---

“...and ten blocks after that turn, the base should be around there,” the guard said timidly to the two heroes, wracking his brain to reproduce directions to the Hound base of operations.

”Where exactly ‘around here’?” Voyager questioned further, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

“I dunno, they don’t let mooks like me near the place, but I know it’s there,” the guard said desperately. “Honest.”

”If there’s a base just under the pavement I’ll be able to spot it, it’ll be hard to house all those hotrods you guys have without leaving yourself a back door open, but hey I can find you again should we get the wrong directions.” The guard opened his mouth to protest his innocence, but was cut off when the superhero Icon rocketed into the sky, followed by Iron Knight calling out for everyone to invade the satellite. Upon hearing this, the color rapidly drained from the Hound soldier’s face, leaving him pale as a skeleton.

“Oh...shit…”

”What is wrong?” Voyager asked, hoping the answer she had in her head was wrong.

“The Finger of God,” the soldier said with a deadpan expression. “....fuck….they must be firing it right at you guys.” It was now Voyager’s turn to have the color drained from her face as she turned, wordlessly, to Hound Dog.

”It’s always something. Why can things never be the Mustang of doom, or hair gel of destruction. But you misunderstand, they’re not just firing it at us, they’re firing it at you too. So if your hard on for meta hating has subsided, I think now is the time to spill everything you know so we can better take your base before they shoot it off.”

“W-well, if they’re firing the freaking laser at us, they’re probably bugging out. You’ll be able to see them a mile away!” the guard said desperately, almost begging for the two heroes to believe him.

And that leaves us with one thing left to do.” Placing his hand on top of the goon’s head he gave him a simple shock, just enough to disrupt his consciousness.

”So...that big laser thing,” Voyager said, staring up at the sky in the direction Icon flew off in. A half-hearted Psi-Barrier charged around her hand at the thought of what the Finger of God was about to do.

Drawing a rough map of where the hound base should be Hound Dog chimed in. ”Doubt your psi barriers will stop it. Doubtful anyone could once it gets going. All I know is that there is a wicked powerful engine up there powering it and Icon might need more heavy hitters up there. You and Martel must have done some testing right? Seen the limits of what your barriers can do.”

Voyager shuffled nervously. ”Well...we did some tests in a vacuum chamber. I can keep space out no problem, but...that is a long way up...and I never tried it with...actual space...” A little bit of the lustre went out of her eyes at the thought of the monumental task before her

”If you could breathe in a vacuum you’ll be fine. But yeah that’s quite the distance. I could if these suits ran off electricity give it an overcharge or maybe shoot it out like a railgun whichever works. That would give you a nice bit of lift but I can’t go up there. Sure you can keep air in and space out, but that won’t be easy if you’re dragging me along.” Taking a look again at the rough map scribbled on napkin Hound Dog sighed. ”This is where the road splits for us, Icon will need the help if we can’t stop this on the ground; me I’ll get everyone else who isn’t going and breach that base of theirs. If you need a boost up there I can help. Just come back down in one piece Voyager. So you can boldly go again.”

”...where no one has gone before?” Voyager said eagerly, a bit of her brightness coming back.

”That’s it. Looking better. Remember we’re saving the world, not everyone gets to do that. Go up there and show them what a honorable warrior can do.”

"jaj vIghaj!" Voyager called out, rising into the air with renewed spirit. ”Then this honorable warrior will meet you after the fight for a delicious burger!”

”We’ll get burgers that are out of this world.”

Then with one last salute, Voyager flew off into the sky, trailing after Icon on her way, getting higher and higher in the sky as she made her way to the Finger of God.

”Space...” she said to herself excitedly. ”The final frontier…”

As Voyager took off, Hound Dog was a bit disappointed. So what am I doing with this mech suit. I could pilot it maybe. But man. It won’t be as fun.” Taking his fists he charged them and sent a bolt powerful enough to overload it’s systems. When in doubt blow it up. Righty-O then time to rally the heroes.”

---

Time: She’s Doing whAT-o’Clock
Location: Croll Corner, North Eastern Lost Haven

Meanwhile. . .

Slowly yet assuredly, Nathaniel Croll worked his small fine tools on an antique cash register. The man was in late 60’s, who should have rightly retired a decade ago. His long gray hair was in a ponytail, his beard trimmed and glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. An antique collector had been tiredly attempting to restore it on their own, specialists and collectors alike had written off the piece proclaiming it was too far gone to fix. As a last resort the collector happened upon Croll Corner, intrigued by it’s promise of miracles. Nathaniel took on the piece personally promising to do just that, work a miracle. His lower back, however, was protesting.

He bent back up to stretch groaning at the pinch. Deciding to take a break.

He pushed up from his workbench, neatly arranging his tools before reaching for his staff. Rough, callused working hands gripped the supple bamboo wood of the staff. A thumb smoothing over the glass of a terrarium bauble. All along the length of the staff these small glass terrariums gHe climbed the stairs back to the main floor, creaking as he went. Upstairs his granddaughter, Harriet - Harry was studying while his daughter Jules was in the shop probably closing up for the night. He wondered over into the kitchen grabbing a pear. He made his way to the shop and found Jules and Harry glued to the tv sitting way too close.

“Do you two really need to sit that close to the screen, come on now-” He began, the pair of them shushed him perfect synchronicity turning back to the screen.

