. He thought again, as he turned around.

"Grenade!"

It was nigh impossible to hear over the continuous clatter of gunfire, but it was one of Quentin's team who sounded the alarm, near enough diving out from cover in order to yank him back to safety with them. A brief flash and a shockwave which rippled through the narrow hall with a deafening resonance quickly followed, shrapnel scattering across and skirting one of the RAVENs across the leg, throwing them off balance and into the line of fire. Two rounds slammed into Parker's body armour whilst a third punched through his arm, eliciting an agonised yelp from the agent, though thanks to Marshall's intervention he was pulled out of the line of fire before any further damage could be done, leaving Quentin and Brannagh to return fire. As the firefight raged on, Sovereign continued alone. After all, the assassin had an idea of where the Russians with the arm would scurry off to. He eventually went above deck... towards the life boats.

Still wreathed in darkness, Quentin thought to pop a flare and tossed it down the corridor, illuminating the ZODIACs huddling at each side and near enough blinding them for a precious few moments as their sight was overwhelmed by the red hue. Quickly, one of them went down under pressure from the remaining RAVEN's combined focus, then another, just as a familiar voice crackled into their comms pieces, over the sound of gunfire,"..tacts, top deck!" Crown's signal had just about reached through to the confines of the ship below deck, before her voice came in again again, this time with a greater sense of urgency, "Sovereign in sight!" Him, Quentin had been affirmed, his line of thought interrupted by a final rippling of gunfire hailed the neutralisation of the last ZODIAC, who's narrow silhouette rippled against the bulkhead.

"Fireball on contact, keep him suppressed!" The veteran RAVEN near enough barked back, as soon as he knew his voice was being transmitted back to her, already pushing more slugs into the magazine tube of his Remington. Whilst Marshall had taken up watch, Branagh was already in the process of applying a tourniquet to Parker's wounded arm. "I'm heading topside to cover Crown," he began, "Keep Parker and yourselves covered, watch for any others."

With one man injured, another preoccupied and the third still remaining as an unknown in the face of pressure, Quentin had decided that he may as well have been forced to head topside without them. He knew what kind of danger Crown was heaped in and he sure as hell wasn't about to leave one his team to face it alone, not against the assassin.

---

Sovereign kept marching forward, his heavy footsteps being an announcement when he stormed around the corner, and saw the Russians trying to hoist down the lifeboats. They stopped out of shock, but Sovereign charged forward. They didn't waste time in hosing him down with bullets, but they bounced off him. He grabbed onto the nearest mobster by the neck, and hoisted him above his head, earning a series of profanities spluttered at him in his native tongue... which then turned into actual screams as the assassin threw him overboard, then charged forward.

"Give me the arm." Sovereign ordered, as he continued.

Only then did a smoking missile slam into the former assassin from the rear, engulfing him in a blinding shroud of smoke and embers, yet the only reaction that Abel demonstrated was irritation... he whipped around halfway, and quickly pulled out his revolver, then fired off a shot at the RAVEN. If it wasn't for that body armour of hers, she would have been almost undoubtedly killed, yet the sheer force of the impact was enough to knock her to the ground and leave behind some internal injuries.

Instead of finishing her off, Sovereign merely brushed the flames off before they caused any damage to his weaponry - or caused his grenades to explode. After the flames were gone, he turned his attention back to the few Russians, who were intent on capitalizing on Crown's distraction. Sovereign quickly turned his revolver on their liferaft, and shot it, tearing the inflatable to pieces. He marched forward.

"The. Arm." Sovereign ordered in their native tongue. "I am not[/i] asking again.[/i]"

"Fuck this, you're on your own!" One of them near enough bolted as he grew closer, leaving the others behind.

Then, unexpectedly, came a clatter from behind as a canister rolled across the deck, towards Sovereign's feet. Containment foam.

The canister exploded before Sovereign could even react, and bonded his feet with a tough chemical that not even he could break easily. He narrowed his eyes, as he turned around... And was met with the sight of a RAVEN hastily raising a Remington 870 towards him, then firing off a slug at his upper mid-section. The bullet barely dented his armor, but he narrowed his eyes at him.

"Quentin Taylor..." Sovereign said... subtly reaching for his revolver. "Why did I get the feeling I'd end up running into you?" He asked.

"Hands behind your head!" The veteran RAVEN barked, racking the pump action, "Next shot won't be a warning."

"If you plan on killing me with that..." Sovereign blankly said. "... You're going to need more bullets."

Undaunted, he quickly pulled out his oversized revolver, and aimed directly for Quentin, before firing. Even holding him at gunpoint had proven pointless, as past encounters had shown, yet it couldn't have been said that he hadn't tried - the moment he'd realised the former assassin was reaching for a weapon, Quent had near enough bolted for the nearest form of cover, an alcove just ahead of the ship's bridge, yet those superhuman reflexes still worked in Sovereign's favour. Like a kick to the ribs, Quentin felt the .500 bullet smashing into his armour, causing him to briefly crumple against the wall as the shock of the impact rippled across his torso. Bruises, at least. Quentin clenched his teeth and fought the pain along with any temptation to stop and rest.

Instead, he reached for his comms piece and sent out a hail across the channels. "Counterpoint here... Sovereign's on the top deck, foamed him but he's still armed, going to engage."

Sovereign focused instead on trying to break free from the containment foam. He knelt down, and punched the foam hard as he could, but even with his strength, that wasn't enough to crack it.

Yet again, Quentin emerged from cover, this time a little more sluggish but still in motion - but this time the veteran RAVEN didn't even offer a warning and instead opened fire, then hastily racked the pump action and fired again, aiming upwards this time with the intent of landing an impact on the bastard's visor. The slugs slammed right into his helmet, and Sovereign groaned. It seemed there was no way to avoid this confrontation.

Aware of the M60E4 still slung over his shoulder, Sovereign quickly hoisted it, ready to fire and opened fire on Quentin's position, forcing the veteran RAVEN back behind cover, still firing in short, sharp bursts with what remained of the belt... which ran through about as quickly as one would've expected, just as one had hoped in Quentin's case - and so he launched yet again from cover, ready to unleash another barrage of slugs upon the former assassin, only to be met with the weight of the emptied, still-smoking GPMG smashing into him. Sovereign went back to hammering away at the containment foam. Eventually, he made cracks. The man grinned from underneath the armor, and then slammed it one more time as the foam shattered.

Twisting, he clenched his fists after a glance. The Russians were long-gone. Smart, but at the same time so irritating. He turned back towards Quentin, and spoke.

"... I am not your enemy, Mr. Taylor," Sovereign stated. "I am merely an agent stopping something worse that is coming over the horizon." He continued, retrieving a smoke grenade. "... You'll see some day."

He primed the grenade, then dropped it at his feet and in moments the deck had been blanketed in a blinding sheet of smoke. Quentin scrabbled for his 870 yet again, but by the time he'd managed to get a rough picture again, Sovereign was gone. Along with the arm.

"Shit..." Quentin spat, with a half-hearted grunt. Delivering the news to Maximilian was going to be a shitshow, but they had to know, "Counterpoint here, the package is gone, Sovereign escaped without it."

After getting out of Andrea’s car and watching her speed off (he wasn’t sure to where), Aaron sat down on the front steps of the Chandlery and took out his phone. He had texted Lily all the way back home, making sure she was safe. She said she was on the bus and that she was on her way back to Roseview. Aaron figured he would sit outside and wait for her. He knew he had some explaining to do.

Ten minutes later, a bus pulled up to the corner of the avenue, near the Cool Beans, and Lily stepped off. She looked quite disheveled; her hair, once very well groomed and braided, was messy and stuck out at odd angles. Her dress was wet on the left side with something that looked like wine. Mascara ran down her cheeks in black smears. She walked barefoot and held her shoes in her right hand. One of the heels were broken. As she walked up to the Chandlery, Aaron stood and felt a burning in his chest.

“This is your fault. If you hadn’t deceived her all this time, she would not have been stuck there. Plus you left her there, you fucking moron. Wake the fuck up and think about someone other than yourself!” As Lily approached Aaron, he started to cry. He leaned onto the front stoop’s wooden rail and sobbed quietly. Lily walked up to him, stopped, and then gave him a hug.

“I’m so sorry,” Aaron sputtered. Lily was quiet. He felt her chest heave gently in a sob.

Aaron unlocked the door, let Lily in, and the two went up into his apartment. Aaron made tea and Lily washed the running makeup off her face. They didn’t talk much. Lily’s dress had been ruined, so she borrowed pajamas from Aaron. They were too big, but they were better than a stained dress (a bottle of wine fell as Lily was running and splattered all over her, she explained). Aaron left the room as Lily undressed and changed. He sat at the kitchen window that overlooked the lake and sipped his tea. A few minutes later, Lily opened the door to his bedroom and said “You can come in now.” Aaron walked into the bedroom, still drinking chamomile tea. Lily was wearing plaid pajama pants and a tee shirt. Both were comically oversized. Her hair was down, and it nearly reached the small of her back. Aaron sat down next to her. The two held a tense silence, both knowing what to say but neither knowing how to say it.

In Aaron’s head, he thought: ’I should tell her the truth, that is the only way. She deserves to know and I cannot keep dragging her around like this.’

In Lily’s head, she thought: ‘He left me there, but I still feel okay. I understand I guess, even though it broke my heart. I shouldn’t understand, but I do.’ The silence continued. Aaron felt guilty. Lily felt nervous.

“Y-you look really pretty with your hair down, like that,” Aaron said.

“Thanks,” Lily said. She blushed.

“Lily-”

“When you were leaving, the people around you shouted as if they were being burned.” Lily said. “I noticed. One of them looked like they had something stuck to their shirt.”

“Oh, that,” Aaron said. “Um…”

“I figured it out,” Lily said. “You’re one of them, like that thing at the club.”

“I’m not like that,” Aaron’s shoulders tightened and he looked down into his mug. “I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

“If I thought you were going to hurt me, I wouldn’t be here,” Lily said. They were silent for a few more minutes. Sirens could be heard in the distance. Aaron wondered if it was the sounds of the city or RAVEN rushing to fight the beast smashing up the club.

“Lily, I’m sorry…” Aaron’s voice trailed off. His face turned white as a sheet and his mouth opened wide. He looked down at the floor. He had to say it now before it was too late.

“You don’t like me, I know,” Lily said. SHe sounded like she was about to cry. “I knew I was too short…”

“It’s not that,” Aaron said. “You are a beautiful woman Lily. I, I just…”

“It’s someone else, maybe?” Lily said. “I bet it’s Sarah. I know she’s prettier than me, and guys don’t like hyper girls.”

“Lily, listen to me,” Aaron felt a surge inside him, a compulsion to speak. Maybe it was bravery. “It’s not that I don’t like you. It’s that I’m not, I’m...Jesus this is hard.” Lily understood.

“Oh,” she said. “Oh, I understand.” ’Dammit,’ she thought. ’I already spent the fifty bucks…’ She felt a little crushed inside. She leaned over and rested her head on Aaron’s shoulder. Aaron felt as if a great weight had been lifted from him. He put his arm around Lily and hugged her.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should’ve told you earlier. I just didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I forgive you,” she said. “I cannot imagine how hard that was to do.”

“Are you okay?” Aaron asked.

“I will be,” she said. “I’ll be okay. Um, Aaron?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we still be friends?” Aaron looked down. The hug loosened. For a moment, Lily felt nauseous.

“Of course,” Aaron said. “I’d love to be your friend.”

Lily stayed over that night, as she didn’t have a car to drive home with. She slept in bed with Aaron, her head resting on his shoulder and Aaron awkwardly trying not to hold her like a boyfriend would. There was something endearing about her, some charm that made him feel closer to her than he should have. Eventually, he wore down and put an arm around her. He felt her jump a little, and then nestle up to him more closely. It wasn’t okay, but yet somehow it was. Lily didn’t feel romantic to him, but at that moment she felt extremely important.

---

Stonecliff, Silverhills_

---

---

It felt like everything that could've went wrong... went wrong.

Oh, so wrong. Case in point, the inhabitants of the house, and owners of the second book came home at literally the worst moment. Now they're more than a little pissed. Okay, okay, Wendy knew how to handle these situations. Run like hell. She quickly lunged over to Rowan, and grabbed onto him. She turned them both into paper in the blink of an eye, and thought it'd be smooth sailing. The two flew directly upwards into the night sky, and thought they got away. However, they were quickly brought back down to Earth as if something was pulling them down. Wendy, out of surprise, turned back into flesh and blood. The problem was that the two of them were falling, so Wendy, still latched onto Rowan, turned the two of them weightless.

They softly hit the ground, and Wendy was able to figure out that they were wrapped up in... something. Upon inspection, it was... web? She looked at the girl, and saw that there was a thick trail of web coming from her hand. Wendy tried to pull it apart, but the webbing was far too damn strong. She had her eyebrows furrowed, and she was extremely focused on them.

"Alright, cocksuckers," Penny said. "I got a question for ya', and I better get some fuckin' answers or somebody's gonna be leaving here with a broken nose." She hissed, before she raised a finger up into the air. The boy she was with had stepped outside, and activated his powers. His right hand was engulfed in flames, while his left arm had frozen over. He pointed the frozen hand at them, and Wendy picked up that he probably didn't want to hurt them.

"One, which member of the Founding Fags sent you here?" Penny asked, and narrowed her eyebrows. "And don't give me any bullshit. You went for the books, and nothing else - you have to be in bed with them."

"I wouldn't recommend lying, either," Daniel was standing over the two with his fist balled, and he had created an ice spike that rested on the tip of his fist. Though, he stopped, took a step back, and raised an eyebrow. "Hm... they don't look like the Family."

Before either of them could come to a conclusion, however, there came the sound of brickwood fracturing. "Back off!" Rowan near enough snarled, curling his fingers into a clenched fist and wrenched it downwards, as far as his arm could before the webbing restrained him any further. Levitating in mid-air, held in place by magnetic force, were two of the metal studs which had previously been embedded in the posts of the brick fence mere moments before, chunks of concrete and stone still stick to the end of the studs, both pointed towards Penny and Daniel.

"Hol-lee fuck!" Penny said, not out of shock or surprise... but out of anger. Her eyes shot wide open, as she stared at Rowan. "Not only did you break into my house, steal my stuff, and threaten me when I ask what the fuck are you even doing... you have the audacity to fuck up my house some more!"

She pointed at the brick wall, before she put her fists on her sides.

A sneer of sorts formed across Rowan's face, the studs remaining a threat aimed at the two, "You heard me. Back off. Tell your friend to drop the fire-and-ice crap before I drop the both of you." In hindsight, it was probably the edgiest he'd ever sounded, but in his head there was no taking chances.

Penny's eyes narrowed as she stepped to the challenge. "...If that thing comes anywhere near me, it's going to become very good friends with your asshole."

Oh God, everything was spiraling out of control. Wendy was the only person who could fix it. She frantically went through her satchel, and touched a piece of concrete. The concrete traveled up her hand, before it disappeared. Just in case. "Okay, okay! We're not with the Family," Wendy shouted, "They'd be the last people we'd work for. We're just trying to figure out what happened to Sean Rosier, okay?!"

"What she said," Rowan affirmed, "So, I'll ask again, back off."

"Think I'll believe that?" Penny sneered. "What? Do you really think I'm as gullible as a Springtown skank?"

"Something doesn't seem right here..." Daniel thought out loud, as his attention remained on the fencepost with the business end pointing right at him. He remained on guard, but kept his ears open to the conversation. If he recalled correctly, they had the first book. The one that Penny affirmed was lost, and never found... Which lead him to his point. "Wait, Penny, if they're really with the Family, then why would they bring that book?" He pointed at it.

"I... don't know," Penny shrugged, "Like you said, suicidal arrogance."

"Are you fucking stupid?" Rowan asked with seething irritation, "We're not with those assholes."

"No more stupid than you are," Penny hissed back. "Since you're still pointing that at me."

"Look, we need to calm down, and talk this out." Daniel said, as he put both hands up, his gaze shifting from left to right. Even though he was worried, he took the initiative and disarmed first. The fire in his right hand faded, and the ice in his left melted. It was a silent gesture of diplomacy... something that Penny was lacking in. "There's a lot of questions here that aren't going to answered if we kill each other."

After a moment's hesitation, Rowan reciprocated and relinquished his hold over the studs, allowing them to drop with a great metallic clatter. But after that, well... Wendy was usually better at this kind of thing

Penny crossed her arms, as Wendy used the concrete to break free of the web that had bound them together. She sighed in relief... this could have gotten really ugly, but in the end, level-heads prevail. She stood straight up... and realized the web had gotten into her hair. "Ugh!" Wendy pulled out the web with no success. "How do you get this out?"

"Cold water, and shampoo, sweetheart," Penny answered, surprisingly less angry, but had a coy grin on her face. "But, I can't say this is the first you got something like this in your hair. Heh." She shrugged, as Wendy quickly caught on.

"Oh, you!" Wendy hissed, as she looked at Penny, and she shrugged.

"Now that Daniel preached peace, and settled this shitshow," Penny said, as she reached into her pocket, and pulled out... a lollipop, and slid it in between her lips. "Hows about we forget that this dumb bullshit ever happened?"

She looked at Wendy.

"Start at the fucking beginning?" Penny, as she clapped both of her hands together.

Wendy smiled... awkwardly. She had to force it, because part of her wanted to punch this girl in the face. Though, if she had to honest, she probably had good reason to hate Wendy and Rowan. "Yeah..." Wendy extended a hand. "...The fucking beginning." Penny shook her hand, and gave Wendy a wide, forced, and creepy smile.

"Let's talk inside, right?" Penny said, trying to contain her anger, as she pointed at the door.

"Alright," Wendy nodded her head. "I have some friends, can they come inside?"

Then that was when it all made sense to Penny. "Oh let me guess... a bird girl, and two other brats?" She raised an eyebrow as she put her hands on her hips.

"Yeah...?" Wendy raised an eyebrow.

"They were your little distractions..." Penny shrugged. "Makes total fucking sense now." She rolled her eyes.

Without a word, since Wendy was confused, she hopped over the fence.

---

The second it popped off, Kumiko was right over to the wall to give her daughter (and her friend) support. The rest of the group came around, too. Kumiko got on her tip toes, and peeked over the fence. Fortunately, the fence was high enough to hide from them, and overhear the conversation. Unfortunately, she recognized a certain boy, and figured that it'd be best if she came up with a plan. Because this could have gotten ugly really fast.

"Okay," Kumiko said in a hushed tone, as she knelt down. "This doesn't look good - in fact it's literally the worse case scenario - but we can still turn this around."

She was tempted to take another peek, but the last thing she wanted to be was spotted.

"Negotiations is still an option. Diplomacy is still an option," Kumiko started off. "We just need to play our cards right, and maybe nobody ends up in the hospital."

"...Or I could just leave, and take the last night bus," voiced Kannix, one literal valid option for someone who actually wanted to leave. "From our conversation back at the cafe, and by the looks of things, the couple can handle themselves."

"Look girl, I'm going to be blunt here," Kumiko looked at Kannix, and shrugged. "You clearly don't care that much about the mystery of Sean Rosier, so if you're gonna go; go. I'm not going to beg you to stay." And instead, Kumiko was going to work with the people who were going to stay behind. Wendy probably would've said the same thing to Kannix.

God I could leave and I should leave. But she wanted to stay. Why wasn't she leaving? She could break the van door right now, sending it flying across the street, and she dashing away into the moonlight, credits rolling in behind her, as the background faded to black, maybe a laugh track and some upbeat music. Kannix didn't have to stand for this shit, to be reprimanded and talked down to. Was it really all just for Rein, the one person who Kannix might have a chance of having a lasting.... something. Something! Something that would fill in the dark void in her already dark life. A purpose of some kind? Or was it because of a sense of obligation? Wen-bitch was a bitch but she didn't do anything wrong - nothing worse than what Kannix would have done on any other day. Or was it... out of pure lunacy?

"Sean Rosier? I'd sure like to get to know him more now," followed by a short burst of cackling laughter, high-pitched and erratic with breaths and thigh-slapping. She inhaled through her teeth to collect herself. "I might just be interested after all." I'm losing my fucking mind. "Oh, and I'm here for Rein." Kannix followed that one up with her head now rested on his shoulder. So bony, so hard. No meat at all. Her plump cheeks made a comfortable pillow.

After all, what else could Kannix expect from Rein after such an act? The boy wasn't ready for her to get this comfortable with him. Too intimidate for someone he met only yesterday. He couldn't help going rigid when she put her head on his shoulder, and the stares from Kumiko and Rori only made him more determined for the ground beneath his feet to swallow him this instant. He couldn't even form the words on his lips and simply shook his head, denying whatever misunderstandings the other two ladies might have about his relationship with Kannix.

While Kannix was undergoing a slight mental breakdown, Kumiko had already reached for the pistol in her purse. She had it halfway out, but when Kannix calmed down, she pushed it back down. With a smile. "Ahhhhh... young love." Kumiko said underneath her breath. But, she understood that things like thinking, and words... were probably not this girl's specialty. And that was a problem when she needed an even head like ehhh... her eyes drifted from one member of the group to the other. This boy Rein! Or bird-girl! Not Kannix. No offense to her, but she was literally cackling like the Joker a few minutes ago. "Okay, you should stick with me then over here, in case it gets ugly." Kumiko said to Kannix, then turned her attention to the other kids.

"...You're gonna have to do this yourself, though," Kumiko started off. "If that boy sees me, this isn't going to end well. Trust me."

"Sure thing!" Rori turned to look at Rein. "Any plans? Should we just hop over there and start talking to them?" Rori knew that they had to do something, but them turning up could just make things turn from bad to worse. "I'm prepared to jump over the wall without a plan, but having one seems like a better idea."

Rein was quick to turn down Rori's suggestion. "Jumping over the wall and dashing to their aid without a plan is a bad idea indeed. They would recognize us from just now when Kumiko ordered us to stall their time, remember? It will only make this even more complicated."

He thought back about his impressions of Wendy and Rowan so far. If his deductions were right... there wasn't really a need to act so rashly. Even if they continued to be secretive about their connection with the Founding Family incident, Rein could still tell that those two were probably used to this kind of sticky situations. Permitting himself a shadow of a smile at the thought, he spoke again, "I don't think we need to worry too much about them, but I don't mind using my ability to keep an eye on them just in case."

Wendy suddenly hopped over the fence, and sighed. "Well... that could have gone better," She shrugged, "But I managed to talk things down with Rowan... perhaps we should all head inside and talk to her?" She paused for a moment. "She knows you guys are with me, so might as well go... because she might know something."

"Think I'll stay in the van," Kumiko said, before she leaned close to her daughter, and whispered something in her ear. Something that made her eyes go wide, as she looked back. Kumiko hunched forward, and put a hand on her hip like an old woman. "My old hips can't take this anymore! Just tell me what she knows in the van."

Wendy nodded her head as she looked at everyone else.

"Yeah, sure, I'll come," Rori replied, sheepishly rubbing the back of their head. "Though I may have to apologise for trying to push a religion I don't believe onto them..."

"I think it's alright," Rein tried to reassure Rori, but pulled back his hand instead of giving the bird girl a pat on her shoulder (that was blocked by her wings). "Since Wendy is here, we can assume that things have calmed down for now... and they would've probably figured out that we're just distractions."

---

Well, even though these bastards had broken into Penny's house, at the behest of Daniel she was making peace with them. Even though she should have been shoving fence posts up each and every one of their assholes, they knew something.

That something had better been useful, or these fuckwits were gone. Out of here. Somewhere else they could jerk each other off.

"Okay, make yourselves at home," Penny said, as she gestured at the sofas, in the most polite tone she could muster. Well, that was what Daniel would do, right? He was the most polite motherfucker in the world. But, as Wendy sat down, Penny walked over to her, knelt over with her hands on her knees, and said,

"...Give me back my book please."

"Oh..." Wendy awkwardly scratched the back of her neck, and reached into her satchel, and handed her the "second edition" of the book. "Sorry about breaking into your house; we just had absolutely no lead-"

"Don't care," Penny answered as she snatched the book back, and quickly shifted through the pages. "We started at the beginning, so I don't give a shit." She shrugged.

Wendy just shrugged, "So, I guess you have a lot of questions, so where do we start?"

"Where did you get that book from?" Penny asked, pointing at the "first edition" Wendy owned, "Last I checked, that was property of Founding Faggots, so..."

"My thoughts exactly," Kannix chimed in, but under her breath, having squeezed herself into the tiniest crevice in the sofa, before crawling up instead to sit on its arm. Rori, from where they were on a sofa with their wings loosely circled around to the front of their body so that they could actually sit somewhat normally, just about heard what Kannix said under her breath. They chose to ignore it with just a glance and just listen in silently, with their head turning to switch their gaze from the three who were talking.

"We took it from them." Rowan bluntly said, folding his arms. The others had, for the most part, taken their seats, but he'd instead chosen to remain standing beside Wendy's couch, still keeping a suspicious eye on Penny. The other one, Daniel, seemed okay, but he had his reservations about her, even though they had been the ones breaking into her place.

"Well, no shit, it's not like they would give it to you," Penny rolled her eyes at Rowan. "The question is how in the hell you managed to get it from one of the biggest circlejerks ever to face the Earth...?"

Daniel chose to stand up near Penny, and crossed his arms, for a moment as he listened to the conversation. He was curious as to how they got their hands on it, too. Even though, he knew it was probably a bad idea to press them on it. As far as Daniel could tell, they couldn't have been working for the Family - far too young to be useful to the likes of Blake and the others. Nor could they have been Cultivators... he would know.

Of course, Wendy was getting pressed on her business with the Founding Family. Ugh. Why can't everyone take a hint, and fuck off. Rowan's answer should have covered it, but... as it turned out, it may have been causing some animosity among her group. Kannix was the most obvious, but what about Reinald? Even if he didn't vocalize it, he could still have his doubts and they could never know! Then, for a moment, Rowan shot a look towards her, as though he was waiting for her approval to go ahead and share some of the finer details of what had happened.

"...Go ahead, Rowan." Wendy sighed, "We have nothing to hide, but a lot to show."

Nodding, Rowan began, "Remember all that shit that happened down here a few years ago? Shootings, murder sprees, riots?"

"Who doesn't?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, well we were in that. Some friends of ours were taken by those assholes, kidnapped - except us," he gestured towards Wendy, then himself, "So went to get them back. Met a few of those assholes in the process, like that psycho, Ezekiel and the other dickhead who was in charge, Blake."

Hearing Blake's name made Daniel cringe, before he took a moment to sigh. He kept his mouth shut only because he was unsure of how they would react to him.

"Well..." Wendy wondered if she should speak up. "One of those 'friends' was my older sister."

Rowan shot her another look at Diana's mention, a little unsure of how to proceed, before eventually continuing. "We broke into their place under Silver Hills, found all kinds of screwed up stuff - bodies, organs, other things and some kind of lab, like out of one of those stupid horror movies. I mean, they had the fucking head of that crazy Devil bitch who went and trashed Verthaven on ice, it was fuckin' messed up. And they had some kind of fucked up mind-control going on. That's how they got...." He trailed off for a moment, stopping himself - it seemed wrong to mention the truth about Diana without Wendy's approval.

Wendy raised her hand, figuring that it'd be best if she explained this herself. 'My sister was put under their mind control, and... enslaved by that bastard, Blake." She shook her head, as she had to try to contain herself. "We... did everything we could to save her, but in the end... I couldn't."

"It wasn't your fault, Wen'... those assholes fed her to their machine. Not you." Yet again, Rowan was blunt and to the point.

The room was silent for a few moments.

Kannix was the first to the break the silence. Her punches to Rowan and Wendy's shoulders were a bit too hard, but they are in good intention. Their annoyed expressions met Kannix's big, watery eyes.

"I'm sorry," a sincerity in her tone she seldom uses. It was hard for her too. Fuck the bad dudes.

Rein didn't react, nor gave his condolences to Wendy - he was too occupied fighting down his own emotions. Wendy's tale reminded him a little of his own past.

The time when he wasn't 'Reinald Young'... when he was still Naoki Yagami.

