@Old Amsterdam

The Travelling Trickster? It was clearly a name that the deaf hero took pride in. Why else mention it? But 'tricks' were just another way to defeat the enemy, unless she meant she tricked her allies. Regardless, it confirmed what Guilt had previously surmised. This woman was more cunning than she seemed, and certainly more cunning than those she had met before. Most of the answers were pretty expected. It appeared that they agreed, at least on some points. That was a start. However, what did surprise Guilt, was the offer to work together. How could they work together now, when Guilt wasn't even sure if Traveller planned to kill her? Although this little invitation certainly seemed to indicate peaceful intentions, it could simply be an attempt to get Guilt to lower her guard. After all, her defensive abilities were based purely on her own situational awareness. If she let down her guard, all it would take was a stray bullet....

As Guilt quickly typed out her reply, the teleprompter sprang to life once more.

"Petty theft is the seed of greater theft, of murder.
Crime leads to greater crime.
Successful crime inspires crime in others.
This city is broken, rotten with corruption.
Even your High are corrupt.
The seed must be destroyed."

For a moment, Guilt considered Traveller's words regarding her abduction. Epic powers could not be given to a person, they were naturally born in people. That much Guilt knew. But surgical procedure, careful prodding, could be used to awaken dormant powers. And to strengthen existing powers. It was processes such as this that had created Guilt, granted her the power she wielded. It seemed that something in the same vein had happened to Traveller. But certainly the circumstances must have been different. After all, Traveller's captors had tried to ransom her. They were not the family that Guilt had been gifted with, they had not provided the required training. Traveller had simply been handed her power for all the wrong reasons, and let loose on the world. An astounding waste of great talent. Based on the skills and abilities she now displayed, she would have made for an excellent soldier.

But such matters were in the past. Now Traveller was a Hero in Epic City, home of Those on High. She was one of the guardians of this city, a servant of those who ruled it from the shadows. Traveller might have good intentions, in her heart, but she was a puppet to shadowy masters, and no good could come from cooperating with her. Surely, Guilt could not afford the luxury of allies.

"My executions are not wanton, they are a necessity.
Violence can be met only with greater violence.
This city allows rogue Freaks and Epics to run rampant.
The High do nothing to stop this.
So I will eliminate these threats, one by one.
To show mercy, is to show weakness.
To show weakness, is to accept defeat."

@thewizardguy

---

Alex's phone buzzed. Alex! My dress won't fit. I'm fat! I don't wanna go. Help!

Alex looked at her phone, shooting a quick text back to her friend while she waited for a response from the mystery Epic.

• You sure you put it on the right way, Rox? I'm a little busy trying to sort out a...problem. I can't pop in like normal.
• Um...Oops. Hehe. Sorry.
• Not like that, Rox! You turn the dress around and try again?
• I did! It won't fit over my fat boobs!
• Wrong way, Rox. Meant to go from the bottom to the top. Like men.
• Like what?
• Men, Rox. Like, they work their way up, then back down. That's a horrible metaphor. Just pull it up, not down. The opposite of what you'll be doing later haha
• *blush emoji* Don't you start with kissing?
• Sure. But kisses can start anywhere. Like, say, the inner thigh. Hint hint.
• Eep
• *Wink emoji*
• Nooooo
• Yessssss. Did the dress fit this time?
• I'll try now. Come by when you're done with your person.
• ... Way this is going, I'm going to be a long while.
• Then use your trick and hurry him up. That one that you use to finish off
• I toldja Rox, not that kind of thing. I'm on duty.
• Oohhh
• Yeah. So go have fun on your date. I'll catch up tomorrow. You'll need to text me when he's gone
• Ok

Alex sighed, reading the lastest messages from the mystery lady.

"I think we can agree to disagree on petty crimes always leading to bigger crimes. There are always exceptions to every rule. You're smart, I'm sure you already know that," she replied slowly. "And yeah, the City has it's problems. That's why Heroes like myself do everything we can to work on it. The High night not be perfect, but they do more than you might have realized. Venom protects the City from plague and disease. Island keeps structures and roads together no matter what destroys them. Electric runs the power, so we always have power. Maybe you haven't heard of Eclipse. I was still a kid when he showed up in the City. If it hasn't been for the High, this City would be a crater, and he'd have continued through the rest of the planet."

She paused again. "Freaks aren't always bad, you know. As for your other point, if you actively worked with me and some others we could more easily stop the threats that appear. It would also help keep Heroes off your back for dealing with the smaller crap."

She waved a hand. "We get powers. As far as I see it, it's up to people like you and I to fix this bullshit. Because power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Mind that line, because anyone can travel down that road without realizing it."

@TheHangedMan

---

Techster nodded at her explanation. It was completely reasonable to hold doubt when the entire court proceedings had been covered in lies on the other side.

"Well, given a series of events I created a timeline. I was already interested in you given the court case. I delved a little further, creating that timeline, and took the oddities and put them together. Looking-Glass didn't appear until after your hospital stays and the more unfortunate events in the recent past. Plus you just look like a kid who wants to be a hero. That's a gut feeling, though. I could be entirely wrong, of course," he explained quietly. "It just makes logical sense to me, though. I know your age, your history, and the details of your current circumstances. Most else is deductive work from that information."

He put this device away, turning it off as he did so, before continuing. "I don't expect you to trust me, really, and that's okay. I'll prove myself to you in time. But you say you're in my debt. I don't see it that way, but that look in your eyes tells me you're going to stick to that. So, how about an offer, under the assumption that I'm right. I haven't made a public debut yet. No one knows I exist outside of my normal name and identity. Besides you and my parents and some of the bigwigs in the City. How would you feel about teaming up? I can help make your... creations? I think they're creations. Whatever they are, anyways, I could try and help make them more potent. More versatile. It would give me things to do, to occupy myself and further help you and others."

A hand went through his hair. "You don't have to accept, for the record. It's just an idea. You could think on it and then decide, or just decline now. Either way, I'll be covering those little points I found so no one else can hope to figure out half of what I have. And everything I've said since I've shown up here stays between us. I promise that."