He peeked over their shoulders to watch the news. It was devastating, the destruction carved through various cities. The damage was extensive, the lives lost. Followed by the hollowed out feeling of being small in the wake of the satellite attack. To be wiped out in a blink of an eye, a fear he did not assume to feel again in his lifetime. He licked his lips tapping on Jules shoulder.

“Call Charlie home, where is she?”

Snapped from her reverie she furrowed her brow, “I dropped her off at her friend’s shop today. They should still be there. The friend that had her shop ransacked.” She moved from the stool over to the landline, tucking some blonde hair behind her ear. She squinted at the writing on her hand, having scribbled down the phone number for The Shadow of the Moon earlier that day. It began to ring.

“What was her friend’s name? I thought she’d be spending the day with Carrie and her siren companion.”

Jules answered while it rang, “No it’s a new one she met through Carrie, Maggie? Madeline? She’s a witch too.”

Nathaniel nodded. He scritched at his beard, watching the tv as well.

The breaking news anchors suddenly brought a new shot, this time not of a devastated city but that of a street in Lost Haven. A reporter was taking the audience with them into a helicopter, a small traffic helicopter. The reporter talked them through the developing story. Sherman Square was now the scene of a massive fight between the Hounds of Humanity and superheroes defending their city. Nathaniel shared a look with his granddaughter, Harry looked about as nervous as he did. They had been including Harry in their family meetings, while he thought she was taking things well she was still just a teenager. Scared to even walk the streets without being caught up in an attack. He wished he could provide more security for his family.

The news crew circled seemingly a safe distance away, zooming in while having a near constant commentary naming the recognizable heroes, taking guesses at who else was among them. Jules watched the tv while the line rang on. She huffed hanging up and trying Charlie’s cell phone instead. For the briefest moment the camera panned the scene, glimpses through a manifested storm catching light and the blurry fast movements of metahumans. The three of them squinted at the screen, the phone rang through. “She’s not picking up-”

The camera caught a glimpse of two young woman, one in vibrant red get up easy to spot on the screen while another hunched over a large piece of steel, even through the lens they saw the pile of steel glow and reshape itself. The figure standing up from it was recognizably Charlie with her unmistakable staff.

“That girl is dead meat!!” Jules roared slamming the phone on it’s receiver. Harry and Nathaniel both jumped. Jules stormed away from the shop, stomping up the stairs. “How could she!”

“Mom wait-”

“Scaring us all half to death!” Jules stormed into her bedroom, into the closet. “With the same goddamn metahumans she was with at the University.” Ripping off a sweater from the hanger, feeling about the top of her shelf for boots. “Ungrateful, after all the work me and grandpa put into this family, she just rushes in to get her head lobbed off by some goddamn witch hunting assholes. Those fuckers just fired off a city destroying laser and she’s- she’s! Ugh!” She angrily tied the laces punctuating her every word with a tug of a knot.

Nathaniel stood in the doorway arms cross and in front of him was Harry arms crossed as well. “Julianne Karla Croll.”

Harry added, “Mom.”

She stopped at the sight of them, “I’m going to get Charlene’s ass back here and I’m going to lock her in the Oven Mits.”

Harry winced at the mention of the oven mits. A creation of Jule’s design, made of various unknown elements and incredibly heavy. Used initially for strength training and puzzles it became a very real punishment when either of them got into serious trouble. Harry and Charlie had brainstormed trying to list everything those mitts contained but Jules constantly changed it. Last time Harry was threatened with them was when she was caught not erasing alchemical symbols in her long form equations on a chemistry test.

“Mom, how’re you gonna get Charlie out of there? Sherman Square is surrounded and she’s fighting them, they’re winning.”

Jules slowed down stepping up to Harry. Sighing, brushing Harry’s hair away from her face affectionately. “That’s not the point, Harry. The University attack should have scared her straight, what she’s doing right now? It’s too dangerous” Jules said firmly, wondering how Charlie was moving as well as she was having been injured that morning. “She has no place among bulletproof capes. We’re alchemists not superheroes.” Jules said gently squeezing her shoulder. “Our fight is protecting what is important to us, metahumans and capes don’t give a flying fuck about us on the ground no matter what they say or what they fight for.” She held up her hand, interrupting Harry and Nathaniel before either of them started. “That’s why I’m going, it’s not that I don’t believe Charlie can protect herself but I am fighting for what is important to us. Protecting my family, even if it means protecting her from herself.”

“Jules, think this through. I do not agree with Charlie’s actions but she is capable of making her own decisions. She sees value in being there, the Hounds of Humanity are in Lost Haven targeting us the same as the capes. By your same logic Charlie is protecting what is important to her.” Nathaniel argued. “I have faith that she is not alone.”

“What makes you so sure they won’t abandon her?” Jules fired back.

“It is instinct. My guess she has a witch friend at her back right now, the lady in red we saw is sticking to Charlie. Please Jules, wait here with us. She’ll call when she needs help.” Nathaniel stepped around Harry to console his daughter. “Trust Charlie.”

Jules was tense, her stomach wrapping in a tight coil. She fought her own instinct to run and protect. She squeezed her eyes shut, “If she dies-”

“She won’t.” Harry and Nathaniel said in unison.

Jules took in a shuddering breath holding it for a few second before letting it out with resignation. “Just this once. When she comes back, I am stringing her up by her toes for making me worry.”

