---

Looking up at the opening high over her head (12’) Sydney sighs and then tries to climb out several times only to find her suit keeps getting hung up on protrusions in the concrete forcing her back down. Then forced by her situation she looks down the pipe that carries the stormwater to the river and decides to walk down it in hope she finds a ladder or the outflow.

Sydney walked for about 300 yards hunched over in the 4’ tall tunnel getting a stiff neck for her efforts. As she walked she thought about how easy it would be to test her probability control in an escape effort then she remembered Heather Winston, Laura Win, Jane Cummings and several other victims who would have never known justice. All had been murdered in cruel ways by a so called normal human who had also been an officer of the law; his profession how he’d avoided exposure. It had been a petition from the public pushed by the families of the 16 young women that had involved her in the case and had her flown out of state to act as Witness of the events of their loved one’s deaths.

He had murdered the women over the course of several days of painful torture dismembering them and caurterizing the severed limbs former locations as he tried to make them into living sex toys. It was not her first time being exposed to such brutalities and she was sure to face other horrific examples because of her power a conclusion she’d come to when she was younger.

It was while in thought she was staggered by a flashback as she entered what looked like a large stormwater junction point were she began witnessing a gang assault on a woman. She heard their laughter and their victim’s pleas for mercy as they held her down forcing themselves on her.

It was always like this where strong emotions and death combined.

Joseiah smiled as he lazily floated along the surface of the swimming pool having done himself several good laps beforehand. It was good exercise and beat bumming around his apartment with the AC on, not that it was the most common of things now but it sorted out his cramps nicely with equal parts stretching every morning. He had figured out a very important fact about living in the Tower and that was to find something to keep yourself busy in between missions otherwise it could get very monotonous and boring right after. No one else was here today but it didn't bother him much because as much as he enjoyed being around other people even he needed some alone time every now and again. Never for too long though otherwise he'd end up losing track of time drawing/doing one of his various projects or once in a long while just staring at his pendant as he day dreamed about his family. He'd have to see if he could get an update on his sister again soon, it was a bit of a small luxury but one he found important even if being there wasn't an option.

The cryokinetic was right about ready to haul himself out of the pool when the alarm went off spooking him more than a little. Not to mention he was pretty damn sure they tuned his up to be louder than some of the others and while they were kinda in the right to do so it still caught him off guard sometimes hence ending up underwater for a moment. The man sighed musing about the usefulness of his dampeners, there'd likely have been mini ice float without them, as he swam quickly over to the edge closest to the door getting up and out so he could do a rough job of drying up before zipping back to his room to get suit at least partially on. By his mark he could make it in a decent space of time limp or no but he only really had time to get the lower half of his armor on while he was there, sure as hell wasn't the first time he'd had to get the coat and vest on in a hurry while walking so it'd get done on the way easy. The helmet wouldn't go on until after the briefing since it was way too stuffy until the dampeners were on which was something he mildly regretted as a choice when it wasn't keep his head attached. Either way he made decent time coming in a little later than usual but not unheard of for the man while still being within his ten minutes.

Joseiah gave a couple hi's and good morning's to the other heroes along with a beaming smile which he couldn't help, after all going out to give some idiot the good news was a great pass time. He listened along to the gabbing more or less having to suppress his chuckling at the description of the Zookeeper and robot animals while also noting the danger all the same. Seriously though? I thought my sense of naming was bad but this guy pulled ahead of me. He thought now actually chuckling a bit to himself. Despite being ready and raring to go the suited man stopped him short saying he was on reserves this time around which while being a bummer was fine with him. Made him wonder if they wanted to get a bit of media in on Jane since it was her first showing or maybe city just didn't want a bunch of ice and snow lying around in piles after this time with threats that big. Either way he'd end up listening in while he waited to see if he needed to be deployed, if not so be it since he'd be the first to greet them back in because he wasn't missing lunch with the gang.

That in mind he turned to the suited man with a bit of a dumb smile. "Getting a bit of the cold shoulder this time eh? Suppose its only fair turnabout." The ice man said taking the situation in stride going out to wait nearby the reserve transport.

---

And with the MIGHT of Dawn and the SPEED of Draig, the hellephant was knocked off balance as power unmatched rocketed up its fore leg. The hulking beast was lucky to not be uprooted from the spot by such awesome combined strength.

Phoenix leaped from the hole, his arms a golden glow and his fists a blaze just as the hellephant recalculated its balance and gave a trumpeting roar.

"I'm getting tired of you throwing your weight around! It's about time we put this beast down for good! For JUSTICE!"

Dawn leaped forward as the elephant began to swing its trunk in another blast of fire. Dawn knew this move and would punish it for its lack of creativity. He seized the fire spewing trunk, keeping the hose firmly out of the way. Dawn dug in his heels as he wrestled against the weapon.

Victory sprinted down the now abandoned streets, vaulting over a hood of a car that was joining in on the endless cacaphony of car alarms squealing their discontent. The elephant was attempting to escape Phoenix Dawn's oh-so mighty grip, backing up while spewing scalding flames out of it's trunk. As Victory entered in range, she created a 30 foot wide wall of Hard Light behind the elephant, preventing it's escape.

"Ramp!" Victory called out, once again shouting a noun in the general direction of the polar bear. A Hard Light skate-boarding like ramp appeared at an angle to the elephant, in Shift's path and to the left of the currently occupied Phoenix Dawn.

"Gwar?!" The slight panic was audible even in the inarticulate rumble of the polar bear, its steady gait faltering briefly. However in a moment Shift seemed to steel herself and bolted forward towards the ramp. At the top the great beast leapt, and with a crash the ton of bear weight landed on the back of the mechanical elephant, long claws digging in to keep from sliding right off from momentum. For all her extra weight, the ... 'hellephant' as Phoenix Dawn dubbed it was still bigger.

Nonetheless, now on the back of the creature, Shift dug her claws in deep before raising up. In a specialty of natural polar bears' hunting she rose up before slamming her paws down, causing the metal beneath her weight to dent and crack. The creature struggled, but between the wall at its back and the hero holding it at the front slowly but surely Shift was getting through.

And like the mammoth hunters of old, Victory used the last of her effort to summon a long spear into her grip. She flanked the elephant and rammed it into it's back-right mechanical knee, slightly jamming the mechanism and using the length of the spear to keep her distance while further restricting it's movement.

"This is what I signed up for..," Miles managed a soft sigh as he pulled himself towards the edge. Indeed, he had earned a badge of bravery for his battle against the mighty fiend now gathering a series of sparks upon the rooftop. As he struggled back to his feet, Shrike felt the pain of a shockwave's unforgiving blast echoing throughout his back, enough so to cause the young soldier to tumble forth. "How are the others doing..?" He continued, groaning softly as he struggled through the pain, leaning against the concrete railing.

Devastation was a word quite amply used, considering the circumstances. "Good to see you in shape, Dawn..," Shrike managed a soft smirk as he zoomed in on the battle raging across the streets. Phoenix Dawn was handling the situation quite well, greeting brute force with an opposing reflection of the very same. It was now that Shrike could offer assistance. Firing wildly would manage naught but casualties. Rather, the marksman braced his rifle against the railing as he fell to a knee. Comfort assisted in aiming, something he was grateful for. If the boy was to believe what had been displayed in front of him, his body was operating at twenty-five perfect.

"Weak points spotted. I'm taking the shot." Pulling the trigger once, Miles fired an armor piercing round which evened the distance between the barrel of his gun, and the foe at hand. Within mere moments, the bullet forced its way through the elephant's joint, severing some of the metallic sinew maintaining its leg. As expected, the process sent the enemy off balance, allowing Dawn a golden moment to display...Justice.

But before said justice could be delivered, the metallic quadraped had some shots of it's own to deliver. Two cannons, mounted on the sides of the elephant just out of reach of the polar bear began charging with green energy. Having revealed himself to the elephant, the beast shifted, pulling against Phoenix Dawn to face where the sniper. One of the cannons burst forth with plasma energy, a searing bolt launching itself with precision towards Shrike.

Disengaging the target, Miles leaped to the side, a searing beam of energy cutting through the concrete railing. "Why do they always have lasers..?" Following him like a vengeful beam of injustice, the cannon was unrelenting. With a graceful backflip to evade the destructive attack, Miles shot his grappling wire into an adjacent building. It quickly pulled the agent a safe distance from that of which attempted to end him, allowing for a moment's breath. "Wouldn't want it to get boring..," the boy sighed, locking onto the enemy as a circular target fixed its focus on the elephant's cannon. Firing three consecutive shots as he traveled across the air, Miles soon landed on a large, exclusive balcony.

Had they enjoyed the view? Well, one could not fault the rich for basking in what they could, from the safety of a penthouse. "Thanks," Miles spoke, his visor shifting and folding to leave his face and head completely uncovered. Wrapping his fingers around a soda bottle, the boy found himself in the center of attention, several eyes once enjoying the confines of a pool party now mesmerized by his presence.
"Are you winning!?" Came a voice, nary interrupting the assassin's drink as he downed the beverage.

Victory followed the bolt go towards Shrike, her vision obstructed by the preceding explosion of energy. The second canon was only a foot or so away from where her spear was lodged, so Victory got a good view when it suddenly shifted, fully articulated it seemed, and pointed right at her. Her eyes widened and the spear, the wall, and the ramp all vanished as Victory summoned an outer shell of Hard Light to protect her as the blast slammed into her body, knocking her several feet back. She slid in the dust, her back colliding with a building wall. The cannon remained locked on her, and still disoriented from the blast, Victory attempted to stand, maintaining the damaged shell. The cannon fired again, shattering the shell and launching Victory into a shop window with a crash of shattered goods and glass. Luckily, Victory was out of sight of the cannon. Unluckily, she was struggling to stand, putting a hand to her helmet and coughing.

Looking down the edge, Miles inhaled a sharp breath before answering the civillian's question. "Yeah, sure," he returned the bottle to where he had found it before leaping off the side of the balcony. If he stayed, that cannon would waste no time before blasting it from place, along with the civilians. Instead, the agent was greeted by an unforgiving beam heading straight for him as his lithe frame traveled down the immense distance between himself, and the elephant. "Locking on target," Miles raised his rifle, firing another shot before shooting his wire to the next building. Swinging his way across the cityscape, Miles took potshots as he could, each round cutting at the cannon's structure until eventually, it was shot from place. "Cannon disabled," Shrike hung onto a building wall, his breath heavy from the procedure. "You guys still on your feet?"

Dawn caught a glimpse of the metal menace strike at a building where his comrade Shrike was being pelted. Thankfully the swift movements and quick work with his weapons had began to provide some much needed covery fire. An explosion atop the Hellaphant meant that something had been done.

The beast on their side, Shift immediately followed suit, no doubt showing this fake what a real animal can do. He grinned madly, the battle was surly within their grasp. Just then though, another plasma cannon blast wrought forth. And with a grunt, he saw as the white glory of Victory was struck. "VICTORY" Came a titanic yell as Dawn gritted his teeth. He was angry now.