He could understand why Wendy and Rowan wanted to keep mum about their history with the Founding Family. Even now, those two probably still found it difficult to recount the tragedies they had encountered when crossing paths with those madmen.

"...That's rough, buddy." Penny said, probably unsure of what to say.

"When we were escaping, we took these books," Wendy answered, before she looked at everyone. "Now, does that clear everything up for you all?" She near-hissed, but stopped herself when she realized her passive aggression. She turned her head towards Penny, and raised an eyebrow.

"Now that's out of the way, I have a question for you."

Penny just crossed her legs, and folded hands, and shrugged as she leaned back.

"Shoot."

"Just who are you?" Wendy asked.

That was when Penny burst into laughter, and slowly came to a stop, before she looked at Wendy with a wide grin, and said, "C'mon now, you haven't even guessed yet?" She shrugged as she gave Wendy a dumb look. "God, babies can piece things together faster than you..."

Wendy narrowed her eyes, as Penny continued.

"Penny-"

"Penelope." Daniel chimed in, half-smirking.

"Nobody calls me that... except for my mom - but that's besides the point," Penny sneered at Daniel for a moment, before she did the same to Wendy. "Penny. Fuckin' Rosier."

"Wait, you're his-"

"Yes," Penny said. "Daughter... Want me to fuckin' spell it out for you?"

"Wait..." Wendy thought out loud, utterly caught off guard that Sean Rosier had a daughter. "The notes never mentioned that he had a daughter?"

Penny rolled her eyes up into her head. "That's because the notes were meant for me, dipshit." She groaned.

"Hey, you better watch who you're talking to like that." Wendy answered, clenching the side of the sofa.

"Well, maybe if you learned to catch onto things, I wouldn't hurt your wittl-"

"Apologies for Penelope's behavior," Daniel cut off this exchange before it got out of hand. "She normally isn't like this."

"... Now you sound like my fuckin' butler." Penny said to herself. Maybe she should follow Daniel's advice and try to be "nice." She sighed as she looked over to them. "Okay, sorry, but do you guys want anything to drink?" Then she turned to Daniel with a devilish grin. "Daniel will get it for you."

He rolled his eyes at her, and sighed. "Alright..."

"But, as I was saying..." Penny answered, "Yeah, he's my dad, and wrote these books for me... so technically, they're my property, so I'll be taking them back..."

"Not so fast," Rowan interjected, containing his irritation towards the girl and her attitude, "We spilt blood getting our half of the notes and we're not just handing them over without anything to show for it."

Penny raised an eyebrow, and crossed her arms, as she looked at the boy. How could a human being have been this arrogant? "And I appreciate that, I really fuckin' do," Penny started off, "But, I don't know what rules you were taught in your dirty ass trailer park."

Penny snarled at Rowan, and nearly hopped up, but stayed down. She jabbed a thumb to her chest, "But, they're my property. How many times do I have to repeat that?"

"Well, if it wasn't for us, it'd be buried under a ton of rubble!" Wendy retorted. "So you have to pay credit where it's due, Penny."

Penny almost gave Daniel a migraine. Her inability to work with people is... astonishing. At this rate she would only push away help that was standing right in front of her. It seemed that Daniel had to be the voice of reason yet again. "Actually, far as I can tell, they were never written for you, Penelope," Daniel answered with a shrug, as he sat down next to Penny. "They were written by Sean, for him to keep track of. Trust me, I read it thoroughly as you did."

"Sssshut up, Daniel," Penny said, as Daniel was unraveling her bluff. She leaned in, and whispered to him, "Whose side are you on, Daniel? Do you want these mongoloids having the book?" That last remark earned her a sharp look from Rowan.

"What I'm trying to say is, you keep putting up walls unnecessarily," Daniel told her, before he faced the entire group "But if trust is an issue; I have a solution." Daniel raised a finger up into the air, as he caught everyone's attention.

"... What if we merely trade books with each other?" Daniel answered. "Penny gets your book, and you get Penny's book."

"Um... " Wendy was reluctant... but she already came up with a perfect solution to the problem! "Okay." She nodded her head.

"Besides, do you seriously think we'd be here if we were fucking stupid?" Rowan asked, shoulders raised, "Whatever history you've got with those assholes, we dealt with the same shit."

"Either way," Wendy started off, giving Penny a similar sharp look, "I'm not going to stop anytime soon. Even if you take the book from us, I'll find a way."

She crossed her arms, and narrowed her eyes behind those glasses. "And when I find a way, I don't think it's even possible to avoid running into you again."

"Which means, maybe we should end these stupid hostilities," Daniel rolled his eyes up into his head. "If we all put our minds together, we can all accomplish great things... and remember Penny..." He leaned in close to her.

"You're in the same boat as them."

That was true... while she didn't really understand Wendy's weird hard on for her father's research notes, but maybe, maybe, this wouldn't have ended horribly. A band of misfits and freaks of varying levels of usefulness had literally appeared right at her door! "Alright, guys... I'm sorry," She said, almost sounding a bit sarcastic, but it was genuine in her heart. "I've just been a little stressed myself looking for him... and I guess we can do a partnership."

"... Well, what does everyone else think?" Wendy quickly asked the group... but mainly directed her question at Rowan.

"Alright," he began, scratching at his chin, "Sure, that works. But have we got any real plans on what to do next?"

"No problems here," Rori chimed in from where they'd been sitting silently listening. "As long as I'm not called a freak again." They weren't being particularly serious then - they knew they'd been called that under a different circumstance.

Kannix jabbed Rein's side. His response was her response. She maintained her look of cool - let them decide.

"I am fine with this." Reinald said.

Well, the wack pack was going to be working with her... she could barely contain all of her fucking excitement. First thing's first, she might as well agree to this gay trade, even both are her property (a concept these chucklefucks barely understand). Either way, she got the book delivered right to her doorstep! Trading one book she had since the dawn of fucking time for a new one seemed like an acceptable compromise. First, Penny laid the book on the table, and Wendy took the hint and put the other book on the table. One girl took the first edition that was lost to her, and the other took the second edition that was brand new.

"Alright, put em' there," Penny said, as she extended her hand... with a forced smile that creeped Wendy out a bit. But, she took Penny's hand and shook.

"... Now, get out my house."

---

Oakdell Harbor, White Coast_

---

---

How annoying.

Sovereign cut his losses during the firefight with Quentin because he got a tad... sidetracked. He wanted that damn arm, and the bastards escaped without it. The main problem was that those damn Russians killed his tech somehow. If they hadn't, he could had just called some grunts to jump on top of him while he dealt with the Russians.

The black armored man went back to the main cargo deck... they had only a few options to escape, but how come he couldn't track them? They were crafty, taking advantage of the lack of radio communication. Or else ZODIAC would had been right on top of them. They timed it well, because they were able to escape long before his tech came back online.

He groaned, as he pressed the button on the side of his head. The way he saw it, it was better to cut his losses. The longer he stay here, the heavier the RAVEN presence became, and... it was just stupid to overstay his welcome.

"ZODIAC, withdraw from the area," Sovereign ordered his army. "Foundation Woman... activate the clean up protocol."

At that moment, every member of ZODIAC suddenly stopped fighting as swirling blue portals appeared behind them, and the masked combatants escaped into them. However, there were many that were left behind... and with one press of a button, the soldiers dissolved into a strange green liquid as an acid that was implanted into their bodies activated. Rendering any evidence as to who the ZODIAC soldiers were completely useless.

A portal appeared for Sovereign, and he groaned, stepping in the portal. He meant what he said to Quentin. There was a threat out there that made this confrontation look like a petty squabble. While the world may see ZODIAC as monsters... they were the best bet when it came to humanity's survival. He looked through the portal as it closed.

Let the world fear them all... it was all means to an end.

---

???

When Sovereign stepped through the portal, he appeared in the secret base that operated as the ZODIAC base of operations. Along with the rest of the ZODIAC soldiers, whom retreated into the darkness of the base as Sovereign went through the base straight to the command center. A massive room with several computer screens all around, and the Foundation Woman sitting in the center of all these terminals... watching a movie with some icecream.

Sovereign rolled his eyes as he reached up for his helmet, and pulled a few locks, and pulled off his helmet. Revealing his hellish face. Sovereign, underneath all that armor, was vaguely human at best. The man had many tiny eyes covering the left side of his face, while he had a large, freakish, red eye on the other. His mouth was full of sharp teeth, and the skin around his cheeks had eroded to reveal even more of the monstrous man's teeth.

He held his helmet underneath his arm as he walked over to the Foundation Woman, and she turned around in her ear. "Oh, Abel, back so soon?" She said in a coy tone as she ate some icecream. "You took so long, I thought I'd get to watching this."

She laughed.

"Did you get that errand done...?"

"We were unable to recover the arm," Abel answered, shaking his head.

"Hmmm... there was a fifty-percent chance of success," The Foundation Woman answered as she stopped, holding her spoon in the air. "Which was high enough for us to be worth investing in, but low enough that I wasn't counting on it"

"Then just why did we do it?" Abel narrowed his 'primary' eyes, as he spoke in irritation. "Weren't you the one who said we were running low on resources?" He clenched his fist.

"I did, if we play our cards right, by next year we'll be out of guns, money, and means to produce new models," The Foundation Woman shrugged as she nonchalantly said, "But, if we play our cards really right, there will be no need for ZODIAC."

Then she pivoted in the chair yet again, as she continued in her nonchalant tone.

"Find the Sui generis code, and all our problems will stop before it even starts."

Abel knew that was a foolish line of thought. If she was so confident that they would find it, then why risk getting the Devil's arm? Even though the odds were 'so low she wasn't counting on it.' He walked over to the Foundation Woman, and put his massive mitt of a hand on her shoulder.

"... You fear what is going happen, Tabitha." Abel said.

Tabitha sighed, as she said, "I don't have much choice but to be afraid when..." She shook her head. "... When the chance of finding the Sui generis code is around ten percent, so we need some other options here."

Abel understood. "The other option being producing a model with the Devil's arm?" He looked at her, and asked. "That would be... risky. And we'd be held accountable if it goes out of control..."

"With a ninety-five percent chance that all life on Earth will perish by the end of the year," Tabitha started off. "Everything is a valid option."

Abel grinned, as he took a step back from Tabitha.

"So, you have a plan?" Abel crossed his arms.

"Well, the odds of us recovering the arm have just gone up by thirty percent... so let's keep an eye on Baybridge, shall we?" Tabitha went back to typing away at the computer. "Far as we can tell, the sale is still ongoing. Just pushed back."

Tabitha looked at Abel coyly.

"Only problem is that they'll be making more concealed movements, but they're thugs at the end of the day," Tabitha added. "They're still only interested in chasing a penny, so it doesn't matter how sneaky they are..."

She narrowed her eyes as she pushed a button, and a map of Baybridge appeared on screen.

"... We'll have that arm in the end."

---

Oakdell Harbor, White Coast_

---

---

Meifeng hated leaving it to Quentin, but they were pinned down from all directions by ZODIAC. God, at this point, someone appearing out of nowhere was standard procedure. She rolled her eyes up into her head, as she hit cover. Part of Meifeng wanted the good old days when she was only fighting the Allegiance, or the Pure. Those days were long gone.

She slammed her back against a shipping crate, as she peeked around it for a moment. A lot of ZODIAC soldiers with their guns aimed at her team. Great. She returned fire, as her eyes laid upon Francis whom had activated his psychic-shell, and was tanking for another downed Agent. Every bullet that hit him either bounced off, or merely scraped his armor. Once the agent was out of harm's way, Francis dove back behind cover. Maybe Meifeng should change her opinion of the Agent.

... The blue swirling portals appeared out of nowhere, and Meifeng knew what was going on; ZODIAC was pulling out. The question was why. Either got the arm, or they suffered far too many loses. Hopefully, it wasn't the former, because who knows what in the hell those ZODIAC bastards are even after.

But, like hell she was going to let them leave without a fight. She dove out, and sprayed the portal with as many bullets this damn gun had left... only killing one of them before the portal closed. She slammed her foot onto the ground, and grit her teeth.

"Counterpoint here, the package is gone, Sovereign escaped without it."

Thankfully... Sovereign didn't get away with the Devil's arm, but that meant the Russians escaped with it. She shook her head. They banked so much.

"Rogue Wave here," Meifeng spoke into comms. "How is the situation looking?"

"ZODIAC pulled out of the area," One of the mission control stated, "And the mobsters we were after have escaped in the panic as well. Maximilian is ordering a full search of the area with all agents."

"Good grief..." Meifeng shook her head, as she spoke to herself. "Copy that, I'll get started."

Well, the situation could had gotten a lot worse. Good thing it didn't!

---

RAVEN/DOVE Joint West Coast Headquarters, White Coast_

It was awkwardly silent in the meeting room, as Maximilian Cornell sat at the end of table with his hands folded over the table. He stared at the table, and sighed. "Okay, ZODIAC's interest complicates things...." He trailed off. "However, this changes nothing, we have to keep ZODIAC from getting the arm."

"Only problem is that they're going to be far more careful, far more deliberate," Dana said, compounding his point, as she rolled forward. "They may go off the grid and never come off, if they haven't discarded the arm." She shrugged.

"Well, there's an enormous price on the Devil's arm..." Francis spoke slowly in contrast to his usual quick, spastic, manner of speech. "So much, I doubt they would pass up on the cash."

When he spoke, he caught the attention of everyone. He knew it would be silly to just forget about the arm, when it had so much potential destructive power. They based the beast off the Devil, after all. He nodded his head.

"This just means the stakes have been raised by a wide margin," Maximilian said. "And that means we have to put a lot more effort into this."

"You don't say," Quentin remarked, perhaps wearied at having heard this before, "We're not oblivious to the fact, Max."

"All we can do is keep searching," Francis answered. "This is a top priority for my team."

Maximilian nodded his head. "I have the utmost faith in you Agent Jean-Pierre," Maximilian started off. "I have one last thing to note."

He started off, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

"This mission? Top secret. Far as the press is concerned; we were assisting the BPD in dispatching the Russian mafia, and ZODIAC got into the mix. Are we clear?"

"Understood, sir." Francis replied.

"Yes, sir..." Meifeng said, dragging out that last R out of exhaustion.

"Crystal." Quentin spoke last, equally tired by the experience.

"Good, then you are all dismissed."

---

Goooood grief, Meifeng could use a nice long hot shower, and some ice cream after that operation. Probably a good twenty Agents died in one operation... and that was the sad reality of RAVEN. The mortality rate of qualified RAVENS far outpaced recruitment. Even if they funneled agents from other cities, it only meant that the new recruits had to soldier a lot more. The sad reality of being a RAVEN for so long, the problems become more and more apparent until you can't ignore it anymore. Part of Meifeng wanted it all to end, but she can't give it up at this point... she just wished she had Cindy around to make things easier. Meifeng walked down the hallway.

"... Oh, Meifeng," She heard the voice of Dana Alcott behind her, she turned around to face the woman in a wheelchair, and raised an eyebrow. She rolled forward, and stopped, putting her hands on her laps. "There was something I wanted to investigate, can you um... push me?"

Well, while Meifeng wasn't on good terms with Maximilian at the moment, she definitely didn't have anything against his partner. She shrugged, saying, "Sure." Before she got behind Dana and proceeded to push her. "Where do you need to go?"

"Oh, the observation cell..." Dana said, and with a shrug, Meifeng pushed Dana all the way to the elevator. Meifeng been to the observation cells plenty of times. It was around the bottom-floor, in the research wing. Usually they don't use them unless...

... Ooooh boy.

When they made it to the observation cells... Meifeng rolled Dana into a small observation deck that overlooked a white room with a hideous beast inside of it. Comprised of horrible tumors... he was just running at the walls, enraged, ramming them. Meifeng could hear it's yells, and could only shudder. That had to be a Metahuman. Dana quickly scrolled over to a small terminal and pressed a few buttons, and a hologram projection appeared.

"Damien Shackelford," Dana first read his name out loud, as she read the rest of the file... and Meifeng looked over her shoulder at it.

"Shit," Meifeng said, "He tore up the Golden Throne?" Me and Cindy used to go there...

"It appears so... a few people got hurt," Dana answered, "He was distracted by some Metahumans... but, honestly..." She trailed off.

"Honestleeee...?" Meifeng repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"They should have just evacuated the area and let him take his rage out on the club." Dana sighed. "This looks like another manifestation event gone wrong... the press is going to love this one." She said, defeated.

"Well, these things happen," Meifeng shrugged as she leaned up against the wall. "We have no choice but to deal with it."

"There was a few things I wanted you to do since you're here," Dana turned towards Meifeng. "Can you go talk to a few people for me? We're a little short staffed, and... a big name like yourself might help ease things up."

"And who are these people, and where are they?"

"Jackson Drake, and Lihn Phan, they're in the questioning room," Dana trailed off, before exploding with energy when another thought came to mind. "Oh! And a DOVE intern reported the whole thing to RAVEN, Andrea Pasternack. I'll invite her into the room now so she can give her side of the story."

With a quick press of a button, Dana looked to the door - a little green light should've glowed on the other side - and on cue, the door was opened by a geared-up RAVEN agent escorting the young blonde woman through. Her hair was slightly disheveled and although she stepped inside the room with purpose, greeting the pair of agents with a humbled nod, her face betrayed with the weary expression of a woman who might rather be sleeping. Only a short while ago did she answer a call from work just as she got home from dropping off Aaron. Still, Andrea entered the room bracing herself for whatever waited for her. Whatever she might have been feeling before, they had since been waylaid as the lump that was sitting at the base of her throat leaped up at the sight of the abomination behind the glass. There was no presence of mind in that thing, its thoughts an emptied void. There was only feeling; it emanated a suffocating presence of craving, blind rage, and burning pain. Andrea's hand clasped over her mouth, drawing back slightly just to comment, "my God."

This was the girl who delivered the notes about the fair during the meeting yesterday. Huh? Seemed like she got around alright. Andrea seemed to be shocked by something. Meifeng took a few steps forward, but kept her arms crossed. "Yeah, sad ain't it?" Meifeng asked, "But, you just gotta be prepared for this kind of stuff."

"So?" Dana turned towards Andrea. "What exactly happened at the Golden Throne?"

"To be perfectly candid, miss... I haven't the faintest clue." Andrea admitted. She could feel the doubt and speculation coming from them, but before they could interject, Andrea was sure to give her what little she had from her side of the story. "I was studying at the White Elephant just down the road when I felt something was wrong --" she started, then raised a finger pointing toward her head and the luminosity of her eyes, "cerebral -- and I had found a young man having a panic attack so bad he could barely breathe. I calmed him down, but..."

Andrea looked past the glass to steal another gaze at the grotesque-looking creature. That longer she looked, however, the stronger of an itch she had that was telling her something wasn't right about this. "He had only just run away, so the memory was fresh in his mind."

Dana nodded her head, "You did the right thing, Andrea." She commended the DOVE, even though she didn't get an answer from her. She'd definitely get an answer from the two "heroes" that dove into the fray. Andrea dipped her head in modest thanks.

"It's probably a better idea that you didn't charge in head first and try to play hero," Meifeng added, putting her hands on her hips, "Unlike two certain individuals." She said with a roll of her eyes.

While they were talking, Dana received word that they had finished the DNA analysis on Damien. She quickly went back over to the terminal, and typed on the keyboard for a moment. Before a complex diagram of a chemical formula appeared before her - popping off the screen like a hologram - before Dana rolled back a second to analyze it herself. It was stated to be heavily in the victim's blood.

"Yeah, well... all I could do is bring the man home safely. We can't all be like you, Ms. Captain Zhao." Andrea mused in response. She felt rather humbled speaking before a breathing legend - though a penchant for trouble the RAVEN might have. In the midst of of the conversation, whatever Dana was doing in the background had caught her eye. Moments after the diagram had appeared, after Andrea finally realized what it was, chills shot up her spine and her tired eyes widened as though she were staring into headlights. Her mouth fell slightly agape. "Oh no... no, you've got to be kidding me..."

"What is it?" Meifeng asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Andrea hurried up to the panel next to where Dana was sitting in her chair, simultaneously pulling out her phone. With a few swipes of her screen she searched through the files on her phone, and when she finally found what she was looking for, she held the phone up beside the hologram image of the chemical formula. While the image conjured by RAVEN's technology displayed a far more complicated sequence, the image on Andrea's phone displayed a formula that was identical to a repeating pattern the hologram had displayed. She nearly dropped her phone, but now she keep a keen eye trained on the abomination below. "It's... it's Happiness." Andrea muttered. "I never imagined it would... do anything like this."

Meifeng just looked at Andrea. Wait, she thinks Happiness did this? That was something that Meifeng found hard to swallow. "There's no way a drug kids take to go clubbing could do this," Meifeng started off. "In case you haven't realized it, his metahuman energy is active."

"I trust you came to that conclusion after months of research?" Andrea asked, sounding just as skeptical of Meifeng as she did of her. She sighed as she did some more things on her phone, trying to find the right documents in her Dropbox - she felt so tired of people doubting her all the time. It wouldn't be so bad if the people doubting her had done their studying. As it was, she had compiled the most comprehensive collection of notes on Happiness that she was aware of. She continued, "I don't know all the details. There's still some stuff about the drug no one knows about, but look: their tissue is saturated with it. Then look at the formula: lots of glucose to feed these common cancer proteins - TP53, HER2... and there, a missing block in the formula. So there's obviously something in Happiness that we've never seen before."

"Months of research?" Meifeng asked, narrowing her eyes at Andrea as she took a step forward at the intern. She certainly knew her stuff, but Meifeng still wasn't convinced. Even if Happiness caused cancer, or tumor growth, as she said, there was just no way it could cause a mutation this extreme, and in such a short period of time. "Many Metahumans have manifested while tweaking. And, I find it hard to believe that a little pink pill turned a college kid into that in the span of five minutes, and we haven't gotten on it yet."

Then she took a step forward, until she was face to face with Andrea, "And I'm sorry to pull this card, but I find it hard to believe an intern when I've been seeing this happen for years now."

Andrea closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to keep her composure. Meifeng had clearly hit a nerve in her, but she looked back at the captain with both of her hands gripping her phone in front of her legs. She could tell what she was thinking and feeling right now, and the captain wasn't meaning to offend her, but being blown off still bothered her. "Captain," she began softly, "as I understand it, you've been through a lot. Verthaven, Prague, even here in Baybridge... why is this so hard to believe? Is a chemical weapon harder to believe than, I don't know, the Devil? Overloading?"

"Because of those same incidents," Meifeng hissed, as Andrea comparing this to the Devil struck a nerve, too, "I can't say I haven't seen shit like this before, or met people who would do it."

She sighed, before she suddenly pointed at Damien, "But, things that do that come in a glowing vial, not a pill."

Andrea was looked down at her feet for a moment, looking upset for a moment, but instead began playing with her lip a little bit. She glanced back up looking thoughtful and curious. "...Maybe it's both."

The problem presented here was experience. Meifeng knew this upstart never fought on the frontlines against the likes of the Hands of Science, or the Founding Family, but understood that. She wouldn't recommend that for anybody. But, the difference was that Meifeng had a good idea of the kind of things those madmen would create. In the end, she still found it hard to say this whole incident was anything more than a manifestation event gone wrong.

"I just find it hard to believe a drug made in some dealer's bas-"

"Meifeng, Andrea..." Dana interrupted the discussion. "I think this has gone on long enough... Meifeng, the people I wanted you to talk to are in the questioning room."

Both of them looked at Dana for a moment, and Meifeng realized that she should leave this alone. Andrea, however, was looking antsy and impatient. The former sighed, as she realized she got a bit too passionate over an intern's silly conspiracy theory. "Alright." Meifeng left the room, as Dana turned towards Andrea.

"I will have a talk with Maximilian and Deborah, then we'll look into this," Dana said, "I can't say anyone is wrong until we prove it."

"Ms. Alcott," Andrea urged, "the pill has a shell of raffinose in the center. It can only be broken down by α-GAL enzymes. Obviously the glowing vial argument is inherently flawed, but..."

But, even wheelchair bound, Dana stood her ground. "We'll look into it," Dana repeated.

The disappointed intern turned around and put away her phone back into her pocket and started walking out the door. As she opened it, however, she paused. Looking back at Dana, she pulled out piece of pocket lint and dropped it, watching it flutter down to the floor. "I could explain how gravity caused it to fall, but what do I know? I'm just an intern."

With that, she closed the door behind her... just to open it up again real quick and pick up the lint she had deliberately dropped and closed the door once more to finally leave for good this time. Hopefully she wouldn't get anymore calls tonight and finally get a chance to go to bed once she gets home.

---

In the questioning room sat Jackson Drake, and Lihn Phan. It was hard to make it a welcome environment since they weren't in trouble (a rare case these days, yeah). They were placed side by side at a table, as Meifeng opened the door with a clipboard and pencil. She quickly sat down, and twirled the pencil with her fingers. She put her feet up on the table.

"Heey, I'm Meifeng Zhao, captain in RAVEN," She first introduced herself. "I'm not going to beat around the bush here, can you two tell me what happened at the Golden Throne?"

As Jackson scratched his head, he didn't know what to tell Captain Zhao because he didn't know how to describe it himself. After taking a few moments to think about it, Jackson simply shrugged. "Okay, so there I was feeling the groove and getting jiggy with it, right? And I was about this close —" Jackson brought his right index finger and thumb up, and they were an inch apart "— from scoring from this hot latina, but nooo!" Jackson flailed dramatically. "Instead of that, Lady Fate threw some guy undergoing a rather unfortunate transformation, and turning into some abomination-looking freak. I swear to all that is holy, Meifeng Zhao, he looked like some kind of Tumor Man." A light bulb went off in Jackson's head. "That's what you should call..whatever form he took: Tumor Man. I'm telling you that you won't regret it." Jackson was so sure that he nodded to himself.

"He's an actual human being, you know," Meifeng raised an eyebrow at the man. "His name is Damien Shackelford, not some stupid Ninja turtle named." She hissed at how disrespectful the man was with his blight. He clearly wasn't taking this seriously. Or had been hitting the drinks (or LSD) a little too hard. She questioned how useful his testimony was, so she merely shrugged and said, "Understood." Before she turned to Lihn... someone she recognized as one of her mother's friends.

Lihn smiled slightly at Meifeng, who she recognized from having met a few years ago. However she wasn't going to bring that up - even they weren't here to be questioning she doubted mentioning the RAVEN agent's mother would be a sensible or nice thing to do. "I didn't actually see the transformation," Lihn added when Jackson was done with his rather theatrical explanation of the beginning of what had happened. "But I felt it's anger. I'm an empath, though I'm sure you've already got that information. It's anger is quite obvious to most people anyway, but it was overwhelming for me and a reason why I didn't leave straight away." She paused, glancing at Jackson. "It seemed to be fuelled by it's anger, and I figured I could help prevent him from dying by calming it down."

Meifeng was very familiar with Lihn's empath ability. It seemed she did the right thing trying to keep this other idiot alive while he played hero - speaking of which, she had to question something.

"So, uh, why exactly did you stay behind and fight him?" Meifeng asked.

"Ya know, I never thought to ask myself that, Captain." Jackson would actually take a moment or so to think about it. Why had he stayed behind? Well, apart from he being the only person that would be able to hold him off until the others got to safety, he couldn't think of another reason. Confirming it mentally, Jackson looked to the Captain. "I didn't really think about it. In my gut, I knew that I was the only one standing between the clubbers and...Damien. I felt like it was my job to do something so they could get to safety." Jackson paused briefly, letting out a small breath. "I normally act without thinking. Sometimes it gets me into trouble with the wrong people, sometimes it puts my body on the line. But, ya know, since we're sitting here and not dead, I think what I did was the right choice. Of course," Jackson placed a hand on Lihn shoulder, "without this girl right here, I'd probably be dead and there would be an enraged guy tearing apart the town, possibly even killing us all." Jackson said, looking to both of the females. "But hey, that didn't happen, so all is kosher."

Acting like thinking will get you killed some day. Meifeng thought to herself. It was heroic yeah, but Jackson here should have left while he had the chance. However, she didn't feel the need to shoot him down, and repeat the same thing over and over again. "I don't think it was that serious," She said in response to Damien tearing up the town. "But, next time, leave it to the professionals..."