They laughed letting the tension drain out of them. Together they huddled into the living room with the tv, not before locking all the doors, the shop, and shutting the blinds. There would be no distractions. Nothing could tear their eyes away from witnessing (what they desperately hoped) Charlie’s victory.

---

Time: Evening - Sherman Square Battle Royale
Location: Sherman Square, Lost Haven

“I feel like I’m going to fucking die.” She backed up against Lady Hex, in between short harried breaths, “You hanging in there, Hex?”

Pantheon spoke directly to Blacklight, Charlie felt herself shrink when she fired off pinpointed lasers to their surroundings - expertly avoiding property damage. Blacklight illustrated her point, the injured chick with the bow confirmed as much, trying to refocus the meta’s efforts away from a moral debate. Charlie wholeheartedly agreed with Blacklight, she hoped to curb that with Pantheon when she empowered Hassan to control his powered ego. The little they knew - the better, Charlie figured their chances look better if they weren’t dogged after the dust was cleared.

Give a hero with a bone to chew and it’s next to impossible to pull it out of their mouth.

Iron Knight rendered Judicator disabled, while Icon swooped up with the huge mech in hand. One of the ones fighting the Hounds of Humanity. They were gone into the atmosphere, Charlie took only a second to realize where they were going.

“Hey! Where the hell are they going?” She threw a hand at the disappearing sights of Terra Firma, Icon, Voyager and Equilibrium. Irritated, she knew they were heading for the satellite. Who disabled it’s defenses?

The remaining Hounds were being scattered and quickly defeated. The air support was finished, the seemingly endless stream of operatives slowed. Charlie approached Pantheon, tugging him down to whisper - conscious of who might be listening. “Hey, when the dust clears be ready to get the fuck out of here alright? Blacklight looks like she might wanna turn you into a project and I wouldn’t put it past her to try something. It’d be easier to leave without picking more fights, got that?” She tapped the end of her staff on his head, emphasizing her point to the caped brick, “Conserve whatever you got to reign ‘em in, kid.”

“Emily,” I cried out under my breath. Although it felt weird calling her ‘Pinup,’ I also did not want to reveal her identity either, so I kept my voice down so no one could hear it. That, however, was beginning to become difficult, as the supposedly imagined crowd of people continued to encircle and enclose me. I kept turning around as I tried to figure out an escape plan, but I couldn't find one. I was hemmed in.

When I tried to retreat further into the center of the circle created by the crowd’s perimeter, I suddenly felt my spider abdomen bump into something solid. I turned my head and discovered a wall of steel bar, lined up in a row. I found myself trapped in a fenced-in cage.

“What’s taking you so long?” I begged Emily in my desperation, “Get me out of here!”

“I’m trying as fast as I can. It’s not an exact science, you know,” she responded to me. “And out of what?”

“Don’t you see the bars?” I cried out. Jesus, she probably thinks I’ve lost it. I bet she can’t even see these ‘illusions.’

I then tried to force my way out with brute force. The two bars I took hold of began to bend under the pressure of my spider strength, but a jolt of electricity channeled through the bars sent me jumping back away from the cage wall. When I peered down at my bare palms, I found that my healing factor had already done its job fixing any damage the electric jolt might have done to my hands. But I now knew I would not be able to get out of here through those bars, despite my metahuman powers.

Wait. Bare hands? Where the hell did my costume go? After I crossed my arms in front of my bust, I reassessed my surroundings. Thick coatings of spider silk covered the enclosed cage, from floor to ceiling. From how many people were crowded right in front of one of the cage’s side, this cage must be so sort of weird zoological exhibit or something. And I was unfortunately the specimen on display.

I then scanned the crowd with my eyes. People were laughing and taunting and throwing objects at me through the gaps between the cage’s bars. They all seemed to be enjoying the spectacle, urging one another on. However, to me they were all just a sea of strangers. I didn’t recognize anyone. They could have been anonymous, and I would know just as much about them as I do now. I felt so alone, seeing no one I knew. However, through the ruckus of the crowd, I could hear someone weeping.

“Mom? Dad?” I called out to my parents, who were surrounded by the crowd. Although they were well out of arm reach, I tried to stretch out one hand in their general direction, forgetting about the electrified bars. The jolt I felt in my palm painfully reminded me of this fact. And even after I called out to my parents, they slowly backed away from the cage, disappearing into the nebulous mass of the gathered crowd.

“Wait! I’m still your little girl!” I cried out desperately to my parents, even though they were no longer within my field of vision. “I’m still me, no matter how different I look on the outside.”

“Mommy, why does that spider have boobs?” I then heard a little girl ask her mother. The mother, in turn, wore a concerned look on her face, showing that she was slightly worried about the question her daughter had just asked. Like what any mother would do in this situation, she tried to do some damage control.

“I’ll explain it to you once you’re a little older, sweetie,” the mother said.

“I’ve heard it use them to trick men so that it can eat them later!” the girl’s older brother blurted out.

“Billy!” the mother chided her elder son for undermining what she had just told his sister.

“That’s what Timmy said at school!” the young boy answered back.

After I saw this little family walk away, I noticed a more familiar face in the crowd. It was Will. He wore on his face a sorrow expression. Not one that showed regret or disgust at my appearance, but rather pity, pity for what sort of life I had been sentenced to. There was also a sense of helplessness around him, since he could not do anything about this situation.