He stamped his feet and began to flex his arms, his hands, digging into the phant's trunk. He wrenched back, pulling with both hands on the plate in different directions. Slowly the truck began to crumple, the fire bursting in places where the integrity was compromised. In a conflaguration the metal groaned and ripped from its moring. The elephant had lost its trunk.

Dawn stumbled back with his new weapon, he hefted it over his shoulder. "Mess with my friends will you!" Dawn swung the trunk at the monsters head, beating it like a wet pool toy noddle that was made of titanium plates. BANG BANG until the creatures face was smooshed in on both sides. "DRAIG! WRAITH! Go check on Victory and then lets end this thing! TEAM EPSILON!"

Wraith held his head as he stood, the pain easing up once he stopped using his powers. He needed to rest them for a bit, but there wasn't time for that here. He could power through it for now. He hung back for a little bit longer, if not just because the others looked like they had it under control. A small rest to regroup, then back into action.

He saw the cannon blast Victory, and flew after her without hesitation. She wasn't his favorite person in the world, but he wouldn't wish her harm. And, he owed her.

Wraith flew down to where Victory had landed and scooped her up to carry her further from the battlefield.

Victory startled when she felt something pick her up, but relaxed when it was just Wraith, and then slightly tensed up again when she realized it was Wraith.

She looked shaky on her feet and was wheezing; she'd been hit pretty hard. He set the woman down behind a discarded minivan, making her feel silly for being nervous.

"Stay here for now, we've got this." She'd done her fair share. Wraith turned and flew up again, heading back towards the fight.

"Thanks, Wraith," Victory said shakily. That would leave a bruise. She closed her eyes for a minute, and a warm light could be seen forming under the armor around her ribs. A flare of pain ran up her spine, and the warm light faded. It was more difficult to heal herself than it was to heal others.

The elephant had just lost it's trunk. It was roaring a low, guttural tone that genuinely sounded like a very pissed off elephant. The beast lowered it's head and began to charge wildly towards Phoenix Dawn. Wraith was sure the man could hold his own, but they really couldn't afford any more collateral damage.

Then, from the top of a nearby pawn shop, a strange hero in a boldly colored outfit appeared. "Aw, don't tell me I'm late to the party. It's okay guys, I'm sure my invite got lost in the mail." The brightly dressed hero spotted the elephant's rampage towards Dawn and leaped into action. As he flung himself off the edge of the building, he began to shift in mid-air.

Admittedly, Silas had been on the edge of passing out as he watched his fellow heroes struggle with the beast. Dreamwalking was tiresome despite the fact that he was literally asleep. He trusted that his teammates could handle the giant hunk of sentient metal. He was always sure to congratulate them after missions ended, they were quite a tough bunch.

He had been startled to attention when the vigilante joined the fray, it was definitely shocking because he couldn't ever place a time that one had jumped into their mission like this before. He had once wanted to be a vigilante himself, though that had ended badly, he still appreciated what they did when New Horizons wasn't interfering.

He sat up a bit straighter to watch, it was definitely a treat to see something new.

"Come on Shishi, let's show 'em what us freelancers can do."

A bright light engulfed his body as it shifted from that a man to that of a beast. The creature was lion-like, with bright crimson fur and a golden mane. The beast let out a deafening roar as it appeared. It landed with its forepaws against the elephant's front shoulders, followed by its hind legs. It pushed off hard, sending the elephant stumbling over and crashing to a halt.

The polar bear atop the elephant had started with the appearance of the beast, seeming to freeze up for a moment as Shift gazed wide-eyed at the giant feline creature that had appeared before her. That hesitance, not to mention the lack of dexterity in the bear's lumbering form, caused a strange yelp of surprise to escape her maw as the elephant started to teeter over. Those long, vicious claws dug in but as the mechanical creature crashed to the ground the polar bear went tumbling - at least ripping out a large hunk of the hull with her.

Wraith paused at the sight, unsure of this stranger interfering with their mission. But as the beast landed nimbly on its paws and didn't proceed to attack his cohorts, he realized it must have been a good guy of some sort. To him, any help was good help.

The elephant began to slowly stand, shaking off the blow. Wraith picked himself up off the ground and flew towards the robot and phased into the machine itself. There wasn't much room inside, but there was just enough for him to become solid again. Wraith began pulling at wires and jamming whatever objects he could find into the motors that controlled the legs. The beast slowed its advance, and then finally came to a stop.

Wraith phased back out, floating over to stand off to the side to look over his work. The elephant tossed its head and bellowed loudly, unable to reach the heroes to cause further damage. The battle was almost won.

'Structure integrity at ten percent, a robotic voice filled Miles' ears as he remained with a fixed gaze at the elephant. The creature was nearing its end, and his allies were bringing forth unrelenting justice with each fluid motion of prowess. Sliding to the streets below, the agent allowed his long, slender wire to retract and return to its home, as his attention shifted between the ongoing battle, and the scarce amount of civilians watching it unfold. Miles proceeded to reload his weapon, locking his sights on the new arrival. An unauthorized crime fighter? A vigilante? Clenching his teeth, the boy aimed his gun before speaking into his headgear. "An enemy of Horizon? Should I engage?"

"No," a voice returned, undoubtedly one of Horizon's own, "we will deal with the vigilante later. There is no need to further strain the situation. Stand down."

"Affirmative," Miles responded, lowering his rifle. "Analysing data, downloading and sending."

"Received," the voice offered, "we will look into this man. Focus on the elephant, it's nearly destroyed."

"Affirmative," Shrike finished.

The trunk was reduced to next to nothing as he caved in the Elephants head with it. He tossed it aside to free his hands for the charging retaliation. He roared in defiance. "The problem with robots. Just don't know when to quit! Come on then!" He wanted to destroy it in one blow. He rolled his arm back. "SLEDGEHAMMER F-"

Suddenly there was a tiger, but it was... wrong somehow. Dawn's eyes seemed to follow it. "Shift?" He never saw her turn into something like that before, but then he saw the elephant fall over and a polar bear roll off from the sudden force. Dawn barely got a moment to respond to the new comer. It was like everything happened in slow motion. "Who- ?"

It was then Wraith who knocked the thing out for good, the shadow of his form merged into the body, and after some showers of sparks, it ceased it senseless kicking. Now was the chance to bring peace to the city, with MAXIMUM JUSTICE!

Dawn went back to the issue at hand, standing and flexing his muscles. "Right! Fear not Horizon and citizens! The Dawn will bring this to its final JUSTICE!" It was a not so subtle way of saying, get to a safe distance.

Dawn leaped to a building smashing into the top corner of it, and this was merely a launching off point as he immediately took to the sky, nearly a mile over the street. "Off of the top rope!" He positioned himself over the speck of an elephant below as his body curled sideward and he raised his elbow and then began to descend, his body actually lighting on fire as if he was falling from the stratsophere.

He always wanted to try this...

"HEAVENLY METEOR HAAAAAMMMMMMMEEEEERRRR!!!"

And then dropped the most GLORIOUS of elbows on the Elephants exposed side! There was a moment of metal clanging, the scene seemed to hold its breath, before the machine erupted into a massive explosion that pushed back the cars nearby and blew out every window on that side of the city blocks. The metal monster crumbled like paper under the blow, and so did the street beneath it.

When the dust cleared, there was no elephant, just a hole in the middle of the street and the sound of water from broken pipes being poured into the new bus sized pothole. The elephant now lay as scraps of metal at its bottom. The city was lucky there wasn't a subway under that particular street. Over the sound of water was a rising laughter, long and loud and bellowing. He was crawling out of the hole, his clothes tattered and skin nicked and scratched in dozens of places. He was smiling proudly.

"WHOOOO! Did you guys see that!? That was awesome!" He announced.

It was hard not to applaud such a brilliant display of good old fashioned justice and Silas was as impressed as he always was with his fellow heroes. He was well out of the way and he was glad for that but he called out a nice, "Good job, Dawn!"

"Good work, everyone. You did good." Victory set through her headset, having watched the spectacle from a little ways down the block. She hadn't yet noticed the vigilante.

Watching the display with a soft smirk making its way to his lips, Miles was unable to stifle his chuckle, before contacting Horizon. "Mission successful, returning to base."

Despite the alarm being heard within the psychologist's office, the man ushered the debut hero to stay. They were in the middle of a checkup, both for Eliott's bracers as well as her mental health, as her split personality sounded like a problem to the higher-ups. Despite her claims that she is in full control of herself, the rest of New Horizon don't share that kind of mentality. She had experience dealing with and talking to psychologists before, however they often brought up bad memories...
"You appear to be doing well, Eliott. Your cooperation is appreciated." A small button beneath his desk silenced the alarm. It could be heard in the distance, but apparently disabled the speaker within his room. She nodded to show her understanding. "Your bracers seem to be fine and well-calibrated. No adverse effects..." He pointed to a not he had scribbled a half-hour earlier. "But I would like to ask you a few questions before you go. Just some little things, bits about the Tower and whatnot. Please, be honest with me, I know you're not a bad person."

"That sounds OK." Responded the meek voice of Eliott. She still hadn't quite grown accustomed to his presence, as well as that of the other heroes, but was making progress.
"Alright, how do you feel about living in The Tower? Do you feel safe? Do you get along with the other heroes?"
There was a pause. Eliott liked to think over her answers carefully. "It's comfortable. I haven't made an impression with everyone, but there are some who I like, some who I don't. I-I want to get to know them..."
"That's fine, that's fine." More scribbles. "And how goes the training? I hear you're almost finished?"
Eliott nodded again.
"Almost finished. I might get to go on the next mission, or so they say. I have a test to do, and that's apparently the end of it."

The psychologist raised an eyebrow. "Congratulations! You're pretty quick, huh? It took some heroes here much longer to reach where you are now." He cleared his throat and leaned in, catching Eliott's affirmative hum. She could already tell what he would ask next. From her experience, they tended to feed into a conversation, as opposed to ask random questions. "Then do you mind if I ask if that 'other you' has came out much?"
Eliot shrugged.
"Eliott, please. I need to know."
Eyes looked down to towards the floor.
She frowned.
"A little." She sighed. He nodded and wrote some more., but didn't say anything, silently pressuring her to keep talking. She gave in. "I... I get a bit more excited at the practical things. But I'm quieter when I do the written things..."
That much he already knew, but it seemed like Eliott wasn't willing to divulge anymore information. While it did worry him, he wasn't going to push her, and instead let out a relieved sigh. "OK. OK! That's good - this is good!" Reider's gaze returned to the man, confused. "We're about to run out of time, so let me ask you a couple more questions before you leave. Is that OK?"