Albert counted mentally. He was running out of bullets, so he pulled his backup clip and slid it into the gun, all while he kept steeled under his cover, and the newfound attempts to flush him down. He admittedly had done quite a number on these guys, and probably his actions were closer to the soldier he had been that the cop he was pretending to be. Then a voice, some female, was heard. Probably some of rank. Did they even have of those? Her words made the old soldier's stomach churn. Pure? As if there's anything pure left in this world, you third class Nazi offshoot cow. He bitterly thought as he steeled himsef. The radio was silent, reinforcements were probably not going to arrive.

Fine then. Albert, you always wanted to be a teacher. And these Kryptoc***s need a lesson. He added, as he cleared his throat. "Sorry love, can't do that. Because, one... you turned my mate into hamburger meat. Two, you're taking potshots at some lads. Three, I don't negotiate with terrorists. And four, because I am the goddamn Gungnir, and I won't cower just because a bunch of rabbits got rifles." He took aim once more, intending to keep retaliating to the bitter end.
"I wonder how many w*****s of you will be needed to take me down." He added, in a grave, sinister voice.

@Old Amsterdam

A call on her phone? You'd think that she'd have at least turned it off for something so important. On the one hand this carelessness was reassuring, clearly she wasn't taking this entirely seriously. Nobody in their right mind would attack Guilt without taking all the necessary precautions. On the other hand, it was a symptom of a careless attitude, the kind of thing that was going to get her killed. Perhaps with people like the High here, the local supers really had grown soft. Even the ones with ability and skill lacked discipline, they lacked the battlefield experience to be truly dangerous combatants. And, of course, this was an excellent opportunity to learn a little bit more about this Traveller, through a little bit of snooping.

The bright lights and flashing energy that accompanied Guilt's powers were entirely optional. And by removing the air at the same time as an object was placed there, she could prevent any sound from being made. As such, without light or sound, a camera appeared a bit behind Traveller, zooming in on the phone. Were Traveller to even glance in it's location the camera would vanish without a sound, to be placed there again when her eyes returned to the phone. It was a rather simple trick, but it was enough to take advantage of this little lapse in Traveller's guard. Later Guilt would review the footage, which was now stored in Void.

When the exchange was done Guilt once more typed out a response to Traveller's statements.

"Exceptions are exceptions because they are exceptional.
To judge a trend by exceptions is foolish, naive.
Your justice system simply makes the problem worse.
Makes the criminals worse.
My system fixes the problem at it's root.

Stopping problems such as crime, or the Kryptonites...
It would be no problem for the High.
They know all that occurs within this city.
If they can act, but don't, then that means they do not care.
To stand by a murder and do nothing is no better than to commit the crime.
This is the sin of the high.

You are too naive, too trusting.
Even if you try to fix this world, you fail to see the roots.
The real problems.
You are a hero, a vigiliante.
I am a soldier.
This is why we cannot work together."

After making sure that Traveller read everything, Guilt caused the display to vanish once more, together with the keyboard and the portable generator. She would return the hardware she would not later need, and pay for the hardware she intended to keep. Turning around, she made to walk away from Traveller. This little meeting was at an end. There was nothing more that could be learned from continuing this, and Guilt had things to do. As long as corruption remained rampant, Guilt would have things to do. And, more importantly, she needed to grow more powerful. To gather the power she need to return to the outside world, and to cleanse it of the freaks and monsters who had overwhelmed the rest of humanity. Here in this city where even mere muggers could be powerful Epics, she would perfect these powers. And when she was ready, she would leave to do what the High had failed to do.

Instead of hiding away in some little hole in the ground, she intended to actually make a change. She intended to save this world.

@thewizardguy

---

Alex shrugged at the last message, unsurprised when the woman headed to leave.

She wouldn't try and stop her. She had no reason to. Instead all she said before the woman was gone was, "Watch your back. I still hold out that one day we'll work together. That and, well, I don't expect you to be left alone. But I'll do what I can with other Heroes I come across to get them to let you be. Goodbye."

And with that, she left herself, a doorway appearing beneath her as she slid off her seat.

---

@Regitnui

---

With a sigh, she sunk into her bed, pulling her phone out after she had changed and put them sword up.
How'd the date go? she messaged Rox.

When the Kryptonites fired their little guns at him, he felt a slight tugging in his head, like a pressure was being applied. He look down and saw a fair-sized hole in his projection. "Shit," he hissed to himself, and shrunk down. He was twice his normal size when he faded from view entirely. Phantom was now invisible, and far more mobile.

"They got Vince!" Kenny shouted, her voice carrying over the chaos. "Phantom, can you save him?"

Damn right he could. David glared at the Kryptonites moving in on the guy's prone form. Not that they could see him glare. Then he whooshed over to where the five...'soldiers' converged on the prone Vincent. He flew straight through two of them, watching with a fierce grin as they stiffened in fear.

"What the fuck!" shouted one of them. "What the fuck are we doing?"

"Anderson! Calm down!" said another, but Anderson, and now another man, were freaking out.

"We can't fucking fight Epics! Are you kidding? These people are fucking gods!"

"They aren't gods, remember?" said the same voice of reason. Phantom didn't like that voice of reason. "They're just--hrrk!"

Phantom punched the voice of reason in the face. The blast of telekinetic force dropped them to the floor. David wanted to giggle. Instead, the emotionless Phantom made quick work of the other four Kryptonites. After he threw the two un-feared soldiers into the air, Anderson and his terrified teammate bolted like a pair of rabbits, diving into the water and swimming away as fast as they could.

A voice rang out over the chaos again. It had the exact timbre, volume, and vocal ticks as the woman who had just spoken orders, and sounded as if it had come from the same location. "The ghost is real! It just took out five of our own. Fill it with as many holes as you can! Don't leave the docks!"

That had to have been Maria, but hearing the voice, David couldn't quite convince himself that it was her. It sounded exactly like the Kryptonite who had spoken. It would, at the very least, buy them some time.

Phantom lifted Vince into the air, shooting into the air. He saw Hannah and Kenny, back to back and hidden under cover. They were pinned down on both sides by grumpy looking soldiers, who all sported the weird glowing guns that had put a hole in him earlier. He set Vince down on a roof and zipped over the side. With his mind he tried to sweep the six Kryptonites on one side into the wall, but his power level seemed way down.