“I know them titties are mighty fine,” one of the onlookers said to Will, speaking to my boyfriend over his shoulder, “but what inspired you to get into bed with something with eight legs and a spider butt?”

Four other men surrounded Will and started to push him around, passing him between one another. They kept insulting him for being my boyfriend. I wanted to desperately to help him out, but since I did not have my mechanical web-shooters are on wrists, I couldn’t do anything without getting electrocuted by the cage’s bars.

“What’s it like fucking a spider?” Another onlooker, who seemed to have been the ringleader of the group, taunted Will about our relationship. “I’ve heard a rumor that that thing has tw—”

Before the punk could finish his sentence, Will struck the man in the face with his fist. The punk’s friends immediately jumped Will and knocked him off his feet and onto the ground. They kept kicking and beating him for smacking their friend in the face. Despite any cries for help that Will made, no one in the crowd had the guts to jump in and save him from these men who were beating him.

“Break this up,” a man in a black suit and dark shades yelled at the hooligans who were assaulting Will. This guy came freaking out of nowhere. “This drider seems monogamous, so we cannot let you kill this man.”

Several other men-in-black hurried onto the scene and escorted the rowdy men off the premise, while two other men-in-black dragged Will away to what I assumed was a more secure location.

While I was focusing my attention on the scene that had just played out in front of the cage where I was imprisoned, I failed to notice that knockout gas that was being slowly pumped into the exhibit. By the time I realized what was going on, it was already too late, although there probably was not much I could have done if I had known about it beforehand. Everything started to spin as I almost lost total consciousness. I tumbled to the floor, barely able to keep my eyes open.

I heard several distinctly different footsteps enter the exhibit cage. A cold sensation touched my skin when someone wiped the middle of my arm with an alcohol rub before the person inserted a needle into my arm. They were draining some of my blood, probably because of its healing properties. No matter how I felt about this, I could do nothing to stop whoever was doing this. I was just lucky they did not want to drain me dry, as displayed when they stopped the blood extraction after a few minutes.

After this, I felt something cold press up against the spinnerets on my spider abdomen and those located on my wrists. Then suddenly, an intense pain erupted from those areas as my spider silk was forcefully extracted from my body. As I suffered through the pain, I waited for them to stop, although after each passing minute, it seemed like that the pain would never end. It was not until I heard a concerned voice did the silk extraction stop.

“The eggs!” someone exclaimed, “they’re missing!”

“It must have laid them,” another concluded confidently, although I could still hear his fear in his voice. “Everyone out, now!”

“Wait! There’s one on your head!” a third screamed. However, since I was still under the influence of the knockout gas, I could not turn my body to see what was happening. All I knew was that there was an outburst of screams, both from the men inside the exhibit and the onlookers outside. I did not find out what was going on until a cat-sized spider walked in my line of vision. Then, I saw dozens of similar spiders trying to slip through the cage’s bars, intent on attacking the vulnerable people standing outside.

“This isn’t real,” I repeated to myself as I closed my eyes, hoping that everything would be okay when I opened my eyes once again. “This isn’t real.”

“It’s alright now. It’s over,” I heard a woman’s voice try to calm me down. When I felt a hand touch my shoulder, I tried pushing back.

“Hey! It’s just me,” the voice said again. When I peered up, I saw that Emily, still dressed as her supposed ‘Pinup’ superheroine identity, had knelt down to the grown and was propping my upper body up off the ground. I then let out a deep sigh of relief, knowing that that nightmare was over. But I knew that I would not get over what I saw and experienced as easy as waking up from a dream.

A piercing screech abruptly sounded above us as a winged metahuman, who had also been affected by the berserker-rage inducing devices that the Hounds had used, darted towards us. This metahuman’s flight was powered by non-feathered wings on its arms, much like a bat. However, before it could swoop down and pounce on us, we heard the twang of an arrow being shot from behind us. The arrow soared forward at the winged metahuman. The arrow exploded prior to impact, thereby releasing a giant net that entangled the metahuman. Since the metahuman had been caught in this snare, it crashed down onto the ground a few yards away from Pinup and me.

“Kore wa don'na kaibutsudesu ka?” A man dressed in some sort of orient garb, wielding a bow in his hands and two swords equipped to his belt, said. I had no idea what he had said, although if I would have to guess, I think he was speaking in Japanese.

“Please tell me he’s with you?” I whispered to Emily.

“I mean, technically not, although I do know who Kensei is,” Emily replied to me. “But I don’t know why he’s here in Pacific Point and not with Icon and the gang in Lost Haven.”

“Wait…what?”

The gunshot wound on her leg was making the entire area sore, which in turn was forcing Fletch to adjust her stance to ease the pain. It might not be much, but it was enough for her to need to compensate for the irregular body position in her shot sequence. Fortunately for her, she wasn’t killing any of the incoming Hounds, but the regular place in their shoulder was going all over the place. So much that she was deliberately slowing the time it took between each shot to make sure the next arrow didn’t cause another fatality like earlier. With the dwindling numbers of the enemy growing smaller, she was having to use fewer arrows. Hopefully, I will have the time to collect them all before I have to leave this place, she thought. While she had the accuracy to pull off the shots she was doing now, she only has so many arrows to do them with.