Lihn raised an eyebrow at Jackson when he put a hand on her shoulder, but otherwise her expression was neutral. "I only stayed because I couldn't just stand by and let someone die. If no one had stayed behind to fight it I would have left with everyone else and let RAVEN take care of it." Though she was sure that was a bit of a given. Lihn had a conscience but she wasn't a hero. "Is there anything else you need to know from us?"

It was obvious that there wasn't much more to get out of the two. Once RAVEN went over the security cameras, they'd probably figure out a lot more from them than Jackson's and Lihn's accounts. She shook her head. "Nothing more is needed from you, you are free to go home," Meifeng said to them both, before she turned to Jackson. "Stay off that leg, and more importantly; stay out of trouble."

But, there was something she wanted from Lihn, "Oh, uh, but can you stick around for a moment? I'd like to have a word with you.. in private."

"I can do that," Lihn responded somewhat curiously. "I don't have anywhere to be." That she added with a slight smile.

Jackson knew when he wasn't wanted, so he shrugged. "You ladies have fun doing...whatever it is y'all gonna do." Jackson would say, making his way out of the room - limping, mind you - as he ventured forth home. Or at least hailing a taxi so he could start the journey back to his crappy apartment.

"Come with me, then." Meifeng said, as she hopped up, and gestured for Lihn to follow her.

---

Meifeng stopped in a hallway out of sight, and leaned up against the wall. She sighed as she wondered how to start this conversation. "So, uh, aside from that," She awkwardly started off, and looked at Lihn, "I know we probably aren't the closest, but I remember you from a few years ago." She explained, "How have you been? How is your little girl?" Who's name Meifeng forgot!

"I've been doing well," Lihn smiled, rubbing the back of her neck thoughtfully. It had been a while since she last met, and talked to Meifeng, but she didn't have any bad impressions of her. "Busy, juggling work and Thanh. And she's also doing well... though she's grown up to be a lot more boisterous than I expected would happen in the space of a few years." Not to mention how her daughter's powers had developed. "How have you been doing? Very busy as a RAVEN captain, I imagine."

It was great hearing about Thanh (That's her name!), and how Lihn was doing good. She probably was doing easier than Meifeng at the moment. She crossed her arms, as she said, "I've been, well, rough lately." Meifeng started off. "RAVEN... I hate to say it, but RAVEN just isn't what it used to be."

She stepped off the wall, and put a hand on her hip, "After it turned out a lot more RAVENS were taking checks from the Family than we thought, I find it hard to trust anyone these days... and the amount of competent agents we have outweighs the threats," She shrugged.

Lihn nodded slightly, understanding what Meifeng was saying - and how difficult that would be for someone who had been a member of RAVEN for a long time.

"Maybe I'm just disillusioned after my best friend disappeared, and she di-" Meifeng quickly caught her tongue, as she was unsure whether or not Lihua's fate was a subject she wanted to touch on. But, either way, there was no way Lihn couldn't have known what happened. "Do you... you know what happened to Lihua, right?"

"I don't know the specifics but yes, I know what happened," Lihn replied calmly, though there was definitely something of a sad look in her dark eyes. "I'm very for sorry your, and your family's, loss. She was a great woman- though you've probably been told that plenty of times." Though as Lihua's therapist Lihn had certainly had give advice on some not great things. "We weren't the closest, but I definitely miss her presence." Lihn paused. "I'm sure you don't want to hear me talking about this, however." Between her empathy, both normal and power related, it was obvious to Lihn that Meifeng was hesitant to talk about Lihua; though who wouldn't be in that situation?

"It's... fine," Meifeng scratched the back of her neck. "I just miss her too, so does Lijuan..." She grit her teeth lightly just by thinking about Lijuan. That girl had seen some shit, but Meifeng turned back towards Lihn... with a request that was hard for her.

"Hey... I know we're not the closest in the world," Meifeng started off, "But... RAVEN's therapists are really shitty, and I have a lot on my mind..."

"If you want me to be your therapist, I'm happy to take the job," Lihn responded with a nod. It wasn't quite were she'd expected the conversation to then, but it made sense. "While I'm busy, most of it is actually research based - people are still wary of a meta therapist. I'm assuming that won't be a problem for you." She hesitated thoughtfully. "I would be happy to help, if you think I can."

"Sure, I, uh, have a lot of money if you want to get paid," Meifeng scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "And... if you need any help yourself, I'll be there." She nodded her head.

"Just my normal rate will be fine, if anything," Lihn shook her head slightly. She definitely didn't need to be paid more than that. "I appreciate that, thank you. I'll keep it in mind." She smiled slightly. "We'll just need to compare schedules at some point, assuming you have something like that, and fit something in."

"Sure, sure," Meifeng added. "We should discuss this later, I... I should probably sign off and crash." She said, "Before they give me more stupid assignments."

"That's understandable," Lihn nodded. "I'm exhausted enough myself, and I only calmed down one... person." Not that she was sure she could call that creature a person anymore. She rummaged in the pockets of her jeans, before pulling out a slightly bent card and holding it out to Meifeng. It was essentially a business card, but the kind that Lihn would give out to people who were either currently clients or interested. "That's got my contact details, and is quicker than figuring out any other way to get in touch."

"Yeah..." Meifeng said as Lihn stepped off. She stared at the card for a few moments, before somberly saying, "... We'll be in touch."

---

A cold beer and an icepack, Quentin mused as he left the meeting room, moments before he felt a surge of pain rippling outward from his ribs. The point of impact from where Sovereign had took a shot with that unnecessarily oversized S&W .500 had turned dark with bruising, but there had been no internal damage, luckily enough.

It still hurt like hell, though.

He had little right to complain. at least he was better off than Crown, who had suffered an even more extensive degree of bruising and a cracked rib. Not to mention Parker who, last he heard, was still undergoing surgery for his shrapnel and gunshot wounds.

Still, this night had been a shitshow. The arm was in the hands of some slav mobsters who would most likely sell it off to the highest bidder and a number of RAVENs, some of whom he'd known for years, had been wounded, or even killed by those ZODIAC bastards. On second thoughts, he changed his mind, whiskey. The last few years had taken their toll on RAVEN and, to a lesser extent, Quentin. Despite their best efforts, the name and cause of the organisation that he'd devoted this last decade to had been dragged through the dirt, beaten and bloodied - and in the same manner he'd refused to give up on on it, if only because there was no alternative.

First, however, he decided he would make another call before retiring for the night, assuming they were still in office. Making a hasty descent down the stairwell and passing through corridors, past half a dozen offices, conference rooms and other administrative rooms, he came to a door with a caption printed across it in bold.

Director's Office.

Strictly speaking, it was good etiquette for one to give some forewarning if they were going to pay an unscheduled visit to such a place, but Quentin had stopped caring at this point - instead, he simply buzzed his keycard through and stepped inside, unannounced. True to form, the Director was working late tonight, presumably involving himself in the shitshow and inevitable clean-up of the night's events.

"You could've tried knocking first." Reed grunted, as he sifted through an array of reports and other information which had been sent over to his desk, which felt like a mile if he'd ever known one. uentin on the other hand found his attention drawn to the Terminator statuette that had been hastily positioned as a paperweight. "My arm was tired," he groaned, laying it on a little thick.

"C'mon, you're getting old but you're not at Cass' level just yet," The ex-cop quickly shot back, "But seriously, is this a work or a personal call?"

"Personal," Quentin answered, "Not like you need to listen to another account, I take it you've already been over the reports?"

"Still reading through some of it, but... I know what happened." Reed said, almost sounding as winded by the experience as Quentin, though this apparrent lethargy quickly shifted towards concern. "How're you feeling?"

The veteran RAVEN shrugged, dismissively. "I'm fine, nothing to worry about."

"I meant, how are you feeling?"

"Answer hasn't changed, I'm fine."

"You sure? Nothing on your mind? Look, I know with this... attack from ZODIAC, well... it's hard not to want to check in."

"Look, Reed - I know we've spoke about this stuff before. Trust me, I'm fine - I hate those bastards, but that doesn't mean there's something wrong. I can do my job like anyone else, now... can we get past this? I'm too fucking tired to argue this shit out and besides, you've got your own shit to worry about, Director." Quentin's last note came off sharper than he'd intended, if the look on his brother's face had been anything to go by, but as he'd said before, he was wearied of it at this point.

"Alright," Director Taylor said, after a moment's pause, "But before you're off the hook on this, I'm still going to say this again - all it takes is a few excuses and they'll crucify us, DOVE and RAVEN, piss all over everything that we've worked for. Lot of folks don't trust us, and you can bet I'm doing everything I can to try and fix that but it's taking time. I know you're looking at things from a fighting perspective but, hell, don't let it throw you off."

More sagely advice, Quentin mused, he's starting to sound more like Cass. "I hear you. Now, can we drop this?"

"Yeah, sure. Though," Reed added, "I did have one other question.

"What is it?" Quent's brow arched.

"I wanted your opinion on Agent Marshall, just a few thoughts."

"I don't know the guy, yet - but he seemed competent enough in the field. Man didn't tangle with ZODIAC though, so that's yet be seen." Quentin said, initially reserved in his response, "But, as I said, I don't know him. All I know is the kind of shit the MISW were up to, in deep with the Family - obviously he wouldn't be here if he actually knew about it, but that doesn't mean there isn't shit on his boots."

"Hmh." Director Taylor answered, surprisingly reclusive in his response. "Alright. Anyway, what was it you wanted to ask?"

"Huh," Quentin muttered, "I was wondering if you wanted to drop by for a beer or something, some time - I get that this line of work of ours doesn't exactly leave us with time to spare, but... shit, I could use a drink. With you, least of all."

"Yeah... I feel you there." Reed affirmed, a certain hint of yearning briefly washing over his face, "Look, we'll figure it out some time - won't be possible for a while, obviously, but I'll see what I can do. Yeah?"

"Sure." Quentin nodded. "I see you're a busy man these days, anyway, so I'll leave you to it. Until next time, Director."

"Yeah, take care, Agent Taylor." Reed cracked a warm smile and bobbed his head as his brother departed.

---

Luckily for Quentin, home was close enough to the HQ building that the journey didn't take too long, even in heavy traffic.

The condo he shared with Mei was, in many respects, similar to the one he'd owned back in Verthaven - same comforts, same degree of space, etcetera, the main difference here being that it had been paid for with money that had been legitimately earned. Each of them had their space and, in truth, it was an easier arrangement than it sounded. After all, neither of them had ever really given a shit about the occasional remark that was pointed that way - anyone who'd actually known them for years had known that the bond he shared with Mei was fraternal, if anything.

By the time he'd got back, however, it was without a doubt pitch-black inside, save for the dim glow of street lighting seeping in from the outside through the window shutters. Of course, he knew the place off by heart and made his first stop by the refigerator, where the lighting from inside briefly illuminated its half of the building. After filling a ziploc bag with ice cubes from the dispenser, he hastily poured himself a glass of whiskey and headed over to the lounge area where, after switching on the TV and letting its light fill the room, he slumped back into the couch and slapped the ice pack on his bruised ribs. A glass of whiskey and an icepack, he mused.

---

Strongriver Plaza, Hedgemount_

---

---

Jesus Christ it was hard to keep track of Linda with all these people running and hiding.

And who wouldn't? Tumor-man was next level ugly.

But, Johnny couldn't help but grimace when he realized it'd be the perfect girlfriend for that fag he met last night! Probably the only kind of girl- Okay, Johnny was getting a little off-track here. He glanced to his side and his one-eyed sister was by his side! Good! Gabe could always keep up. Eventually, they ended up in some alleyway far out of the way of the Piss Throne, and they turned a corner.

"... Linda!" Lin said as Linda came to a stop as she had to catch her breath. "Come with us, we'll get you to safety!" She wrapped her hands around Linda's shoulder, and lead her to the hummer.

Johnny grinned like a hyena. Oh, that Lin! She was a genius! Good thing she was on the side of the Valos, or else they'd be in trouble! He grabbed onto Gabe's arm, and moved back to the hummer. He needed to get in a good position....

Lin made it back to the hummer after Johnny and Gabe did... they just remained hidden all the way in the back as Jake took the wheel, and Lin lead Linda to the backseat. When he heard the doors open, and the hummer start moving, Johnny knew that it was showtime!

"Thank you, Lin," Linda said. "I... I don't have any idea what in the fuck that thing was...."

"That was crazy," Lin said from the passenger seat. "But, y'know..."

"But, I have one question..." Linda asked. "... Why were you open with me? I'm just a scientist that met you one time. Are you th-"

"... Because it was all bullshit." Johnny said, when he sprung from behind cover, and pressed his revolver against the back of Linda's head. "We know you've been sucking the dicks of the Founding Family! I mean just what is wrong with you!?"

"L-Lin!" Linda pleaded, confused.

"Sorry, but it's nothing personal," Lin said, before backtracking. "Well, actually, it really is personal, but that's besides the point."

Johnny grinned like a maniac, as he said, "Yeah, real personal, as your bosses are holding onto some people that are very important to us," Johnny started off. "Whom we want back. Hence why we're here."

"But, why me!? I don't know who you're talking about!" Linda answered.

"You know someone that could," Johnny answered, "So, tell me, where are the Founding Family remnants hiding?"

"I don't know!" Linda said.

Johnny pulled the trigger halfway, and Linda caught the message very well.

"Okay!" Linda said. "I don't know where they are exactly, they've been hiding their movements even from their members, but..."

This was awkward for her, but she swallowed her pride for the sake of her own life.

"... In my bra is a list of hideouts they've been using!"

Johnny gestured for Gabe to do it... and she looked less than thrilled to be reaching in some woman's bra, but she did it, and pulled out a... very sweaty piece of paper, and handed to Johnny. Who dropped it.

"Ew," Johnny said, "I'm not touching that. She might of lactated on it!"

Gabe opened it up, and revealed quite a long list of locations.

"And..." Linda trailed. "The leader of the remnants of called Father, nobody has seen or knows who he is."

"... She's telling the truth." Lin confirmed, after reading her mind.

"Good, now we just have to decide what to do with yo' white ass," Johnny said... he knew that Linda was useless, but not only that, but a giant loose end. And loose ends lead to your enemies killing you in your sleep, so he wasn't going to take any chances. "Decisions, decisions... Jake, drive us back to Roseview, please?"

"Uh, sure."

---

Faircrest Woods, Roseview_

So, since Roseview wasn't that far away, it was a fairly short ride as Johnny made Jake drive straight into the bushes. When the car came to a stop, Johnny lead Linda out with his revolver pressed against the back of her head, as the rest of the group got out. The lights from Johnny's hummer being the only thing giving them sight.

"Wait, hold on a second," Johnny said, and went to the back of the hummer with his gun aimed at Linda. He opened the trunk, and pulled out two things. He walked around the hummer as he threw Linda a shovel, and deployed a folding chair. He sat down on it, and kept his gun primed on Linda.

"Okay sweetheart, get started." Johnny said.

"... W-what?!" Linda raised an eyebrow.

"What? Are you stupid?" Johnny asked, "Dig your own grave already. At least six feet, chop-chop, or I'll let you bleed out when I cap you."

"Johnny?!" Gabe turned towards her older brother.

"What? We can't have a giant loose end running around," Johnny shrugged. "If she gets away, she'll just tattle on us, and make our job harder."

"Johnny, she has a family," Jake pleaded. "We... we can't just kill her like this!"

"Oh, look, here comes the unnecessary moral compass," Johnny got up off the chair, and got in Jake's face. "Did you forget the shit they did to you, or Gabe...? No, what they did to all of us!"

"No, I haven't," Jake replied, "But, there's a line, Johnny! We aren't animals!"

"A line that they fucking danced over on a daily fuckin' basis!" Johnny shouted as he got into Jake's face, gritting his teeth. "They came into our home, burned it down, kidnapped us, killed us, raped us, and you wanna forgive them?"

"It wasn't like she did it," Gabe answered with her arms crossed. "It was the Blessed Three... and she's far from it."

"... And here comes the cosigner!" Johnny answered.

"I'm just against senseless violence, okay!" Gabe answered with her arms crossed.

"Well, Gabriela," Johnny shouted, "You knew what was gonna happen when you tagged along with me!"

"Um..." Lin pointed. "She's getting away."

The entire Valos family turned towards her, and Linda was hauling ass through the field.

"Don't let her get away!" Johnny shouted as he aimed his revolver at her, and fired, baby! His aim was so good, that he managed to hit a moving target with ease... all too well. The bullet went in from one end of her skull, and out the other. Blowing her head to bits in the process. Her lifeless body hit the floor, as the Valos were all wordless.

"... I'll get the shovel." Was all Johnny could say.

---

???

---

---

"... Andrea Pasternack, DOVE intern, our sources say she's up in arms about Happiness."

In a dark room, hidden somewhere in the darkest, more secluded parts of Baybridge. A man sat in a chair, obscured by shadows, as he sat staring at a series of screens. In front of the computer screen was a woman dressed sharply. Her figure was curvy, and the lights from the screen behind her illuminated some of her features. Mainly her suit, and her fair skin, and relatively young age (around twenty). The computer displayed a series of relevant images. From their basic information, to acquired information on their past, skills, and et cetera. To several photo images of them, with the center (and largest) screen displaying the clearest image. Each of them were relevant to Andrea.

However, the figure in the chair, large and muscular, was slumped in the back of the chair. Eyes were probably more on the well-dressed woman than the screen. He asked, in a bored tone implying that he asked this question several times before,

"... And what threat does she pose to our mission?" He said, bored. As he leaned his head on his hand.

"Despite her power, very minimal," The woman said, "She's only after Happiness, after all, and is more likely to chase her tail than stumble upon us."

The man sighed. "... Continue."

With the press of a button, the images changed to a teenaged looking blonde-hair girl with blue eyes. The man in the chair recognized this woman, and then looked to the side to the information on her power. Enhanced Regenerative factor, and Body Manipulation. Oh boy...

"Jennifer Caspin," The woman started off. "She should be familiar to you as one of Mistress Julia's test subjects?"

"Am." The man said, as he rapped his fingers on the chair, bored.

"While she could be an asset to us... she's been unfortunately cleared of Mechanized Memories," The woman started off. "Which means she is no usage to us... but, at the same time, of no threat to us. I caught word she's after a previous associate of ours... thus, she is of zero threat."

"I wish she was still a Secretary," Father said, "She is quite... beautiful." He laughed.

With another push of a button, the screens displayed a image of Johnny Valos. Specifically his mugshot. Father immediately recognized the name and the face of the boy... Ooooh, does this mean?

"A Valos, eh?" The man said, "And here I was thinking that they found themselves a hole, and stayed there!"

"He, and his family, recently made his way to Baybridge, and is making zero attempt to be subtle," The woman started off. "We have no idea what exactly he's after, but he teamed up with two of the Liu sisters for some mission."

"Hmmm... I have an idea as to just what he wants..." The man put a hand on his chin, as he focused on the woman in front of him.

"Either way, he, too, is oblivious to our plans, and is probably not going to find anything useful," The woman said, "But... he could be an asset. Think about it, he's oblivious to our plans. Plus his past as a hitman... we could easily use him to eliminate a key target."

The man smiled, before another button press revealed images of Haruka Takashiro, and brought up his file... and the man slumped back down into his chair. Rolling his eyes.

"Let me guess..." The man leaned forward, and put his fingertips together in a tent. "Knows nothing, and we shouldn't care about him?" He guessed.

"That's another way to put it," The woman said, "But, yes."

"I don't have time for this," The man said, "When I said 'assessment of threats,' I meant actual threats." He rolled his eyes up into his head.

"With all due respect, Father," The woman said to him, "You wanted to know about all the threats to our mission... and these people can easily become higher if we aren't careful."

"And we are careful," Father said, "Nobody has a clue we even exist!"

"But, with our other operation, we have a high risk of blowing our cover if it gets out..."

At this moments, the loud footsteps of heels pierced through the air. A person slowly walked up to them, another woman wearing a similar outfit. But, standing just out of light that were given off by the computer screens. She was holding files, and they looked at her.

"Sorry to interrupt your session, Father, but I have very urgent for you," The woman put a hand on her hip, and then looked at them.

"Well, then, out with it."

"Wendy Lucker, and Rowan Campbell have returned to Baybridge."

The mere mention of their names made Father's blood boil. He tightly clenched the sides of his chair, nearly breaking it with his raw strength. He had to hold in all the swears he had for the murders of Ezekiel... He had nothing but contempt for them.

"And what's more is..." The other woman trailed off for a moment. "They made contact with Penny Rosier, and Daniel Forsythe, along with a few other friends."

"Of course they would make nice with that traitor." Father leaned in, and folded his hands. "Which means they, collectively..." He looked at each of his women, before resting on the screen that changed to images of Wendy and Rowan. "... Are the biggest threats to our mission."

"May I have someone assassinate the-"

"No," Father said as he put a hand up. "When the time comes... I will personally handle them. No assassin should have the honor of ending their lives..."

He put a hand on his chin, and rubbed it.

"Besides... we need more information!" Father raised a hand in the air. "We can't just go about killing everyone who looks at us funny... besides..."

He looked at the screen, and smiled.

"... We both may both be after the same thing!" Father started off. "So, let's double surveillance on Penny Rosier shall we? Also keep an eye on Wendy."

Father said,

"... They may lead us straight to our end goal."

---

---

---

_{Why am I even posting this? None of you are going to read it.}

Three days after the incident in the Golden Throne, there was a bit of an uproar against Metahumans. As anti-Metahuman politicians have been using the incident for fuel for tighter laws against Metahumans. Along with usual fear mongering. At this point, it was nothing new, and the city of Baybridge moves on regardless. But, what had the city in fear was the multiple sightings of the ZODIAC terrorist group... and drastic measures are being put in place.

As a sharp contrast to the weather on Saturday and Sunday, a dark cloud was cast over Baybridge. Rain was over the horizon.

---

Rosalyn Street, Silver Hills_

---

---

After a long day at the Academy, Daniel thought that, today, he would just take the long trip from Roseview to Silverhills. The Academy was... just too crowded for him. Long as he didn't leave the city itself, and was ready to take classes in the morning, it didn't matter. He rode his bicycle outside the gates of the Academy, and hopped on it, and scrolled all the way there. It took an hour to get home... but, he arrived at Rosalyn Street in no time. He was sweaty, as usual, and slid off his leather jacket, and put it on the coat rack. Before he scrolled to the shower, and got naked. The water in his apartment was really hot, but he could withstand it easily.

When he got out the shower, he dried himself off, and wrapped a towel around his waist. His mother was going to be home soon! He scrolled over to his room in this three room apartment, and quickly-

"... Daniel!" The harsh voice of Penny Rosier shouting from the window, loudly knocking on the window. Daniel jumped, and instinctively activated his power. His right side burst into flame, while his left was covered in frost.

"P-Penny?" Daniel asked with a raised eyebrow, as he turned off his power. He quickly went over to the window while holding his towel, and unlocked it. Penny did the rest. She climbed through the window, with her spider legs protruding from her back. They retracted back inside her body as her power deactivated. "I told you to never to come up here like that."

"Yeah, yeah, fuckin' sorry," Penny dismissed him, but it was clear from that wide grin on her face that she had something amazing to tell him. "But, after giving the first book a good hard look, I figured out something!"

"... And that can't wait five minutes for me to get dressed?"

Penny pouted as she responded, "You should've answered fucking the phone!" She shouted, she covered her eyes, and turned away. "Quick, put some fuckin' pants on."

That was when Daniel, quick as lightning reached into his drawer, and put some boxers one. Along with some jeans... unaware that Penny peaked.

"But, listen, my dad's been putting code phrases in the books all along! I just didn't pay attention to them until I got to read the first one."

"And these are?" Daniel asked.

"Something leading us to a location, I don't fuckin' know!" Penny answered. "Look I need to give the other books a look, which means, I hate to say it..."

Penny turned around, and sighed.

"... We have to work with Wendy and her mongoloids." She rolled her eyes in irritation.

"Well, they aren't that ba-" Daniel tried to reason with her.

"Of course they're 'that' fucking bad," Penny damn near-snarled at Daniel. "I'm trying to save the last traces of my father, and she's acting like this is some fucking scavenger hunt."

While Daniel was all for peace between Wendy and Penny (at least before it got really ugly). He had to concede with that point. They didn't quite understand the personal stake Wendy and her friends had in all this. But, nonetheless, Daniel wasn't going to crucify them because they were curious. They were valuable allies in this mission, and it'd be stupid to push them away for stupid reasons such as pride. He stepped over to Penny, and put his hand on her shoulder, and smiled.

"I understand why you would be weary about them, why you wouldn't trust them," Daniel explained, "But... we can't orchachize people for simple... curiosity."

Penny pouted as she crossed her arms, determined to ignore Daniel's advice.

"Great things have been accomplished because people asked the question, and looked for the answer," Daniel took a step away from her, as he continued. "You're not any different, so I wouldn't push away people who are."

Penny sighed.

"Fiiiiine," Penny answered, with a grin on her face. "I'll give Mong-squad a chance."

She walked around to the door, and opened it, "Buuuuuut... they can wait," Penny started off. "How about you and I have some fun..." She cringed, as she realized what she said. "No, not that kind of fun. Let's hit a fuckin' mall or something, I feel bad about making you go to that shitty fair without a date..."

"Date?" Daniel teased, with a grin on his face.

"You know what I mean," Penny rolled her eyes, trying to play off the embarrassment while blushing. "Sending you there a-fucking-lone."

She crossed her arms, and Daniel smiled.

"Sure thing," He said. He was glad that she was willing to do other things than obsess over her father's notes, and he had some extra money on him. The mall sounded like a great idea.

---

Eastgriffen Ruins, Roseview_

---

---

The trio of Coven members marched through the Faircrest Woods.

Their tour through Baybridge brought them to many different places... Megan was the one leading them after all. She felt like there was something deep within these woods that Ada needed to see. So, here they are, Ada scrolling with her black cloak on, and hat obscuring her face, Megan cheerfully skipping like she was five years old, and Adora nervously tailing behind them. Eventually, they ended up in a desolate ghost town... ruined years ago by an unknown source. Now it was largely in pieces, with some buildings completely fallen over. A thriving community gone in an instant.

Ada lead the group as she looked around. "... This place is a scar on the world," She said in a low tone. "A great tragedy has taken place here... I can feel the rage of the fallen..." She took a few steps, before she touched a wall, but shook her head. She took a few more steps, and stopped at the rubble. Her focused for a moment, where the destroyed matter was coated in a red aura. It floated into the air, and separated, until Ada found what she wanted.

A teddy bear.

She pulled it out of the wreckage with her bear hands, before cancelling her telekinesis. Making the rest of it fall to the ground. Even though her eyes were covered, she faced the bear as if carefully examining something. She pet the head of the bear, wiping some of the rubble off, but this bear was beyond repair. Well, conventional repair.

While she was petting it, a red pulse traveled from the bottom to the top. Repairing it back to brand new quality in an instant. Then Ada focused...

... Then she felt the wave of memories.

---

... Several years ago.

A girl was running for her life while everything burned.

Where was mommy? Where was daddy?

She slammed her back against a wall, as she panted. She didn't know what was going on. She just wanted to go home. She didn't like Eastgriffin anymore. Tears ran down her face, brightly illuminated by the flames around herself. All she could hear was screams... she slump down until she hit the ground. Nothing but tears were running down her face, as her only comfort was a teddy bear.

"Gather up all the kids, kill the adults!" She heard a male voice loudly shout. "Have fun, boys! Nobody is going to interrupt us for awhile."

These words hurt her soul to the core. Were they going to kill mommy? Kill daddy? She couldn't take it anymore, she curled up into a ball, and closed her eyes. Praying that this would be over soon. She heard some footsteps approach her, and stop right at her body.

Then she felt the sharp pain hit her in the gut. She loudly gasped for air, as she saw a woman stand overtop of her. With strange blue skin... dressed like a cowboy. She was spinning some massive revolvers, so fast that she could barely tell they were guns.

"Heeeeeeey, sweetie," The woman said with a frightening smile as she leaned in close to the girl. "You're cute! I bet they'll pay top dollar for you!"