Another couple minutes of questions came at her, and she did her best to answer them well-enough. Most had to do with the Tower, the heroes, and how she herself felt. Though none of them were particularly hard, she came out of the psychologist's room feeling tired, like she had just undergone exercise. She was beckoned to visit the park on the roof; some peace and quiet would be hard to find with all the other heroes around, and the sense of nature it provided was refreshing as always.
But first, food.
She made her way to her own room, and prepared a pair of sandwiches. It was a simple meal - lettuce, tomato, bacon, buns toasted. She made two in case anyone came to visit her while she was up there.
Hallway, elevator, hallway, stairs; the roof was a long walk to get to. It wasn't visited by too many heroes, which is why she found it relaxing. She'd brought books with her, one about philosophy and another about fantasy. Her choice of books never really had a preference, just those that seemed interesting to her.

The park, as ever, was beautiful. Her favorite place by far was beside the pond under a tree. It was shady, and the grass was just soft enough to lay down on. The tree served as a nice backrest when it came to reading, and the serenity of it all often put her mind at peace. Even when people came to play volleyball, the sound was drowned out by the flowing of water, and the tree's thick trunk meant sound couldn't penetrate it. She could still mute sound if things were really bad, but then she wouldn't be able to hear the birds. True, they weren't really there and were just sounds produced by the dome, but it added to the relaxing vibe of the park nonetheless.
As she found her place, her spot, she settled into it comfortably. The toasted sandwich was good, just as she had learnt, and reminded her that she needed to cook more often. The thought of cooking for other heroes crossed her mind. It sounded nice, since she hadn't been invited to anyone else's cooking yet, but there were some faces she was unsure of inviting. Perhaps a smaller crowd -- Epsilon -- would be ideal?

She lost herself to thought, absentmindedly chewing her toasted sandwich, even as the announcement that the other heroes had returned echoed throughout the park...

Leaning against the black tiles of his bathroom wall, Miles managed a soft breath as his pale shape was coated in the warmth of a shower's constant stream. The mission had been successful, and everyone performed splendidly. Even Dawn had succeeded in minimizing collateral damage, for what it was worth. The man had a distance to tread indeed, but so did all of them. Yes, it was quite a remarkable display, seeing how everyone's supernatural prowess and abilities came into play. Miles could clearly see the cameras of channel four, five and six, newscasters all lining up to catch the event as it unfolded, immortalizing it upon the countless television screens scattered throughout America. Admittedly, he was surprised to see how Phoenix Dawn wasn't approached for a statement. The loudest and most visible of the crew often was, getting their face seen on television in an attempt to humanize their presence. 

Who better to believe in, than a gestalt you can see without vail or obfuscation? That was the point of Horizon. Though, Miles was aware that many of the heroes had a more naive view of the organization. Horizon had plans, something Miles, or Shrike, was well aware of. Plans he wholeheartedly believed in. This world required order, it needed safety. As it was, the government could barely contribute what it should. It merely scratched the surface of what a ruling body should manage, and do so with results worth praising. 

Wrapping a set of slender fingers around a shampoo bottle, Miles coated his raven hair in the lemon scented liquid, rubbing it onto his scalp with short nails before washing it off with a relaxed sigh escaping his lips. 

What of the new arrival? Eliott? Yes, that was her name, as far as he could tell. She appeared to be doing well within the confines of Horizon's walls, and he would be lying if he claimed otherwise. Indeed, Miles saw to it that he was quite excited to see what she was capable of. The girl was unstable, in a way, make no mistake. One who claims two personalities is to be monitored, for sure. There is no excuse for disaster, and neither the media, nor the public would offer forgiveness. They lived in a highly merciless world, and all a hero could do was to embrace it. 

Placing bare feet on the tiles, Miles stepped out of the shower and stretched his lithe frame with a soft yawn, before wrapping a towel around himself and dried pale skin from the blanket of water which had blessed him with warmth. "Wraith?" The agent spoke, rubbing his eyes after slipping into a pair of shorts, and a t-shirt. He got no answer, warranting a slight frown. Though, he was well aware that opening the fridge would immediately conjure forth the sound of paws padding against the floor and a loud meow brushing against him. "Fatass..," the boy mumbled, reaching into the fridge to produce a can of tuna. He poured it into a bowl, leaving the meal resting on the marble counter as he placed a loving kiss on the back of Wraith's head, the feline wasting no time before leaping onto the surface of the kitchen counter. "I love you, you little brat." Miles spoke, carefully scratching behind its ears before dropping down to the sofa for some well-earned video gaming.

Once again, Alice Jefferson was in her room. There was a large window letting in the afternoon sun, filling the room with a comforting beig light. The whole room was various soothing colors of soft carpets, curtains and wallpapers of beautiful if minimalistic patterns. A far cry from the often stark and sharp architecture of the rest of the tower, Alice made certain her place was clean and nice to look up. Lifting her shirt up, she was applying ice to a purple bruise on her dark skin tone. She had taken her pain killers, yadda yadda, walk around the room sometimes, cough when you need too but blah blah blah. Whatever. She could handle this...she had had way worse in her youth. It wasn't even broken.

She had to end up comforting Valora to how upset she was, that she 'let' her get hurt during the battle. Silly girl was a sweet old blubberin' mess right after the fight. That Zookeeper certainly is an unpleasant fellow. Luckily Silas did what Silas does and gave him something to really think about in his time behind bars. Villains like him were dime a dozen- always trying to make a move and somehow take over the city. I mean, witout New Horizon? They might be able to do it. But luckily, NH did exist, and were there to stop them. Even if some of them wear their heart on their sleeve like Valora who came over to comfort Alice but ended up needing a little soothing herself. She smiled at the thought, but frowned at recalling the preceding events right after.

A rabble rouser, freelancer, 'vigilante' or what have you, was spotted. Apparently he helped them out...this time. Often these vigilantes end up hurting someone because of their good intentions. Alice knew what they said about the path to Heck, but apparently they did not. It's only a matter of time before these troublemakers made too much trouble for their own good. If she hadn't been hurt, she mighta been able to drop a dome on that guy, bring him in and shape him up.

She sighed. Oh well. Now that the painkillers and the ice had numbed the pain, it was time to take care of this wound. Alice closed her eyes and concentrated, and beneath the purple bruise a golden light pulsed. The discoloration slowly began to fade to her normal medium skin tone. With a wince, Alice opened her eyes and looked at the bruise in the mirror. Much better. She poured out the half melted back of ice and sat down on the couch with a cup of orange juice and went back to watching her programs.

The former vigilante wasn't particularly attentive to her surroundings, and gave in to the momentary respite the park provided. The sounds of nature, however artificial they were, ushered her into a state of relaxation. She leaned back against the tree, finishing the remainder of her sandwich, before picking up the fantasy novel. The previous entry had left off at a cliffhanger, so she was eager to-
"Hey, Elliot. How are you settling in?"
A squeak, not from a mouse but a girl, was his response.

It was easy to see he had accidentally frightened her, considering how her body jolted. Eliott's heartbeat was running at a million miles an hour, and she looked warily about for the person who had greeted her. Upon seeing Silas' face, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh... Silas..." She said between breaths, slowly calming herself down, hand resting on her heart. "You... frightened me a little..."
She quickly set the book down between her legs, stacked on top of the philosophy one she had also taken. A firm tapping of the ground beside her indicated she was inviting him to sit. Apparently she was calm enough to want to talk. She was usually hard to approach, unless she felt comfortable. Her mind finally caught up with his question. "O-oh, uhh, I'm settling in OK, I think... I haven't talked to many people. Joseiah is funny. I like Valora. I want to know more about the people here, especially Epsilon team."

Her fingers absentmindedly pulled at the grass, twirling them round and round. She couldn't keep any sort of eye contact, but was able to speak clearly with her focus on the greenery. Her head was trying its best to think up something to keep the conversation going, but she never felt confident in her ability to converse. However, before he could speak, an idea struck:
"S-sandwich?"
She offered the toasted sandwich to Silas. It still radiated warmth from beneath the foil, and he could see a slight tremble as she held it out to him. She still couldn't face him, but it was the least she could do to be courteous. "I made it in case someone came up here... Or if I was still hungry..."
Her mind automatically caught on to her mistake.
'Oh no!' She thought, anxiety slowly creeping in.
'He's going to think I'm fat for saying that...'

---

@Prosaic If you'd like we can collab with our next post? c:

---

Sydney wandered the tunnels for at least 2 more hours till she heard the first comms signal from her minders from Horizion and they were very agitated. This took the form of threats and intended punishments but try as she might the smaller unit she carried couldn’t manage to get a signal out using its weak transmitter.

When she did get close enough to an exit to finally transmit the lieutenant in charge of the detail sent to find her responded to her by screaming his threats at her annoying her so much that she felt in danger worried he might actually act on his physical promises. So it wasn’t surprising when he and his capture squad came stomping towards her tracer signal that her balky control of probability acted to protect her.

They were all pointing weapons at her and screaming for her to lay on her belly in the dirty water which she looked at dubiously wondering if there were viruses or other bacterial nasties just waiting for her in the slime coated concrete. Then just as she was about to comply a plug of trash which had been blocking a cross tunnel that emptied out between herself and the squad gave way under pressure and the vibrations their boots sent radiating out.

In a rush a wall of water and trash covered them knocking them off their feet and covering them in slime that would result in their later contracting rashes that would be worse than poison ivy. The upside for Sydney was that they had shown her the way out so she thought of making a hasty exit but her better angel forced her to help them up and she was happy to find out that they were for the most part unharmed.

She exited the tunnels thinking she’d have to share a ride with the squad that clearly thought their troubles were her fault but she was saved by the police liaison who said they needed her to do a read of the bots before others muddled the temporal streams.

So it was two hours after she’d finished her scans a smelly and tired Sydney walked into the tower and headed to the shower to scrub off the grime of her recent ordeal.

Though Silas wasn't much of a talker by nature, he wasn't someone who just let people stew around on their lonesome. It was kind of rude to just avoid fellow heroes, especially when he was in the area of them. He was glad that he'd taken the step to sparking a conversation, even if he was a bit on the nervous side. He listened as Elliot described the people that she felt most fond of, he wasn't surprised to hear that Joseiah was on that list. The guy really had a way with people. 

He was flattered to hear that she liked Epsilon, it was their team after all. "I mean, we are the coolest team of all. Phoenix Dawn sort of makes us the most media represented, it can be a little on the embarrassing side but we're good at our job. You gotta hand it to Omnicron though, I like everyone over there as well."

He was rambling, he hated that, he should stop while he was ahead but he didn't. "I mean, takes Miles for example, if you threw something at that guy, he could shoot it out of the air. That's cool as hell-" 

He stopped, finally. He drew in a breath and when she offered him the sandwich, he didn't hesitate to agree. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'd love a sandwich. I haven't eaten all day."

He settled down beside her, folding his knees underneath himself and unwrapping the sandwich. "I'm a terrible cook, did you make these yourself?"