After firing another shot, she turned towards the Hound Iron Knight was fighting. She was disappointed when the dust cleared to see that he was unaffected by the explosive arrow. While she didn’t see it activate during the time the arrow made its ‘impact’, the energy shield was visible to her. She gritted her teeth when he made the obvious observation that the arrow didn’t work. I definitely need to work on arrows that could cause problems to electronics, she concluded, watching as the two suited fighters exchanged words. However, when the hero announced something about breaching the firewall in the other’s suit, she smirked underneath the makeshift cowl. ”At least my toothpick did something more than damage you, asshole!” she jeered. However, when the Judicator mentioned the ‘dark side’ of the heroes, her mind went back to the dead Hound she had killed moments ago. With Iron Knight wanting to deal with the dead Hounds issue, she had to think of her explanation to him when that time came. After all, she didn’t mean to kill the Hound then. Right?

As the hero took the Hound away, Fletch turned her focus onto Blacklight. The woman began to address her after her other comments. At least she isn’t scolding me for my words to the pair of them, Kayla thought as she listened. In a sense, the woman was right. The only reason she was shot was that she wasn’t in a vantage point to rain down arrows on the Hounds. The archer nodded towards the meta, ”Good call. Just checking to see if anyone needed help. Will head to the Center to give further support.” With the last arrow fired, she began to head towards the Sherman Center, getting ready to reach one of the lower-level rooftops to start her work.

As she hobbled over, she saw something shoot up into the sky from the corner of her eye. Kayla stopped in her tracks to see what it was. She managed to catch a glimpse of Icon, the hero of Lost Haven, beginning to head towards where she assumed was the satellite’s location. She had heard the announcement Iron Knight had made about the satellite and had assumed that it was now beginning its firing sequence to decimate Lost Haven. Her mind had thought about reaching to her bike and getting the hell out of the city for when that happened. But the combination of her seeing Terra Firma making a word to the armoured hero that he (through her assumptions) that he was joining in the hunt for the satellite, noticing Voyager darting off after Icon and her heart thinking back to everyone that would get caught up in the blast. After a brief moment, she sighed. ”Well, if the city does get destroyed, I wouldn’t live with myself if I left all the innocent people behind.” With that, she carried on towards the Sherman Center.

As she drew closer to the building, she heard a machine gun go off dangerously close to where she was. Looking in the direction it came from, Fletch watched in horror as Nemesis fell to the ground. The archer certainly hadn’t forgotten the great lengths from the moment the drones destroyed the block with both Nemesis and War-Pulse to track her down. She even got some help from the mouthy mercenary himself and the plant-based meta Evergreen to track her down to Midas’s building and kitting her out with new things to help her out as a vigilante. But that would have been for nought if the woman she had tracked down ended up dead in the centre of the city due to the Hounds.

”Oh hell no,” the archer blurted out, starting a mad dash towards the fallen body. Adrenaline kicked in to make the pain in her leg disappear as she rushed headfirst towards danger. Grabbing an arrow from her back quiver, she hurriedly fired a grappling arrow towards the rooftop of one of the nearby buildings and began the winch mechanism on her arm. Her speed towards Nemesis shot up as she skidded along the tarmac. As she drew closer, she noticed one of the mechs in the huge pile started to clamber over the remaining bodies to try and finish the job. As the machine gun was aimed at the fallen woman, it began firing. However, not before Fletch managed to snatch her up off the ground. Her right glove got torn up on the back of the hand from the road rash across the ground, but it endured enough to not affect her hand. With the woman in her right arm, Kayla kicked off the ground to begin her ascent to the rooftop. All the meanwhile, the bullets from the mech’s machine guns trailed behind her as the pair of them launched safely over the top of the building.

Landing and rolling with a thud, the archer’s bow was sent skidding across the rooftop out of her finger-slinged hand. But that was the least of her worries as she began scrambling towards Nemesis’s limp form. Turning the woman over, she looked at the damage on her torso. ”Shit,” she exclaimed, looking on the rooftop for anything to help with the bleeding. Seeing bedsheets on one of the clotheslines, she dashed towards it and ripped it out of the pegs. She bundled the sheet into one huge ball in her hands and, once back by the woman’s side, pressed down hard on the torso. ”This is not good at all.” It wasn’t long before the sheet was saturated in the black blood. Kayla’s mind wasn’t on the unusual colouring of the blood. Instead, it was doing all she can without the first aid kit that was handed to Voyager earlier. ”Come on, Nemesis! Stay with me!” The adrenaline in her system was slowly going away, the pain in her leg slowly coming back. ”I’ve spent all this time trying to find you to keep a promise to Evergreen! Your friend from before the explosion. I’d be damned if you die on me now to make me fail that promise!” There was nothing much she could do now except for hoping that she wasn’t fighting a losing battle.

@Fallenreaper

“I think I’m in love, Charlton.” Eris said as they floated past him on their rubber pool floaty. Charlton stood on the side, a lemonade pitcher on a platter in one hand, and a towel draped over the other. With both hands full, he wasn’t able the swat the annoying fly buzzing in front of his face, yet he tried to answer anyway.

“Sir, you just met her yesterday. Don’t you think you’re being a bit...repetitive with this relationship?” he asked, as he wriggled his nose slightly to the left.

Eris perked their sunglasses up, and looked at Charlton quizzically. “What do you mean by ‘repetitive’?” they asked. Charlton twitched his nose.