She suddenly stopped spinning her guns, and aimed them at the girl. The little girl was petrified, she couldn't even cry.

"Come with me, sweetheart," The woman said. "Make it easier for you, easier for everyone!"

The girl didn't know what to even do...

"I'll take that from you!" The woman grabbed the teddy bear, looked at it, and threw it over her shoulder.

Before carrying the girl off into a blue light...

---

... Then the memory ended. Brief as an echo, Ada absorbed the memory from the teddy. She clenched her fist.

"... It happened so long ago, but the rage is still fresh..." Ada muttered to herself, as she placed the teddybear back down where she found it. "... Luis was behind this."

"What was that, mum?" Megan asked, curious.

Ada took a few steps forward, before she said, "Luis and his Changeling Unit is responsible for this... They kidnapped all the children, killed all the adults."

"Oh, well..." Megan said, as she bit her fingers.

"Well...?" Ada raised an eyebrow as she looked over her shoulder.

"... Back when this place was destroyed, the Changelings were the biggest supplier of new Cultivators and Secretaries for the Family," Megan explained. "Who knows why they destroyed it... maybe..."

"Luis was a mere child with too much power in his hands." Ada sharply replied.

"Well, if you think about it, you were the one made him crazy," Megan grinned, as she pushed Ada's buttons. "So, everything he did is your fault!" She smiled.

Ada paused for a moment, as she was awestruck.

"... I am not responsible for anyone's actions," Ada sharply said, almost snarling at Megan. "If that was the way Luis chose to deal with his grief, so be it."

"So," Megan chuckled, "For being a servant of the world, you callously brush off the atrocities of one person?"

"Enough." Ada growled, a red aura surrounded her.

"Okay, okay!" Megan said, not wanting to get blown to pieces!

"But... I concede," Ada said as she turned around, and walked past Megan. "You have a point... I could have stopped Luis long before he became a threat, long before he could have done this to people."

Ada explained, sighed.

"I feel the scars left behind, the unresolved anger of dead men and women calling for justice..." Ada said, before she looked behind her at the ruins. "Even though Luis is long dead, they are still... still unsatisfied."

"And what does that mean, Ada?" Adora finally spoke up, curious.

"There is still an injustice that must be corrected," Ada simply answered. "We must find it."

"Annd ho-" Megan tried to ask, before Ada interrupted her.

"Come with me."

---

The trio left the Eastgriffin ruins, and found themselves in a massive field that had Baybridge in the far distance. It was tranquil, not a vehicle in sight. Ada sat down with her legs crossed, and both Adora and Megan did the same thing. But, they lacked the power that Ada had. Ada focused for a moment, raising a finger to her lips as if she was shushing someone. Instead, as she meditating... drawing upon the world's essence.

"Oh, world... guide me to the next point in our journey," Ada said. For a few moments, she felt nothing, until the red aura around her grew brighter and brighter. As she became one with the world, and the world became one with her. She felt where the world was guiding her, and stopped. She hopped to her feet, and said with determination.

"We must go this way." Ada pointed towards the city.

"... That's very descriptive," Megan answered, with a cheeky grin.

"Just follow me into the city!" Ada said as she began to run forward.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Megan's right arm turned into a silvery amorous goo, that stretched out and grabbed Ada's shoulder. She stopped her, as she caught up. "You are not going into the city dressed as the Wicked Witch of the East!"

"I don't understand what that means."

"What it means is that you need to dress like you're blending in," Megan said, chuckling.

"Hmmmmmm..." Ada thought about it for a moment, then her body turned into a similar amorphous goo as Megan. Except fleshy, and porous. Her clothing changed from her dark and dreary outfit, to a long flowing, regal, dress. One that clung to her body... and looked very expensive.

"... Close enough!" Megan said, as the trio ran towards Baybridge. Ready to follow whatever the hell was guiding Ada. Nobody knew.

But they were going to find out really soon, weren't they?

When Aaron woke up, Lily had already left. He was laying spread-eagle on his bed, his face pointing up at the ceiling fan whirring above. In the distance, he could hear the faint beeping of the coffee maker. He felt absolutely horrendous. For a couple minutes, Aaron watched the ceiling fan spin around. It made a barely-audible click every rotation. Outside, Aaron could hear cars drive past on their morning commute. His phone buzzed gently on the nightstand. He picked it up and turned the alarm off. No message from Lily.

Sighing, Aaron rolled to his elbows, then pushed himself up into a seated position. He slid black slippers on and pocketed his phone. Then he shuffled into the kitchen. He poured a cup of coffee and turned on the radio.

“Good morning Baybridge! This is 105.7’s Morning on the Rocks. Claire here from 106.5, filling in for DJ Rebel Diamond as he recovers in the hospital from last night’s horrendous metahuman attack at the Golden Throne nightclub! Police reports have confirmed that-”

Aaron switched the radio off. He collapsed into a kitchen chair and sipped his morning coffee. He stared out of the window up at the grey sky. Today was going to be a bad day, he could tell.

“You deserve it. You fucked up, kid.

“You never take a day off, do you?

“None of this shit would’ve happened if you’d told her the truth. You fucked it up and now you have to deal with the consequences.”

Aaron slammed his coffee cup down and put his head in his hands. It was hard to keep from crying. He felt sick, sick of himself, sick of the fear that came from stepping outside, sick of the melting feeling he got when he was around too many people. His coffee cup tipped over and spilled across the kitchen table. “Fuck!” Aaron screamed. He ran to grab the paper towels. His foot caught the fabric of his slippers, and he fell to the ground with a thud. Aaron could feel the coffee drip from the table onto his pants. He climbed back to his feet, nearly slipping again on the growing puddle of coffee, and grabbed the paper towels. He didn’t need caffeine today anyways.

The day passed slowly and uneventfully. Aaron went down into his shop, worked on private orders. At lunch he ate a turkey sandwich and fed his rabbit. He watched a passing shower drizzle onto the windowpane and turn the sidewalks brown. At three PM, Aaron left his workshop and took up the cash register while Kate restocked shelves and swept the store. They didn’t talk much. She could tell he wasn’t in the mood. A few customers idled in, looked around, and left. They didn’t make many sales. Aaron tried hard to think of anything other than what his mind was stuck in. He texted Lily at 3:30, and didn’t get any response. Aaron decided he’d skip his evening tea break. He just wasn’t in the mood today.

---

---

Oakdell Harbor, White Coast_

---

---

Since the Liu Family weren't courteous enough to accommodate for the Valos, they had to make their own plans.

"Own plans" being awkwardly sleeping in the hummer until Jake scored them a beach house!

And it was something else, baby! It was three stories, and right on the beach with a killer view! Johnny could sit around and enjoy it all day, if he wasn't, you know, busy planning the downfall of the FF remnants. They had it coming. So far, even though they capped that bitch Linda, they managed to get some important information from her. Turned out that list of FF locations was completely valid. Well, a lot of the places were dead, but thanks to their Liu friends, they managed to find something.

A creepy, derelict warehouse.

Who would have thought.

The Valos were assembled in the living room, Johnny had several pistols on the table. He was cleaning his favorite revolver... while the rest of the Valos (and the Lius) sat around and watched. He looked up at them, and raised an eyebrow.

"Heeeeeeeey," Johnny asked, "What is it?"

"... How are you even going to make use of half of this?" Gabe asked, as she picked up an Uzi, and examined it, confused. "And you were carrying around a fucking arsenal the whole time?" She put down the gun, as she stared at Johnny.

"Well, my logic is that we're about to fight an evil organization that uses guns," Johnny almost mockingly replied. "If you don't go in packin' you might as well go in naked!"

"Unless you're using your pinky," Jake added as he walked into the room with a bottle of wine. "I don't see you needing to bring in anything more than two guns."

"Cosigner..." Johnny muttered as he glared at Jake.

"Just saying, Johnny." Jake said, as he sat down.

"I wanted to teach ya'll how to shoot real quickly," Johnny said, "Because... even though we all are fantastical metahumans... you just can't beat the bullet, baby!" He raised the gun up into the air, and laughed.

"Well, Linda couldn't beat the bullet..." Gabe said to herself as she leaned on the palm of her hand.

"Well, Linda shouldn't of tried it," Johnny laughed.

"Sorry, Johnny," Jake said, "But, I think we have enough idiots waving around guns."

"When they beatin' yo' ass," Johnny said. "You'll wish you didn't say that, but you'll be a great pack mule for when the raid starts."

Jake just rolled his eyes up into his head, as he leaned forward. Folding his hands.

"Yeah, the raid," Jake repeated, "Do we even have a plan?"

"Tonight," Johnny started off, "We gather information... because what good is chargin' in dick first if our marks aren't even there?"

Gabe was surprised.

"Long as we do nothing hasty, everything should go smoothly... but at the same time, we have to be ready for anything," Johnny said. "Which is why I'm going in packin'."

He laughed, as he grabbed one of his pistols. A thought came up in his head.

"Oh! What if bring in a fuckin' flintlock?" Johnny asked, to the belligerence of everyone around him. "Bet nobody would see that coming."

"Johnny," Jake said, face amazed at his brother. "It's an outdated pirate gun. It'll literally explode in your hand."

"It's not about it working," Johnny said to his brother. "It's about the surprise. Like, how many people expect you to pull out a flintlock - they'd be stunned in shock!"

"For all of two seconds."

"... And two seconds is all you need to cap them."

"The bullet wouldn't even leave the barrel!" Jake retorted.

"That's why I have a second gun, Jakey," Johnny said as he quickly aimed the revolver he was holding. "I'm quick as lightning, while they're surprised I'll start blasting."

"... Then why the fuck are you bringing a flintlock?" Gabe facepalmed.

"Okay," Jake said as he ended the conversation. "Can we please go back to planning? We'll discuss the matter of the flintlock pistol another time."

"Fine." Johnny and Gabe said in unison.

"Um, I have something to announce," Lin said as she walked up. "Me and Mika are going to be attending a function tonight."

"So, that means we're two men down!" Johnny said as he leaned back in his sofa.

"Sadly... but, afterwards, we'll be available to help."

It wasn't like the Liu sisters could contribute much in an attack. Especially when Johnny made that promise to papa Liu! That meant he needed some replacement muscle... and honestly, he needed help in general. He needed meatshields to take bullets for the more important members of the Valos.

Wait!

He had the perfect idea.

Perfect in this context means a complete shot in the dark! But, he's still trying.

Johnny reached for his cellphone, and went through his contacts... and his finger rested over Taylor Pierpoint. He sighed, as he pressed call.





La Fleur Hotel, Prince Ed Field

You don't just get a call from Johnny Valos.

As Taylor Pierpoint leaned against the balcony of her fifth story hotel room, looking down at her phone in disbelief, she thought about how nice a day she had been having, and how the God shining down above must have decided to stick his dirty finger in her perfectly nice day with a phone call from Johnny fucking Valos. From inside, a woman's voice called:

"Excusez-moi, mademoiselle, Le service de chambre est ici."

"Un moment, Jeanne. J'ai un appele téléphonique." Taylor responded. She looked up at the cloudy sky. She took a deep breath and hit accept. She was bracing herself for either some grub for money or Jake's voice saying Johnny had finally taken one cap in the ass too many and dropped dead.

"Bonjour, monsieur. C'est le resident Pierpoint. Comment puis-je vous aider?" (Hello, Pierpoint residence. How may I help you?)

Johnny had no idea how to speak French! It was a little while since he last talked to her... but, he definitely picked up a few phrases, words, and et cetera. That wasn't important.

"Taylor, this is Johnny, English please," Johnny said with a smile.

"Fine," Taylor said, frowning. "What do you want?"

"I know it's been a long, long, time... and by that I mean several years, but I need help..." Johnny replied.

"Taylor..." Gabe muttered to herself as she put a hand on her hip. Great. He's getting that girl involved in this. Just what they needed. Now they don't just have to worry about Johnny doing something stupid, but now they also have to worry about Johnny and Taylor bonin' all the time.

"If you're asking me to fund one of your vigilante kicks again I swear I'll claw your eyeballs out."

"No, I'm not asking for money, it's something more important than that..." He trailed off as he put a hand on his side. "... Well, I probably owe you an explanation first...."

"You can start by explaining to me where you've been for the last five years," Taylor replied. She tapped her fingers on the railing rhymically. The metal in metal made a "ping!" sound.

"Were I've been?" Johnny asked... she probably wanted an explanation of what happened to that money he loaned her... he'll gloss over that, for now. "Do you even know what went down? Do you even know that the Valos manor is in flames?!"

"Maybe I feel you hadn't forgotten about me after I stopped being useful to you I would have a better idea of what was going on!" Taylor snapped. She sympathized though. Things hadn't been good for the Pierpoint family recently either. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes.

"It wasn't that!" Johnny shouted back. "Look Taylor... shit went to hell really fast! Faster than I could keep track of!"

He stopped for a moment as he took in deep breath. "The fucking Founding Family came in and ruined everything! They took my family, and enslaved them! I've been fighting to do everything I could to save them..." He paused again. "It was out of my hands!" Johnny heard Taylor gasp through the phone. Taylor's fists clenched. For a solid fifteen seconds she was silent, looking down as cars passed by. Inside, she felt purely guilty. Mon dieu, c'est ma faute...sacre bleu, she thought.

"You still there?!" Johnny said. "Look, let's put this shit aside. I really-"

"What do you need?" Taylor replied.

"I need you," Johnny said, in a much calmer tone, "They... they have Sylvia, Ivete, Camille... and we're the only people who give a shit. I need you to come to Baybridge... to help us."

"...Baybridge?" Taylor replied, agast. Quelles sont les chances... Taylor looked down at her feet and sighed.

"Tu as la chance du diable," Taylor said. "I'm at La Fleur Hotel in Prince Ed Field."

"... Shit," Johnny said. "We're in..." He looked around at his friends.

"We're in Oakdell Harbor, in a lil' beach house Jake rented for us," Johnny started off. "Should we meet somewhere?"

"Meet me at Orchestra Mall in Courtbridge," Taylor said. She picked this off the top of her head as a nice even location, not on her territory and not on his. Should Johnny's plan be absolutely ludicrous (and it probably was), Taylor would be able to get away without him knowing where she lived.

"Sure thing, babe," Johnny said, "I'll get the gang together, and we'll head straight there!"

He hung up the phone... and prepared for the worst.

"... Why are we getting metal tits involved?" Gabe asked as she crossed her arms. "She's a piece of all, nothing else."

"But, a useful piece of ass."

"Yeah, when you need loans," Gabe groaned as she rolled her sole eye.

"Besides," Johnny said. "She's a close friend of the entire family. Especially Sylvia."

"And that's what you said about Jacqueline," Gabe said, "Right before she turned out to be working for the Family, and seemed more than happy to throw years of friendship out the window..."

"Gabe, lay off," Jake said. "For once... I have to agree with Johnny."

"Oh my lord," Johnny said, "Jake agreeing with me? Hold the phone! The fuckin' endtimes are on their way!"

"Taylor has a good head on her shoulders..." Jake said as he crossed his arms, as he looked at Johnny, and shook his head. "... And we could use another one more of those." And he wasn't just talking about Johnny being the problem here... Gabe also had her problems.

"Well, Jakey," Gabe looked at Jake with a teasing tone. "... You better hope she doesn't bring her little lady friend, ha!"

There was a silence from Jake for a few moments. "... I don't think my pelvis healed properly from our break up."

"Okay, okay!" Johnny shouted as he got up. "Enough banter! To Prince Edfield we go!"

There was a silence.

"... Why?" Gabe asked.

"Because she wants to meet us," Johnny started off, rolling his eyes. "Gabe - Know what? Just get in the hummer."

Gabe shut up, and got in the hummer along with the rest of the Valos... as they continued this increasingly bizarre adventure of theirs.

Mayhem was sure to follow.

---

Taylor slid her phone into her pocket and walked inside. She sat down on the velvet couch in the living room and gestured to her assistant Jeanne, who poured Taylor a glass of wine.

"Excusez moi, Mademoiselle," Jeanne said. "Le service de chambre attend toujours." (excuse me, madam, but the room service is waiting).

"J'ai une recontre," Taylor said. "J'ai besoin de toi pour me coduire." ( I have a meeting. I need you to drive me somewhere).

"Oui, mademoiselle," Jeanne replied. "Je vais chercher la voiture." (Yes, madam. I will fetch the car). Jeanne moved towards the door. Outside, the room service waiter stood at attention with Taylor's dinner. Jeanne let the man in and he placed a cloche on the table. He lifted the cloche to reveal a plate of baked fish and gnocchi.

"Jeanne," Taylor said, picking up her fork. "Apportes les details de securitie. C'est l'une de ces recontre." (Jeanne, bring the security detail. This is one of those meetings). Jeanne paused. Her mouth hung slightly agape as if she was going to say something, but then she closed her mouth and turned away.

"Oui, mademoiselle," she said, leaving the room. Taylor nodded to the room service waiter and handed him a fifty dollar bill.

"Keep the change," she said. He thanked her vehemently and then ran out. Taylor finished her dinner in peace. Then she walked into her room and changed into a new outfit, more applicable to the environment she was about to be thrust into. She thought about whether or not she should redo her hair as she pulled a slim ballistic vest on over her lace bra. The vest was uncomfortable, but as of late she'd grown accustomed to it - it had saved her life more than once. Over the vest she slid a white sweater. She finished dressing and, to ensure protection, slid a small pistol into her silver purse. These days you could never be too careful. As soon as she'd finished dressing, Jeanne knocked on her door and escorted Taylor to her car, a white Aston Martin. Behind the Aston Martin was a black Suburban, inside of which sat four men in black suits. Taylor sat down in the passenger's seat of the car and adjusted her hair in the rear view mirror. She looked good, just like she wanted to for her reunion with the Valos family. Despite the security, she had a really bad feeling about this entire thing.

As she always said, you don't just get a call from Johnny Valos.

---

Strong-Gold Community, Silver Hills_

---

---

It has been three days, I have neglected basic needs in favor of scanning this book for whatever I can get out of it.

Wendy wrote her own journal with one hand... literally. She had her hand pressed against an open book, and generated ink that she willed into the shape of sentences. While also obsessively scanning the book. Her talent with ink manipulation was to such a level she could write... without even looking. A talent that's probably... less than impressive in the Metahuman community. But, that was far from important. She had the second edition of Sean Rosier's notes! Amazing!

"The theory of traveling from one dimension to another could possibly be related to mechanic of quantum tunneling, or how it is often explained to the uninformed..." Wendy repeated the words from the book, in a low tone. "Traveling over a hill without having the energy to... and just go through it instead. The basis of quantum tunneling is a particle piercing through a potential energy barrier of a much higher energy value...."

It was a little while since Wendy had left the room. Not to shower, or interact with people (... not really her M.O to begin with). She merely left to go to the bathroom, and eat the food that Kumiko left her. But, otherwise, kept her attention on the books. In fact, she was wearing nothing but underwear (Very sweaty underwear). She was certain that her friends would be fine without her, in fact, she dismissed them until she made a discovery. They're only doing this in their spare time, after all, and probably had school and other activities to attend to.

"What if... what if the energy barrier in this context is the aforementioned barrier that is keeping the universes separate? What if there is a way to pierce through it without an insurmountable amount of energy? As I proposed earlier that, to pierce through such a barrier, you would need more energy than the world could ever produce... but what if you don't need any? What if there's another way..."

Wendy repeated what the book said verbatim. Then she thought about the last phrase. "... Another way?" She asked herself. There was probably something he was implying here. Something she'd learn by the end of the book... but, a knocking on the door interrupted her.

"... Hey, Wen," Kumiko said through the door. "You've been locked up in there for three days straight, come out."

"Kumiko... I'm busy." Wendy pleaded.

"Fine, drastic measures!" There was a pause between that statement, and the next. "I invited your bird girlfriend."

"Wait, how-" Wendy looked to the side, and noticed that her phone was gone.

"Remember, Wen," Kumiko cockily said through the door. "I did nothing espionage for a good ten years! Take a shower, and take your mind off that damn book."

Well, there was a chance that Kumiko was bluffing, but Wendy knew that there was also a higher chance that Kumiko actually got Rori to come. She wasn't going to get caught unprepared... and maybe she did need a shower. So, it was time that Wendy took a break....

---

It had taken Rori a while to arrive, due to being in the middle of painting when they'd got the text. They still had a bit of paint splattered on them, especially the feathers around their neck, but they'd changed into a nicer shirt and jeans before leaving (not that Rori had many fancy clothes). After double checking that the address matched the door in front of them, they rang the doorbell.

The door opened, and it revealed Wendy in a skyblue summer dress stepping out towards her. "Heeeeeeey, Rori!" Wendy greeted her with an open hand. "Glad you could make it."

"Hey, Wendy," Rori grinned at their friend, going to hug then in greeting - though it was a bit awkward because they weren't sure how appropriate that was after three years of not seeing each other. "It was easy enough - I don't exactly do anything these days. I should get a job." They laughed. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine... I'm just looking at the other book," Wendy awkwardly said, before she glanced over her shoulder, before holding the door open for Rori. "Come in, come in."

She lead the bird girl to the couch in Kumiko's house, and plopped down on it. This was tough... as Wendy didn't plan on any social interaction until she found all the secrets of the book. Even if it took months to do so. But, maybe Kumiko was right. Maybe a break would stop her from overworking herself (well, it did help her take a shower). Well, she needed a subject.

Having followed Wendy in, Rori sat down on the couch beside her and took a moment to adjust themselves so that they could actually sit properly without their wings in the way (the constant pain in their everyday life).

"So, uh, remember that thing I wanted to talk to you about in the cafe?" Wendy said, "About that one research book... not the one by Sean Rosier, but the other guy?"

"Oh yeah, the thing you wanted another perspective on?" Rori nodded. "I remember that. I'm assuming you want to talk about it now that there's no chance of someone else arriving and interrupting?"

"Well, definitely not, just you and me..." Wendy shook her head, as she wondered where Rowan went, but she figured that she should just show Rori. She quickly got up, and skipped her way back into her room, before coming out a few moments later with a large book. The book where Wendy stored all of Ezekiel's research notes. She placed it on the table, before taking a gulp. She trusted Rori not to go flapping her gumsabout this, buuuuut she was wondering if a second opinion would help her make a decision. "You just need to promise not to tell anyone, not Reinald, not Kannix, not... anyone else in our group."

Wendy shrugged as her eyes drifted to the side.

"... Not that I don't trust them- well, I kiiiind of don't," Wendy trailed off. "But, that isn't what I mean, I don't trust them to keep this to themselves."

"Don't worry, I won't tell them," Rori nodded. They barely knew the other members of the group anyway.

Wendy smiled as she said, "Let me get started..."

Wendy softly said, before she gulped.

"The concept of the Machine was born from many factors... first and foremost, the fact that every Metahuman is a low-yield reality warper. Subconsciously able to alter reality on a person, or impersonal level. The Metahuman energy is seemingly an innate connection to what composes the world... reality itself."

Wendy repeated the book verbatim, before looking up at Rori, then continued.

"For the sake of everyone, everywhere... the Family has been suppressing this information for decades now, along with one simple fact that, if spread, could cause some major detriments... Every man, woman, and child... Has the potential to become a Metahuman, as everyone on Earth has the Metahuman energy inside them."

Rori listened carefully, trying to wrap their head around what Wendy was saying. "So... metahuman energy has always been around? It is a connection to the world? And anyone can become a metahuman?" It was difficult for Rori to fully understand; they knew for a fact they weren't as smart as Wendy, and it might take some explaining. They were trying, though.

"It might be a little hard to understand, but that's essentially what this is saying," Wendy trailed off "Our powers aren't grounded in science, but bending reality around us... but, I'm wondering if it's really valid."

Wendy sighed, as she stuck her hand out, and turned it into paper, as it flipped page by page. "On one hand, it'd explain this."

Rori nodded. "It would definitely give an explanation," they absentmindedly touched the feather's at their neck as they talked. "But it also makes sense for some powers more than others, to me."

Wendy then tightly closed her fist, and turned it into flesh yet again.

"... On the other, of course, they're maniacs, and have a God complex that'd put Caligula to shame."

Stretching out on of their wings, the one that wouldn't hit Wendy when they did so, they kind of pointed to it. "I find it difficult to figure out how something like this is bending reality around us. Though maybe that's me not really understanding how science works, either. Not my strong subject."

"I mean, you can turn into a bird a million times smaller than you," Wendy pleaded, "That defies mass conservation, and many biological laws. Such as, a bird has a different biology than a human, and transformations between the two should be impossible."

"Oh, yeah, I guess that makes more sense... I tend to think more about the physical changes," Rori blinked, seeming to agree with what Wendy said. "I don't know the Founding Family as well as you, well I know nothing at all about them, but I probably wouldn't trust their research. Then again, they probably believed it was right." Rori pulled their wing back towards their body, and sheepishly rubbed the back of their head. "Sorry if that doesn't help you at all in terms of another opinion!"

"And it's a good thing you've never experienced them..." Wendy moodily trailed off. She couldn't put into words how glad she was that Rori wasn't a victim. "The Founding Family... despite their insanity, were geniuses capable of science shoulders above the rest of the world..."

She realized what she was saying.

"I'm not saying you're wrong or anything," Wendy shrugged. "I'm saying we have to consider all possibilities until proven otherwise... but..."

Wendy looked at Rori for a moment.

"Thank you anyway."

"It's no problem," Rori shrugged, not looking at all put out. "I'm probably more likely to be wrong than you anyway. This isn't something I know much about. "Thank you for telling me all this, though, and I wish I could help more."

They smiled slightly at Wendy before continuing. "If you want the book translated into a song, or a catchy tune to sum up our future adventures, I'm right here to do that."

"Ummm..." Wendy was unsure of how to respond to the song idea. But, it couldn't hurt, right? "... Sure."

"I mean I was mostly joking," Rori laughed. "Though it is something I could do - I just don't think you'd let me have the book long enough to do it! A small tune might be easier... hmm..." They looked thoughtful. "Now I'm actually thinking about composing a piece."

"Come on, what about a little?" Wendy said, teasing her.

"Now you're just putting me on the spot," Rori rolled their eyes with a smile. "See, I'd start with a verse about the group, but the name's are just a bit awkward!" They looked thoughtful. "There once was a group of misfits, and a book. God, no, that sounds awful." Rori was beginning to look a little flustered. "Why did I even go to art school?"

"Keep going..." Wendy said with a playful smile on her face. "Keep a rhythm going!"

"From the founding family it was took, leading to wonders they had never seen, and places they had never been." Rori paused, grinning at Wendy. It was difficult to think of something like this but, hey, it was fun. "It's beginning to sound more like a poem than a song. Why don't you add something to it?"

"Well, maybe we should take out 'Founding,'" Wendy said, "It flows better."

Part of Wendy wanted to contribute, but how? She didn't know much about music, and all, but she was going to try.

"All because someone..." Wendy trailed off as she tried to (awkwardly) add lyrics. "... Had a dream. Stuck in her cluttered...." Then Wendy couldn't say anymore, and just broke out into laughter.

"Sorry Rori, but maybe you're right," Wendy chuckled, "We should leave it alone, stick to the things we're good at." She didn't have her camera on her, but if it was, she'd be playing with it in her hands.

"Yeah, seems neither of us have a talent at writing lyrics," Rori laughed along with Wendy.

"Hey... know what we haven't done in awhile?" Wendy asked. "We haven't gone out and taken some shots."

"No, we haven't! Sounds like a fun thing to do again," Rori grinned. "Where do you want to go?"

"We can head over to the Orchestra Mall," Wendy said. "C'mon, I can take you there on my moped."

"Sounds good," Rori hopped up. "Let's go!"

---

Greencrest Heights, White Coast_

---

---

“So why exactly are you sitting in my kitchen, acting as if you still live here?” Lihn shot an unimpressed glance at Kei as she descended the stairs, having just left her office. “The key you have doesn’t give you a free pass to just turn up out of the blue.”

“I thought you’d be pleased to have me visit,” Kei grinned. “I stopped Thanh from breaking a glass so you had a bit of peace and quiet.”