He'd just flipped a shipping container into the water, why couldn't he push these guys around? He tried again, visualizing them goign flying in his mind. This time, they all flew back, slamming into a warehouse wall with a vicious sounding crunch.

More tugs in his head alerted him to a problem. He looked down and saw several more holes in his now-visible form. "Shit!" he mumbled again, and dropped to cover with Hannah and Kenny. "I got Vince!" he said, watching carefully as his holes slowly closed on his chest. He couldn't...feel them. It was bizarre, but he wasn't going to complain. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know!" yelled Hannah. She was decked out in...literally some kind of Iron Man armor. A pair of makeshift energy rifles were mounted on her shoulders and hands. She looked like a tank. "I keep shutting down their guns, but they keep turning themselves back on!"

"Hannah can stop guns from working," Kenny explained. "Usually. But for some reason it ain't working to well on these fuckers." She smiled. "Before you, we couldn't poke our heads out without getting blasted, but now..." She leapt out from cover, chest turned to the sky. Without looking, she fired the weird rifle-construct in her left hand toward the enemy forces, and to David's amazement, she somehow used the force of the recoil to whirl herself into a spin. Which she landed perfectly, of course.

The effects of the maneuver were telling. Two of their aggressors went down with yelps, two went down eerily silent. "Bring Vince down here!" Kenny shouted, before diving back into cover as the remaining Kryptonites opened fire on them again. "Hannah and I can handle this now. Find Maria! She took their gear and was blending in and giving conflicting orders or some shit. We're getting out of here! Once everyone is clear, Hannah is going to cause them some BIG fuckin' booms."

Phantom lowered the unconscious Vince to the ground and took off, soaring up high. He was invisible once more, which apparently meant his telekinesis was incredibly limited. It was important to remember that: visible and powerful, or invisible and weak.

It didn't take long to find Maria. "They have reinforcements, you fools!" He heard from below. They didn't have reinforcements, of course. It sounded like the voice of the Kryptonites leader, Khan, but that had to be Maria. "Back, back! Form a new perimeter!" How had she gotten Khan's voice? Garfield might have enhanced her hearing drastically. That was the only thing that made sense.

Following the voice was no good. It seemed like Maria could cause any voice to emanate from any location near her. Instead, he just looped overhead the chaos until he saw her, though she was disguised in body armor. He would never admit it to anyone, ever, but he recognized her curves. I'm not a creep, you're a creep, he thought to himself. Then he dove, sweeping the woman right off her feet and into the air. He ignored her shrieks, hissing: "We're retreating. Chill the fuck out, it's me."

"David?" whispered Maria, in a voice that was unfairly sensual. "Jesus fucking Christ, David." He chuckled and zoomed back toward their side of the battlefield. They would regroup at their van--which was well hidden, thankfully--and book it the fuck out of here.

Across the way, Ernie loosed an epic blast of fire and lightning past the police car which had gotten wrecked before. The big Epic landed lightly, his high tech leg harness absorbing most of the force. "Hey, cop." he said, gruff voice rumbling in his chest. "You probably want to come with us. We're getting out of--hold on," he sent waves of heat spiraling into a Kryptonite who had unfortunately stepped out from behind cover. "We're leaving. Just wanted to cause these guys some chaos. You're welcome to hitch a ride with us if you don't want to die."

@AtomicNut

@TheHangedMan@Mercenary Lord[@AtomicNut@Regitnui

---

Techster didn't reply, he merely stood. His face was serious and appeared lit with fury. A few quick, precise finger presses along his torso and his armor began spreading from beneath his clothes and then over then.

He extended a hand towards Charlotte. "It would be a pleasure, besides my Duty," he sight in a level tone. "I hope your maid can drive, and you have a car. I didn't bring anything for mobility, wasn't expecting trouble across town. On the way I can look at your stuff and maybe make an addition. But I don't think I'll have the time to figure it out."

Whether or not she accepted the offered hand, Techster would begin to walk towards the front door now. Barely audible, easily missed it one wasn't paying attention, he muttered, "Mom and Dad are gonna kill me."

With a final deep breath, Roxana turned around and looked at herself in the mirror. As much as she hated to admit it, she looked good. Dragon was going to definitely want to kiss her. And maybe other things. Roxana felt her cheeks warm and she put her hands on her cheeks. "Nooo. No Alex-thoughts. Just going to have dinner, then going to... She shook her head again, and calmed herself with a breathing exercise. It helped with control, sometimes, and she needed control. She didn't want to flare and ruin the dress. It was a nice dress. "I'll be back later," she told the plush puppy on her bed, picking it up and rubbing her nose against it. "Be good while I'm out."

Handbag in hand, she braced herself and walked out into the evening air. It was better when it was darker, for her. If she imagined it right, the darkness was almost like walls, surrounding her. She could walk to the nearest bus stop on her own. So why wouldn't her feet move? Forcing herself forward, she made it to the sidewalk where a dirver leaned against his car, smoking a cigarette. "Excuse me, miss. You wouldn't happen to be Roxana Const-in..."

He was reading off a piece of paper. Roxana never understood why people couldn't say her surname properly. Alex just said one syllable, but she did that to everybody. "Constantinides," she finished. "Yes, that's me."

"Good, because I've been waiting fifteen minutes for you." He stood up and opened the door. "Going to the Heroes' Bistro for a dinner date, right?" Despite his utterly deadpan, even bored recital of the facts, it sent a little shiver of excitement through her body. All she could do was to nod. Dragon had sent a limo. How considerate of him. Roxana daintily slid into the back seat, the dress not really letting her move her legs much more than that. Though the driver made polite small talk, she was really more interested in making sure she wasn't glowing funny colours. She checked her hand, and saw a slight white glow, but one that was hidden by the intermittent street lamps. She should be fine.

Or, at least, she thought she was going to be until the car stopped and she saw Dragon through the window. She flushed, but the white glow went bright red with a fire below her bellybutton. Dragon was dressed in a suit, the blazer open with a classic white shirt underneath. He leaned casually against the entrance to the restaurant, his hair blown slightly off by the wind and the light casting deep shadows in his jawline. His arms were tucked into his pants pockets, and Roxana had to shake herself again after how much like a bad boy rebel dreamboat he looked.