“What I mean Miss, is that you have a certain way you go about dating. And I have to say, it’s not a very good course of action.” He said. “Each girl usually ends with some form of tears, be them angry or sad.” Eris sighed. They had to admit that Charlton was right in a sense. They weren’t really good at relationships. Or flings. Or friendships. Or really any kind of non familial relationship. Thank god for Charltons limitless patience with me.

“Well,” They said. “You may be right, but I’m no quitter. And there’s always room for improvement, right Charlton?” Charlton nodded, more so in the hopes that it would get rid of the fly than in agreement. Eris leaned over the side of their pool floaty, and ran their arms through the water in a large arc. The water drenched Charlton, but at least the fly had gone.

“Thank you, sir.” he said, gratefully. Eris smiled, and gave him a thumbs up.

“No problem my favorite butler.” They said.

“I am your only butler, madame.” He corrected. Just then, they both stopped talking as they could hear the very loud crash coming from the dining room, followed by a “Goddammit, Vivian!” from Mr. Goodoire. Eris sighed, and got out of the pool, taking the towel with them into the house.

“Stay here.” They commanded. Charlton nodded reluctantly, and stood by the poolside. Eris walked into the house, their feet slowly hitting the cold, marble floor as they made their way onto what may have been the second domestic dispute that day. Their father stood menacingly over a miss Vivian Hildegard, the housemaid. Angrily clutched in his hand was a shattered glass, what looked to have previously been a wine glass. He was hanging onto it so furiously that it bit into his hand, and blood seeped from his palm, dripping onto the newly waxed marble floor.

“How many times have I told you?” Their father asked her. Vivian had shrank down in a hunched position, holding a silver platter to defend herself with. Eris could see the angry expression on Mr.Goodoires face, and immediately upon seeing it felt a pang of annoyance at his robust anger. “You have to polish every single glass. Every. Single. One. Or they get grimy, and dusty. And no one wants to drink out of glasses with shit on them, Vivian.” He said.

Eris huffed. “Oh lay off her, old man it’s just a few glasses.” They said. Mr.Goodoire turned to face them, and Eris could see a vein popping out of his neck. “You’re always bitching about something or other, and it’s usually stupid. If you do have to complain, please do it quieter.”

“You...You have the audacity-!” He raised his hand as if to slap them, but before his hand could reach their face, Charltons hand was there to block his. Mr.Goodoire looked up, surprised to see the butler had appeared.

“I believe you have had quite enough excitement for today, sir. Please, take a nap. I will sort out miss Hildegard myself.” Mr.Goodoire snatched his hand away, and glared at Charlton. He sulked away from the scene leaving just the two of them. Vivian had snuck away long ago.

“I thought I told you to stay put.” Eris turned to him, crossing their arms.

Charlton nodded. “I know you did, but he seemed...prone to old ways back there. A repeat of something like that is something I can’t let happen again, sir.” he said.

“You know if he gets pissed enough, he’ll finally fire you right?” Eris said, seriously. Their voice held no concern or reproach, just a deadpan reminder of the power their father held over him. Charlton gulped, and nodded.

“Yes. I understand. I wouldn’t be any help to you then, would I?” he said. Eris just shook their head.

“Next time, just let me take the hit, Charlton. We’ll deal with it afterwards.” Charltons face was grim, but understanding.

“I understand. But you have to know how hard that will be, Miss.” he said. They walked up to him, and gave his cheek a painful pinch.

“Stop thinking, Charlton. It’ll do you some good for when ‘Next time’ comes.”
……..
Final Notes: I know this is really short, but i haven’t had time at all to write, as I am away at my grandmothers and had to attend a funeral. I’m also not talking in my signature Liseran Thistle color because i’m so pooped lol.

After a team of heroes, lead by Icon, had been assembled to take out the satellite that was currently charging up to unleash a deadly beam against Lost Haven, Chris then turned to the next task on hand: locating the Hound’s main base and shutting down their operation. According to the readings that the Archangel armor had retrieved from the satellite, Chris had pinpointed that the Hound’s stronghold, or at least where the person who flipped the switch to activate the satellite’s ‘death beam’ was located, on the waterfront of Carver, a suburb of Lost Haven.

However, before Chris could address the other heroes, he received a call from Maya from within the Sherman Center.

“I think there’s a problem,” Maya alerted Chris with a concerned voice. “The armor isn’t disconnecting from the computer.”

“Let me check the error log,” Chris responded while he pulled up the relevant code in his helmet interface. After Chris skimmed through the code, he believed he had found the hitch. The armor was preventing the satellite from firing, even if the timer had expired. However, if the armor would terminate its connection, the satellite would fire immediately.

“Everything will be fine,” Chris tried to reassure his girlfriend. Although he believed that the safeguards that he had installed into the technology that had somehow trapped Maya in the Archangel technology would make sure no harm would come to Maya, he was still worried. He had not had the time to properly test what would happen if the suit would short circuit. In fact, he was not even prepared to start actual testing the technology. It was only a proto-type. It was not meant for an actual live field test yet.

“Once we have stomped these Hounds, I will personally get you out of that tin can.”

Chris then turned his attention back to the scene at Sherman Square. Now that the Hounds were turning to their final gambit, the Hounds in Sherman Square were all but broken. The heroes’ job here was all but done. Although they could go after all the Hound goons, but when you have the opportunity to the head off the terrorist organization, the small fry could be left to the police. Chris had to somehow rally the rest of the heroes from the chaotic aftermath of the attack on Sherman Square and lead them to the Hound’s base.