Lihn sighed, looking over to where her daughter was now lying quietly on the floor beside her dog. “I would be happy for you to visit, if I wasn’t so busy.”

“Busy with what? I thought you didn’t have any clients today, past three?”

“I have things out with of clients to deal with for work. And more personal research, too.”

“You’re still looking into…” Kei glanced over at Thanh, and then back at his sister without saying another word. Lihn just nodded with a sigh. “How’s it going?”

“Slowly. Nothing has come of it yet.”

“Why are you looking intit now, after all these years. It has been so long that it makes sense that it’s difficult.” Kei didn’t normally question what Lihn did, but this time it was something he was curious about.

“Because of all the stuff with animals,” Lihn eventually responded with the sigh, voice dropping to a whisper. “She’s getting more powerful, Kei. It’s beyond what our father could do. He was an animal empath, and I’m just an empath. I don’t know what she’ll be able to do.”

“And I can control ice, which has nothing to do with that kind of stuff,” Kei shrugged one shoulder.

“Our aunt can control fire,” Lihn countered.

“Point taken,” Kei just nodded. “But still, I’m sure it will be fine. So how about you relax for a little bit? I didn’t just come round to pester you while you were working. I need to go shopping and don’t want to go alone, so I thought it would be a nice opportunity for some family bonding.”

“You want me to buy you things, don’t you?” Lihn raised an eyebrow.

“Well, maybe. But it will be fun for Thanh too!”

At the sound of her name the small girl looked up with a grin. Well, that didn’t give Lihn much choice about going. “Fine.” She turned to look at her daughter. “Thanh, we’re going out shopping. I need you to get your stuff together for me, please, and get ready.”

“Okay! Chi wants to come too!” Thanh stood up slowly as she responded in English. As much as she understood Vietnamese she still hadn’t gotten her head around talking it.

“We can’t bring Chi,” Lihn frowned slightly. “Dogs aren’t generally allowed in malls.” Not to mention the last thing she wanted was her daughter talking to an animal in front of strangers. Most still didn’t take kindly to metahumans. And Thanh was only young.

“But she wants to come,” Thanh pouted, looking like she was about to cry.

“I’m sure it will be fine, Lihn,” Kei put in, moving over to ruffle Thanh’s hair as he also switched to English. “If she’s not allowed we can just go home or leave her in the car.”

“Okay, Thanh, you can collect bring Chi if you get her ready to go after you get your stuff together,” Lihn conceded, getting an excited response from her daughter as she jumped up to get ready. Her gaze move to her brother, eyes narrowing. “I can’t believe you just convinced me to bring a dog to a mall.”

“Hey, what’s the worst that can happen?”

---

Greencrest Heights, White Coast_

---

---

"Ah!" Meifeng slammed her glass of alcohol on the tabletop, a mixture of vodka, and various juices she grabbed from the grocery store. "I needed that..." She slouched down on the sofa, and put her hands over her defined stomach.

"... It's like four in the afternoon." Sitting across from her was Jennifer Caspin. An old friend of hers, one that she had neglected in the recent years. Wearing jeans, and a bland tank top.

"I know, but when you have a day off from the most bullshit job in the world," Meifeng complained. "All day's a good time to drink, ha!"

Meifeng, in truth, took the day off. Because she... just wasn't feeling it. And she worked her ass off every other day, it didn't matter if she took a break. There was something else on her mind.

"So, Jenny," Meifeng said as she leaned forward, "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm... just going to figure out something to do," Jennifer said, with a shrug. "I've wasted more than enough time on stupid grudges, and revenge."

"What? Are you gonna go to school for something?" Meifeng said.

Jennifer shrugged. "Not much of an option anymore, it's far too late."

"It's never too late for school," Meifeng said, as she took another sip of her vodka concoction. "I got tons of money, and nothing to do with it, I bet I can pay so you can get through-"

"S-sorry," Jennifer said, cutting Meifeng off. "I'm... just... I just don't want you all to be holding my hand all my life."

She paused for a moment, as Meifeng had an eyebrow raised. Intrigued to hear more.

"I'm sorry, but it's time that I find my own strength, and make my place in this world," Jennifer said, clenching her fist. "And I'll never accomplish anything by being coddled all the time..."

"... Now you sound like my mom..." Meifeng mused out loud as she swished her alcohol around, holding it by the tip. She briefly glanced at her watch, and said..

"Oh shit," Meifeng said, as she hopped up to her feet, "Lijuan is out of school now."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I said I would help train her," Meifeng said. "She has a long way to go... I'm definitely not my mother."

"... And you shouldn't try to be." Jen said as she smiled. "You're Meifeng."

"I know that," Meifeng said. "I just... I just don't think I'm 'motherly' enough, y'know?" She awkwardly said, as she desperately thought of another way to put it.

"I don't know whether or not I'm the best suited for this kind of thing... I mean, Uncle and his family are probably doing a better job than I am."

"Just do your best, I guess," Jennifer shrugged. "I don't have any real experience in this kind of thing either, so we're in the same boat."

"Hey..." Meifeng trailed off. "How about you come along with me to see Lijuan?"

Jennifer shrugged.

"Sure, I don't have anything better to do."

Meifeng took Jennifer by the wrist, and pulled her off, saying, "Let's go, then!"

---

Greenflower Garden, Silver Hills_

After the destruction of the first Liu Estate three years ago... the family merely moved into another one. After the Founding Family were taken out of the equation, a lot of people who owned these properties went into hiding (or were arrested). A lot of those buildings ended up falling back into the hands of the city, and were sold off to whoever the hell wanted them. She was glad that Lius were comfortable with moving in here, but there was something amiss.

Maybe it was just paranoid.

Meifeng got properly dressed in jeans, combat boots, and a red button-up shirt. She had a large gym bag that was full of something suspicious (at least to Jen), and casually walked up the front steps to the building. She looked behind her at Jennifer, and shrugged. She pressed the doorbell... even though she wondered why they haven't opened the door already. They opened the gates for them. But, the doors were widely swung open, revealing a petite girl with glasses that Meifeng knew very well.

"Jia-Li," Meifeng greeted her younger cousin with a hug. "How are you doing?" She spoke in Chinese.

"I am doing fine," Jia-Li answered. "Our entire family is attending an event later on tonight."

"Great," Meifeng said, "I'll take Lijuan off your hands for the night... speaking of which, where is she?"

"Oh, she is reading a book in the library," Jia-Li answered, as she stepped aside, "She's been waiting for you."

"I'll go take care of her now... Jiao-Long is alright with us using the garden to train again?" Meifeng asked, as she almost stepped past Jia-Li.

"He politely requests that you don't destroy anymore of his fountains," Jia-Li said with a smile.

"No promises," Meifeng said, as she threw a thumb at Jennifer (who was oblivious to their conversation in a foreign tongue). "Oh, and this is my friend, Jennifer. She'll be helping!"

"Hi!" Jennifer said as she followed Meifeng, and was unsure of if she could even speak English. But, Meifeng skipped her way to the library, as Jennifer followed. Meifeng knew the mansion like the back of her hand! Since this wasn't the first time she was here, and neither will it be the last. She opened the doors, and saw Lijuan studying a book. The small black-haired girl turned her head towards the door, and smiled once she saw her older sister.

"That's right, Li..." Meifeng said as her younger sister ran over to her, and gave her a hug. "Let's get started."

---

The two sisters moved their way to the garden, and they stood in a clearing, while Jennifer sat on a bench and watched. There were probably better places for this... but Meifeng knew that not destroying this garden would help motivate Lijuan to maintain control. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out the key for Lijuan's collar.

"Alright, are you ready?" Meifeng asked, the key hovered near Lijuan's neck, and she merely nodded her head. Meifeng put the key in, and turned it. Without flinching, she took a step back, and said, "C'mon now, create a flame." She said.

Lijuan complied as she put a hand up, and it ignited like a torch. Creating a flame was easy these days... but it flickered. Not because it was going out, but Lijuan was fighting to keep it from getting bigger. The young girl quickly gained control.

"Now, put it out," Meifeng said, and Lijuan made the flame disappear like it wasn't even there in the first place. The ten year old nodded her head. Meifeng raised a finger up into the air, and took several steps backwards.

"Make another fire..." Meifeng trailed off. "But then walk towards me with it."

Lijuan hesitated... but spawned a bright flame. Holding it in both hands like she would shield a dying light. She walked slowly over towards Meifeng, and she tried to hide her emotions. Meifeng could see from the lack of eye contact, and that hung head of hers, that she was terrified. It reminded Meifeng of their mother, in fact. Always too prideful to be open with their emotions.

Meifeng just hoped that Lijuan wouldn't fall into the same mindset.

She successfully made it to Meifeng, and smiled.

"See, Li?" Meifeng said as she crossed her arms. "You're a natural at this." She assured her sister... whom Meifeng knew could had been proficient at this rate if her mother wasn't so afraid. Lijuan needed more time, yeah, but now she fears her power.

Meifeng ran around Lijuan, and stood some distance away. This was going to be tough for Lijuan, but if she was going to stop fearing her power, and start believing in it, it was a very important step. Meifeng was so confident in Lijuan that she was going to risk it.

"I need you to throw a flame at me," Meifeng said, and that shocked everyone. "Just a small one."

"B-but..." Lijuan quickly pleaded as she looked around. "I'll burn you!"

"Lijuan, you won't burn me," Meifeng said, sternly, "I am a RAVEN, I don't make mistakes."

The girl was still hesitate to shoot her big sister with fire.

"You have to believe in your strength."

And those words are what motivated Lijuan to let go of her fear, and do what Meifeng said, believe in her strength. Both hands erupted in fire, and she threw both hands forward, and sent a baseball sized flame right for Meifeng. The RAVEN had anticipated this, and rather than the worse case as Lijuan feared, Meifeng spawned water out of both hands. She swiped her right hand aside with a graceful movement, and the fire was extinguished.

"See?" Meifeng shrugged as she sent the water back to her pocket dimension. "You can't burn me... so stop holding back so much."

With a nod of her head, Lijuan created a much larger fireball - the size of a basketball this time. It went flying towards Meifeng, and she swiped her hand across and created more water once again. Extinguishing it once again. She gestured for her sister to fire one more blast, and she charged up a blast twice as large as the previous one. Meifeng was worried for a moment there.

Just one.

She raised her leg up into the air, and brought it down, and what followed was a large current of water that completely extinguished the fire no problem. She smiled.

"That was impressive, Li," Meifeng said. "But, I think after all these years, I think we're finally getting closer to you not having to wear this thing." Meifeng said as the water faded away, and grabbed the collar, and spun it around her finger, before she stopped to take a look at it.

Then got an idea.

"I think we reached a point where..." Meifeng trailed off for a moment as she looked at Lijuan, then to Jen. "... Where you can go out on your own, meet people."

"Wait, are you sure?" Lijuan asked.

"Yeah," Meifeng said. "You cannot fear your power forever, Li. There's a point where you have to embrace it, and you can't rely on these things to contain it forever."

She chuckled for a moment as she looked at the collar. "These things break all the time. Ha!"

"... Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jennifer finally chimed in, and voiced her concerns. "I mean... I hate to undersell you, but you aren't a DOVE."

"At the same time, I'm a RAVEN captain, and her guardian," Meifeng spoke as she spun the collar on her finger. "I'm fully authorized to remove this off for whatever reason, I please."

She looked between Lijuan, and Jennifer, and shook her head. Yeah, these two girls were doubting Meifeng, even when she had so much love and faith for them.

"C'mon," Meifeng said as she crossed her arms. "The problem here is that nobody trusts themselves. Yes, it's risky, but... Li, if you can go an extended period of time without losing control, then think about how much better you'll feel after doing this?"

Lijuan pouted for a moment as she played with her fingers, but no doubt gave it some thought.

"Besiiiides," Meifeng outstretched her hand at a fountain, and sapped the water from it. She absorbed as much of the water as she could, before her little storage was full. She balled her fist, and put it up with a cocky look on her face. "I'm a living fire hydrant."

"... I'll do it." Lijuan confidently said.

"Good, good, let's go!" Meifeng said as she lead Lijuan along. "I know the perfect place."

---

Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_

Given that Meifeng has a bit of spare cash on her, and an afternoon to blow, she figured that the mall would be a great place to go!

Though, she wondered if she should have returned here.

The Orchestra Mall was originally the mall for Baybridge, but after the whole hostage situation that took place three years ago, it's been looking a little sad. More than a few businesses have moved out, and only the desperate seemingly moved in. It still has some business due to being the largest mall in all Baybridge, and many people weren't letting fear of the Founding Family get to them. There were a few people inside as the trio walked in.

"Wow," Jennifer said as she looked around. "I wonder if that arcade I used to go to is still open..." She muttered to herself.

"Probably not," Meifeng muttered. "I thought they were over exaggerating when everyone said the mall wasn't looking that good...."

"Oh..." Lijuan said as she held Meifeng's hand.

"Don't worry, Li," Meifeng said as she gave Lijuan's hand a tug. "We'll find our own fun."

---

RAVEN/DOVE Joint Headquarters, White Coast_

---

---

While ZODIAC's interference made things very complicated, Francis was going to make the best of it.

So far, they had little leads, as the whole element of surprise RAVEN previously had was completely thrown out the window. But, Francis knew the key to finding them was just one more slip up on the part of the mafia. For now, Francis was doing some paperwork... from the operation on Sunday. That was a mess, and left everyone in a pretty bad mood, and he pretty much shouldered it all for everyone's sake. He just wondered how everyone else was doing... because one bad mood could prove disastrous for the whole operation.

The footsteps that approached his cubicle alerted Francis to Maximilian Cornell. He wondered why Maximilian was personally paying him a visit, but it had to be perfect.

"Agent Jean-Pierre?" Maximilian asked as he leaned forward, and put a heavy hand on the table. "Are you busy?"

"No, sir," Francis answered, as he smiled. "Just tryin' to pass time with paperwork."

"Good, because I have some news," Maximilian said, as he leaned back and put his hands behind him. "I've been in discussion with a U.N. representative, and because of the ZODIAC presence in Baybridge..."

He took a breath as he looked around for a moment, Francis somewhat guessed what Maximilian was leading to.

"... Agents of MAVERICK are going to be assisting us on the Devil case."

"That's great, sir." Francis smiled. He heard nothing but good things about MAVERICK, and it was great that the UN was trying to be involved with Metahuman politics. But, he could see two problems, and two problems that would definitely make things much more complicated than it needed to be. That smile disappeared fast as it appeared.

First; there was the matter of other RAVENs might not appreciate the assistance. RAVENs are a prideful lot, Francis noticed. To a toxic degree. They probably will think that they need their hands held, or something else stupid. That they couldn't get the job done themselves. Francis knew that wasn't the case, but he has no way to account for the others.

Second; well, MAVERICK was a really public group (they were like the Avengers in the eyes of the public!)... one that wasn't going to go unnoticed. Right now, a big problem was that many groups are calling for the disbandment of RAVEN and DOVE. Saying that they aren't effective at their job... and an organization that has a far better reputation (only because they haven't had nearly as many public scandals) than RAVENs. Francis could hear the lobbyists crying "RAVEN needs their hand held!"

"... Agent?" Maximilian brought Francis out of his deep thought with one word.

"Oh, sorry, Chairman," Francis said, chuckling. "I was just thinking about the case!"

"Oh," Maximilian shrugged. "Would you like to meet them? The Agents are approaching now."

"Yessir," Francis said, as Maximilian lead him through the building, all the way to the front entrance. Where several other RAVENs and DOVEs were posed. Waiting for the vehicle to arrive. It wasn't long before a long black vehicle arrived, and the door opened... and a very tall darkskinned woman stepped out.

"... Oh my God," The woman said as she leaned back with both hands on her back. "My back is killing me from that ride."

"... Agent Gallus?" Maximilian said, with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh?" Agent Gallus said as she ran over, and hugged Maximilian. "Maxi! I haven't seen you in awhile."

"Heh, friend of yours?" Francis asked.

"Agent Gallus here was a former member of NEST..." Maximilian said. "Friend of mine."

"Heh, who isn't a friend of yours?" Gallus rhetorically asked. "And call me Michelle."

At this point, the other MAVERICK walked up... someone who, at first glance, appeared like floating clothes. A grey trench coat, slacks, and floating sunglasses. It took Francis a moment to recognize him.

He looked around... it was hard to gauge his emotions as he was invisible. "I've never thought I'd be back here..."

Francis extended a hand to both of the MAVERICKS. "I am Francis Jean-Pierre, a transfer from Brazil." He smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

First the invisible man shook his hand, "Graham Morris."

Then the massive woman shook his head, and Francis winced because of how gigantic it was compared to his, "You already caught my name, but let me formally introduce myself; Michelle Gallus."

"So," Francis shrugged as he looked at them. "Are there more of ya', or am I missing something?"

"Well, we have a few other Agents on their way to Baybridge," Michelle said as she put her fists on her sides. "Probably won't be here for a few days since this was so short notice, but I think some people may have gotten here ahead of time."

"So... you're what we've got?" Maximilian crossed his arms as he asked.

"Well, we were in the area," Michelle shrugged. "Besides, our good friend Matthew wanted us to establish contact with RAVEN first or something. We'll do until more of our team arrives."

"Well, I guess we'll sort things out," Maximilian said, as he glanced at Dana. "Come along, we have much to discuss inside."

The two MAVERICKs stepped in, following Maximilian, while Francis took this opportunity to split.

---

The meeting with MAVERICK was... unexpected, but it went well. First impressions are everything, after all. Francis looked forward to working with them, but at the same time, he wanted to know what the other RAVENS would think of this meeting. Most of his team weren't here, so they'd probably be introduced to them later. For now, Francis was heading back to his office... cutting through the DOVE offices really quickly. He stopped for a moment when he caught sight of the tall, blonde-haired, woman that he undoubtedly recognized as Andrea Pas...ter-something. She looked a little... rough. Maybe he should ask her what was wrong real quickly. He slid over towards the blonde, with that smile of his...

"Hello, Francis." Andrea said still in the midst of her work. The intern had not even turned around to face him. When she finally did turn around, revealing arms full of folders, her luminescent eyes looked tired yet sternly over him. She continued, "I'm fine, just dealing with... work. And you...? Also work? New guys?"

"Andrea..." Francis was somewhat caught off guard when Andrea turned towards him. Maybe he wasn't as stealthy as he thought! Then she asked about work, and Francis almost had a flashback to what happened. "... Yeah, work."

He chuckled, before he focused on Andrea.

"But, you look a little.. on edge?" Francis asked. "What's on your mind? And don't lie to me, girl, I can tell."

A sly little smirk appeared on her face and her shoulders fell, now apparently relaxed. Her voiced cooed, "Not if I didn't want you to."

But then she tensed up again and took a deep breath, setting the folders on top of a filing cabinet beside her. "I was also a, uh, a theater kid. Heh. Think of it as acting and suddenly it's not so hard. Anyway... you've heard about the incident at the Golden Throne, right?"

"Who hasn't?" Francis playfully said as he crossed his arms. Even though he was busy with the Devil's arm case... some things just seem to make it his way no matter what. Weird, ain't it? Francis crossed his arms as he leaned up against the desk. "Some kid had a bad manifestation event?"

Andrea sighed upon hearing the same suggestion as Agent Zhao, though she couldn't blame Francis if there was history of such happenings. She opened up the filing cabinets and decided she could talk while putting away the folders "Well..." she started as she arranged the files alphabetically, "it sure looks that way to them. I was nearby when it happened, and I was the one that called it in - don't worry, I'm fine - it's just... I was called in for questioning, see if I knew anything else about the incident. Halfway through the conversation, the tests came in."

Francis crossed his arms, as he looked at her. Had a feeling where she was going with this

She put away the last folder and closed the cabinet drawer shut and whipped around to face Francis again. "It's Happiness, Francis. I'm not crazy, the evidence to support it is damning. Miss Alcott and agent Zhao think it's a coincidence, and I know they've been on the force a long time, but it matches up with all the research I've done. The sugars, proteins, pH, the substance - God, please don't interrupt me right now," Andrea said as she pointed her finger at him with a knowing look, "it's all there in the right amounts. The man's body was the perfect breeding ground for tumors."

"Well, everything is true until we disprove it. Not everyone believes that, so it's going to hard to convince them," Francis first said. He was on the fence on this matter. On one hand, something like this has happened several times before, but on the other, there was something weird about the whole thing. About his body being full of Happiness. Does that happen when every tweaker manifests while overdosing? "I'll have to look at the official report when I have the time, and compare it to your notes."

Then he looked at Andrea, thinking about Meifeng and Dana's responses.

"Just, uh, keep your chin up, they'll come to believe you in time..." He said, then awkwardly chuckled. "...Hopefully before things get out of hand."

Andrea didn't look very convinced herself, and as she looked at the little watch on the bottom of her wrist, she said, "Hopefully you will too." The time reading 4 PM. She had offered miss Bayard to stay over today to help arrange some documents that got jumbled in today's chaos, what with the incident at the Golden Throne, and whatever RAVEN was doing - information that she wasn't privy too, but it had something to do with those ZODIAC terrorist guys. With each and every person she came across who casted their doubt over her concern over Happiness, she was beginning to wonder if she was getting too worked up over the wrong thing. Still, she had something she had to do today.

She said, "It's about break time for me. There's someone I have to go check on."

"Same here," Francis said, as he started walking. "Hope you have a nice day."

---

Fallbridge Square, Hedgemount_

---

---

"... H-Hello?"

"Sophia," Noelle said over the phone. "Is there anyone around?"

"N-No," Sophia asked. "Jackie... h-how did you get this number?"

"Don't worry about it," Noelle answered. "How have you and Quinn been doing there in the Academy?"

Sophia was quiet for a few moments. "It's been great... this island reminds me of home." Canada, as Noelle knew it. But, there was more to say. "But, I want to be with you, big sis."

Those words cut deep into Noelle like a knife, but she took in a moment to sigh. Noelle shook her head, as she answered, "I'm sorry, but for now, it's best that you're on that island, and I'm here."

To tell the truth, Noelle knew that them being a family again was impossible. With the sins Noelle committed being a reminder of that. It was better that Noelle stays out of their lives, constantly looking in like a window.

"Okay..."

"I'm going to keep in touch with you," Noelle said, "Just promise to keep quiet about this, and maybe we can go meet sometimes... and if anything goes wrong, please tell me, and I'll be right up there."

"Mhm..."

"I have to go now, tell Quinn that I love her..." Noelle trailed off for a moment, "... and remember that I love you, no matter what."

---

With that, the phone hung up, and Noelle realized how big of a risk it was contacting them. She took in a deep breath of air. Before she got up off her chair, and walked over to the patio deck of this gaudy apartment of hers. She needed a fresh breath of air... maybe calling them this soon was dumb, but it was worth it. Even if it was fleeting, she made contact with her sisters. She leaned on the railing for a moment, looking down at this dirty city of hers.

Perhaps she should attend to other matters to get her mind off things. There was something that she needed to do, anyhow. She strut her way from one part of her apartment to the other, and stepped into a little side room that she usually keeps covered up. Noelle approached...

... Her ant colony. A plastic monstrosity that had thousands of ants running through it.

It was a weird hobby of hers, but the ant is her favorite animal. It was placed upon a table, and it started small, and now it was huge. All thanks to Noelle, and her talents, of course. She reached into her back pocket, and pulled out an orange pill bottle that had cockroaches in it, and popped the top. She opened the top of her monstrous ant farm, and placed the cockroaches inside. The fire ants inside quickly swarmed and devoured the cockroaches, and took it apart piece by piece....

... So fascinating.

She could watch this for hours, but she wanted to get something from the store. Tonight was bath night, and there's only one store in all Baybridge that sold what she needed - well, there was another store, but she didn't feel the need to head out there. There was the Orchestra mall, a run down place where a weird old lady sold her favorite bath supplies.

It wasn't long before Noelle was out the door, and on her way to Prince Edfield.

---

Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_

---

---

The two got off the bus, Daniel with his hands in his pockets, and Penny's hands were swinging at her sides.

The two stepped into the mall, and Daniel wondered just why, of all the better looking malls that they could go to, that Penny picked Orchestra. The decrepit and derelict mess of a mall that was closing.

"Hey, Daniel," Penny said, as she put her hands on her hips with a mischievous smile on her face. "Know why I really wanted to come here?"

"No?"

"This mall is closing, and nobody gives a shit about it," Penny said as she suddenly broke into a sprint. "Let's see how far we can go before they kick us out." She shouted back at him.

For a moment, Daniel paused, before he said to himself.

"What..." Daniel trailed off. "... Interesting ways your mind works."

He slowly followed behind her, figuring that it was best if he stopped her from doing anything stupid, but when he glanced over his shoulder, he swore he saw someone familiar...

---

After getting checked out by the DOVE doctors and having that interview with that rude lady, Jackson took the next few days to rest up. There wasn’t much he could do on account that his leg left him with limited mobility. He could still walk on it but it wasn’t without its own fair share of discomfort. He knew that hewouldn’t be doing any heroics any time soon - well, not on the levels of The Golden Throne, that is. Little acts, however, were still up for debate.

Like the previous days, Jackson was on his couch watching tv. His leg was propped up on his coffee table with a pillow under it. He groaned at how he was forced to be like this. He didn’t want this. He wanted to be out doing something. It didn’t matter if it was just getting some fresh air or going for a walk. If he could at least do one thing that didn’t involve him sitting on his ass seeing the same anti-metahuman politicians going on about tighter restrictions on them. Seriously, the more he had to watch them go on and on the more Jackson wanted to forsake doctor’s orders. In fact..

Jackson removed his leg from the table, though he didn’t anticipate how much it would hurt when his foot hit the floor. The pain was like a needle trailing along the back of his neck. This, of course, caused him to screech in pain.

“What are you doing?” A female voice said. She wasn’t happy.

“I can’t just sit here.” Jackson stated, “these politicians have no idea what happened. They just want to rile up the fears in the normal humans.” Jackson said, looking to the female who had her arms folded across her chest.

She was a caucasian woman with dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was average height, weight, and build. She wore clothes that were neither poor nor expensive, which gave the impression that she was middle class. Her cheekbones and overall physical appearance was like were fair for someone of her age(mid-20s).

“What good do you think walking on that injured foot of yours will do? You and I both know that just trying to walk on it gives you great pain.”

Jackson sighed heavily. “Don’t worry too much, Nicole, I’ll be fine.”

“The hell you will be.”

“You’re right. I won’t be if I have to stay in this crummy apartment for a second longer. You can either help me get down those stairs, or you can stand there, but I am leaving regardless if you help or not.”

That seemed to silence her. Nicole would go to Jackson’s room and get him his white crutches, and with her help, he was able to leave his apartment, go down the flight of stairs that led to the outside. The two of them would hail a taxi. Jackson wanted to head downtown to see for himself how bad things were. Simply watching the protests weren't enough. Jackson wanted to be a part of them so he could feel like he was actually contributing to something worthwhile and not being on the sidelines like he had been the past few days.

---

Brookacres, White Coast_

---

---

Wendy, Rori and the others had their own things to handle, leaving Rowan with a chance to deal with his. One thought had been stuck in his head when it came to that.

Mom.

A visit to her was long overdue, he figured, but every time he gave thought to it, he put it off. Not now, he'd thought, another time, maybe. But there was only so long that he could delay before he had a nagging feeling from the pit of his stomach.

Last time he'd spoken to her had been about four months ago through a payphone and he hadn't actually seen her since he'd left with the others in the RV and part of him was perhaps afraid of finding out what had happened to her in the last three years, since phone calls could only tell him so much. Another part of him perhaps felt just a little guilty for leaving her behind, but he'd had his reasons for leaving Baybridge and Mom had even encouraged him to go, lying to the DOVEs when they'd finally shown up at her doorstep to inform her that her son was supposedly 'missing'. She might have had her problems but she'd still cared about him, still done what she could to look out. That counted for something, didn't it? So what did he have to lose?

Nothing, Rowan decided.