Left, then right, then left again; her eyes couldn't find a place to rest, so they settled on the water in front of them. It was gentle, something she felt was comparable to Silas himself. Unlike the fire of Phoenix Dawn or the shadow of Ka'van; he was water, lucid and calm. 

"Y-yeah... It wasn't t-that hard, just some lettuce, tomato, cheese, ham... I learned how to cook for myself. Once you get the hang of it, i-it's not so bad."

She couldn't help but grin to herself as Silas took the sandwich she had made. She honestly hadn't expected anyone to come see her, and for it to be Silas was... pleasant. There were things she wanted to ask him. Things that she couldn't ask anyone else about. 

The only problem was if she could even muster the courage to ask. 

That could wait until later. 

"I was thinking before... what if I cooked for everyone? Does that sound like a good idea? I don't know..." She shook her head. "Sorry, that probably sounds dumb. I-I'm not good at approaching people, so... you know..."

She shuffled and let out a nervous sigh. 

"I-it's an excuse... right? D-does that make sense...?"

God, she felt like she was terrible at this. Back in her old life, she never got the chance to speak with strangers before. It was a wholly new experience, one Eliott felt she was seriously underdeveloped for. 

He couldn't help it, he grinned. "Are you kidding me? They would love that. I can't speak for everyone but I  know that Ricardo would probably adore it, I know that I would."

Self doubt wasn't hard to become accustomed to, he had learned that over the years and Elliot seemed to have a lot of self doubt. He worried about people that didn't take immediate confidence in themselves, he was the encouraging type after all. He had always thought that his power was on the boring side but Elliot had a pretty damn cool power. He knew that she had a tendency to flip on a dime under her hero name and he found himself wondering if there was some way to inspire that confidence when she was just Elliot Reider. 

"Plus," the boy bit into the toasted sandwich, leaning back and washing it down with a sip of his steadily decreasing energy drink. "These are good, I pretty much live on processed food so it's good to take a break from that. These people, they're uh, they're not going to bite your head off, y'know? Especially people like Ricardo, but I'm sure you've noticed that. Are you afraid for any specific reason or just in general?"

Eliott was silent, as though processing Silas' words, before giving a short nod. Should she tell him? Or should she remain silent? He seemed trustworthy enough...

'They won't bite your head off..'

She repeated the statement in her head, and seemed to gain some sort of confidence. "I've... not met many people before..."

There was a pause. 

"B-but... there are some people here I... don't like..."

Silas had been immediately curious of that statement and it must have shown in his expression because she reacted sharply.

"N-not you, S-Silas! Th-they're from Omicron!"

Her gaze shifted to him, and she raised her arms defensively. 

The cat was out of the bag, now. But then again, for those who caught her in the act, it wasn't hard to tell just who it was that she didn't like. A frown crossed her features, and she returned to staring at the ground. 

"Victory... A-and Witness... Th-they..." 

Another pause. The flow of water was making it hard to think. 

"... different reasons..." She mumbled, barely audible. She knew she was being difficult in this, but couldn't help herself. She repeated herself again, this time louder: "Both of them... for different reasons..."

"I like Epsilon," she added quickly, "because they feel like true heroes. Even Leo. Even Ka'van. But Omicron..."

She shook her head fiercly. There was a lot she didn't know, and she knew she could very well be jumping to conclusions. Eliott let out another sigh. "Maybe I am scared..."

Not even Eliott knew the answer to that statement.

"We're all heroes, Elliot," this statement was soft, it wasn't judgemental though. "Now, I'm going to sound all dad-like here when I tell you that we're all different. Even despite our many differences and there are many, we have one common goal."

He took a thoughtful bite of his sandwich, lamenting that his energy drink was now gone. Elliot was new and he didn't blame her for finding bias of some kind for anyone but he did want to help her realize that Omnicron was just as good a team as Epsilon, even better at times. They all had their skill sets, where Phoenix Dawn could pile drive a metal elephant into the ground below, Victory could slice the head off a metal lion with ease. They were different, different wasn't bad.

He had always envied the other heroes because his powers were strictly mental and they didn't make much ground. Most people didn't even realize that he was working behind the scenes. "Witness is brilliant, she's always doing extra work for the police force, she must feel so overworked sometimes. Victory can create things. My powers are very set, the dreamscape is a powerful thing but I don't even do outside work. I don't fight like the rest of the team. I don't fight like Omnicron. Some people would say that I'm not a hero because I'm never in the fray."

He gently nudged her with his elbow, the motion was friendly. "There's no foul in being scared but I think you should try to get to know Omnicron, they're a good group."

"Ow." The instinctive response came as a result of his elbow nudge. Despite the fact it didn't actually hurt, she still rubbed the area gently, soothing the area as though there were, in fact, pain. A giggle escaped her lips, unable to contain itself, and she shook her head. "It's OK, I'm not hurt."

Said Miss Obvious. 

However, her playfulness calmed down when she thought more about what Silas had said.  "Not a hero...?" It sounded as though she had taken particular interest in the statement about himself as opposed to that of Omicron. Though that likely wasn't his intention, she shifted to face him, legs crossed like a giant preschooler. "You're the most heroic of anyone."

In her mind, that was a fact. 

It was weird for him to hear that someone appreciated him, it was strangely nice. Everyone wanted to be appreciated, even Silas. He found himself smiling at her words, listening to her intently as she defined what she thought a hero was.

"You go running into battle without any real defenses; you're the same as any other civilian. One wrong move and it's game over. But you do it anyway. You beat the bad guys, save those in trouble, and no matter what people say, you keep going. If I'm honest, that's more heroic than what anyone else here does..." 

Saying so brought back some memories of the past. With Ark. People often forgot nowadays that heroes and villains, terrorists and civilians - they were all just people. Having been on both sides of the spectrum, she had a unique perspective when it came to the likes of justice, good, bad, and all the other complicated issues of being a hero. But, in her mind, those who could go out and do things that created change, in spite of the difficulty, were the real heroes. 

"It may sound odd but not many people tell me that, or maybe I'm just not around to hear it if it's being said." he laughed, though the sound was soft and kind of awkward. "I don't ever think of it as dangerous, though I guess it kind of is. Dream-walking is all I've ever really been good at. I was almost a vigilante, y"know, but I think it's better that I landed in a team. My powers are too uh stagnant. I have to stay in one place, if I had gone against multiple villains then I would have been as good as dead."

He had always admired that vigilantes made their own rules, though he had come to accept that he would have been a particularly bad vigilante. He was better as a supportive man on a team, it was just a safer fit for him. "I think I wish I was more like Dawn sometimes, he really is kind of amazing. I'm glad I was placed on his team," his eyes narrowed and he grinned for a moment. "I mean, without him, I'd probably never make it to the battlefield. He pretty much acts as my main means of transportation."

Now it was Eliott's turn to laugh. "Transport...? Really?" She hadn't heard of the Hero of Justice being used to ferry fellow heroes around the city, but the more she thought about it, the less extraordinary it sounded. "I can see the appeal, but it must be terribly sickening."

Things with Silas had gone smoother than she had expected. Not that their conversations in the past were anything bad, but...

It was nice. 

Silas was nice. 

She could sit and stay talking with him for a lot longer than usual, it would seem. However, her mind couldn't help but wander. Wander into thoughts she had no right to be thinking, much less asking. Even if Silas was friendly, who was she to ask him? Who was she to impose herself onto him, especially with her being so new?

Silas could quite clearly see that look Eliott often gave him: the one with the curious eyes and the nervous lip-biting. She always seemed like she wanted to ask him something at one point or another, but couldn't bring herself to actually say it. 

"Hey... Silas...?"

She seemed to get nervous once more, and her eyes were struggling to maintain eye contact. Again.

"I-I... Umm..." 

Her flace had gone red, but not in the typical embarassed fashion. Rather, it seemed like she was... anxious? Extremely nervous? She certainly hadn't gotten so far as to actually say anything before when she had that look, that much was for sure. 

"Go on, he insisted, watching her with careful brown eyes, he had noticed more than once that she always seemed on the brink of saying something to him. It was as if there were a question bearing down on her tongue that she didn't know how to release. He was observant enough to know that the very same question had returned and he intended to know what it was now. "You can ask me anything, Elliot. I like questions, contrary to popular belief."

"I-it's not... normal..." 

Her response was less informative than he may have liked, but the fact he got a response and not her running away was a good thing. At last, that was the assumption. Her body figeted and her heartbeat thumped faster than when he had surprised her. It was... hard for her to find the right words. To say what she wanted to say. That, and her brain wanted her to just quit at every step. 

But if what she knew of Silas' power to be true, then she knew. 

She knew, in her heart, that she had to ask him. 

"Silas... I want to know... if you can help me say goodbye to someone I once knew..."

Her tone was low, hinting just exactly what may have happened to this particular person. Her gaze, now down at her hands, watched as she mindlessly fiddled her thumbs, heartbeat racing. She knew it was a hard question for him to answer. But she had to know. For her own sake, so she could put any lasting hope at ease.

So she could find it within herself to let go. 

"You want to know if I can contact the dead through the dreamscape?" 

That was a hard question, there were a lot of things that could be accomplished in the dreamscape and he knew that it technically should be possible. The amount of energy that it would take however. . . That was what scared him. Not only would he be tapping into the dream realm but he would be trying to open a connection between there and the spirit realm. He couldn't summon a dead person without surrounding them in familiarity and it was a lot of work that went into this.

He liked a challenge though, something that he'd never tried before. People spoke with deceased relatives in dreams all the time, why couldn't he be the catalyst of the connection? There might have been more to this then he really understood and it might have him succumbing to narcoleptic fits for awhile but he was willing to try. "I've never done it before, he admitted. "I can try though. It's not impossible for me to breach a connection between ethereal realms when I'm in the dreamscape. I've accidentally stumbled into astral planes before, I know it's possible."

He bit the corner of his mouth, chewing at the skin there thoughtfully. "I'm not sure what the consequences are for opening that bridge up but I can try and I will try. We just need to decide if you want to do this now or tonight. It's easier for me to balance in the dreamscape if you're already asleep but harder for you to maintain lucidity."

"No."

Her response was firm. Despite the frown it put on her face, she knew that doing something like putting another in danger for her own sake was never, and could never, be something she would accept. 

"Nevermind. It was... a dumb question."

Despite making the judgement herself, he could see the pain saying so brought her. Tears threatened the boundaries of her eyes, and she curled her legs up to hide herself in a ball. She knew how silly she was being in asking. Selfish. But at least she knew.

There wouldn't be a proper goodbye, if she could help it. 

She buried her eyes in her legs, unable to properly suppress her sobs. Her body quivered with every sharp inhalation, and broke out into deeper sobs the more she thought about the past. The thought that maybe this was what she needed, just to cry, crossed her mind, however it was lost in her tears, as she couldn't focus on thinking, only on crying. 

"I-I'm sorry! I-I... I..! I'm sorry, y-you don't need to..."