When the door opened, she'd composed herself enough for her skin to be close to its natural colour. Having to slide out legs first, she stood up in front of him with her wrists crossed in front of her and her purse in her hands. "Um..." He stood himself, looking her up and down. "Spectrum, right?" He looked just as nervous as she was. She nodded, and that genuine, gorgeous, wonderful smile spread across his face and caught her breath in her throat. "You're... beautiful," He settled on. offering her his hand, he explained, "I felt weird waiting inside the restaurant when it's all empty, so I waited here. I like the ride."

"Thank you," Roxana mumbled, certain she felt a buzz of static from just touching his hand. He was just being polite, right? Her boobs got squeezed when she tried to look cute, so it must have ruined the effect. "You look very handsome." Alex would have probably said something better, like 'what's under the suit' or 'that suit would look better on my floor'. But that was Alex. Roxana didn't have that confidence. Her eyes widened when they entered Heroes' Bistro. The place was empty. Dragon must've booked it out for them. "This is so nice of you. Did Alex tell you I was nervous?"

Dragon mumbled something, then covered by taking her to the table. The rest of the evening passed in a blur of happy. She'd started glowing blue during the main course, and Dragon even complimented her on it. That of course, made her go even bluer. By the time the dinner ended, she'd definitely considered kissing him. At the end of the meal, when they got up, she did. God his lips were so soft and his arms so strong and... "Sorry?" She asked, looking up at him with her arms around his shoulders.

"I said," he said with a smile, "Do you want to come to my place and have coffee?"

---

"Gungnir?" She responded, in shock. "You're a legend. We'd be honoured if you helped us take out the impure like you used to for the mainland. Please, you'd...," She stopped as she heard her own voice some distance away. "They have a mimic! Callsign protocol and don't break!" The Kryptonite leader stood, ready to run back into the fray, but it appeared the fray had come to her. A big man, jumping unnaturally high for his size, earned himself a blast from her new weapon. It, however, missed. "You bastard!" She ducked out of her cover to follow the weirdo, but he sent a blast of painfully hot air at her, forcing her away. "Regroup and hunt them down!" She screeched, trying to wipe tears from her eyes.

---

Reading through news articles, Alex was interrupted by a text.

I'm at his place and I'm sitting on the couch and he's gone to the bathroom and what do i do???

Be you? Let things be natural?

But what if he wants to do things?

I mean, isn't that what you wanted?

Yes, but what if he wants me to do things? I don't know what to do!

Then you do what you do know, goof. Be honest.

He's coming back! Bye

You got this, Rox.

Alex giggled slightly to herself, imagining the scene in her mind.

She turned back to the news, searching for any hint of the mystery woman. Mostly speculation, very little facts outside of the gruesome scenes. She'd been given names like the Demon, Harbinger, and worse. An source, with zero credentials, claimed she went by Guilt. But nothing supported the claim as anything more than speculation.

No one was apparently certain about the gender, either. The mask messed with the sound of the voice, distorting it, by all accounts.

She really was a mystery woman.

Alex sighed, closing the laptop, and stretched out on her bed.

She'd been given a lot to reflect on tonight. And underneath it all was the nagging feeling that she should've picked up on something in the woman's posture and choice of words.

@TheHangedMan@Mercenary Lord@AtomicNut@Regitnui

---

Techster stared in awe at the vehicle, glancing sightly at Charlotte.

"No objections," he murmured. Quickly he moved into the backseat, pulling off a piece of his armor from the chest piece and tinkering with pieces inside.

"I could probably mess with your guns after this to help prevent jamming and other issues. Increase potency, accuracy, and allow them to fire non-lethal rounds. Probably make them shoot non-conventional bullets, requiring no ammo. But I'd need to come back here for at least a day to do all that. I could probably give that an edge, no pun intended," he started rambling as they left. "Same with the vehicles, honestly. Security systems at the Manor. I could go on, honestly, I have so many ideas."

Techster replaced the piece into his armor, nodding slightly to himself. "When we get there we go straight at the Kryptonites. If we can save the officer and Innocents at the same time, awesome. Main priority should be pushing them back and attesting them, though."

---

---

A projection shown from Techster's chest as the van pulled near the Docks.

A bunch of red dots shown to life. "Those are the Kryptonites."

A lone blue dot appeared near the representation of the van. "There's our officer friend."

Several green dots appeared near the officer. "Unknown entities. Appear to have been fighting the Kryptonites given recent weapon discharges I've picked up on."

He frowned. "There's odd Weapon signatures. Do they have energy firing guns now? I thought I was the only one using those types..." Techster muttered.

"My suggestion would be to regroup with the confirmed ally. Find out if the unknowns are hostile. Play it by ear there. Sound good?" He asked.

Gungnir eyed the newcomer, who was now standing in top of the car for a brief second. "Thanks lad, but no." He replied solemnly. "This is a crime scene. And I can't just leave without the proper procedure. Deliriction of Duty and that." His hands seized the gun and gritted his teeth. His second clip was about to go empty. Well, he had to make do with whatever was avalailable. "You lads and lasses pull out. I will cover your bums. It's my job, after all." His gaze narrowed. At least that smug brat had done something correctly, which was suppression fire. Albert sprung out of his cover immediately, as he saw the woman stunned and temporally blind staggering, uttering profanities. His cuffs spun in one hand, and with a firm movement, latched on one of the woman's wrists, followed by a fast tug on her other arm, which was also caught in the cuffs.

"You're under arrest, love." The police offer added, before giving her a final push with one of his legs into the ground. Well, she could complain about police brutality later. Ethereal projectiles zipped past him, as her minions decided to fire their hi tech guns at him. Luckily for Gungnir those things did seem very clunky and more like stunners. If they had stuck to the old rifles, they would probable have got him. The veteran soldier turned cop zipped under cover again, having grabbed the woman's prototype weapon on his way back.

And it was then when his radio sprung to life. "Officer Wolfe, the cavalry is here." The communication device cracked, followed by the tell-tale sound of an helicopter zooming past by, an intense floodlight bathing the scene. Sirens could finally be heard. They were here. His reinforcements at long last.