Heading back to Brookacres was something of a ride down the history books. Not much had changed: a few of the older houses or other buildings that had been trashed in the riots had been torn down or left to rot, but otherwise the place was in the same worn down state as before, if not worse. The same kind of bars as those that the old man used to visit were still dotted around, attracting the same kind of people - it didn't make for a great picture. For good measure, he kept his hoodie thrown up, just to make it that little bit harder to catch a look at his face. It wouldn't have gone well if someone by chance recognised him and especially if it was one of those 'people', it was some bullshit he wasn't interested in dealing with.

Eventually, he was the end of his old street. Almost nothing had changed here at all, save maybe the cars parked here were different. 'Home' was the same. Perhaps the only thing he noticed that was different was a different car parked on the drive. At least she was getting out, it seemed.

Rowan hadn't planned on knocking on the front door, though, as going around the back was a safer bet since people were less likely to spot him. An example being the guy in a parked in a Ford at the end of their street, cigarette smoke billowing from an opened window.

Climbing over the fence was easy enough, though when it came to crossing the distance from the edge of the backyard to the door, it felt like a mile. Then, just before he could reach out, Rowan paused in hesitation. He took another deep breath, then rapped his knuckle against the door.

"You drop your ball in my backyard again?" A soft, albeit wearied voice eventually called out from within, a rattling sound coming from the handle, "It's polite to knock at the front, you know-" Patricia Campbell trailed off the moment she'd opened the door, having quickly recognised the stranger in the backyard.

"It's me, Mom." Rowan said, picking up on the awkward silence which had followed the opening of the door. "You uh... grew a beard." She said, with a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess." He answered, only to be pulled into a maternal embrace straight after with such a strength that he wondered whether she'd ever let go, maybe fearful of losing him again. Eventually she spoke up, her voice nearly cracking, "You're a man now, beard and all, but it's good to have you back home. I missed you."

Rowan had never been good at this kind of thing, but he found himself answering her with an equally nervous tone, "I... I uh, I missed you too, Mom."

After what felt like an hour (though in truth it had barely been half a minute) the woman released her son from the embrace, turning back towards the house and heading back inside. For a moment, Rowan paused, a little uncertain as to how he should've acted in the moment, only to get a voice calling him in. "What are you waitin' for?" She asked, "Place doesn't bite."

It was strange, in a way - he'd been able to tell that she spoke differently to before from hearing her on their phone calls, but it was a different thing seeing it in the flesh. Whatever bullshit that the old man had put her through in the past, it seemed to have melted away, revealing a woman with a confidence he'd never seen before.
Habitually wiping his feet, he stepped inside and could quickly tell that things had changed.

The place was cleaner, for one and he noticed that any photos of the old man which had been hung up or on display before were gone, leaving just a few of Rowan from his childhood years or of Mom herself. Not to mention there had been a few other, more drastic redecorations since he'd left, including repairs to the damage caused by his last outburst against the old man. Guess Mom used some of the money, he thought, recalling how he'd left her some of his share of the 'compensation' that had been given to them three years ago.

Moving into the kitchen, Rowan took a seat at one of the chairs and reclined whilst his Mom deigned to lean against the counter. "You hungry?"

"I'm good."

"I was gonna do something anyway." His Mom started, "No seriously, what do you want?"

"I said I'm fine," Rowan answered with a sharper tone than he'd intended, if the look on her face was anything to go by, "But... thanks, anyway."

She was persistent, though. "Please, you look like you haven't ate much anyway and this is the first I've seen you in a long time, I'm gonna get you something. No arguments." The look on her face said no more.

Eventually he chose to relent, "Alright, sure. Do whatever, I guess."

Nodding, Patricia Campbell pivoted on her heel and moved over to the fridge, fumbling around for whatever was inside, "I take it you haven't gotten too good for left overs?" She asked with a wry tone, arching an eyebrow.

"I look like it?" Rowan retorted with a smirk.

---

In the end, Rowan had been somewhat glad his Mom had been so insistent on his getting something to eat, especially since these leftovers she'd heated up were better than expected. After all, life on the road had given him even more of an appreciation for decent food, particularly when one might not have had the opportunity to get their hands on it otherwise.

"So, how'd your little 'road trip' go? Is everything alright? No trouble, nothin'?"

"No, it's all good." Rowan said between his last couple mouthfuls of food, deciding it was better not to go into the finer details of his time on the road and certainly not to his and Wendy's investigation of Sean Rosier's research. Before she had a chance to pick up on his dismissive answer, he quickly flipped the question on her. "What about you, Mom?"

"I'm doing good, you know? Cleaned up, even go to the local AA once a week. Had some... hard moments, but I got through 'em. Thought of you."

"That's good." A faint smile formed across his face at the thought, "Nobody bothers you?" But he continued to press, partially because he wanted to make sure they changed the subject and partially because he was genuinely concerned for her.

"No, no - well, some of his 'friends' are still around, but they don't bother me and even if they did, I can take care of myself." He knew who she'd meant by 'his' and for a moment his face somewhat darkened. She must've picked up on it though, because she quickly spoke up again. "But, Rowan - just avoid 'em, please. You don't want any trouble and I don't, either - don't go looking for it where there isn't any."

"Yeah." He shrugged at her remark. "Won't be trouble." Pressing a palm into the table to stand and pushing his chair back with his heel, Rowan picked up his now emptied plate and headed over towards the sink, then twisted the faucet to rinse it off. Only then, he noticed on the kitchen shelf was a new photo, one containing his Mom and a man of about her age. "Who's this?" He asked, shooting her a quizzical glance.

"Oh, that's Wyatt - didn't I tell you?"

"No."

"I uh, I met someone, Rowan. He's a good guy, not a deadbeat, I promise you - I met him at AA."

"Really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "How long?"

On that, she seemed to hesitate, though she soon gave an answer, "Almost a year."

"You never said anything on the phone about this Wyatt guy."

"Oh, Rowan... it was early days, then. And I thought I did but I guess I just didn't want you to worry, I thought it would be best to tell you properly when we... you know, met? Like now?"

"I guess." He shrugged.

"But I haven't told him everything about you. All he knows is that you're not living here, that we haven't seen each other in a long time. He doesn't know about before, that you're on a list, or that you're... y'know."

"One of them?" Rowan set the plate done, having probably rinsed it more than a dozen times over at this point. "Just say the fucking word, Mom. Metahuman."

"Hey, calm down, alright? He's not like your d-.. like before, I promise. He isn't a bigot and neither am I so don't start acting like it." She said, almost apologetically, causing a pang of guilt to claw at him from the pit of his gut.

"Look, Mom - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... yeah, I believe you. I know you wouldn't do that to me, or to yourself, okay? I'm just glad to see you doin alright and seeing this place again, it's a lot."

This time he headed over towards her and made up with an embrace of his own. "I know it is." She murmured.

Eventually they broke away from one another and after a few more minutes of idle chatter, they came to the next subject. "Where are you staying now, anyway?"

"With friends."

"Same as before? Uh, Wendy, right?"

"Yeah, she's good."

That wry look flashed across her face again, but before she was tempted to say anything, she seemed to keep quiet on it. "Well, you know you've always got a place here, right?"

"I know. Thanks, Mom."

---

On his way out, Rowan checked up side of his street for a good measure, a habit he'd picked up from the last few years, where he noticed something more than a little odd - the guy parked in his Ford at the end of the street was still there, still dragging on a cigarette. That's one long smoke. Perhaps it was just coincidental, but he wanted to certain there wasn't something else going on. Having the reputation that he and Wendy had developed since they'd left Baybridge was enough reason to be suspicious.

For good measure he intentionally headed back up the side of the street towards the approach, then past the green car again in full view, then took a long detour away from the house, down a side alley. Once he was a reasonable distance away he checked over his shoulder and there it was again, slowly crawling up the road. Same car, same asshole. It was subtle, he had to give it that, but anybody who'd been paying attention would've recognised that they were being tailed.

Briefly, he contemplated losing it by weaving in and out of a couple more side roads and alleyways, but then another plan came to mind. Instead, he took a route towards one of the bars he'd passed earlier - this was one that the old man had spent some of his time at - with the intent of leading his would-be tail along.

Outside were a couple patrons enjoying a smoke or some idle chatter, though they were all strangers. There wasn't much of a parking lot so to speak, so those patrons who had driven there were parked outside, which was where Rowan found his gaze drifting towards one particular ride, a '14 GMC Yukon which he was almost certain had belonged to one of the old man's 'friends'. He glanced over his shoulder yet again and saw the Ford crawling up, the driver actively sweeping their gaze across the street in an effort to find where he was, though this meant it would only work in his favour.

Eyes on the road, asshole. Rowan clenched his palm into a fist and gesticulated inwards with his elbow. The screech of rubber against asphalt came first as the Ford swerved off-course, then the sound of a crash. To anyone who had been observing, it would've looked as though the driver of the Ford had just veered off and rear-ended the parked Yukon. True to form, one of the patrons who'd been enjoying a smoke moments before was heard shouting to some of the others inside, before a group of about four more patrons (including the vehicle's owner) swarmed out to the scene of the accident.

It took all of Rowan's restraint not to burst into laughter at the sight of it. Enjoy. Heading off again, he was at least glad to have shaken the tail, the bonus being that it had been at the expense of another asshole, too.

It did raise a problem, though - if someone was willing to leave a tail outside his Mom's place, what about Wendy? He had to give her some kind of warning at least. Once he was a few blocks down, Rowan retrieved his phone and hastily fired off a text towards her.

Watch your back, someone tried to follow me.

She probably was watching her back already, but at least he could've breathed a little more easily knowing that he'd done what he could to let her know.

There were still a few hours for him to kill, though - but Rowan already had an idea in mind; there was a mall in Prince Ed-Field where he'd heard some of the store prices were lower than most, a consequence of being hit by those Founder assholes a few years back. Normally he'd have put that kind of thinking to the back of his head, but before he'd left the house, he'd checked on the stash of cash he'd left behind three years ago and took a small sum of it for himself.

This way, Rowan hoped he'd get a chance to grab something for Wendy without having some asshole mall cop pull him up, accusing him of shoplifting or some other crap like that.

---

Courtbridge, Prince Ed-Field_

---

---

A few days into this job and things had already taken a somewhat tumultous turn of events. Frank himself had seen a small measure of the threat that was ZODIAC and was one to realise why they were regarded as such a grave threat, if the infamous massacre that had occured three years ago wasn't an indicator of this fact. With this in mind, he could've have blamed these people for their anger at having taken such losses over the years. The same could have been said, however, for the sentiment that he felt had been directed towards him.

Granted, they had known him for barely more than a few days, but he'd picked up on the disdain and other disparaging remarks that would occasionally be overheard when one mentioned the 'MISW'. There was no animosity to speak of, but he had doubts when it came to the confidence that some agents had in his own abilities as an agent - he was after all an outsider. And one from a disgraced organisation, at that. It was grating, though he'd done as best as he could to avoid showing it.

In the case of Agent Taylor, who was one of the only senior field agents that he had been given a chance to work under, it seemed as though the man had acknowledged his capability, yet they had only known each other from a professional perspective, at arm's length. For what it was worth, Frank himself had figured out how the man had probably come to reside in a senior field position as he did. Taylor oozed determination after all, especially when in the range of an empath. Not that he would've said anything about that last note - picking up on other people's feelings was a bad habit.

Director Taylor on the other hand was another story, the way he'd heard - apparently the Director had been a cop at one point before the Verthaven disaster, but had then been recruited straight to DOVE and had enjoyed a successful career from then and onwards. That a man of his age could've risen so high in just shy of a decade was itself a remarkable achievement, though meeting him in person had given Frank an idea as to why the leadership had slated him for the job. It was a funny thought that his elder brother held a lesser role in the twin organisation, at least from a hierarchical perspective.

There was also Agent Zhao, whom he'd briefly encountered during their operation at the docks - she was more alike the Director's brother, though she had her own kind of drive. That one, he'd sensed some sort of disdain as he had with the others.

As for most of the others, he'd had little chance to meet or even gain an awareness of who they really were, or how they would really take to him. And it was a rather strange thought as to how the two organisations of DOVE and RAVEN operated without clashing, but it seemed that the two had some form of arrangement. Still, referring to them as 'DOVE-RAVEN' seemed a bit of a mouthful, but who was he to judge? 'Metahuman Intelligence and Social Welfare' was even more long-winded and perhaps the one thing he was certainly hopeful for with the reforms back home was that they'd come up with a more suitable name.

Time would tell, hopefully - Frank more than anyone realised that he would be working with these people and that it depended on him to make good use of this experience.

In today's case, the Briton had been partnered up with a RAVEN by the name of Yeun on patrol duty, making rounds through Prince Ed-field in a cruiser. Hours had passed by without anything remarkable taking place, unless he'd counted the brief situation where they'd been called in to accompany the BPD in defusing a petty argument at some fancy restaurant, involving a few belligerant (but ultimately non-violent) metahumans.

Nothing had come of that situation, but it was another cultural difference that Frank noticed - here, metahumans could be seen and noticed more often in the public eye, unlike back home. At least up until recently, anyway.

Otherwise, with the hours having passed by, Frank and his US counterpart had agreed on a break from roaming around the Courtbridge in favour of paying a visit to the local shopping center, the Orchestra Mall. Technically speaking, it fell under their assigned patrol district for the day and gave them the opportunity to grab something to eat, perhaps shop around for a few minutes before other matters called them back to actual work.

After Yeun had pulled up in the parking space outside the mall, Frank found himself dwelling on things yet again, enveloped in his own thoughts. Yet he found the sight of the place to be somewhat underwhelming and it didn't exactly strike him as one of the gargantuan shopping hubs he'd expected to find - in fact, he'd have argued that a trip to town back home would've held something more worthwhile.

"No offence, but it looks like it's seen better days." Frank remarked to his temporary partner.

"Doesn't surprise me," Yeun shook his head, "Those Family douchebags hit this place a couple of years ago, took some people hostage. I know a few guys who were there, it was screwed up."

"This was one of the places?" Frank asked, raising an eyebrow. "Right, explains a lot, I suppose."

"Yeah." Yeun grunted, dismissively.

Realising that he'd probably touched upon a raw nerve for the man, Frank quickly spoke up again. "Alright then, let's grab something to eat."

Besides, they were already at their stop. Who knew, maybe there was something worthwhile here.

---

Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_

---

---

The Orchestra mall, like many places in Prince Edfield after the fall of the Founding Family, became fairly run down.

And rife with crime.

It was known as a place to find Happiness drug for cheap. Many dealers hid in the creeks and crevices of the building, and distributed all across Baybridge. They had no idea where the drug came from, but long as there was a market, they didn't care. They bought it for a pretty good price from... whoever made it, and people were willing to pay a lot for it. But, that meant a lot of addicts hung around the mall, in the more destroyed areas of the building.

Which made this easier.

Creeping in and out from in between the cameras was a man (or woman?) with a burlap sack over their head, a gas mask clearly peeking from underneath it, and wore a casual outfit of a T-shirt, a jean jacket, and some tan cargo shorts. It was a rather strange combination, but it concealed the person's identity... as they carried a large canister with one hand. They moved towards the part of the mall where the addicts hung out - an empty store that left the mall, and they could never find another store for it. The person climbed under the short shutters, and looked upon the addicts. Various men and women of different ages, with torn and beaten up clothes. High off the drug.

"Huh?" One said, barely being able to see in the stupor. "Who are you?"

The person in the mask didn't even reply as they put the canister down, and then turned it. High-pressured pink gas quickly came out of the canister, and in mere moments, the room was filled with the pink gas. The people inside were loudly coughing, as the person using the burlap sack as a mask quickly cleared the area.

Eventually, much like the man in the Golden Throne, the people inside fell down to their knees in pain as they violently convulsed. They quickly underwent horrible transformations into violent monsters of shapes that were just... wrong. One, for example, had a massive bloated arm that was covered in hardened tumors, with a fat body. Another looked like an insect with a long outstretched body, and spider-like legs. Along with other horrific, bloody, shapes. The pink gas dissipated into thin air, but it already did it's job.

The dealer whom had sold them the drugs was the first victim. He let out one scream as he was violently ripped to shreds, and the monsters looked for other sources. The shutters were quickly broken, as the monsters ran out of the store. And it wasn't long until they directed their rage upon the innocent bystanders of the mall.

The person who started it all was long outside of the building, and had ran into an alleyway. They pressed their ear, and spoke,

"You all better have cleared the mall..." The person started off.

"... Because it works like a charm."

---

Two days later, Aaron still felt low. He woke up, did his usual morning routine, and locked himself in his workshop for three hours. Lily hadn't returned his calls. He tried to throw himself into his work, floating each candle individually between his hands and molding it by feel into the shape he desired. He completed the candles for three chandeliers, two candles decorated with an image of a rooster, and a set for a nearby church. At lunch, he ate in his workshop. Katie knocked on the door, but he didn't answer. He could hear her standing outside the door for a few minutes. Then she walked away to greet a customer. Aaron sent an email to his therapist.

Dr. Wright,

Things have gotten bad again. Do you have any openings for next Monday?

- Aaron

At two PM, Aaron came out of his workshop and manned the cash register. He didn't talk much. He could tell after a while that the regulars knew when he was in a bad mood. He wasn't sure if that uplifted him or depressed him further. There were very few people that had come in today, given the gloomy weather on a day like Wednesday. Anybody outside their homes were likely at work or at lunch, so every time a door opened and the bell rang, Aaron would peek out from behind the counter. This time, he saw the familiar face of the blonde Polish girl who had helped him three nights ago.

Andrea was pacing through the small store, taking in al the smells and appraising all of the handiwork placed on the shelves. All of the colors and scented oils were almost dizzying, yet she also found them relaxing to a degree. She looked back down at the watch on the underside of her wrist and picked up the pace to the counter where she found Aaron sitting behind the register. She greeted him with a smile that looked only relieved.

"Oh, Andrea!" Aaron said. "I-I didn't expect you to come in!" He almost looked shocked, like he was going to fall off of his stool, prompting lighthearted laughter from Andrea.

"Cześć!" She said with a wave of her hand. "I wanted to check in on you after... you know."

"Oh, yeah, right," Aaron replied. "It's been tough. I'm not too, uh, good under pressure, if you couldn't tell." He smiled a bit and looked down at the cash register.

"No?" Andrea joked, looking slyly down at the man his chair. "Why don't you tell me all about it?"

Aaron visibly tensed and closed his eyes. He sniffled a bit, but he could keep it under control. In the moment Aaron's anxiety began flaring up once again, Andrea just smiled and put her hand up reassuringly, "I'm sorry, I was just kidding. You don't have to worry about it."

"I guess you deserve to know, considering you had to deal with it," Aaron said. "I uh, actually do you mind coming back into the workshop?" He pointed towards the wooden door behind the counter. "I'd rather not...you know, let the whole world know."

"I, ah... sure." Andrea agreed. Though it wasn't without some nervousness; while she did help him a few days back, she still had only just met him. Still, he appeared harmless and didn't seem to bear any ill intent toward her - and perhaps he deserved to be treated with understanding. Perhaps her trepidation was also just from her own... experiences. She looked back down at her watch anxiously. Musing with some awkwardness, she said, "Just so you know, I can't stay too long. Maybe fifteen minutes left? I actually took my lunch break to come here."

"Oh, uh, yeah. Of course," he said. He opened the door and walked in, Andrea following close behind. He realized that maybe a young woman would be nervous walking into a back room with a strange man. He tapped his fingers on the table and thought of how to speak. It was tough talking about his anxieties, especially with people he didn't know too well. 'I need to do this. I can't just keep being afraid.'

"So basically," he began. "I, uh, have this thing called...panic disorder. When I'm outside around lots of people, I tend to, well, not do so well. I start having the kinds of symptoms you saw the other day, like, no I don't need to list them. You get the idea." He paused a minute. This was tougher than he thought. "It doesn't help either that I have, y'know, I'm not the same as most people." He couldn't push himself to blurt out about his abilities. That was too much, perhaps.

"You feel like there's a crushing weight on your chest and you can't breathe." She said. "That the room got ten degrees hotter and that the whole world is staring at you? All of your thoughts come out at once?"

Aaron's mouth hung agape.

"Uh, yeah," he said. "It's like that. It's, well, it's exactly like that."

"I,um... I felt it. You know..." Andrea pointed between him and herself. "I felt a lot of it."

"Oh, is that how that works?" He asked. "I didn't want to pry. I wasn't sure what was happening."

"Oh no, it's fine!" She said in trying her best to resassure him. "It helped you, didn't it? And, like, I like to think I'm pretty good at handling that sort of thing."

"You helped a lot, yeah," Aaron said. He paused and looked down at his hands. They were getting a little cold and small cracks formed on his knuckles. He clenched his fists a bit and the cracks disappeared. "So you probably figured this out too, huh?" His skin bubbled a bit at the mentioning.

"At first, no." Andrea admitted. "I knew you had a power, I just didn't know what. Now that your head is clear, I can tell that you're made of wax. You know, not nearly enough metahumans use their powers to actually make something of themselves. It's either fighting this guy, or comitting that crime... I'm glad you got find something you love out of it."

"I can't hurt people," Aaron said. "I absolutely hate seeing people get hurt. When I was at the Academy, most kids around fantasized about being super heroes or RAVEN agents. I didn't want any of that. I stayed away from them and worked on my art. Now I have this shop, and every day I do work that makes me happy." Aaron lifted his arms up and bubbles of glowing red wax lifted away from his skin. It floated between his hands, changing shape and color as he stared down at it. He stood up and more bubbles floated off of him. They hovered in the air and then began orbiting him like moons around a massive planet. He brought all of the bubbles together into one large orb between his hands. He hadn't showed off in years. It was actually quite fun, so fun that he forgot the door was open. He brought most of the wax back onto his skin, and it solidified. What remained he stared down at until it morphed into a birdlike shape.

"Wax is quite delicate," he said. "It can melt and break easily, but when some time and effort is put into it," he finished a beautiful eagle and it floated into the air. "It can become quite beautiful."

"I went to the academy, too." Andrea said absentmindedly as she pleasantly stared at the wax sculpture. "I also went to a real college. I can tell you from experience that their curriculum wasn't that great. Half the purpose of the academies are to serve as pipelines to DOVE and RAVEN. Don't get me wrong, the Academy - they've done wonderful things for me, but... they got me into thinking that being an intern for DOVE was my best option and now I'm not so sure."

"You seem to be very good at it," Aaron said. "I was in a bad place and you gave me the support I needed to hold myself together. There's a lot of people in this world who could use that, especially people like us." The eagle floated down into his hand. He focused hard to try and make it move, but to no avail. He hadn't yet mastered making wax objects move like animals.

"My time is almost up." She said after short while. "I might just buy a couple of candles on my way out, Aaron. They're goreous."

"Uh, thanks," he said. "I appreciate that. I work hard on them. Would you like to keep this?" He held the eagle out.

"It's lovely," said Andrea, but her hands were held out in refusal, "but like you said, you work hard on them. You know what they say how if you're good at something, never do it for free?" She could have rolled her eyes for not following her own advice. She patted her pockets and continued, "Besides, all I can spare to spend is on some of the little ones and I don't have a lot of space in my apartment anyways, so it works out."

"Oh, alright," Aaron said. The eagle melted back into a ball of wax. "So, what can I get you?"

---

Upon the request from Nicole, the taxi instead of going to their target location had dropped she and Jackson near the Orchestra Mall in Prince Ed-Field. When Jackson asked why she said she needed to drop off an application for one of the stores inside it. Though he protested, Jackson knew it was an unwinnable battle with her. Plus, given how quick the simple act of dropping off an application would take, he shrugged at it and followed Nicole. Though, he wasn’t able to keep up his usual pace, so she had to lower her brisk walk speed just a tad.

After a bit, they finally reached the mall, but upon getting there, Jackson saw something strange, not to mention heard it too. Screams from both men and women who were running the way that Jackson and Nicole had came. “Why are they running away?” Nicole asked.

Jackson shrugged.

In the matter of a few moments, as they walked deeper into the mall(the store Nicole was applying at was near the entrance they came in through), the two would soon realize what exactly it was that had the mall goers flee in terror: it was the same kind of abomination that he had dealt with at The Golden Throne, but it seemed that these were...different. And in higher numbers.

“Not again,” Jackson cursed under his breath.

“What is it?”

“We need to leave, that’s what,” Jackson said to Nicole, grabbing her hand as he half-walked, half-hopped towards the entrance.

“Jackson, what’s going on!?” Nicole raised her voice as she seemed to resist him pulling her arm.

“Listen to me, that thing that showed up at the Golden Throne a couple of days ago - well, those..those things over there seem to be the same, but different.”

“What are you even talking about?

“Just listen to me for once and get your ass out of here,” Jackson yelled, giving Nicole an order.

“You’re coming too, right?”

Jackson sighed. He always had to play the hero, didn’t he? “Make sure you get to safety,” Jackson said, not really answering her question clearly.

Jackson wobbled towards a few of the beasts that were just rampaging around. “Why is it always me? “Jackson said to himself as he noticed one of the beasts head towards him, their talon-like claws seemed to be poised to strike. The beast took to the air and was coming for him. On instinct, Jackson did a left uppercut. Though a few inches off, an arc of fire followed it, sending this particular beast flying backward.

And, of course, like all things, that would get the attention of a few more. Jackson prepared himself for the oncoming onslaught. He raised his hands up, them glowing a dim red. This was going to be a long day.

---

---

---

Greencrest Heights, White Coast.

Great. Fucking Great. Here she was having to back-track her way to the nearest bus station, praying that she hadn't missed the last bus after the weekly episode of Wenbitch and Friends - she couldn't hate her completely; Kannix volunteered to come out this late, and she's just a victim of unfortunate events much like her - so she could make it back home to explain herself to the almighty mastermind of the Cheng Household that is her mom.

It was a date, mom! Rein's too cute that I just had to be with him. I swear, I was going to come home as soon as I could but he just kept on surprising me again and again! He's such a sweetheart. That lie was utter BS: a fantasy that Kannix wanted (and is waiting for) so badly, but a truth that had to exist for her to literally not die.

...Yet, of all times, she lost her FUCKING wallet. At any given time, Kannix has the mental reminder to keep track of her items on her - a result of her excessive fidgeting and playing with small items. It wouldn't have fallen out of her unless she carelessly slumped down and it got pressed out of the thin pockets of her pretty little dress... which she did back at the cafe when she first sat down to awkwardly introduce herself.

So, after having borrowed what little small change Rein had on him ("I'll pay you back, promise!"), Kannix made it to just about near the cafe.

***

Kannix approached the glass window where she made that horrendous crack. She looked back at the knuckles on her right hand. Of course there was no damage. Her right hand reached down to her phone. How the phone did not fall out of her pocket, she had no clue - probably bigger, that's why. After sending a very quick message ("Mom, honest to god lost my wallet, but I found it - about to go get it back."), she stepped back to take in the establishment. It was closed, all lights off, and the lock on the welcoming doors were shut tight. Please to god let there still be someone inside. She knocked on the door loud and hard, threatening to crack the doors like she did to the glass window.

"Is anyone inside!? I need to get my wallet back! Please I need to get back home!"

If Kannix hadn't seen the little kitchen light on through the cafe's glass door, she could've been excused for being unobservant. But, as it stood, there was someone in. That someone being the cafe's owner and housekeeper, interrupted in her cleaning of the kitchen before she went home.

Audrey inhaled a long, hard drag on her cigarette and stepped outside, brushing back a lock of messed hair from her face as she saw the young lady standing at the door and pounding rather loudly on the glass. She flicked on a light switch and the cafe blazed back to life, with the exception that everything was closed, since it was late.

"Oh, you're the little gremlin that broke my window. What's this about wallet, eh?"

"Wha? Ho- I didn't break your window. What are you on- nevermind." She had to work on that bit - how this lady could have guessed that she broke her window was beyond her. "I can see my wallet over there by the chair! I was here with my friends earlier and I dropped it. I'm sorry to have to disturb you this late but I can't get back home otherwise."

Audrey craned her neck over to the table where the bunch of youths had been hanging out earlier in the day. That was where she'd heard the glass break and saw this young lady standing outside, fist on the window. She ambled over to the very obvious wallet sitting next to one of the chairs (how none of her employees had noticed it was beyond her) and picked it up.