She tried to speak, but it was just too hard. So she gave in to the idea of giving up. 

As well as the idea of seeing the dead.

It broke his heart to see her cry, it broke his heart to see anyone cry. It was almost like a physical pain in his chest, as if she were projecting her emotions onto him somehow. He had never been able to stand suffering, it was part of why he had always wanted to be a hero. Each cry for help was almost too personal for him. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a somewhat awkward hug with their current seated positions.

Even though Eliott continued to wet her cheeks with tears, she did little to stop him. She couldn't stop herself if she tried. 

"Elliot, listen to me," he said quietly, rubbing her back. "I'm not worried about this. I can do this. I'm a big boy and I can make my own decisions, if I want to fiddle around with the dead then that's my own choice."

Eliott nodded.

He breathed in deeply and pulled back a little, his hands resting on her shoulders. He had a very earnest look about him, his brown eyes were honest and his mouth tipped into a gentle smile. He didn't want her to think that he was too worried about this, it was just going to be a dream after all. He didn't expect to completely mess it up. "No more crying, we're going to get you your proper goodbye, you deserve it. You deserve to be happy and you deserve to move on."

He was already running through ways that he could do this, marking up a battle strategy. "Tonight or today?"

She honestly didn't know what to say. She wanted to push him away, the cynic inside of her knowing exactly what he was doing. Unfortunately for the cynic, his gentle smile and easygoing nature won her over. 

"I-I... well..." She still had tears in her eyes, so she took the time to clear them, short little wheezes and gasps of remnant tears still plaguing the new hero. "T-tonight...? I have... n-nightmares... of that time..."

She honestly didn't know the specifics behind Silas' power. But whenever she got a nightmare, it was like she was living the experience all over again. That had to mean it was lucid, right? And easier for Silas to manipulate.

An idea formed in her head. 

"Maybe... m-maybe we can even find out... wh-who killed her..."

No, too ambitious. Best to keep it simple. 

Well, as simple as speaking with the dead through dreams was. 

"N-no, nevermind that l-last one... Tonight. Tonight... B-but won't you want more time to p-prepare...?'

"In theory, you will be able to ask her anything that you want. I just can't promise that she'll be able to answer everything, if she doesn't know who killed her then she won't be able to tell you." he sounded thoughtful again, his mind was drifting through the possibilities of what he could do here. "I can't really view the event as anyone but you, it's your dream afterall. I'll just be a passenger, for the most part. Tonight is fine with me, I'm a fast learner and I'll figure it out."

He was glad that he'd gotten her to accept his help, he would have felt terrible if she had been miserable about this forever. "To be lucid in a dream means that you can control your dream as well, perhaps not to my extent but it means that you're aware enough to make your own movements and not just follow the course of the nightmare. If it occurs to me that you're not entirely lucid then I'll try to jar you. Sometimes a person can become lucid in a dream if they have some help. Usually those times end in the person waking up but we'll try to avoid that." 

The young hero gave a curious glance his direction, eyebrows narrowed. "I-I seem to be not lucid, for the most part... B-but then at the end, when I realise it's a dream, I-I think I can take my own actions... I-is that common...?"

She sure hoped it was. She didn't know anything about dreaming, so she was at his mercy, here. 

"That's common enough in people with chronic nightmares, I used to be that way too, it's a step into lucid dreaming. It's good that you say that because that means that I won't have to try to hard to jar you."

This was all technical talk, boring, boring, boring. "Tonight it is."

That much she seemed to understand, her feaures visibly relaxing. Though still not entirely certain of her choice, Eliott knew that it was a far better opportunity than, well, no opportunity. But she couldn't accept the terms of the deal just yet. If he was willing to go this far for her, the least she could do was something for him. 

"T-tonight, then... B-but Silas?"

She wasn't about to walk away from this without being able to give him something in return. "I'm going to make it up to you, if you can do this... U-umm... I'm not sure what I'll do, but I want it to be fair. This. So if there's something I can do in return, then I'd be happy... to help..." 

She stretched and let out a long yawn. Crying after psychology was the worst. "I feel tired... I-I might head back to my room... Or lay down here..."

"Don't worry about paying me back so much, alright? I'm doing this because I want to help you." the boy stood, crumpling the wrapping from his sandwich into his hand. "Try not to over sleep, you'll need to be sleepy tonight. I've got to grab another energy drink, or I'm going to also fall asleep. It was good talking to you, Elliot."

"I'll pay you back... no matter what." She offered him a meek smile, before finding a place she could comfortably lay without scratching her back on the grass. "Just a little nap... Just a little..." She turned on her side, barely able to keep herself awake, it would seem. Despite her age and her previous profession, she really was just like a big kid. Comparable to Dawn in some ways, even. 

It didn't take long before a gentle whistle could be heard escaping her lips. 

And then complete silence shortly after.

Far away from the Towers, a small apartment housed an angry young girl who was currently slightly intoxicated. Wearing tattered, dirty clothes, with dark red hair that almost matched the fire in her eyes, Ciara McGuire was stewing in her room. Tapping a bare foot on one of the few clean place on the beige (previously white) carpet, Ciara was thinking. Loud rock music was playing into her ears from an earbud. At 19 years old, Ciara couldn't begin to tell you all the things she saw wrong with the world.



So, what? What was she going to do about it? Was she just gonna sit there and complain? No. She had a power, from wherever the fuck those came from, and she was gonna use it. It was a damn good power, too. She could take on at least three guys at once- she already had.

She had to stake out a lot. Staying up late at night with a police scanner and an ear out. She went to known trouble spots in her town and stuff, tried to look for crimes. One of her top priorities was increasing the effectiveness of her crime fighting. She wanted to be there before the police and teach a real lesson to these scumbags. If she could get there before the police could, than that would also prove she could fight crime better. All she needed was time and effort and her dream of a self-reliant community would come true. No more being under the thumb of these crooked cops and politicians.

In reality, it was a far off pipe dream, but Ciara wanted to make a difference- and a big one. Her dream? A group of people who went around, a phone call away. Your neighbor, a shop owner, your fuckin' dog. Everyone looks out for each other, ya know? Back up. There are no innocent bystanders if everyone steps in to help. You protect yourself and then the back up comes, friendly folks who will help you up and fix you up- for free. She had a few working titles- but the best one she had come up with so far was Maverick.

Ciara was agitated, thinking about the biggest crime she ever stopped.

She got lucky- she was standing on a rooftop next to a gas station late at night. Three shifty lookin' guys, all in masks, looked like they wanted to make a move. Recently, this group of villains had come to her attention; The Jack Winstons. Usually dressed in dark green and black colors, they've made moves in her area recently. Apparently some prick named Jack Winston had gotten this stuff started, but right now she was just focus on keeping them out of her neighborhood.

A few days ago, she saw three of them- like she said. They had their devices and were ready to hijack some funds, grow their little empire. One woman and two me with camoflague balaclavas- their signature outfit. One had a crowbar, one had a bat, and the woman had a pistol. The guy with the bat had the device to 'extract funds' from the place of business.

Well, not on her watch. She remembered thinking she had to take out the gun girl first. If she got her, the other two would be easy.

It was chilly, that night. She had her dark red hoodie on, hood up, but with the sleeves cut off so she could move better. She had form fitting leggings on to allow maximum leg movement. It wasn't much of a costume but it was something.

She wanted to teach these Jack Winstons a lesson. They were on the opposite side of the street, the bat guy crouched, placing his device to the ATM. Crowbar and gun girl were standing watch, but they weren't looking up. On a three storey building across the way, Maverick was prone on her belly, pysching herself up.

"You ain't Ciara, you're Maverick. Maverick is brave. Maverick can kick their asses- no problem. Just be careful. On the count o' three, ok? One...two...three."

And with that, her fingers twitched and a small spark appeared from where they were touching the concrete of the roof. She focused, and essentially began to move through the air. She wasn't flying, or jumping, she didn't even push herself off. It looked like her whole body was being pulled by something. She oriented herself feet first and shot out her arms and legs- causing her to get another bump in altitude.

The man with the bat saw her. "What the Hell!?" He said, right when Maverick's dark silhouette was above the gun girl. She looked up, and Maverick can still remember the dumbfounded look in her face to see Maverick landing on her. Only her eyes and her mouth were visible- her eyes were wide as saucers and her mouth made an 'O' shape. Then, she was flat on her back in the concrete and got knocked the fuck out. Maverick had transitioned all of her kinetic energy from her landing into the armed crook. The bat guy yelped and raise his bat to strike. Maverick was crouched down over the unconscious crook, low down. He was in an advantageous position- a normal person would take the hit and probably go down.

Instead, Maverick charged her right hand with dampening energy. The baseball bat, swung full force by a 250 pound man, collided with the young woman's fist as if he had swung into foam. Incredibly unsatisfying- there was not even an impact sound. It just slipped off her hand.

His eyebrows were invisible, but she could tell that he raised one eyebrow in confusion. Then, Maverick charged her fist a bit, lept off the unconsious crook and lunged with an uppercut. The man reacted quickly and ducked out of the way, preparing for a counter attack. He was most likely expecting Maverick to have halt her momentum or follow through with the punch, but that didn't happen. Instead her forward momentum was converted into downward momentum. She went really low to the ground as the confused bat swung high over her head- at the same time she swept his legs out from under him. Normally, someone her size couldn't hope to knock out someone his size's legs. But her leg was charged, and sparked slightly with yellow-white energy. It looked like someone had attatched his leg to a truc the way he hit the sidewalk with a thud and a grunt.

The crowbar man had taken notice, and went to swing. They were all stupid, Ciara knew. They had no idea that you couldn't fight her like you could fight other people. She totally had them. Like second nature, the crowbar missed as Maverick simply moved out of the way. She didn't 'dodge' or 'leap' or 'sidestep'. Her crouching form simply moved like a bad animation. The man tracked her movement with baffled eyes as he stumbled forward from his strong swing. He moved his hand to stop her punch but he was too slow- a kinetically charged fist punched into his belly and he doubled over, gasping. The man with the bat was climbing quickly to his feet, but Maverick intercepted him with a kick to the forehead, which sent him sleeping to the ground. The woman had woken up, her eyes fluttering open. Maverick quickly made her way over, yanked her pistol apart and kicked her in the head, closing her eyes again. She wanted to talk the crowbar guy.

He coughed, on all fours, startling with Maverick put a hand on his shoulder. She willed him to be flung towards the wall as if there was a bungie cord pulling him towards it- and it happened. He was flung towards the brick wall and hit his head. He clutched in painfully. Maverick put a hand to his chest, and he slid up the brick wall until she was holding him up.

"You don't fucking steal from us? Okay?" Maverick said, glaring at him with two overshadowed, angry eyes.

"Man- fuck you!" He said, angry and confused at his defeat. Suddenly, Maverick's hand on his chest felt like it weighed 100 pounds.