<Oh my. You are a destructive one, aren't you?>

Looking up, Guilt recognised the sound of a voice in her head. Immediately a list of possible telepaths began cycling through her head.

Currently Guilt stood in a small alley, looking down at the corpse of an attempted murderer. His top half had been removed from the lower, and then spread out across the walls. In truth the injury had been caused by a block of stone moving at terminal velocity, not that the police would ever figure that out. An advantage of her power was that it afforded Guilt a certain amount of creativity when it came to killing. Although even Guilt had to admit the 'violent' comment was rather warranted, considering the situation.

The lack of people around her indicated a powerful telepath, considering most were limited in range. Now the easy answer was that this was, in fact, the MOST powerful telepath. But to jump to that conclusion was silly. As such Guilt closed her eyes and vanished, reappearing quite some distance away in the nearby town of Border. If the Telepath was still capable of contacting Guilt, then it was most likely the High Clairvoyant, which would be most unfortunate.

<We could be a relayed series of telepaths, working together to track you. Not necessarily the High.>

Another possibility, of course. Although there were limits even to such power. And if this was the High speaking, then it was an excellent opportunity to obtain valuable information. Nothing that the High said was worthwhile, lies came easy for telepaths. The ability to see the secrets of others made secretive people out of them, and there was no doubt that Guilt had been contacted for a reason. As such, Guilt merely focused once more, and once more vanished, appearing on the other side of the country. Although there was a limit to Void's range, it was quite easily bypassed through a series of rapid jumps. When every step took less than a second, and a single step could take you five miles further, travel became easy.

Once more Guilt waited patiently to see whether she had no exceeded the telepath's range, being over 100 miles away from Epic City. Perhaps this could be used to discover whether even the High had limits, and if so what those were. Or, at the very least, how many telepaths it took working together to reach out this far.

....................................

Nothing. So then this was the limit? Perhaps it was. But then, on the other hand, perhaps it wasn't. There was no way to know for certain. So the safe thing to do was to leave, and come back in a bit. Once she no longer had the attention of such a powerful telepath. If they had anything important to say they would speak up, if not there were more important things to do. And as such Guilt turned to leave, already calling upon the power of Void to take her to the other side of the planet itself.

Guilt spent the rest of the day and the next night in the Chinese mountains, fighting off local monstrous Freaks and gathering useful materials into Void. This was one of her 'safehouses', areas where she could hide out if necessary. Places she knew off the top of her head, and could travel to in an instant. And there was always time to do some work at these safehouses. After all, with a telepath's attention on her, it was probably best to wait a bit before returning to Epic City.

Of course, the next morning was not as restful as she might have hoped.

<Good morning, Maya. This is your conscience speaking. I thought you'd like to know that you're a very bad person.>

Even on the other side of the world? So most definitely the High Clairvoyant, then. Interesting. Even for such a powerful Epic it would require definitive effort to track and speak to someone on the other side of the planet. So then what was it about Guilt that warranted the personal attention of the High Clairvoyant? Clearly, she must be doing something right.

"Hello, Clairvoyant, this is the world speaking. Are you still crying in the corner of Epic City, or are you ready to come out and be useful now?"

Sassing one of Those on High was probably a bad idea. Then again, she already had the Clairvoyant's attention. That meant either certain death, or that she was about to get an ominous prophecy of some kind. So if she was doomed, she might as well die defiant. The thought occurred to try to blow up Epic City as a final act, but it was immediately dismissed. The moment she decided to actually do it the Clairvoyant would act. Even if it were possible to take such a being by surprise in the first place, it was impossible to do so when they were paying attention to you in particular. Any plan she could make would have been preempted.

"So to what do I owe this particular honour?"

An image flickered into existence, standing on the other side of the room. The image was of a woman, in her twenties. She had light blue eyes and titanium blonde hair. She wore her hair short, hanging just below the ears. In clear contrast to Guilt her clothing was typical for a civilian. Blue jeans held up with a white belt, a black shirt with the logo of some obscure band in the corner and a blue denim vest worn over it. She was unscarred, inexperienced, spotless.

<You're not honoured. Not even in the slightest. And you shouldn't be. This is just your conscience talking to you. Since you didn't seem to have one, the High Clairvoyant put one in. Hi.>

The image irked Guilt. It was an image of Maya, all right. Without scars, without burns, without a mask. Stainless, spotless, both on the outside and on the inside. It was an image that had stripped away everything that was her, everything that defined who she was. Not a reflection of Guilt, not the soldier who would save the world, but Claire, a useless civilian. The kind of person who can't achieve anything of significance. It was what Guilt had left behind.

But, even if it was a futile action when faced with a telepath, Guilt hid her distaste. After all, this was just another illusion. Perhaps the clairvoyant enjoyed putting up an act, perhaps they really had put some kind of presence inside of her head. Either way, it was just the same. "A being without a conscience giving one to me? A pointless thought. If you represent the Clairvoyant's idea of justice, then you are a twisted and worthless view of the world. The morals of a monster." With a wave of her hand, Guilt dismissed the strange presence. She would not be influenced by the enemy, nor by their agents. To drop one's mental guard against a telepath was suicide. "Return to whatever dark corner you crawled out of. I have no need for your advice."

<Well, I don't remember anything but what you remember. Except that there's a lot of holes in here and I'm actually scared. I want to be somewhere safe, where I don't have to run away. That Traveler was nice. Maybe she was sincere about helping.>

"Fear is a weakness. If you have time to be scared, you have time to be productive. Sides, you don't need to run anywhere. You're in my head." Sighing, Guilt sat down to sift through the evidence she'd gathered on Traveller. Nice or not, she was a potential threat. And it turned out she was a potential threat with a.... friend? Sibling? Not a romantic partner, based on the conversation. Shame she hadn't been able to grab the phone as well, then she might have been able to track this 'Rox'. Probably stood for Roxanne. Might be able to track her down anyway, though, based on how careless the two were. People work wasn't particularly in Guilt's skillset, but with the amount of stuff people put online nowadays there was a lot to track. Astounding how much a simple name+location search could pull up, and if you threw in the connection with Traveller... Oh well, stuff to do in the morning. For now, sleep.