"Oh, you mean this wallet? Sure you can have it back. As soon as I take my payment for replacing the damaged window. Can't have that on storefront, bad for business.'

As she said this, she opened up the wallet and rifled through the bills and loose change, pretending to consider actually taking money from this poor young woman's wallet while she walked back to the glass door. A puff of smoke escaped her lips from the cigarette that blazed between them as she pulled a few five buck bills from the wallet and held them up to the door.

"Consider this first payment. You get wallet back but you still owe me for window. Those things expensive, built to withstand car accident. I'm not sure how you managed to crack one with your fist, but you need to pay me or I start losing customers."

"Lady! Look at how little money I have in my wallet! If your windows are that expensive, how could I possibly pay you back? I'm from Spring Town! We have jack shit! This dress is not even second-hand! It's probably "sixth-"hand! Yes, I broke it, and I'm really sorry but I'm just a Spring Towner." Her fists had pounded on the glass door, exasperated and upset. There was fatigue and heaviness in her voice. It was late, and her mentioning her own pathetic background to this lady was nothing short of uncomfortable.

Audrey cocked an eyebrow at the mention of Spring Town. One of her employees was from there too, and she herself understood what poverty meant. She'd seen it, worse than this, back home in Russia. She kept her expression passive, but puffed thoughtfully on her cigarette.

"Hmm. Explains a lot."

She replaced the money into the worn wallet and closed it, holding it in one hand. "Tell you what, you work for me until I determine you've worked off your debt. That sound better, young lady? I will pay you, of course, but I will take a portion as what you owe me for the window."

Like the lady, Kannix puffed. She froze completely. Her fists still planted on the glass doors, her eyes wide open, crazy and teary at the same time, staring back at the tall, smoking woman. The mention of her possibly getting a job was so ridiculous, so other-worldly. Holy-

She turned around. Behind her was a straight road, empty of cars and obstacles save for this one scooter.

"SHIT."

Kannix energized herself. With her rush of emotions, she had to act out, a lot like a kid on a sugar rush cannot sit still and has to move about. In this case, she was all forms of scared, excited, worried, and shocked. She launched herself at the scooter side-first, absolutely obliterating it. It folded in on itself, her sheer, unstoppable force sending the hunk of metal flying across the length of the road. She straightened herself back up, and breathed to cool herself back down.

Shocked by the sudden display of power, Audrey backpedalled a few steps as the youth suddenly hurled herself at one of the scooters used for her food deliveries (and owned by one of her employees), completely demolishing it with nary a scratch on herself. She inhaled one long breath from her cigarette, burning out the white stick down to the filter, and blew the smoke at the door. Using the smoke and gathering it into herself, she stepped right through the spaces in the door frame and out onto the street, her smoke form dissipating into the air almost instantly as she withdrew a pack of Marlboro's from her pocket and pulled a fresh stick from the foil. She lit it with her lighter and breathed in a fresh lungful of smoke, breathing it out and up into the cold night air.

"Well, you're paying for that too. That was Ellen's, she was renting that from someone else."

Audrey pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head slightly in amusement and frustration.

"How am I going to explain this to her...?"

Kannix had a feeling that there was more shit to happen to her. Thankfully, there was nothing more to break, and tearing down the cafe would be excessive.

"I've never worked before. No openings in Spring Town and no one likes to hire a messy-looking Spring Towner." She turned around. "I don't know... how to thank you enough, and how to hate you enough." This realization, this grand moment was grounding her to the reality she has to face. Everybody just expects certain shit just from labels you own.

"I can work as soon as tomorrow. I just... want to go home now..."

Audrey nodded. She returned to her cafe's front door, unlocked it and picked up the girl's wallet from where she'd dropped it after turning into smoke to exit the building. With it in hand, she ambled back to the young lady and deposited the wallet into her hands. With a softer tone, almost motherly in intonation, she patted the lady's shoulder with a hand.

"Remember to be on time, young lady. We open at nine, but I expect you to be at the register by eight thirty, okay? My cashier, Ping, she'll give you briefing."

Kannix gave a small snort and chuckle, a sarcastic reply to try and brighten herself up. "Eight thirty? so late? Hah!" Oh she has no idea what she was in for, for sure, but she owed the lady.

"I never got your name, smoke metahuman lady. I'm Kannix Cheng."

"Audrey Novalik. A pleasure."

---

The Cheng Household,
Spring Town, Hedgemount.

"Did you guys have sex?"

"JESUS MOM WHAT THE FUCK."

"Well, why else would you stay out so late?"

"That's highly inappropriate, and we just met!"

"Then why were you out so late? What could you two have possibly done that took so goddamn long?"

The lie had to be convincing. Kannix couldn't say to her mom that they, and here being more than two, broke into someone's house and discussed about powers and events far beyond their simple lives. Nothing physically could betray her facade of innocence of a first date.

"We went to Silverhills."

"What the fuck's in Silverhills?"

"Uhm... Rosalyn Street!" That name she remembered off the top of her head. Wenbitch and Friends had driven through it. She had noted how hipster the whole place was. The perfect cover for a freaky freak like Rein. "It's got record stores and people there wore clothes like from your dynastic era some 10,000 years ago."

"Fuck you. Why would he take you there?"

"God I know, right? Bless the Lord he's charming and pretty. I'm in charge of the date next time, no worries mom."

Kannix's mom had no reason to suspect anything foul out of her daughter's story. This was perhaps the first positive thing to have come out of from her child's life, albeit a weird one, in a long time. She was confused, but delighted for her.

"Oh, and I also have a job now!"

"...What?" her mother spoke not with a tone of shock, but of astonishment. "How?"

"Rein took me to a cafe and they had openings! Audrey, the lady manager there, accepted me!"

"A cafe? What's it called?"

"The Haven. I start tomorrow morning, in fact!"

For a while, her mother did not speak and gave only a soft smile. Through her scars and ruined body, out permeated a release of pressure so visible in her body's relaxation.

"Good. Go sleep, get ready, and do well."

Kannix, shocked at her own mother's pleasantness, shook away her apprehension, and took in the respect at the words of guidance and support she was given. She nodded and smiled, then went to bed.

***

Oh my God what have I done?

Was she really ready for a job? Kannix had no idea in the slightest on what to do in a cafe! She can't cook and customer service might as well be a mathematics concept. She thought and shivered at every aspect she thought of herself that was not helpful at all for her job. She finished dressing up - lacy dress under a thin, mustard brown leather jacket, coupled with dirty white army boots and a camouflage-patterned bag on her back - and was ready to head out the door, knowing that it would too early to wake up her mom. She already knew she was heading out for work. Wow, a sentence I never knew I'd ever say.

She passed the table before realizing there was a note on the fridge.

'Don't fuck this up. I packed lunch for you.'

Kannix's heart suck in at the thought of her mother's care. She opened the fridge to see a brown paper bag. In it was two very old, soft slices of bread with the thinnest layer of liver-spread and dry cabbage leaves. To the two of them, this was okay for two meals for the both of them, costing them so much. Here she was, having it as a single meal. It's so much... she thought, but the decency to have a meal, to be respected in front of her new colleagues was what her mom must have had on her mind. She smelled the sandwich deeply before packing it into her bag, and rushing out to catch the bus. To work!

---

The Haven
Greencrest Heights, White Coast.

Fucking hell the place was huge. No customers yet, but with the life waking up around her in the neighbourhood, there must be service soon. She could feel the stress already, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to enter or not. She's not ready! How could she be!? She walked over to the doors, but positioned herself just right now so she couldn't be seen from the outside world, and the people inside wouldn't mistake her for someone who wants to enter, and rather just idling around, pretending to not have to be there.

Please someone make me come in. I can't enter by myself...

"Door is unlocked, you going to stand outside and lollygag or come in and help set up?"

Drying her hands on her towel, Audrey popped up from behind the counter. She spotted Kannix outside and waved for her to enter.

Kannix's eyes grew wide and her stance straightened. At least she was invited in, but the harshness in the tone, like a reprimand, got her scared and worried. She was fucking up already. She was internally screaming. Kannix pushed the doors open and took in the cool air conditioning and unobtrusive lightning. She basked in the atmosphere that she had failed to notice on her first time here. It seemed busy and full of life even when there was no one here yet. The titles were so well-designed, furniture complementary with each other, and colours so soothing to the eye.

Kannix walked over to the counter, the grandness of its berth that it had, encompassing a great length of the cafe as it hid its machinations for a great business. It had to be great - how else could Audrey afford all the decor?

"Good morning, Audrey. Sorry, I'm really nervous."

"Everyone is nervous on first day." She nodded and gestured to a rather young lady to her right.

"Ellen, meet Kannix. Kannix, meet Ellen. You two will be on counter duty today. She'll walk you through it."

Kannix gestured a small wave actioned from her wrist. "Oh. Hi... sorry about trashing your scooter... I'll pay you back, I promise!" Fuuuuuck I have to work with the person whose scooter she destroyed. If she doesn't poison my water or food, I'll be legit surprised.

"It's cool. I'll just have to delay our food deliveries for about forever."

Ellen ran a hand through her long, blonde hair and gave her a rather "I'm so done with this" huff.

"Ah... haha... that's funny... So... what do I do now?" Kannix's eyes darted everywhere but the look Ellen gave her.

She gestured to the two identical computer slash cash registers on the counter and stood in front of one of them.

"Registers are here, and customers are gonna come up to place their orders with us. Menus are behind us on the big chalkboards above our heads. When they come to place an order, just find what they're ordering on the big colourful buttons on the computer screen and tap 'em. Once you've finished up an order, tap the big green "Process Order" button and it'll print a receipt, at which point you'll ask them to pay however much their order costs. Just read out the amount on the screen and then wait for them to give you money. When you press the button, the register will open. Take their money and put all the notes in those little bins according to their denomination, along with any coins they give you. Then when the receipt's done printing, hand it to 'em and give 'em back their change if they have any. Then they'll wait for their order and give it to them if they're waiting at the counter. Otherwise, pass it to Isaac. He's the giant dude over there with the dreadlocks, and our waiter. He'll get it along. Just remember to get the customers their change and their receipt and you won't go wrong. And don't wrongly charge someone or order something wrong."

Shit.

*** ***

The morning-to-afternoon started off poorly. Soon after Kannix had found a box high enough so she could see the register and over the counter (no time to throw a fit), the first customer came in, followed by several others, all here for their very quick breakfasts and shots of caffeine to beat consciousness into their zombie-like trances.

Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck will you guys just fuck off please don't buy here just fuck off

The buttons were huge and had clear names written on them, and they were all neatly organized and categorized. By all means, it wasn't supposed to be hard. Yet, when it came to grumpy people, with the occasional halitosis and shit attitude, all confidence breaks, and Kannix suddenly would fumble and stumble. Soon, the lines were long, and there was a bit of chaos. Ellen did her part at the other register, and holy shit people were quick to change queues. One customer in particular though... Wooo...

***

A man in a rather long coat approached the counter, his grizzled visage sweeping over the menus displayed above. His hand rubbed his stubble-covered chin thoughtfully, before he strode forward and placed both hands on the counter, eyeing the rather fetching young lady behind the register.

"Gimme the usual."

After Kannix had somewhat understood the flow of things, here was a man who just had to ruin it.

"Uhm.. right..." She wanted to ask Ellen what the 'usual' was but she was busy handling customer after customer on her hand, fluid and instinctive in every transaction, so positive and natural in communicating with the person on the other end. Kannix turned her attention back at this man who looks like some wet uncle and asked:

"Sorry uhm... what's the 'usual'?" Kannix offered the creepiest, most fake smile she could offer in an attempt to make chat with the man.

The man gestured rather vaguely at the menu right above her head.

"Y'know...the usual. What I always get when I'm 'round these parts."

"I don't know who you are. This is my first day. No, sorry, first two hours here. I'm not a mind-reader, sir." The other customers had been grumpy and rude, but they were mostly obedient and would repeat their orders - angrier, and more rushed, but not too difficult, and otherwise not bad. This dude, though.

"Do you mind telling me which of the myriad items here is your 'usual', sir?"

"Uh...the uh...that green tea thing with the milk and shit, I dunno what the hell you young people call it these days."

Green tea... at least something to work wi-

Shit.

"Sir, there are at least ten fuc- ten items that are green tea, all with the 'milk and shit'. You're really going to have to help me out here." Kannix tried her best to look through the long list of items but to no avail. Ellen was still handling her end of things, and the lines were still coming in. It was getting noisier in the cafe, livelier and hotter too. Her apron was huge on her, and the grunts and looks people were giving her were not helping.

"I- it's the thing! That green tea thing, um, iced? I always order it when I'm here!'

"AM I SPEAKING ANOTHER- I just said I got here! I'm being really patient as it is. I. Just. Got. HERE."

"Kannix! Jim! Cool it!"

Audrey took a deep breath from her cigarette and exhaled plain air, holding the smoke in her lungs via her power while she emerged from the kitchen, Hands on hips, she glared at both the young lady that she'd just hired yesterday and the coat-wearing old man that she knew almost by heart. With a shake of her head, she strode forward and keyed in an order for an iced green tea frappe. The cash register dinged open and the old man dropped a handful of notes and change into hers. Audrey gave him another glare and shook her head.

Kannix had turned sharply at the loud command. All attention averted from the two, and went towards the new, serious voice. Audrey came to intervene, and the tall lady whose lips seemed perpetually paired with a cigarette met with the little girl's steel-like look that told five definitions of 'pissed-off'. Kannix in the instant of meeting her superior - a kind, generous, understanding, and more deserving one at that - gradually melted into submission and embarrassment, but not without the grounded reservations of being upset about a situation out of her control. Her lips quivered in shame, but her hands gripped the counter table saying a contrary emotion.

"Of course you are the one picking on my new hire. She does not know your 'usual', Jim. Don't hassle her."

The old man called Jim shrugged his shoulders and collected his receipt.

"Then she can at least learn some god damn manners and ask politely. I don't come here to get lip from you young folk."

"Well, I came here to work and serve foods and beverages, not deal with mental lapses from rugged, senile men." Kannix rebutted, eyes bulging out from her pudgy, doll-like face, hands on hips mirroring her senior. She stood her ground, and truthfully she wanted to storm out of the register area - into the back room, to the outside, back home, anywhere! - but Kannix stayed like a bulldog latching on to its bone with its mangy jaw. Her stubbornness has gotten her into senseless trouble before. While she could not afford to have that on her first day of work, she kept on. She won't back down.

"Well that rugged, senile man is one of our most regular customers, Kannix."

"...doesn't make him a nice one..." muttered under her voice in her lightest voice, but the message was still directed to Audrey, Kannix's head down but eyes up and piercing her new boss - though hopefully Kannix could still call her that.

"But a customer is a customer, Kannix. Come, into back room. I need to talk to you."

Audrey gave Kannix a "come here" motion with her hand and turned on her heel, disappearing into the kitchen.

A crinkle of her nose towards Jim showed Kannix's dissatisfaction, gestural and expressive, and most definitely instinctive and reactive by all means. She followed Audrey into the kitchen, stepping off her block and impacting the floor hard with her heavy boots. If she wasn't careful, she could have broken the door as it swung open. But, she chose to be tame - she caused enough trouble today, and the day wasn't even half way over yet.

Kannix crossed her arms and looked up, face full of expressed putrid annoyance. By all means, she thought she wasn't in the wrong.

"Hi."

Audrey turned to face the young woman, hands on her hips as she took a long drag of her cigarette. Frustration creased her brow as she pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

"Kannix, the first thing about serving customers is maintaining your cool. Jim's a cranky old coot, so I understand your frustration. However, dealing with Jim is the best way to learn how to keep a cool head. In this business, no one likes a server who yells at their customers. It projects bad impression."

Kannix resigned from her combat stance of righteousness to a loud, quiet sigh. In the face of humility, Kannix becomes easily embarrassed. She will keep her opinions and values on things and people like Dim-Jim, but she can be a lot tamer.

"Can I at least bitch about them to you surreptitiously? I promise I won't spit into drinks - not that I was planning to, of course - or anything malicious. I still want an outlet." The manic, irritable tone and message delivered by a cutesy, dolly face provided just enough juxtaposition that Kannix hoped Audrey would understand that this was how she was, and is going to be. Fuck being fake.

Audrey nodded, her firm, strict expression softening just a little that she could pick up on the change. This was a complaint she'd had before. From Isaac, from Ellen, from Ping, from anyone who'd ever worked with her. Her response, of course, was the same.

"Of course, Kannix. I am your boss, and I must be strict in your conduct. However, if you want to complain or have an outlet, I can be that too. The one thing I promise all my employees is that they can talk to me whenever they want to if they have a problem that they want to...get off their chest. I do not care who you are or what your game is, but if you come to me with a problem, I will do my best to listen and understand."

"Cool. So..." Kannix spun a full rotation on her heel - random as random can be - and continued her thought: "Do I... go back to register? From the sounds of it, the morning wave has died down." Her hands were busy tracing the patterns on her lacy dress, keeping her high energy in check.

Audrey sighed and nodded. "Yes, yes you can go back to register. There is still rest of day to do."

***

The rest of the day did not get any less harder, but Kannix had made it somehow. There was the occasional jackass and whore-face who thought they had to get their way, and with each encounter Kannix found herself retreating back to the kitchen and cooling herself down.

When the evening died down and customers were no longer coming in, Kannix found another kind of pressure; in that, she could not kill the time by trying to make small talk with her colleagues. She did her duties to clean up the cafe all the while the others talked happily and worked together like a team. Kannix tried to not think they were talking about her, but it's hard not to imagine that when she was more than a handful the whole day.

Most of the others made their way out, greeting their boss goodnight, all to repeat the cycle the next day. Some bothered to exchange a glance at Kannix's direction, whom was looking at her colleagues intently having hoped they would notice her. Kannix waited for Audrey to dismiss her, if not out of permission then out of kindness and obligation for her bad first day. Kannix eyed the food that was brought in from display that were not eaten. Presumably someone was going to take them out to trash, but Kannix was going to ask if she cou- no, that would seem desperate and pathetic. If only her inner thoughts could get her to stop staring at the leftovers so much, that would be nice - her person atop the kitchen table. She listened to the quiet, the new life in the empty cafe, scared at the serenity, and perhaps her permanent dismissal.

Audrey stood outside, taking her first free puff of her cigarette now that it was closing. Her arms were crossed and smoke enveloped her body as she contemplated her new hire. Sure, Kannix was a bundle of fire in a young lady's body, but Audrey believed she had the potential to be a proper young lady, one whose temper and attitude were kept in check. All she had to do was, well, practice keeping that fire stoked low and not have it burn too brightly.

As she turned to re-enter the cafe and let her knock off work, she caught Kannix staring rather needily at the leftovers in the display cabinet. Her policy regarding extra food was always to have it consumed before they closed the shop, but sometimes her word just fell on deaf ears. Normally she'd take the food and pass it on to the homeless shelter a few blocks away before heading home, but seeing Kannix...

Without a word, she strode past the young lady and went into the kitchen, returning with a few plastic Tupperware containers that she loaded with a few leftover pastries and a slice of cheesecake. These she handed to Kannix in a plastic bag.

"Here. Store policy to never have leftovers. Take home. You earned...some of it."

Kannix barely contained a violent response - a cough of surprise, a giggle of thanks, and a shudder of refusal. She was very animated in this reply for the right reasons, though they were unknown to her. Mixed messages seemed to course through Audrey's generosity, and Kannix had no clue how to react. But, in this case, she had no reason to grossly assume anything contrary in the politeness, though it was difficult.

"...Thank you." Kannix cleared her throat. "How was I today?" In this question she sought approval and acceptance, and the knowledge to be told that she was on the right track, and not some lost animal on a proverbial railway track unaware of a train that could come in at any moment and strike it down. She would be that animal and the train would be... literally anything. She was scared.

Audrey thought for a moment before opening her mouth to reply. She hoped what she'd say wouldn't totally destroy the young lady's feelings.

"Good. But still need improvement. Come back tomorrow, same time. We open shop."

Kannix managed a light smile and looked at Audrey face-on. In the lady's seriousness she heard just enough heart and compassion, the likes of which she was familiar with with her own mom. Heh. Two moms. Not to get carried away, but Kannix was already busy contemplating the likely and fun attachment they were going to have.

"I will, ma'am. Mom and I will enjoy these fine selections of ambrosia." She spoke as she gestured at the foods with exaggerated grace and obnoxious highlight, her eyes disappearing to a line as she smiled a big smile.

Audrey sighed and shook her head, trying to stifle a chuckle.

"Yes yes, enjoy. Now go home. Long day again tomorrow. Do not be late."

***

The Cheng Household,
Spring Town, Hedgemount_

Kannix got back home earlier than the night before and her mom was on the sofa barely awake, waiting up on her, perhaps in slight doubt that her daughter did in fact get actual work, but purely in motherly instinct to see her young one fully intact.

"What's that?"

"Leftovers! Here." Kannix placed the Tupperware container, and her mother shuttered a reaction not too different from what she herself gave.

"Wow... that's great. How was work?"

"Well, it was tough, and I have a lot to get used to; the flow of the place, the functions on the register, how to be nice..." That last clause made her mother mockingly sigh, accepting that, of course, there would be that issue.

"I'm glad. You have work tomorrow?

"Yup, sure do." Kannix yawned.

"Then go to bed."

"How was your day though?"

"It's fine; same old, same old. We'll talk more when you get a day-off." Her mother pinched her ever-bubbly cheeks lightly. A slight bit of pride bespoke itself in her mother's eyes as Kannix looked up to see her. She was happy that she was happy.

"Okay, mom."

---

The next day
The Haven
Greencrest Heights, White Coast_

Kannix was getting the hang of the rhythm of the cafe's business, and the life pulse of the customers and its staff as it all functioned in the one cyclical motion of purchase, service, and clean-up. Though getting the feel of the place did not mean that she got any better at the whole "customer service" B.S.. If the cafe was really that good and popular, surely they could ignore the several difficult, fucking annoying frequenters, and take care of the nicer ones. Kannix found herself swearing under her breath more and more, and more than once did she jam forks into the temple of her skull, bending into contorted shapes against her empowered exterior ("I'll fix it back..." - "You'd better, young lady.").

During the quiet times, Kannix made herself busy, but not to the point of discomfort, always following the lead of her seniors. Ellen would still not talk to her, but the others weren't as hostile. Even Audrey was teaching Kannix some things like how to read the ingredients list, how to make a sandwich ("Wow, check out that guy's huge nose." - "Yes, very big, must be like his wallet, now focus."), and how to quickly brew a coffee ("How'd you get so tall?" - "I drank my milk like good little girl when I was growing up. That, and I took up boxing.").

The end of the day came. Kannix propped herself on the kitchen table again, awaiting her senior to dismiss her again for the night. She hopped off the table towards the leftovers again, and ogled a very attractive custard-filled bun. She'd been eyeing the selection the whole day she'd been working, and though her lunch was one of the leftovers from last night, she was still hungry. With a myriad options, who could control themselves?

She quickly grabbed and stuffed her face with the bun, only for Audrey to come in at the second her mouth barely contained the pastry and its custard filling was dripping down her cheek. Kannix froze, and worked a smile, yellow and filled with flaky crumbs.

"...have it, just make sure not to leave mess."

At this point Audrey wasn't too surprised that Kannix was pigging out on another of her handmade pastries. She wouldn't have been surprised had the young lady been buried in the pastry cabinet either. But she had other concerns. Her main waiter, Isaac, had called in sick earlier today and so the rest of her employees were pulling extra duty filling in for him. She was planning to close the cafe for the next day or so to visit him, make him feel better. And maybe help Kannix get used to working with the big guy.

"So, Kannix. I have proposal. Our big waiter man, Isaac. He is sick. I plan on visiting him in Prince Edfield. You are coming with me. Good opportunity for you to meet him in person."

"Oh?" Kannix's face crumpled into a mixture of confusion, initial decline, then hesitant acceptance. She swallowed the rest of the bun, and cleared her thought. "Sure, sure."

---

Wednesday
The Haven
Greencrest Heights, White Coast_

The two had agreed to meet up at the cafe before heading out for Courtbridge, Prince Edfield ("Stay out of trouble." - "Yes sir!"). Though her sample size was small, the sight of a closed cafe on a weekday was weird, if not unsettling. A giant sign was posted on the door, saying they were closed for the day. Patrons would then look for other alternatives, mumbling and grumbling as they redirected themselves.

Kannix walked around the back, to see Audrey in a plain black hoodie, shirt, jeans and sneakers, her ever-present cigarette clamped firmly in her mouth. Two motorcycle helmets were draped on her arm, and a little blue scooter was behind her. Kannix herself was donning a black, over-sized, tribal-patterned shirt that drooped so low that it hid her shorts, sleeves almost reaching her elbows, and accompanied with a white long-sleeve undershirt that reached her palms in length. Her shoes were simple in design, but stark in colour: blue, against all the black and white.

"Huh. I've never been on one of those."

"It's simple. Like riding bike, except bike does not have engine. Well, old bike. Not those newfangled things with the electric motors. Here, wear." She tossed one of the helmets rather gently at Kannix, a faded blue helmet that had seen better days.

Kannix fit the helmet on herself. "I'll try to not break this one! The scooter, I mean. This, I could crus- nothing."

Audrey gave her a "oh please don't make me" look and buckled her own helmet onto her head. Then she straddled the scooter, twisted the key in its ignition and it rather roared to life, not fitting a scooter of its size. With Kannix onboard behind her, she kicked off the stand and off they went towards Prince Edfield.

---

Courtbridge, Prince Ed-Field_

---

---

After a rather lengthy trip on Wendy's scooter, the two girls made it to the mall.

Part of Wendy wished that she could abandon this lame scooter for a motorcycle - or an actual car, for that matter - but that was neither here nor there. She gestured for Rori to come along... the Orchestra mall was considered to be one of the most scenic and atmospheric places in all Baybridge... only for the Founding Family to ruin all of that. When Wendy stepped inside, she looked around for a moment, and frowned a little. There were so many closed stores, and other signs of general depression... it was just sad. She cleared her throat, when she glanced inside her satchel. Fortunately, she had a backup plan. She grabbed her camera, and then looked at Rori.

"Well, Rori, before we get to work..." Wendy spun her camera around in her hands. "I have plenty of money on me... do you want to go shopping?"

"Sure, sounds good to me," Rori smiled, glancing around the mall. It had been a long time since they'd been shopping anywhere like this in Baybridge - and things had certainly changed. "I actually need some art supplies, though I can pay for those... oh and there's some books that came out recently I was interested in! Really, I haven't gotten a chance to go out shopping in ages so this is great." With their main method of getting around being changing into a bird shopping was a bit difficult.

"No, no, Rori, it's on me," Wendy said as they walked to the store, side by side. It reminded Wendy of a simpler time... a better one. And she could trust Rori as well as she could trust Rowan, or Kumiko. "So, uh, there was something I wanted to talk to you about... and would you listen to my little problem?"

"Okay, okay, if you insist," Rori shrugged - no point in arguing, and they weren't going to turn down the kind offer. They weren't exactly financially stable at the moment. "Sure, I can definitely do that - go ahead and talk away, I'm all ears."

"It's... about Rowan," Wendy came to a stop as she turned towards Rori, and awkwardly shifted that camera of hers around in her hands. Feet were shuffling from left to right as she avoided eye contact with Rori as she looked away. "Ever since he helped me... I've been seeing him a little differently..."

She was about to tell Rori how she really felt, but then she changed her mind.

"... He... gave me so much, and I don't know how to repay him."

"Oh, huh," Rori rubbed the back of their head as they thought about what Wendy had said. "You're both really close, right? I doubt he expects you to repay him."

They smiled thoughtfully, tilting their head to look up at the ceiling before saying anymore. "How do you see Rowan differently?"

"I..." Wendy held her tongue for a moment, before she finally decided to give it a chance. "... I like him. Ever since he helped me, I've been seeing him differently and all..."

She closed her mouth, because she realized she was rambling a bit.

"But, at the same time, I feel something that can't exist, something..." She trailed off.

"Something?" Rori prompted her, before continuing to talk anyway (they were the master of rambling). "I'm sure it's something that can exist. I don't know Rowan well, but I know you and, well, you're very likeable. Not that I have experience with this stuff."