"No, fuck you, man!" She yelled back, making this up as she went along. "You don't get to come in here- to come in here and take what's ours! You tell your little friends here that when they woke up, it was a- a Maverick that kicked their ass, and it'll be a Maverick that kicks their sorry asses again if they try some more shit! You got that!? You understand!?"

The man, turning beet red from the pressure, nodded. He gasped for air when Maverick released her death grip. Placing a sneakered foot on his hacking device, it was ground into the dust like someone dropped a hundred pound weight on it. The man looked in astonishment as she leapt into the air and bounced off the brick wall, scaling upwards one jump at a time like she was a mosquito.

That was where Ciara's memory ended, but the man was very confused at the time. He looked at his two unconscious friends and decided he's rather not wait around for the skinny girl with the high pitched, irish accented voice to come back and beat the shit out of him again, scrambled off into the night.

Ciara was giddy at the thought of it. Angry-giddy though. All she wanted was to do more. It was frustrating now knowing where the crime was going down. That's why she was looking at the useless web search results for 'Jack Winston'. He wasn't on the web, of course. Just some chump in the hood making trouble for good folks. She shoulda interogated that guy. Shit. She shoulda made sure the other two had woken up so they all knew what was up, too. Damn it! Ugh. Maybe next time she wouldn't screw it up so bad.

Following the fight, Dawn expected to meet with press, get his picture taken, play arm wrestle with children (he would let them win) and thus would bask in the glory and the glow, but not this time. Horizon agents and cops swarmed the scene and suddenly the call was sent back. Dawn tried to atleast get the team together. "Another GLORIOUS VICTORY! Right Victory!?" He puts up a finger. "Everyone gather round. I want to post this on MY INSTAGRAM!" Dawn tried to get a selfie with everyone for a phone he specifically has for that purpose (and thus is reinforced to not break immediately), but they just wouldn't sit still. He posted the picture anyway. He always talked out loud when he typed or posted. "Me and my friends bring Zookeeper back to the monkey house L O L. Heartshape smiley face you are welcome exclamation point! Hashtag stay in school. And post. Perfect!" He then strikes a manly pose and joins everyone on the way back.

"Hey, where did Witness run off to?" He happened to mention.

---

And the day was saved, and before lunchtime, and while everyone else had to shower, nap, or generally go to their rooms, Dawn sends a Horizon attendant to grab his laptop, cause he'll be eating in the cafeteria in order to regale anyone who would listen, which was likely the whole tower whether they liked it or not, the whole heroics of the affair.

While on his way, still shirtless with the dumb gray uniform around his waist. He caught up with @Crazytazer Blizzkreig whom was on standby and missed out on all the fun. He tried to give him a bit of an update to what he missed. "Blizzkreig! Am I right!?" They only had met very briefly before but he liked him. And not just cause Dawn had a personal code of liking pretty much everyone, that isn't villainous. "You missed the most RIGHTEOUS of all villain thrashing JUSTICE!" Whether Jose was ready or not, Dawn would have him swept up in the tide of story time. "Come my compatriot! Join me for the most MANLY of lunches!" And off they would go to the cafeteria where most of the Horizon staff would eat.

It was apparently beer and pepperoni pizza, he placed his tray down next to the laptop that his attendant was sent to get. Sitting across from him on the bench, the massive seven foot man began his tale, making sure to use his hands and feet to real give a picture of what happened. "So there we were, Team Epsilon and Omicron. And the chief was like, the ZOOKEEPERISATTACKING OMG GO SAVE US!" he also changed his voice to emphasize. "And Victory was like, OMICRON GO! And I was like EPSILON GO! And we both went careening head long in danger! The VILE FIEND brought with him mechanical man eating mammels with him! There was this tiger! He raised his hands into claws *RAWR*! And a snake! He wriggled his body *HISSSSSS* And a bird!Arms out flapping. *SQWAK* and a giant fire spewing elephantHis arm swung out over his face. *BBBBBRRRRPPPP* and a Rhino! ...... WITH LAZERS! He made little finger guns. *PEW PEW* But we were ready! Sleeper was like "I got this one, Sleep powers ACTIVATE" OOOOOWWWWWWEEEOOOO! He made spirit fingers in Jose's direction. "Shrike was like- "I got that one!" Dawn dove under the table with finger guns *Bang bang SQUAWK*" That last bit really got some people to look their way, and they were getting worried. Dawn recovers. "And then Wraith was like, "I'll heroically save the kids!" And then he lifted a bus! But GAD ZOOKS! The Rhino comes right at him! So I step in. STOP RIGHT THERE RHINO! And I chuck the whole thing at the elephant! KABLAMS! He smacked the table denting it. "Just then is when Victory and Shift take the scene! Shift turns herself into a bear! A real bear mind you, not a robot one and is savaging that elephant! Then things got really exciting!"

"Witness slipped in, saving the people like she do, when suddenly the snake attacks! She's gotta make a quick getaway, when wouldn't you know it! DRAIG! In the upset comes from behind and WHA-BAAM!" He smacked his hands together. "Snake gets it head cut off! Meanwhile, the rhino was back in the fight, but Alkaline swoops, no that isnt the word for it, she GLOOPS in just in time to save me from a sticky situation. But then OH NO!" He puts his hands up as if he was lifting something. "Elephant... Weight... crushing... every inch! I can see my life flashing before my eyes! But fear not my friend, its the one and only VICTORY that comes in, after dispatching the tiger with skill and grace, all was left was the ELEPHANT! And then it went nuts! All of us, pouding, scratching, shooting, blasting, I swear even at one moment Shift turned into a tiger and friggin knocked the Elephant right onto its side! *CCCCCCCCRRRRRSSSHHH*" He makes a sound like falling timber with his empty beer can. "Finally, like a scene right out of the movies, I stepped forward. Take this vile fiend!' And what I did is jumped high into the air and ended that pretentious pachiderm with a positively powerful peoples elbow! WHABAAAM!" This time he raised his hand high into the air to simulate the stunt and drove it down. This time it brook a chunk out of his side of the table. He just laughed about it. "Oops. He smiled broadly, his stark white eyes shimmering. "You have to come along next time Blizzkreig! Being part of a super hero combo is like, GLORY, DUTY, and JUSTICE all rolled into a giant sticky bun of RIGHTEOUSNESS! Awesome!" He then finally took a breath and a bite of his lunch.

"So how did your day go?" He also sipped his beer and then made a face before offering it to Blizz. The beer was warm "Do you mind?"

---

While a conversation would occur, Dawn would apologize and make sure to take the opportunity to hit his laptop for a minute and go through his fan mail. Its something he had to a few times a day. He felt it was his job to read and respond what his fans were saying to him and to read their words filled him with such hope. And sometimes he would get an email courtesy of Shrike who always informed him of some of the funnier stories he had come across. Shrike was thoughtful like that.

In fact. "Whats this? A story from Shrike. Hmm... Dawn would then start sputtering, then he would hold his hand over his mouth and start giggling through it. But even that could not contain him suddenly raucous laughter that filled the room. Dawn almost broke the table again smacking it, feigning to wipe a tear from his eye. "Oh sweet Justice these stories are great!"

He flipped his laptop over to show Joseiah. What Dawn was looking at was a word document, and a quick couple of seconds would immediately tell it was a fanfic, one of 'those' kinds of fanfics. This one staring Dawn and Wraith. It wasn't a great read but Dawn seemed to enjoy it. "Do you get these yet? Hah they are hysterical! I swear some of our fans and they're imaginations. Hold on a sec, let me send this to Wraith, that should cheer him up." Dawn had the laptop back and went to the Chatroom channel that all personel at horizon had.

He set up a chat for Shrike and Wriath ///@Shard@Metronome/// and like before, spoke out loud what he was typing.

@theRealPhoenixDawn: Hey Wraith did you check out Shrikes story yet
@theRealPhoenixDawn: "Our love is like the sun and the moon." L O L (Dawn was actually giggling to himself)
@theRealPhoenixDawn: "Let me show you my JUSTICE Dawn! GASP your JUSTICE! Its so far reaching and pure." That part was the best R O F L :D

"And send. Hehe, cracks me up." Dawn was still giggling to himself as he got up from the table. "So Blizzkreig, if you are not doing anything I was going to get with Team Epsilon and have a training session for the afternoon. You're welcome to as the kids say 'hang' with the A team if you want. Maybe show us all a thing or two." He tapped the comm device in his ear as he went to throw out his garbage. "Sleeper, Decibel, Wraith, Draig. Training session in the gymnasium in 30 minutes. Lets celebrate our victory today with some victory laps and combat excercises!" He seemed super thrilled at the prospect. "There's no better way to celebrate your strength than by getting stronger! That's what real men do!" And yes he was fully aware he was talking to Decibel. With that out of the way he made his way back to Blizzkreig. "Lets see who shows up."

@Prosaic @Delta44 @CaptainSully

It had been a long day. Well, start of a day, considering it was just about lunch time. That wasn’t a very comforting thought.

At least Valora finally had time to herself again. After transforming to a creature that was several times her weight she was starving and ended up eating everything that didn’t need cooking in her apartment’s fridge. Yet just as pressing was the settling her nerves. As such, the shifter found herself in the Tower’s recreational swimming pool, predicting correctly that she would be alone. Despite the presence of the dampening bracelets she was still able to do partial transformations of her own free will, which is why Valora was now sitting at the bottom of the body of water, gills working away at her neck and webbed fingers around her legs.

It wasn’t ideal, and if it were anywhere but a controlled swimming pool she wouldn’t be comfortable with this at all lest something be lurking in the water. Yet here she was, using the powers she hated so much to get some time to herself. Sure, she could’ve gone to her apartment, but that’s where people would look first if they were seeking her out – this at least bought Valora a few minutes more if someone wanted her.

She just needed to calm down and recollect her thoughts.

After Phoenix Dawn’s decimation of the ... hellephant, had he called it? Well, once the last of the mechanical creatures had been dispatched the shapeshifter had scampered out and, on seeing that Dawn looked only mildly scraped up, went to rally with her squad leader. Valora... may have rambled a bit at Victory, but she was worried! After seeing her getting blasted not once, but twice with those cannons, she thought Victory was in serious trouble! She should’ve done something more – surely the weight of a polar bear could’ve broken the cannon by jumping from that creature’s back...?

Of course, no matter how much she lamented over it, it wouldn’t change the fact that it happened.

And then there was the lion. Not a mechanical one, but a real – if odd looking – lion made of flesh and bones, with teeth and claws. Even though minutes before it had been a man in an equally odd outfit the presence of the predator had locked Valora up. When one of the New Horizon handlers suggested actually seeking out the man – the creature it sent a shiver down her spine and a spike of fear down her throat. It was really no surprise that her Injector had gave the signal she had reached her maximum allotted dose of its payload in such a short amount of time.