Turning towards the mental image... thing, she wondered what she'd do with it. What it's purpose was. Clearly she was being messed with by someone, the High Clairvoyant most likely. That was the only person she was aware of with this kind of power. But if this was a leftover image, something that had been planted in her mind, then maybe that meant she'd exited the clairvoyant's range. If this was indeed out of their range... then she'd be able to target them from here. If she was fast enough, if she had the right plan. "If you do know everything that I know, then you know I'm not going to listen to a damn thing you say. But hey, maybe you can be useful. Sift through my memories while I'm napping, see if there was anything I missed. Something that might be useful."

<They're coming.>

"You're going to need to do better than that if you want to be useful to me" Guilt responded, although she did look up from her data. Was this the 'ominous prophecy' part?

<They can follow the Void. Or at least how we use it, we know that and they're coming! Don't sleep! Can't sleep! Run!>

Them? It had been a while since they'd tried anything, but it had been a while since she'd been outside Epic City for any real amount of time. But over here, on the other side of the planet? Even if they could track her somehow, there was no way they could actually find her here. Was this... entity lying? Then again it was a being created by the High Clairvoyant, the most powerful telepath in the world. Chances were it knew something that Guilt didn't. Or it was lying. Either way, if she could catch those people this time, it would be a boon.

A hole in the roof of the building allowed Guilt to disappear, reappearing high in the sky. From here she could see the entire area, a small monastery town in the Chinese mountains. This place had been abandoned for years, after Freaks slaughtered the locals. Across the world there were many places like this, where monsters had killed all humans. But the monsters who lived in these particular mountains had learned to fear her, and unless a new warlord had emerged they wouldn't try anything. Just to be sure she placed motion detectors in various places across the town, together with a number of strategically placed cameras. This was one of the perks of her ability. The data would be stored on a hard drive placed in a hot air balloon she caused to appear out of nowhere. If anyone did attempt to come after her their movements and faces would be logged on here, and via there on the cloud.

Having done this, Guilt killed off her momentum and then returned to the ground. She would have to sleep in her bunker, just like she did every night. Even if she didn't feel like returning to Epic City, things like that were hardly an inconvenience for her. Choosing any random location she started digging a hole, until it was a good 200 meters deep. Teleporting down she refilled the area above her, arranging it so it wouldn't fall. A few uneven edges in the sturdier rock bits and good old friction would keep a pillar of that size in place better than any cement could. At that depth, in the mountains, it was pretty much all solid rock after all. After she created a light, generator, and she'd created a couple of bottles of spare oxygen she was satisfied. A bed popped out of nowhere, and she sat down to rest.

"All right. That's settled. Now, I've taken every possible security precaution, there's no way they can get through 150 meters of solid rock to get me. So how about you calm down and let me sleep?"

<We need to go home>

"Home is a pile of smouldering rocks and ashes. Unless you're particular to corpses, I'd rather we stay in this bunker." Closing her eyes, Guilt decided to get to sleep. She'd figure out this 'conscience' thing tomorrow. Not much she could do to the High Clairvoyant, they were too powerful for her to fight. If it was the High Venom or High Island she might have a chance, at least. Her abilities could at least defend against attacks of that type. But there was nothing they could do against a psionic assault.

<home is with friends...>

"Didn't I just say? Unless you're particular to corpses..." With that last thought, Guilt sank off to an uncomfortable sleep. Old unpleasant memories kept her company that night, and scenes from her distant past replayed in front of her mind's eye. And in this unpleasant limbo she would sleep throughout the day, to wake up the next evening. Soon she'd have to return to Epic City, High Clairvoyant or not, and finish what she had started.

The helicopter circled the area as Idonia argued with ENTV management. "It's a Kryptonite attack! Those bastards don't need the publicity. Hell, they don't want the publicity. We'll get shot- No sir. Yes sir." Someone on the ground noticed them and she had to brace herself as the pilot evaded. "With all due respect, sir, we can't- No sir, no identifiable epics. The Kryptonites, sir. Some sort of new weapon that's- yes, sir, police cars are arriving. Four or so. No, sir, still no Epics."



Idonia, in her heicopter, finally gave the management the news they wanted. "I can see two Epics, sir! Yes, sir, it's Mr Mass and Lady Lift. Gecko's sources were right. They've been out here on the fringes." She gestured to her cameraman. "Delayed feed, sir? I understand. Gotta pay respects to the classics?"

The helcopter lurched to a stop as Lady Lift noticed them, stepping into the helicopter cabin from one of her force discs. "I hardly call myself old, Idonia. You'd hardly started high school when Mass and I were saving people. Now hand over the earpiece." Idonia, more startled and awed than actually frightened, wordlessly obeyed. "Is this- Yes. No, you broadcast a single frame and we'll have your fancy building moved to the mainland. Good. Now shut this off." She leaned over to the pilot. "Do you have some sort of broadcast system?"



Lady Lift held the microphone away from her face and sighed. "Heavens' sake, I'm starting to sound like my mother." The rotor turned lazily above her, the helicopter having 'landed' on her force disc. "Apologies for my rudeness," She smiled at the crew and passengers. "We'll let you be on your way as soon as we've sorted this little problem out."



@AtomicNut@Old Amsterdam@TheHangedMan@Mercenary Lord

@AtomicNut@Regitnui]@TheHangedMan@Mercenary Lord

---

Techster stopped, practically froze solid, as the words were broadcasted loud enough for everyone in a half mile radius to hear.

"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" He muttered, eyes wide. "I'm sorry, Charlotte. You're going to have to follow me. You get to meet my parents... Lady Lift and Mr. Mass."

He slid out of the vehicle with a heavy sigh. "If you don't, they'll bring you. Just... Let me do the talking."

He a heavy heart, Techster walked to the nearest building with a roof access, dropping a light onto it as he retracted his armor.

Mr Mass stepped lightly onto the roof. Each following step was heavier, until a small spiderweb of cracks spread from his feet. "Son. What did I tell you about leaving the house without telling me or your mother where you're going?"

Techster hung his head. "Not to. But you were both out and it was really important and I hadn't expected to be gone so long and get caught up in everything here, or almost anyways we only just got here, and I left a note on the fridge with my transponder frequency and -"

His father held up a hand. "I know you want to be a hero just like us, but your mother and I would both prefer you finished school first. We've had this talk." Mr Mass folded his arms. "You did know that you left your geography homework unfinished on your desk?"