Yup, now Rori was definitely rambling too. Playing with the feathers at their wrists, and not quite meeting Wendy's gaze, they decided to just get to their point. "Have you tried talking to him? I guess that's a stupid question. I can understand not wanting to... but you should!"

"I haven't... but, I don't want to ruin what we have..." Wendy said with complete sincerity. "I'm not sure if I'm the kind of person he... y'know, wants to be with. And... I never had a boyfriend before..." As Wendy's love - up until now - was books. Literature.

"And I'm not sure how I would handle this...." Wendy answered, though, she looked around for a moment. But, her line of thought was broken when she saw a man staring directly at her. And it wasn't a regular stare, it was a stare of contempt. Like his eyes were going right through the bookworm. Wendy raised an eyebrow as the person turned away, and continued to browse. She found it weird, but then her phone buzzed, and she glanced at it.

Rowan. The boy that was on her mind for awhile now.

Watch your back, someone tried to follow me.

Wendy quickly shot a look at the man - only to see that he was gone. Something wasn't right here.

"Rori," Wendy started off, before she just showed the text to her.

Quickly reading the text, Rori blinked before responding in a whisper. "Then we should leave... right? I'm sure we can sneak out. Well, you can at least." Rori was a bit more obvious. Though Wendy was more experienced in these things anyway. "It might be safer were there's more people..."

Yeah, leaving was a good idea right now. Since if they were being tailed, they needed to regroup and figure out just who is after them. Maybe someone after Sean Rosier's research? She quickly pulled out her phone, and typed a text - at first to Rowan, but she directed it towards her entire group.

Guys, there's something we need to discuss, head over to 4 Goldfield Rd, Silver Hills.

Wendy nodded her head, but then turned to Rori. "Don't worry," Wendy said as she grabbed Rori's wrist very lightly as she pulled her. "I can keep you safe, remember..." She raised a finger up into the air, and it turned into paper. Separating itself into several different sheets, before reforming.

She lead her bird friend out the store... she hated that a nice day of catching up with an old friend of hers turned into a situation, but it was something they really needed to address soon as possible. Ignoring it would be a terrible decision.

But... the very moment that Wendy stepped out, the mall was in anarchy. A wave of monsters had appeared out of nowhere. Horrific, and bloody, the monsters attacked all in sight. Wendy's heart raced, one of them, a monster with a horrifically malformed body and arm that looked more like a hammer. It raised it's arm up into the air, and brought it down.

Wendy grabbed onto Rori tightly, and they both exploded into a cloud of paper as the biological weapon hit the ground with enough force to crush the tiles... and it made Wendy glad that she moved when she did. The paper went off to the side, and the pair suddenly turned back into flesh. Accidentally landing on their sides, as Wendy looked back.

Rori didn't even have time to react to anything, glad that Wendy had turned them both to paper and gotten them out of the way. Landing on their side, and twisted the wings out of the way so they didn't get damaged, Rori stared wide eyed at the monster. Well, there were multiple. Without Wendy they would have been screwed; Rori doubted they could avoid them alone. Maybe as a bird.

"What is that?" They were already pushing themselves to their feet as they spoke. "We should get out of here, shouldn't we?"

"Y-yeah!" Wendy said as she hopped up to her feet, and began running. This was a fight for RAVEN, and only them. She grabbed Rori's wrist and broke off into a sprint... But, what the hell happened?

Monsters don't just fall from the sky.

---

Courtbridge, Prince Ed-Field_

---

---

"Mummy, I want to get a new collar for Chi!" Thanh excitedly pointed to the small pet store in Orchestra Mall. Why Kei had chosen here of all places Lihn didn't understand. If he was getting her to pay for everything he may as well choose something more up scale.

"We got her a new collar a few weeks ago," Lihn replied, trying not to sound too exasperated. Had she been that demanding as a child.
"But Chi says she doesn't like it. So she needs a new one! Ask her!" The young girl was speaking a bit too loud while indicating to her dog. It was drawing some strange looks from nearby people.

"We'll get her a new one then," Lihn quickly tried to placate her daughter, giving in and ushering over to the store. Thanh was quick enough to run in and start look at their wares.

"She's quite determined when she sets her mind to something," Kei commented, amused.

"Oh, I know," Lihn sighed softly before wincing and rubbing her head. Her head was beginning to hurt as a distant, but strong, anger pierced through the other emotions she had dulled her sensing of.

"Are you okay?" Kei now looked concerned - Lihn was surprised he'd even noticed. A few years ago he wouldn't have.

"Just a bit of a headache, I'll be fine." Though the feeling was familiar... And that didn't make her comfortable. "You mind going and seeing if Thanh has chosen? If this gets any worse I may have to head home."

"Sure thing, boss," Kei gave a mock salute and walked into the house.

Lihn turned her gaze to look at the other shoppers walking by. If she focused she could guess what they were doing by their emotions; the nervousness of those buying for a loved one, the excitement of a child getting a new game. It helped to take her mind off the gradually increasing pounding of her head. The anger was beginning to thrum inside of her and with it an undertone of constricting fear. It almost outshine the pain.

Then she saw the people people running. Shit.

"Kei!" Lihn stepped into the shop, barely focusing on her brother where he stood buying a few items for Thanh. "Grab Thanh, we need to get out of here."

Though clearly not sure what was happening, Kei grabbed Thanh's hand and pulled her out of the shop. Chi trotted obediently after them, her lead practically unnecessary. "What's happening?"

"That," Lihn managed to point a shaking finger to the first monster in sight before leaning heavily against a wall. The anger had been unbearable when it was just one nevermind this many. It was overwhelming. And so many people were scared, her head practically threatening to explode with the emotions. She could feel as this fear surfaced in her brother and daughter and it didn't make things better.

"What the-" Kei just about stopped himself from swearing. "Yes, we have to leave."

Lihn just nodded, pushing herself off the wall and trying to walk towards the entrance. Another stab of pain, and anger, cause her to stumble.

"Mummy, what's happening," Thanh looked at Lihn with wide, scared, eyes as she stopped.

"It will be fine, Thanh, as long as you get outside," Lihn managed to respond in a strained voice, trying to push down her fear slightly and turning to Kei. "Get Thanh out of here - I'll just slow you down... And I've dealt with this before."

"Are you sure?" Kei warily eyed behind them and the monsters that were approaching, but thankfully still a distance away. Just in case he pulled a large bottle of water he'd been carrying around - it gave him something go freeze and control.

"I'll be fine," Lihn nodded, forcing herself up. She'd struggle to walk to the entrance quickly but she could at least try to force down the anger of any monsters that approached her. It would take a lot of that for her to pass out, anyway.

"I'm coming back after I get Thanh out," Kei promised with a frown, holding the young girls hand tightly. "Come on Thanh."

Lihn sighed slightly as Kei pulled her daughter away. At least Thanh would be safe. Now, getting herself out without dying.

Trying to ignore just how much her head hurt Lihn began to concentrate on forcing out a calming aura around her - in the hopes she could reduce the anger of any monster that came near her.

---

---

---

Courtbridge, Prince Ed-Field_

Kannix and Audrey continued onward on their motorcycle towards Isaac’s house. Prince Ed-Field was one of those places where she seldom ever visits. No real reason to not visit other than it takes so long to get there and costs way too much to be around there, she felt. The neighbourhood was clean and it pronounced itself to be better than whatever Spring Town could ever hope to offer. She showered this morning, but Kannix felt dirty to be in these parts. Yet, when they were approaching the shitty Orchestra Mall - having heard that it used to be greater than this - she felt comfortable, right at home even, with the ramshackle place. One could tell that it used to be grand, like a proud athlete failing to admit that they’re past their prime, but are delusional to their limits and wears. Whatever, the two were going to pass by the mall really quickly anyway, en route to big man Isaac’s place.

However, Kannix heard the screams both natural and fearful, and horrific and mean, through the thickness of her helmet. She raised her head up from Audrey’s back. Kannix grew genuinely curious as to what was going on. Through the visor she could see whizzing images of people running out, escaping from something. Audrey must have reacted slower because she was not slowing down nor did she look in the way of the ruckus. So, to catch Audrey’s attention, Kannix’s arms, which had been wrapped around her boss’s waist, tight like a vice, relaxed, and she fell off, hitting the road surface hard, rolling until her hand slammed down on the tarmac. Unhurt, unphased, Kannix got off, fixing her shirt - being empowered the whole thing, she did not feel a thing.

Perhaps that would catch Audrey’s attention. Regardless, Kannix really wanted to go see what was going on. So incessant, so inane, so stupid, but because she believed herself to be nigh-invincible, why shouldn’t she just walk into stuff like this?

Not even shifting into a brisk, Kannix walked in and entered the Orchestra Mall. Whatever was going on must be deeper inside the mall, because all she saw were loads of people sprinting in the opposite direction, screaming at the top of their lungs to “get the fuck outta here.”

Spooky. She thought, and she eyed her ambiance albeit the roaring tide of horrified shoppers and took in the place to be something that could have been great again if people tried harder.

Wait. Wasn’t that Wend-

At last though, something finally caught her attention.

No fucking way. It’s the dude I messed with at the rally! The man was unrecognizable. Tall, blonde, and really messy. She had no idea though that he was a Metahuman like herself, and when he summoned that flame from his uppercut, Kannix was captivated, all the way to watching the beast fall hard. It was ugly and grotesque, horrific and it sent chills down Kannix’s spine. Let’s see what happens if she hit it really hard.

In that very moment, she felt like a good introduction was to show what she could do as well.

Empowering herself even more, each step she took propelled herself faster and faster, each stride providing more speed and distance, driving and homing in the the beast which was just about to get up.

Fuck that.

She was hurling towards it. Tucked in, her force-repelling ability plus her speed and size made her a living cannonball. Contact hit between the two beings, but Kannix’s power basically told physics to fuck off, and she stayed in place while the beast’s body crunched in on itself, flying away into the right wall of an abandoned shop lot. The broken bones of the beast were audible and Kannix hung in the air for a second in fucking physics up before landing on the floor. That amount of force, she was used to, though the mass on the thing still got Kannix’s shoulder and side sore.

She adjusted her shirt, and greeted the man.

“Sup.”

---

Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_

---

---

While Lihn's calming aura was making a difference... it couldn't defend her from one of the beasts turning it's rage on her.

A human being twisted into an abomination. It's body twisted to walk on all fours, but backwards, it's limbs became sharp and knife-like. It was almost insectoid. It ran over to Lihn, and didn't stop. It rammed square into her, and sent her sprawling across the floor, her concentration broken. It continued to run for her to finish the job...

... However a sheet of ice covered the floor, and caused the joy mutate to slip and fall on it's side. And the ice formed a trail straight to Daniel Forsythe. Whom was kneeling on the ground, with his fingertips on the ground (Penny stood to his side, shocked).

His breath was frigid, and he looked up.

"Ma'am, run!" Daniel said, as the creature got back to it's feet, and so did Daniel. He needed to think fast - he had to fight the thing, and using his fire was... risky at best. But, then an idea hit him.

"Daniel! Stop playing hero and run!" Penny said as she slammed her foot onto the ground.

He raised his right hand into the air, and shot a gust of fire at the sprinklers, and triggered them. Showering this particular part of the mall in water. It cut Daniel off from his fire, but the water pouring down quickly turned to ice.

... He just got a power boost.

---

Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_

---

---

"... A mall?" Megan incredulously asked, with a raised eyebrow. "This is where the great injustice lies?" She continued.

"The world guided me here..." Ada said as she took a few steps forward. "It must believe I am of service..."

"... I will never understand your little connection to 'the world.'" Megan said as she shook her head. Well, might as well go along with the big weirdo, right! Not like a lot of things can kill Megan, after all. The place looked rather run down... and something felt wrong!

There was no active food court!

The three women of the Coven walked alongside each other. Ada and Megan's appearances had people turning their heads... while Adora was largely glossed over. Keeping her hands in her pockets as she walked alongside her mentor, and her apparent daughter. The two merely walked through the mall...

... That was until Ada heard a scream echo through the halls of the mall, and she turned her head to 'see' a horde of monsters going on a rampage. There was something horribly wrong here, there was pain, rage, and fear emanating from them. A red-black mist appeared from the ground Ada stood on as she sunk into the ground.

"A-Ada!?" Adora said as her mentor disappeared.

Ada appeared right in the path of one of the monsters about to hit a pregnant woman. It swung it's arm with all of it's force... and Ada merely put one hand up and stopped it like it was nothing. She grabbed onto it, exerting a monstrous amount of strength. It tried to pull it's arm free, but couldn't.

"Hmm... oh my..." Ada said to herself. "There... isn't much of your mind left, is there?"

With her free hand, she pointed a finger at the happiness fueled beast, and it quickly extended into a blade that pierced through it's skull effortlessly. It fell down, dead, as Ada shook her head.

"Think of that as mercy." Ada sighed as she turned to Megan and Adora, and before they could even speak, Ada was giving orders. "You two, we are helping them. Adora, help people escape with your portals."

"Okay," Adora said, she cut the air, and created another rift in time and space. She hopped inside, as that left Megan.

Whom wanted no part of this.

"You-"

"With me?" Megan suggested with an awkward smile on her face.

"We are going to get to the root of this, somehow..." Ada said as she began to march.

---

Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_

---

---

Lihn sensed the sheer amount of anger from the insectoid abomination before she saw it, barely registering what happened as it rammed into her. The impact with the floor winded her and stopped her from changing any emotions. Lying there, slightly stunned, she waited for it to all end.

And then there was a sheet of ice on the floor and the creature had fallen on its side. Lihn’s first thought was that Kei had come back. But that couldn’t be right, she had told him to leave. He hadn’t had time to get Thanh out and come back.

The figure the ice coming from wasn’t Kei. Lihn didn’t know who the man was, but was thankful that he had saved her. She could just about hear his words through the overload in his brain, telling her to rain, and what the girl with him said was distant.

“Running is,” Lihn gritted her teeth as she tried to speak. “Easier… said than done.”

Slowly she pushed herself onto her shaky legs. Moving in a direction away from the abomination, but not as fast as she would have liked. If they could distract it for just a short amount of time then maybe she could get her mind out of control.

Instead of trying to change the emotions of those around her, forcing the anger down in the creatures, Lihn slowly tried to stop herself from picking up all of the emotions. The rage of the creatures was beginning to build up inside of her and she needed it out. If she could just get a clearer mind, stop the pounding in her head, then she could get out of here.

She kept moving, but slowly due to concentrating, and towards Penny and Daniel. Safety in numbers, right?

It was beginning to work, anyway, and she was dulling how much of the feelings around her that she sensed.

---

Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_

---

---

“Kay kay, I’m tired,” Thanh whined, trailing behind Kei as he tugged her along towards the exit of the mall. He cursed the fact that they had ventured so far inside. “And I want mummy.”

“We’ll see your mum soon, don’t worry, we just have to keep moving,” Kei responded softly, keeping a tight grip on the young girl’s hand. They were far enough from Lihn that he could no longer see his sister, but hadn’t moved as fast as he would have liked. At this rate one of the monsters would get to them. Kei wasn’t sure what he could do with just a bottle of water and a ten year old girl to protect.

“I want to see her now!” Thanh stopped moving, pulling Kei to a halt with her. Her lips were set in a stubborn pout. Chi let out a bark in what Kei assumed was agreement beside her. “Chi too!”

Sighing, Kei let go of her hand and dropped down to her level. “Look, Tani, we need to move. It’s dangerous. Your mum will be fine and you will see her afterwards. She wouldn’t want you to stop.”

“But I don’t want to leave her,” Thanh looked up at him with big brown eyes, before suddenly leaping at Kei and clutching to his leg. “I’m scared!”

Chi’s growling caused Kei to look up from the now tearful child. An abomination was lumbering towards them, and faster than they could get away from it. Morphed into some kind of hulking beast it looked it could take them both out in one head.

Kei grabbed Thanh, scooping the thankfully still small girl up into his arms and slowly backing away. He opened the bottle of water he had with him and poured it out, turning it to ice before it hit the ground and causing it to hover in front of him. It was a measly amount and unlikely to help. But what else could he do. He formed it into a spear as he continued to back away. Chi was still growling, teeth bared, having not moved a step and facing down the abomination.

“Thanh, get Chi to move away,” Kei looked down at the strangely limp girl in his arms. There was no response. She was still breathing at least. Shit, the last thing he needed to deal with was this too. Lihn had told him about how her powers were developing and, well, now was not the time for her to use it.

The abomination swung at Chi, but the dog just got out of the way with a yelp. Kei shot the icicle he had at it but only succeeded in getting its attention to be on him. Shit.

As if by some miracle the sprinklers turned on. Kei relaxed the normally tight control he kept over his temperature reducing power, beginning to emit a cold aura. The water that fell around him turned to small shards of ice and smashed as it hit the ground.

Quickly Kei increased the area in which the temperature was below zero, hugging Thanh close to conserve her warmth, and began to change the water around him into ice. The abomination charged at him without giving him much time to think of what to do.

As fast as he could Kei erected a large wall of ice in front of him, while turning the water that now coated the ground into a sheet of ice. Propelling himself forward Kei let himself fall onto his back, ignoring how the impact hurt and protecting Thanh’s body with his own. They slid away from the wall as the abomination crashed into it and the ice shattered. It slowed it down enough to let Kei slide further away but didn’t seem to do much damage to it.

If Kei could find a place to put Thanh, where she would be safe, then he maybe had a chance facing this thing.

---

Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_

---

---

For a place that was supposed to be run-down, it was busier than Frank had expected - but then, he supposed, people took what they could get. In his case he was in a queue at some burger cafe that Yeun had suggested and on top of that, the man had shoved a few bills into his palm and told him to get the both of them something to eat whilst he grabbed something from another store.From what he'd seen, it was a routine gesture between these RAVEN types out on patrol - someone might paid for your meal, then you bought them a few drinks later in the evening or paid for the meal the next day. That was fair, he supposed, and it was a gesture that he'd genuinely appreciated, all things considered.

Lightly drumming his fingers along his wrist, Frank continued to wait patiently as the queue gradually thinned out. He was one patron between being served himself, when he then heard a great clattering sound that he could've sworn came from the far end of the mall, which was enough by itself to raise an eyebrow. A few of the others at the cafe steered their gaze outside, then came the distant sound of shouting and a few more stepped outside, curious what it was.

Frank quickly followed them out, then started pacing towards the far side of the mall from where disturbances weres coming from, a hand instinctively resting on the collapsible baton hanging off his belt. He was about to hail Yeun over the comms when he heard the agent's voice "Dispatch, this is Yeun, eleven-ninety-nine at the Orchestra Mall in Courtbridge, there is an outbreak of rogues, at least three of-"
Before he heard another word escape from his ear piece, Yeun had been cut off mid-speech and the loud crackle of something smashing could be heard simultaneously over the comms and from the far side of the mall. Frank's pacing increased - now people were moving past him, towards the exit.

Fear. Rage. Panic. A dull throb, an almost overwhelming tide of emotion seemed to seep out from those around him, washing over him like waves over a rock - Frank tuned it out as best as he could, just as he'd always trained himself to - but the sensation in his temples remained. Rage? He thought, then realised - amidst those fleeing were those who seemed to be in pursuit or otherwise stumbling around blindly. They were disfigured, some with tumourous growths which seemed to envelop their features, others with other deformities or disfigurations.

Then, he saw - one of the raging figures was knelt on top of an older male, laying blow after blow upon the man with gnarled hands, tumours running all the way up its sleeve and across its face. At this point the level of deformities were so great that in the heat of the moment he couldn't discern whether the thing had been a man or a woman. All he could tell was that it seethed a blind fury that almost burned to the touch.

"Get off him, now!"

Without thinking, Frank withdrew his baton and jabbed it into the creature's side, forcing it off the poor sod it had been bludgeoning moments before. It raved and flailed wildly, but Frank quickly responded by clamping a free hand around the back of its neck, then subjugating it, supplanting the rage with a calmer state. It wasn't lost that he could potentially mitigate the worst of it, so he expanded his influence to those in his immediate proximity, hoping to stem the mass.

Turning to the creature's would-be victim, Frank hastily pulled the man to his feet and reached for his comms piece. "Yeun, what's your status?" He asked, trying to ascertain what state the agent had been left in and this time, he received an answer, "I'm good, what's your twenty?" It was a relief to hear that the man was unharmed, given what was often said about the high 'turnover' for RAVENs.

"Far side of the mall, near the closed off stalls," Frank said, after a moment's hesitation, "There's a lot of rogues here, can't pick them out enough, I'm going to try and get people clear, can you hail dispatch again?"

"Already done, I'm getting some people back - hold out and wait for backup."

By all rights, he should've held back and waited for assistance - strength in number and all - but he was on the scene, elsewhere the nearest RAVEN could've been five, maybe ten minutes away - plenty of time for things to worsen. Besides, he was here - he'd dealt with his share of trouble back home, the same would apply here.

"I'll do what I can, can-" Something lashed at him from behind, grasping at whatever it could, tearing away the connectors for his radio. Jabbing an elbow backwards, he broke free and twisted, finding another malformed human lashing out, this one coated in a chitinous growth from the waist upwards. Bloody stupid to let him slip through, he thought, taking up a defensive stance with the baton. He was ready for another flurry of blows, only for the malformed creature to almost hesitate, then stagger away, twitching on the spot.

And then, perhaps it was strange, but Frank was almost certain he could sense another calming influence in the area.

---

Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_

---

---

Good, the woman was running over towards them. On the other hand...

The creature quickly climbed up to it's feet and rushed towards them. Daniel had to think fast. He had a lot of water to work with. And that meant... he raised his left hand up into the air, and the water that he just frozen quickly snap froze. He stepped on the ground, and a trail of ice formed in the way. It slipped out of control once again - it seemed it's body just wasn't built for traction.

He quickly closed the distance between himself and Lihn, and got behind her. He pointed his left hand at the ground, and fired a beam that created a wall of ice as he moved it upwards. The mutate crashed straight into it, and almost broke through it. But, it was thoroughly stunned enough for Daniel to put his hand on it, and wrap it in ice. Which gave them enough of an opening to get away...

... But, there was one oversight on Daniel's part. He was shivering uncontrollably, and every breath he took was visible. It was as if he stood in the middle of Antarctica. Naked.

"Good fucking grief," Penny said to Daniel as she touched him and it damn near froze her hand! They could'a been out of here by now, but noooo, Daniel had to play the hero. He had to save this ditzy broad. And look who had to shoulder all this!? This chubby little girl who wanted no part of this!

No point in complaining. She needed to keep her chin up, and figure out a way out of this! One that preferably left all of them alive. Penny nodded her head, as she looked at the woman. "Are you okay?" She asked the woman.

Then she turned to Daniel, "Danny, can you move?"

"I'm fine, Penny."

"Hypothermia doesn't fucking seem fine to me," Penny said, as she tried to get underneath Daniel's shoulder - but he was just so much fucking bigger than her. Before an idea sparked in her head, and she turned back to the woman, and said. "Hey, if you're done freaking the fuck out, can you help me with my friend?"

If spooky metahumans don't make you shit yourself - but at this point, you'd be braindead to decline our help.

---

The Orchestra Mall, Courtbridge, Prince Ed-Field.

With Kannix right behind her, Audrey powered on her course towards Isaac's home, or more accurately his home away from home. His college boarding house was in Courtbridge, and she only made journeys up to Prince Ed-Field to visit him and that was it. She'd heard stories about the crap that had happened three years ago in that district, but never associated her little city home with the violence of the massacre. On the way to their destination was the epicenter of that conflict: the Orchestra Mall. The sprawl had seen better days, and was now a haven for the homeless and the drug addicts that populated that area of town. She tried to avoid such areas with her life; after all, her home country was basically one big back alley.

The instant she felt Kannix's arms leave her waist and the weight on her scooter vanished, Audrey realised something was wrong. She skidded to a stop as the hot-headed young girl charged right towards the old mall with nary a scratch on her after having left the scooter at speed. Ahead of her, a steady stream of people ran away from the mall, and past her helmet she could hear screaming. The sheer terror in the voices reminded her of the escape from Verthaven. The same feeling. It filled her with a sense of fear, but her concern for Kannix quickly overrode it. She threw her helmet aside, hopped off her bike and ran after her.

"Chert- Kannix wait! Idioty!"

As she pushed past the fleeing crowd, she emerged from the crush and into the mall proper. Kannix was nowhere to be found, and the flow of people running away from whatever was in there was thinning. The sounds of carnage were much more obvious up close, and as Audrey scanned the halls and catwalks for Kannix she spied a grotesque monster rearing up to pound a cowering young lady into the ground. She burst into a sprint and readied up a haymaker, and as the monster's club arm came down, she swung. Her arm burst into a pillar of smoke that extended towards the beast and socked it right in the face, making it stumble backwards and roar in pain as she caught up with her smoke-wreathed fist. Audrey immediately put herself between the beast and the poor young woman, while the gibbering wreck struggled to her feet. Without looking back she addressed the almost-corpse.

"Run, young one! Do not look back!"

The woman got up and ran off screaming. The beast, meanwhile, was shambling off into the mall, having perhaps forgotten she was there. Audrey shrugged and rubbed her knuckles where she'd punched the thing. Fleshy like a normal person...almost looked like one too. She sighed as she made off in the other direction, trying to scan the mall for her employee.

"Blyad... Where did you go, Kannix...?"

When she heard the sounds of fighting and more of those...things groaning like zombies, she ran straight for the source. As she ran, she yelled for the young lady she'd only known for less than a week like her life depended on it.

"Kannix! Young lady! Where are you, little tupoy shirokiy?!"

Hopefully she'd find Kannix at the end of all this. Alive, and not as another casualty.

She owed her that much.

Jackson had done rather well with all things considering. That one shot was able to send a couple of them flying. A few more were no doubt about to come back at him, so he would do the same thing: uppercut and then followed by an arc of flame. However, as Jackson would see the beast fly into the air, he felt a strong gust of air pass him. As odd as it was, the next thing he noticed was that one of the beasts - no, two of them - that had been launched into the air by his arcing flame had been knocked down on their asses by what looked like a human cannonball of sorts.

When the speeding person rose up from her handiwork, Jackson recognised her. Or at least, she looked vaguely familiar. Jackson wasn’t exactly sure who she was, but boy was he thankful she came hurtling to the rescue. Though, he couldn’t help but wonder how exactly she did that. It was an unusual way of offence. And it did seem like she came out of nowhere.

Oh well. It’s not important.

“Oh, yeah,” Jackson would awkwardly say, “sup and such.” He would wave awkwardly as he would notice more of the beasts coming towards them. Apparently, they didn’t take too kindly to Jackson and Cannon Girl here attacking their own. “Oh right,” Jackson mused aloud, “I think they have an anger problem or something,” he said, thinking aloud. God what was it that the DOVE(or was it RAVEN) agent say?

Jackson began rubbing his head just for a moment, but as he did, there came one more of those beasts, tumour hands and all. It came charging towards Jackson and Cannon Girl, aiming to bonk the two of them with its club-like arms. Jackson was going to have none of that.

But, of course, the universe had different plans. As it was with all things, Jackson found himself on the receiving end of one arms as it had struck him in the head, sending him flying in the opposite direction. He caught himself just in time to flip midair and land on his feet, though the pain from his earlier injury made him slide on it knee-first. Regardless of that little setback, Jackson had enough time to recover and stand up. As he did, he noticed that Cannon Girl was about to meet the same fate that Jackson did. On instinct, Jackson extended his right arm out and flowing like a river, a stream of fire extended from it, pushing back the beast about a meter and a half, effectively burning its flesh.

Rushing towards her, Jackson hopped on one leg. “They’re going to keep coming at us,” Jackson said, stating the obvious. “Probably be best if we work together on this. Maybe do whatever you did before? I don’t know what the hell that was, but it seemed to work.” He admitted. Whatever she did was more effective than his flames. “I’ll prop them up and you do...whatever it is that you do. Deal?” Jackson looked at the girl. Just a moment later, another one of those beasts came towards him. As he proposed, Jackson unleashed an arc of flame, propelling the beast in the air.

Now was the time for the girl to do her stuff.