It was really kind of sad. Something that was reflected in the eyes of the Doctor who had checked her over on returning to the tower, as was usual after every mission. The Injector was refilled and recalibrated, and the usual questions asked of her. What had her so frightened this time – jaws crushing around Ka’van’s shield, Jane being flung into the mouth of the mechanical beast, a lion too close for comfort - how did she feel after being under the chemical calming agent, did she feel any more confident after another successful mission under her belt?

The Injector was usually good at keeping Valora calm throughout the entirety of a mission, but the fact that the mechanical creations had the visage of beasts as well as the appearance of that man-tiger... well, the Doctor had informed her that her phobia was still crippling her ability to perform. As if she wasn’t already aware.

A sigh escaped Valora’s lips, bubbles emerging with the motion to dart upwards and break the surface of the pool. Valora’s single grey eye followed them before she rose a pale, webbed hand to rub at her face. Yes, she was very aware of that fact. Now that she was no longer in battle or haunted by the thought of confronting creatures, the remains of the Injector’s chemicals had her surprisingly calm, though a slight twist of anxiety still remained in her chest. With her own fear, and then worry, then the check up she hadn’t even gotten to check on the other members of Team Omicron before they returned – as was her usual habit. She was a worrier.

Maybe now would be a good time to do so. Well, if they didn’t mind Valora dropping in anyway – she tried not to bother anyone outside the missions. Yet the more she thought of it – Sydney nearly impaled, the giant mechanical bird stalking Miles – the more that spark of worry gnawed at her.

Finally Valora uncurled from her position, twisting in the water to glide to the surface. Check ups, right... and maybe she’d check the cafeteria first, as even after her fridge’s decimation she could still use more energy.

The gym, a locale where likeminded individuals spend their well earned time to acquire a pursuit of well-being, paving their road to health and stability. That was not why Onyx found his way to this most curious of forums. The cat's large, curious and feline eyes were quickly fixed on his future allies, a boy who appeared younger than most others finding himself first in line. This was Silas, correct? Yes, Onyx had gotten all of this information injected into his mind, during each and every procedure of creation. It was, in fact, quite difficult to maintain which part of his knowledge was based on a week's experience, and what was naught but artificial knowledge. Silas, The Sleeper, Horizon's very own third eye. Quite a peculiar ability, that one. Though, one ought not to fault Onyx's feline curiosity when less than sublime thoughts arose in reaction to this feature. 

Ah, and then the cat would note he of most flamboyance. Well, apart from Onyx himself, that was. Ricardo Fenix, the man who's personality only barely managed to surpass the size of his fists. Finally, there was one more individual of odd nature within the confines of this gym. Joseiah, a man who would appear quite common, or dare one say normal, in any other company. 

This was, however, Horizon. Normality did not hold a place here, and that was quite true when Onyx leaped onto the various equipment neatly displayed throughout. He was, after all, a cat. Maintaining a high presence was only second nature, as one might say. " Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods? " A soft voice began, Onyx words stringing along an emotional trail as a hand came to find home upon his chest. Leaning back against the equipment he had planted himself on, Onyx laid down with a soft sigh and continued, " where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds? " The cat turned his attention to the other three males occupying the gym, a soft smirk making its way to his lips.

Indeed, one could never quite know if Onyx was, in fact, male, or female. He wasn't sexually dimorphic, due to his nature as a cat, and his voice was in all respects incredibly androgynous. " Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? " The feline proceeded, his slender arms falling limp at his sides, those large eyes turning to view the ceiling with a short pause. " Late at night I toss and I turn, and I dream of what I need !!" Raising his voice in a powerful burst, Onyx displayed the full beauty of his singer's blessing, jolting to a sitting position before continuing. 

" I need a hero !!" Onyx clenched his fist, motioning towards the others with his free appendage, now revealing the main chorus as it fit the situation by all measures, " I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night. He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight !!"

Leaping down from the equipment, the cat landed on weightless paws, his movements as if a breeze brushing its way through the gym. Leaping onto the training bikes, he walked across their line with ease, proceeding the song,  "I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light. He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon, and he's gotta be larger than life!!" Indeed, this creature was most peculiar, make no mistake. With a graceful jump, Onyx flipped through the air in a circular motion before landing between the three men, his tail playfully brushing against Silas. " Somewhere after midnight in my wildest fantasy. Somewhere just beyond my reach, there's someone reaching back for me ..," the feline's eyes met the other's for a brief moment, all before shifting his gaze to Dawn, and Blizz. " Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat. It's gonna' take a Superman to sweep me off my feet!!" 

With a backflip, the cat's paws found their way atop the gym equipment once more, his movements almost a blur before continuing the song. "I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night! He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight !!" The cat sang, repeating the chorus as his arms extended in an inviting manner. "I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light! He's gotta' be sure, and it's gotta' be soon, and he's gotta be larger than life!! I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night... " Pouncing the weights, Onyx slid down the weighted pole in a spirling motion, his action less...viewer-friendly in some minds. 

" Up where the mountains meet the heavens above. Out where the lightning splits the sea! I could swear there is someone somewhere watching me..," Onyx eyes met Silas' for a prolonged, almost uncomfortable moment, before the cat broke into song once more, "through the wind and the chill and the rain, and the storm and the flood. I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood! Finally reaching the end of this fantastical music piece, Onyx leaned back against the pole and produced the words. " I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night! He's gotta be strong, and he's gotta be fast, and he's gotta be fresh from the fight! I need a hero! I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light! He's gotta be sure, and it's gotta be soon. And he's gotta be larger than life..,"

With heavy breaths, the cat's wide smirk finally mellowed out before he leaped into the air, landing with a prowler's finesse in front of the three men. "'Sup? I'm, Onyx."

---

Sydney finished her shower then thought of changing into her prison uniform which is what she thought of the Tower uniforms. They were gray utility and for an 18 year old girl the ugliest clothing posible; at least in prison she would have had a chance of dressing in another color dependant on her crime. After thinking about it Sydney decided to just stay in her room wearing only a sports bra and a pair cute micro boxers covered in little grateful dead bears.

So flicking on her sound system she bounced to the music as she made herself a fresh batch of chicken salad using canned chicken breast, relish, celery, mayo, and a touch of mustard which she then spread on whole grain crackers.

Once she’d finished a quick snack she flipped on her monitor so she could watch videos and practice dancing to the music (Belly Dancing)

She loved how fun it was to just allow her body to translate the music into physical motion exercising another aspect of her omnilingualism. As she danced she felt loneliness stir in her heart as she thought if she were what they called a normal girl she’d have at least kissed someone by now but here she was an 18 year old girl with no hope of ever attending college except as a correspondence course which sucked eggs.

College was were other people her age began exploring themselves, deciding their tastes, their sexuality, Fashion choices, and in the end the major focuses of their lives. Sure she could buy things with the stipend the Tower gave her but she had no peers to approve or oppose to find herself. She was stuck with the older people around her and trying to fit into their peer group and it sucked.

So here she was Rapunzel in the Tower and her hair bobbed to prevent any hope of escape dancing with herself.

Joseiah leaned up against the transport feeling a bit impatient since he was stuck just listening to comm chatter for the moment. It gave him a general idea of what was going of where and a major clash or two, Dawn's cheer and shouts made that far easier than it should've been otherwise. At least he wasn't totally out of the loop while he waited his turn while he made a couple light dustings of snow blow around him for amusement. Getting to use a larger extent of his powers for even a bit made him feel more comfortable like the wintry temperature directly around him which was invigorating. He supposed that was a reason going out and about felt so positive besides the obvious actually getting out of the building for a time.

The ice man could always get some details about the affair at lunch or afterwards if he wanted so that wasn't so much of an issue. He just wished to have been a part of it though since he figured super cooling robots so the heavy hitters had brittle targets would be handy, or just freezing up the joints to slow the big constructs down. Oh well, there was always next time given what he was hearing over the head set being the intense set up for what had to be a big hit from Ricardo coming up. That usually meant things were being cleaned up nicely like snow coming in making everything just a bit better. Wasn't long after the recall alert came through which meant for him it was time to get cuffed again right in time for lunch. It made him question who he was gonna check in with during the day but food first fun later.

Joseiah stood smiling with his helmet in arm as the two teams rolled on back giving a wave to the lot before walking in with them. It wasn't longer however until the Dawn himself walked right on up looking overjoyed from the fight earlier. Admittedly it was a little surprising since the two of them didn't talk a ton but beyond the ever expanding ego there wasn't much to complain about between them.

"That'd be me, ice of you to remember." Josey said with a chuckle and pun at the ready then both surprised and not at getting roped into lunch by the big guy.

He had a feeling he was in this for the long haul as he walked over with Ricardo to the cafeteria, he certainly wasn't going to leave anything out about this mission excited as he was. Turns out his assessment was right because Phoenix Dawn got into startling detail from the get go. Doing his best not to burst into laughter Joseiah took in the idea of all the robot animals they got told in briefing putting it together in his head like some cartoon which made it that much funnier. The ice man took a moment to raise a hand off to the side to reassure at least some of the others in the room especially after the table got dented while making sure to keep looking at the performance sorting out who did what.

Then Dawn got into the meat and bones as the fight wore down to just them against the big elephant. To hear that it gave the big dude some trouble was something to note but as always with a bit of help from the others you could rely on the groups to handle most anything even if the Shift turning into a tiger thing caught him as odd. Josey got to hear what the big wind up was for over the comms making his smile go wider because that was pretty damn cool though a bit less so when part of the table came off. It was with a little extra send off the story ended, made the pizza better for certain, giving a pretty clear picture over all from Ricardo's perspective.

"Oh, no prob. Pretty tame compared to that shiner of a story but I've been working on some team portraits as it comes to me. Training on the side as usual." Blizzkrieg said filling in on a project he was sure the others would like and then some after retrieving the beer cooling it and the air around it for extra effect before continuing. "Ah there you go. Been talking around with the new buds around the Tower too, like them already."

Joseiah noted that Phoenix, with a quick "excuse me", was checking out his laptop that got brought over a few minutes ago before he started laughing real good accidentally battering the poor table some more. He had a feeling he knew what was coming when Shrike was mentioned and was not disappointed with far from the worse fanfic he had seen about Dawn and Wraith, thanks Miles, but it made him laugh too.

"Nothing quite like that, hoo, but some for sure. Some of them certainly have snow problem making entertainment for them and us." He said still recovering from the sight with some intermittent giggles as Ricardo sent over messages through the chat.

Then the proposition of him coming along for a little after lunch training session with Epsilon came up which had his attention. He had nothing else major that needed his attention today so it seemed good enough to him.

"Lets tear the rest of this pizza up then, wouldn't want to let it go to waste. I might just have a few cool tricks to show off like to say." Josey said quite pleased with a way to vent some of his excess energy today with his friends.