"But that's so simple. I'll have it finished in under five minutes," Techster protested. "And I can juggle school and the occasional hero work. I could skip all my classes and graduate now if you guys would just let me. People need help, and I can help! I've got so many inventions I could make to make people safer and help with big events like that rat attack the other night."

"Howard," Mr Mass put a hand on the boy's shoulder, looking into his eyes. "We love you, you know that. But school is important. Even if it isn't what you like and things you find simple. You don't want to be too specialised with that fantastic mind of yours, do you?"

"But I won't be," Techster muttered. "I can learn anything. I've already got straight A's. I already know string theory and quantum physics. I know classifications of stars, what dark and light matter are theorised to be, and why things are called dark energy or matter simply because humanity doesn't understand them yet. It's all so simple. It's not about liking it, because I love learning. It's about being a better person and helping people who need it!"

"And what about the other stuff?" His father asked.

"I can do it all. You are just holding me back," Techster said quietly. "Sorry. That sounded better in my head..."

"One day you'll thank us." Mr Mass' mouth quirked up on one side. "Your brain can't help with the heart, son. And I bet your friend over there won't go get ice cream with you if you try and analyse everything."

Techster chuckled slightly. "That's Looking-Glass, dad. We were hoping to make our Hero debut here, but... Well, that's not happening now. They're actually why I left. I did some... Uh...I found out they needed some assistance with matters and helped."

"And you didn't think it was worth telling us before you left?" His face had gone impassive again. He pressed his hand to his ear, triggering the headset's talk mode. "I've got him dear, and that girl he's been looking up on his computer." Mr Mass' expression made it clear there was going to be a long discussion about this at home. "Yes, love." He kept a hand on Techster's shoulder, though he might have dug his fingers in a little. "Looking-glass, I'd think it best you accompany us home for the night. I'm sure Howard would be willing to give up his bed so you can sleep."

Techster paled noticeably. "I'm sure she'd rather go home, dad."

"Nonsense. It's far too late." He walked over to Looking-glass. "You can call your guardian from our house while Howard changes the bedclothes and cleans up."

Lady Lift stepped onto the roof, the helicopter having set off. "Howard..." Her voice warned of a lot of worry having turned to anger. "You're grounded. For a month. No workshop and no Internet access."

Techster groaned. "I won't argue, but isn't the whole point of keeping me in school to make me learn? I can't learn without access to information, and information is found best online. Can I convince you to just put a time limit on that? Please?"

"A month," she repeated, and a transparent force disk lifted the whole family, and Looking-glass, from the ground. "Consider yourself lucky I'm not taking away your gadgets as well."

"Yes Ma'am..." Techster replied quietly, defeated.

It was too much. Phantom knew it was time to go. Too many people were showing up. What had originally been a crazy, stupid, deliriously entertaining hit and run had turned into a chaotic frenzy of new weapons and new Epics. These people were crazy! Fucking insane. "Kenny!" he hissed at the grinning woman. "We need to go now! Too much going on!"

"Agreed, you spooky, scary, skeletron!" Kenny whooped, pulling a walkie-talkie out of seemingly no where. "Attention, comrades! We are beating a hasty retreat as of now! Vince is with us. Ernie, shoot up a flare so Maria can see it."

A moment later, an enormous column of flame spiraled into the air. "Gotcha bud," Ernie said. "I'll grab Maria and meet you all back there."

Kenny and Hannah glanced at Phantom. "You heard him," Kenny said. "Let's go!"

---

"That was fucking insane!" David muttered, waving his arms wildly in the air above him. "Why the fuck did I ever let you talk me into that?"

They had all made it back to the apartment in one piece. Vince had taken a moment to wake up, but after a jolt of sparks from Ernie, he sat up with a screech. When everyone stopped laughing at him, they explained what had happened. "Thanks, David," said Vince. "Remind me to save your ass the next time you're unconscious, all right?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" snarled David. "We all could have died. DIED! Those people had fucked up weapons, and fucked up ideals, and they were not fucking around. How can any of you be chill about this?" He kicked and empty can on the floor. "Fuck!" he said again, for good measure.

The others exchanged glances. "It's a messed up world out there, David," Maria said, in her own voice. "You have to laugh at it even when it's about to kill you, or you'll go insane." She laid a hand on his arm, and despite his anger, he found it very hard to stay mad at her.

"She's right," Kenny said, more serious than David had seen her yet. "We're Epics, y'know. People hate us, fear us. The Kryptocopters are just the most vocal ones." She ducked into the kitchen. "That's why it's so important that you stop oogling Marmie there and just pin her up against a wall somewhere."

David flushed immediately. "Kenny, come on..." He caught a glimpse of Maria's raised eyebrow, heard the rest of them laughing from the words, and wished very much to be asleep, so that he could fade from the world entirely.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" Kenny said, popping back into the room. "You've just met her, of course you want to wait a bit before you end up in bed with her." She held up a hand before he could punch her. "You're way too easy to rile up, buddy. Take a breather." She grinned, holding a can up to his face.

"Care for a beer, sir Phantom? A drink for a job well done."

"I hate you all."

Albert eyed the scene with a slight groan, as she watched the brazen display of Epics. They could be all the carefree they wanted, with wonderful skills bestowed by birth. Not like officer McKenzie, rest in peace. Or himself. He clenched his teeth. The Kryptonites were retreating, their own forces advancing.

Was this how the story ended? Was this what he was going to show to his partner's family? Just saying that Epics covered his bum and nothing more. The lad deserved better. He had been patient enough to wait for his grumpy nature to settle. He had bought the doughnuts, even if they were horrible. And that cow and her cronies were escaping.

"Arse." He muttered under his breath. The wounds on his back stung. But he felt alive. This was not the City. This was the jungle. And in front of him there were retreating ratmen. Taunting at every step. Albert began to run. Little by little his cop persona became eroded. He was once again Gungnir. And he could wound the invincible. He moved at a pace that would make an athlete blush, discarding the bulbous weapon and reaching for one of the assault rifles they had been using earlier.