“Everyone, who is not going with Icon, should lick your wounds and get ready to head out. You all are going to have to be on you’re A-game if you want to get out of assault the Hound’s main base in one piece.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Chris noticed that the girl who was using a bow, Fletch if he recalled her hero handle correctly, had swooped down and pulled one of the other heroes who had shown up at Sherman Square before the attack started. He did not get a good look at who it was, nor what that person’s condition was, but he hoped that Fletch had this handled. He knew they had to be quick, else the brain trust of the Hounds would be long gone before the heroes could even knock on their front door.

“If my readings are correct, the Hounds have a base located on the waterfront of the nearby suburb, Carver. If someone here can’t fly or have some other form of transportation, you should pair up with someone who can. We need to strike quickly or all of this will be for not.”

Attack on Sherman Square

---

The battle waned. Good. Swatting ants was a waste of his time; the man clad in the Iron armor spoke of a greater challenge that was on the horizon. If these new foes were easy to crush as their compatriots, Pantheon might take Charlie, her friend, and himself and leave. Just as they needed him at his best--he had not even begun to tire--he needed at least Charlie in working condition for his own purposes.

For Pantheon, the Hounds were secondary; they could have harmed the boy’s family, further strengthened the child’s resolve. The Hounds could have brought the boy closer to subduing Pantheon completely, and this was the reason Pantheon had led the boy here: to make sure no such threat jeopardized Pantheon’s bid to break and control the boy’s mind just as he had done the boy’s ancestors. He was here to make sure no catalysts sparked virtues in the boy which would prevent Pantheon’s last chance for full and utter freedom from the second-rate magicians that were the Amims.

The Hounds were the newest in a long line of potential impetus, but they were impersonal and held no stake in the boy’s life great enough which would incite magnificent shifts in the child’s persona. As well, Pantheon had already beaten a handful of them within inches of their lives. There was only so much satisfaction which could be gained by destroying feeble things.

A few slaps across the heads of the Hounds who had not fled and their bodies flew into adjacent buildings. He turned around to face Charlie,

”Then tell me where to go and let us end this. I grow restless.” and then to Hex,
”I do not know you, but if you are a friend of the Alchemyst then you recieve my assistance this one time.” he went to swoop Charlie off her feet without warning as he had when he first met her at LHU; her callous (and frankly rude) curses upon his name and his costume still rang in his mind. He ceased mid-propel, a delayed gust of wind following his halt in motion. Instead, he held both hands out to either of the women.

”Come. If the man in tinfoil speaks truth, then we need not waste another moment on these invalids.”

Icon and Lyger both looked to Iron Knight and his passenger. Icon nodded in acknowledgement to his statement but wasted little time in going after Nightmare, while Lyger looked to end things with Bathory. The last time Lyger had met this woman, he had been hesitant to hit her, however, due to the new allegiances she has formed since their last meeting, that would no longer be an issue.

The bloodthirsty young woman focused on the shattered remnants of her demonic metallic constructs, and as she did so, the shards began to levitate and take on the same demonic shapes as the previous constructs. However, before she could direct them at any targets, Lyger bounded toward her, landing a hard right hand across her jaw, knocking her to the ground. She hit the ground with a thud, and with her mental connection to the constructs broken, they fell harmlessly to the concrete.

“Stay down.” Lyger told her as he bound her hands with a set of cuffs, then set out to face off with the skeletal figure known as Cannibal King.

Dennis, feeling somewhat overwhelmed and underqualified for this fight with only limited training in his role as the next Aquilifer, decided to focus on keeping the crowd safe from the powerhouse fight that was beginning to break out. Using the Golden Rod he scooped away bystanders with basic energy constructs and attempted to lend a hand with brief shields and blasts where he saw necessary.

This was tough enough for him. It turns out superhuman fights happen extremely fast, and his reflexes still weren't fast enough that he could lend an efficient hand instinctively.

“Aquilifer?! I thought you died?” One of the people asked as Dennis, unaware that he was referring to his brother. The Golden Rod had always had a way of protecting the identity of its wielder.

“I got better.” Dennis mumbled back.

“What was that?”

“Don't worry about it.” He said, as he dropped the citizen off behind cover and flew back into the fray.

“Freeze it there…”

The image of the Aquilifer soaring across the Lost Haven skyline to re-engage the Nightmarish foursome a few months ago held on the courtroom tv screen, static crackling at the edges of the frame.

“Officer Walsh, can you identify the man currently on screen?”

Officer Walsh moved uncomfortably in his seat, looking for a way out, before thinking of an answer.

“No. I can’t make out the person’s face.”

The defense attorney smirked, “Cute, Offi--”

“Ms Paulsen,” the judge boomed, “this is an appeal, we can do without the grandstanding and editorial, don’t you agree?”

“Yes, your Honour. I apologize for my response to Officer Walsh’s clearly evasive answer. The video clearly displays the Aquilifer, who was the victim of the initial charge. You’ll note the timestamp on the footage, which along with news of this specific metahuman altercation we can pin down to occurring in the last few months… considerably more recent than the few years prior date my client was SUPPOSED to have murdered the victim...”