---

Joseiah and Ricardo didn't take very long to get to the gym since they both walked and ate pretty quick. The two showed up early where he was getting some stretches in to loosen up for the show since he wasn't planning to back out of this. The iceman wasn't the quickest of them by far but he'd do his damnedest in the laps. If they ended up doing some combat maneuvers for show then he could get creative with a couple little bits he made use of in a pinch. Plus he got to chat up everyone while they were around so that was a few less stairs or elevator rides around the Tower. After a few minutes passed the first to show up was Silas who was gonna watch which was good enough for him.

"Good to see you Sleepyhead, you can enjoy the showing while ya chill out. Join in on the lighter stuff if you don't mind shoveling." The ice man said with a goofy grin always happy to see his buddy giving him a quick shoulder pat.

Then someone who he hadn't ever seen before arrived and well it was more than a little surprising when a walking talking cat, human sized at that, started to traipse around the gym. Had to give them one thing they started singing really well which made him wonder how they had never met before. Talk about getting a performance which got him rocking his head to the sides along with it getting a pinch of snow to swirl around too in concert. Josey chuckled a bit at the tail swipe by Silas not quite sure what to make of the spectacle of a cat right up until the end. Thankfully they got an introduction after because he definitely wanted to talk with Onyx more.

"I'm Joseiah, Josey if you prefer. You are one cool cat Onyx." He said enjoying the extremely appropriate pun with the cat man? Woman? Hard to tell.

@ShwiggityShwah @Prosaic @Shard

Vvvht! Vvvht!
"Bwah!"
Sound had returned to the park as Eliott awoke from her light sleep. The artificial birds had been spooked by her sudden, if rather un-intimidating, squeak, their wings flapping off into the distance. Her eyes felt the dull nag of sleep, however Dawn's voice gave her trouble, in spite of how comfortable she felt. About to drift off, she noted that he wanted them to be at the gym in 30 minutes. She knew she could wake up close to that time, it wasn't so much of a problem.
Just a little nap... Wouldn't hurt...

Deep down she knew she probably couldn't wake up on time, but that didn't stop her mind from convincing itself tat it needed. As she woke up a second time, she woke up feeling... different.
'Five minutes to go, huh...?' Thought the young woman lazily, something clearly different about her. She seemed to carry herself with a more casual attitude. As she got to her feet, she stretched and took off her glasses. As she made her way to the stairs, she jogged rather than walked. The rails were no longer means of protection, but transport as she slid down the stairs, floor by floor. Her pace began to increase, her rhythm picking up, as she slowly became someone else altogether.

She was only a minute before the deadline, and could see already several other people had already gathered: Dawn, Snowman, Dreamboy, Cat. The aliens weren't around, probably too busy doing their own thing. Still, she'd drag Leolin in if she could; like Hell she wasn't getting a chance to fight with him!
She approached with a general sense of calmness and confidence, and, just to show off, a cartwheel which lead into a backflip, followed closely by a bow. For those who had yet to witness this side of her yet (presumably everyone, except perhaps Dawn), Eliott looked like a completely different person. Or, at the very least, presented herself as such.
"So what do we have today? I think I heard laps? Ahh, I love running laps... Maybe we could do some fighting, too?"
No stuttering, no mincing of words. In fact, she seemed really excited at the idea of doing some physical activity. Especially fighting. "Daaaawn, call Leeeeoooooo~! I wanna toy with him a little biiiiiiit~!"

Her tone was playful, almost flirty. She couldn't help but chuckle to herself. However, her attention quickly shifted, from Dawn to Blizzkreig. "Josey! My man! Stay frosty for me, m'kay? I wanna have an ice time over here!"
She then got close to the cat. Perhaps a little too close, hands trying to get a hold of his fur. "And who's the furball?" She quizzed to nobody in particular. She seemed to get really excited as she attempted to handle him. "Aww, you're a big cutie~! I wanna snuggle wif you!"

And that was when her attention shifted to the final occupant in the room.
"Speaking of big cuties..."
She practically threw herself at Silas, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her legs dragged along the floor lazily, the Silent Sleeper being her only source of support to remain upright. Also, she was incredibly close, chest against chest, face to face. "How's it goin', Sil? Hehe. Hope I'm not too close for you. Hey, how about you join us for training today? I'll invite the girls, you take off that shirt, and give us all something to dream about."
He could feel her hot breath against his neck, the pressure her body placed upon his chest. This was most certainly not the same Eliott from before. No, this new iteration of her was absolutely shameless, an absolute joker, and most certainly more energetic. Perhaps more honest with herself, but who could really say?
However, it may be hard to keep his balance if he wasn't firmly footed...

---

@Crazytazer@Shard@Prosaic@ShwiggityShwah

"The More you Sweat in the Sheets. The Less you'll Bleed on the Streets!"

... Wait that doesn't sound right

@Blazion@Prosaic@Crazytazer@Shard@Delta44

---

"-a few cool trick. Hah! That's a good one!" Dawn was actually wiping a manly tear of joy from his eye with how funny Josieah was. Every time he opened his mouth he sent Dawn into side gripping hysterics. Then again he was easy to please.

As luck would have it, the two of them exiting the cafeteria had seen their allied team mate, Shift was making her way down the hall towards them. Dawn raised his hand to grab her attention but immediately paused, remembering what happened the last time they met. He remembered she frightened easily. "One sec friend." He spoke to Blizz in an uncharacteristic whisper. "The Dawn has a wrong that needs a Rightin'. Dawn ducked back to the cafeteria, disappearing for a few seconds before storming back out. There was something cupped in his massive hands and he took a deep breath before he walked straight up to Shift. He kept his head up, his lip stiff and he finally seemed to lower his head and outstretched his hands to her.

He was holding a cupcake. Vanilla Icing with one of those little red cherries atop it with sprinkles. The breading itself was chocolate.
"It is the cupcake of apology Shift." He said, his volume almost comparably normal. "The last time we met I scared you, and I am sorry for that. It would be an honor if you could give me another chance." He couldn't meet her in the eye during this whole, down right odd display of humility. "We are going to go train, and it would be righteous if you would join us." She could tell he wanted to speak outloud and it was killing him to be so calm.

---

When Sleeper got back to him on the line while Dawn made his way to the gym via the elevator, he put his fingers to his ear and began pacing the small space. "Aww come on Sleeps, don't make me beg now." he began, responding to how Sleeper seemed he was going to just watch them. "Fighting or not, keeping up a healthy lifestyle is great for your mood, your heart, your libido. Everyone needs a proper diet, exercise, and a good nights rest." He suspected that Sleeper didnt really get enough of that last bit either.

Dawn looked at the lobby and the people below. "Besides, you don't fight, but what if the fight comes to you Sleeper? I already messed up when Shrike, Victory, maybe even Witness getting hurt. I don't want anything happening to you. Being tough enough to not get hurt is always worth it for heroes like us. Best be prepared." Dawn hoped that Silas would see the wisdom in this, and atleast put in the effort.

---

They got to the gymnasium just in time to be introduced to their newest combat compatriot, or should it be said, their new feline friend. In fact, the cat went about a rather huge display of grace, acrobatic skill, and general flexibility. Dawn could swear he barely him, her... it! And he had such a catchy voice for a catchy tune. Dawn got super excited, bapping Blizz with the back of his hand. "By George Washington's Beard! I love this song!" Dawn then started bopping his head and wiggling his hips from side to side as he tapped his feet. He did not have near enough rythmn as the cat did but he didn't really care.

It then intensified as he felt the livacious "I need a hero- I'm holding OUT for a hero til the morning light! UMPH AH!" He tried in great vain, and god bless him for trying, he was attempting to pull of some backstreet boy manuvers where he stood, feeling the music but being a bit off and emphasizing his favorite words. He duck faced and winked, thinking himself smooth."He's gotta be LARGER than LIFE!"

He then introduced himself. He laughed heartedly putting his fists on his hips and held out a hand. "Sup indeed Onyx! That was a GLORIOUS display of provocative performance of pure puss prowess!" He put a giant hand over his shoulder. "I hope I can keep you!"

---

Then much to his surprise, the new member of his team. "Thats over half that showed up for practice. A NEW RECORD! GO TEAM EPSILON!" He gave a peace sign in with a proud grin to her. "Welcome Decibel sorry you missed out on the JUSTICE this morning!" He then set about to getting the gymnassium ready when Dec got everyones attention. Dawn seemed positively delight almost squeeling. "HAH! It's cool Decibel!" Dawn laughed when she immitated him with long loud howls and he played along turning on his comm.

"I TOTALLY WILL!!!"@CaptainSully

DRAAAAIIIGGG GET DOWN HERE AND HAVE SOME FUN!!!

He screamed loud enough to make the room reverberation and echo with his words.

Then Decibel did her rounds and it turns out she was getting awfully close to sleeper. "Looks like Shrike's got another ship to write! HAHAHAH! I knew you had it in you Sleeper! Remember what I said about Libido!" He laughed at Silas obvious discomfort.

---

When they were all assembled, Dawn, taking off his stupid gray uniform stood in his full glory, the lights silhouetting him. He looked even bigger somehow. "Alright! Team, Horizon, my compatriots of Truth Justice and more JUSTICE! You fought admirably and well! Just seeing you here, the pinnacle of the Greatest of Heroes, makes me cry manly tears of joy! Now then...."

He turned and went to drag a massive crate that at first was assumed to carry sports equipment. "Now then, the greatest of heroes, deserves the greatest of training sessions!" He ripped off the top of the crate, letting the metal slab drop to the ground with a massive thunk that echoed through the room. "To work on our stamina, we run a single mile. To work on our legs, IRON MIKES for 100 meters. To work on our arms, 100 PUSHUPS! To work on our looks 100 SITUPS! And finally to work on our skills, I grabbed a few somethings from the war room...

With two massive thrums, Dawn had grabbed two things, two massive pieces of metal by their heads and slammed them down in front of him. The Robots from the war room, meant to act as the enemy at different weapon and power settings from normal to the powers of a superhero, giving even Dawn a run for his money. They powered on as he held them out, Dawn himself getting a sadistic grin across his face, punctuated by the fact that he had no pupils.

"A showdown with one of these bad boys, increasing in difficulty at every interval! And then we do it FIVE MORE TIMES!!!" He cackled maniacally.

Alice whistled appreciatively at the utter insanity currently taking place in the gym room. Adorned in the, loose, baggy jumpsuit of New Horizon and wielding a mighty glass cup of ice, she had slipped inside during the chaos and was sitting with one leg crossed over the other in a high-quality folding chair.

In the loudness of the room, Alice commanded a quaint corner of quiet, sipping ice water and occasionally smiled in a most bewildered fashion. It was no wonder the staff left the heroes to their own devices- for their own sake. It felt like a schoolyard in here, except little Elliot seemed to be sexually harrassing Silas, which Alice tisked at.

"Silas, honey, you all right over there?" She called out to him, straining to see him around Ricardo wrestling with a robot. Alice hoped they weren't picking on him.

@Prosaic