He still knew how to use them. They felt natural in his grip. He had half a magazine. He switched to semi automatic. He wanted to do all those shots manually. The reach of the weapon was adequate. The sights... he wouldn't need, as he squeezed his own eyes. A difficult shot. But not impossible. He aimed and took fire.

McKenzie. The boys at the station. The chief. The innocent lads and lasses these guys killed. Each shot counted. The first ones zipped past. The remaining ones caused havoc, digging deep into the boat's engine and steering, killing the horsepower of the machine. Without engine, the boat in which the woman and her comrades would not go far.

"How's that for a pound of flesh, love?" Gungnir hollered, his weapon aimed at the Kryptonites and the woman, with little way to escape. "I did say you were under arrest. Now be good lads and cooperate!"

"Fuck!" The word rung loud and clear over the water as the Kryptonite boat puttered to a halt. It was easier to let the collaborators take them in, and the Kryptonites bore the treatment in silence. Even when directly questioned or even hit, they remained stoic. Each of them knew that Khan would get them out. They all knew they'd been useful to the organisation.

They all underestimated how many of the weapons had been taken into custody by the police.

---

Spectrum hovered slightly above her chair, glowing blue and sipping from her double-thick chocolate milkshake with the Heroes' Café logo on the side. The walls around her were covered in artwork of the popular Epics of the city. She avoided looking at her own, even as she found the Dragon Heart mural boring in comparison to the real thing.

"I take it you had a good time?" Alex asked with a small laugh.

"Mmhm." Roxana smiled in her hood. "We had drinks, dinner, and we went back to his place and..." She giggled. "He's got such nice muscles..."

Alex giggled. "I'm glad you had fun, Rox." A little shudder went through Rox's body as she quietly grinned at the memory. "So, it was that good?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh my gosh, Alex, he's so hot and gorgeous." Roxana leaned across the table. "He said I could take my dress off, and he took off his shirt so we'd be the same, and he..." Her eyes closed. "His kisses are better than anything else. It was like tasting chocolate cake and having a warm iceblock in my mouth at the same time, but all over."

"Impressive," Alex said with a grin. "Did he, uh, electrify things?"

"When he did other stuff, it was tingles and electric all over."

"That's hot." Alex hummed appreciatively. "I bet it's better than normal methods of applying shock."

Roxana looked up from her milkshake. "People do that?"

Alex giggled. "Girl, I do that sometimes. Then again, I do a lot of weird things."

"You do," Roxana replied dryly. "Dragon didn't want anything weird. We just touched each other a lot and went to bed."

Alex stared at Roxana. "And did the dirty. You left that out of your events list."

Roxana tugged her hood forward. "We slept together. He was a gentleman."

"Wait...you didn't....?"

"Didn't what?"

"Have sex!" Alex blurted out.

Roxana went white, briefly. "He wanted to, I mean I could tell he wanted to. I wanted to. I still want to." She blushed a little under her faint blue glow. "But it didn't feel right."

Alex stared at Roxana with a shrewd look. Her lips formed a thin line as her head moved into the palm of a propped up hand on the table. "What?" Roxana leaned back, confused. "I didn't do anything wrong, I know I didn't."

"It's not that, Rox," Alex murmured quietly. "But this is serious. Let me think for a moment." Roxana blinked, going back to her milkshake. "You didn't do anything. But you're so elated that you're floating. You mentioned the whole restaurant was empty but for you two," Alex rambled off. "Do you love him?"

That made Roxana choke on her milkshake. She coughed, pulling her hood back up when it fell off. "Alex!"

"I'm serious!" Alex hissed. "Do you love him?" Roxana mumbled something. "Stop it. I can still read your lips," Alex snigger, the sighed. "I envy you right now, Rox. I can't believe you found 'The One' before I did."

"You have more than one." Roxana stuck her tongue out. "I know you have that black book by your bed."

"That's just sex," Alex protested. "You've got a guy who likes you enough he didn't even try anything because you weren't ready to. You got something real, not a fling or a one night stand."

"He said he didn't want to," Roxana corrected. "I think I was a little buzzed last night, so he just let me sleep with him."

"My point still stands. He could've gotten some. But he didn't. Do you know how many guys I've teleported into the middle of a random street in the middle of the night because they wanted to try something just because I was buzzed?"

"I saw a newspaper article on the one that ended up in the river," Roxana giggled. "He was a dork."

"He was the worst," Alex muttered darkly.

"He was nice at the bar. And you were really fuzzy."

"Yeah, that changed when we left," Alex said with a frown.

"But Dragon," Roxana leaned forward again. "Guess how big he is?"

"Which piece am I guessing on?" Alex giggled.

"The fun piece."

Alex laughed. "Going off his pants..." She raised her hands to show length.

Roxana held up her own hands, then curled one into a loose fist. "That was just before he said to stop."

Alex shook her head. "Rox, are you still drunk?"

"Nuh uh." Roxana shook her head. "I remember that. I did sleep against him."

"I can't believe it. You're still drunk!" Alex scoffed. "When did you stop drinking?"

"I'm not drunk!" She shouted, then pulled her hood further over her head with a glance around. "I swear." She drew a little x over the left side of her shirt.

"Uh huh," Alex said, clearly unconvinced. "So when's date two?"

"He's making me dinner."

"Tonight?"

"He wanted to make me breakfast, but I kinda..." This time Roxana dropped her head into her hands.

"Disappeared on him?" Alex asked.

She shook her head. "Broke a picture frame. Or two," Roxana admitted. "One of his mom."

"Oh.." Alex muttered sympathetically. "But that's easily fixed in today's world..."

"I was so scared that he was going to yell at me." Roxana blinked away a tear or two. "I told him I didn't usually wake up like a pinball. But he got me a taxi so he could fix things and make sure I didn't hurt myself again."

Roxana shook her head. "He was very nice. He even held me until I calmed down, just like my dad used to." She wrapped her arms around herself. "How do you know if you're in love?"

Alex shrugged. "Never have been, so I couldn't tell you. You'll have to figure that one out yourself."

"Then what good are you?" Roxana stuck her tongue out at Alex to show she was teasing.

Alex laughed. "I convinced you to get the ball rolling didn't I?"