“Your honour he’s not dressed the same and you can’t make out--”

“OFFICER WALSH! I trust you don’t need to be reminded of the rules in this court…”

“No, your Honour--”

“Good. The court finds the appeal valid. With the initial murder victim alive, that charge will be dropped and the remaining charges pertaining to lewd public conduct will also be dropped on time served. Ms Paulsen, your client is free to go.”

“No!”

A remote clicked and the television went black.

“NO! This isn’t right!” Dennis repeated.

“I know. But that’s sometimes how the law is for people like us, it seems.” Alan reassured. His aging face wrinkled even further in contemplation.

“We catch them, they go to court, they go to prison, they get out, we catch them all over again…” Alan mused.

“Don’t!” Said Dennis. “Don’t act like this is the same. Now that she’s out on appeal, you know the other two won’t be far behind… and don’t act like they’re just the same as any number of costumed bank robbers that you dealt with back in the day.”

“Well, they were trying to rob an armoured van.”

“None of your costumed clowns murdered you and publicly sodomized your corpse with sex toys on live television.”

“I know what they did…” Dennis’ grandfather fell quiet.

“None of your rogues had that little ‘gimmick’ going for them. Who the hell does that?”

“Apparently Miz Demeanor and the Fel-honeys do that. I know it’s a far cry from anything I used to deal with, but it does play into that whole S and M, dominatrix sex gimmick thing they have going for them. The question is, how are we going to get you to stop them before they wreak too much chaos again.”

Dennis looked horrified.

“They KILLED Sean! You want me to go after them when they killed Sean! Have you not noticed that Sean was a Hell of a lot better at this than me?”

“They did. He made a mistake and they did. He underestimated them, and before he could turn the tables on them, they had too much control of the situation and they killed him.” Alan said.

“But think about what they’re doing to other people now that they’re free again. You know their temperament. Can you see the three of them fading quietly away into law-abiding lives.”

“...no.” Dennis replied somberly.

“No. They’re too big, bold and brash to ever go quietly once they’re out in the world. So we have to figure out where they’ll next strike and bring them down once again.”

“We didn’t bring them down last time…”

“I know.” Said the old man.

Dennis went into sullen thought.

“OK. But on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“I never again have to hear you say the words ‘S and M’, ‘dominatrix’ or ‘sex’...”





The Aquilifer soared across the Lost Haven skyline clutching the Golden Rod, his leather flight jacket rippling in the wind. Far below an alarm sounded and three figures ran out of a bank in distinctive dress.

Dennis hovered in the air for a while, as if making up his mind, before making his rapid descent.

“Put the money back, ...harlots?” He called out, less than convinced with his own choice of words.

The three stopped running and turned around to face him.

“Harlots?” Miz Demeanor called out, putting a hand on her hip in irritation, her long red hair flowing as the wind swept down the street. The three were dressed provocatively in leather and PVC, with ample flesh showing in between. The henchwomen wearing blue and yellow wigs.

“Yeah… that called for another word in there. I wasn’t too happy with how that just sounded, myself. Probably a bit too close to ‘whores’’ in retrospect... ‘Charlatans’ maybe, then? But that sounds a bit belaboured and you’re not really defrauding anyone…”

“We’ll have to do you for that...” she smirked, a sly grin crossing her face as she sold her double entendre. “Right, girls?”

“I’m up for that. How about you, Felon-A?” called the blue-haired henchwoman.

“Sounds good, Honey-B…” replied her yellow-haired counterpart.

“Ah Hell…” Muttered Dennis. As he used the Golden Rod to take off and try to gain an aerial advantage.

The women piled the bags of ill-gotten cash and took up stances in the thoroughfare. Onlookers scurried away to what they felt was a safe distance, many took out phones.

“Well, I’ll be able to share death and graphic public humiliation with my brother… we’ll at least have something awkward to not ever talk about between ourselves in the afterlife.”

A vibrator whistled past his ears - well, less whistled and more hummed like a bloated sick bumblebee - before exploding behind him. The blast sending him surging forward.

“Geez Dennis, focus. Alright… what are we going against here. What did Grampa say? They’re moderate metahumans. Stronger than they look, and you, but they probably couldn’t pick up a car. They mostly rely on tech and gadgetry. And the sum of their parts is a greater threat than any of them individually. They’re a proficient team…”

So separate them and watch for surprises. Easier said than done, but OK.

Dennis swooped down and fired a bolt from the Golden Rod at Miz Demeanor. It connected, almost to the Aquilifer’s surprise, but as he went to soar back up he felt his feet pinned together and held back. Both of the Fel-honeys had managed to crack whips around his feet, and furthermore Miz Demeanor was getting back to her feet as well.

“Ah crap. Crap-crap-crap!” Dennis tried to fly harder, faster. He called on the Golden Rod to do whatever it could.

And that’s when one of the Fel-Honey’s heads exploded. Red mist through a blue veil as the wig fell to the street.

The sound of semi-automatic rifle fire ventilated the atmosphere. Miz Demeanor and the remaining Fel-Honey screamed. Dennis looked on in shock.

Men in black dress quickly took to the street. They had recently announced themselves as a group known as the Hounds of Humanity. A few bystanders and on-lookers cheered. Many more looked as shocked as Dennis and the two women.

A second bout of rifle fire jerked Dennis from his state. He threw up a shield with the Golden Rod and then looked to the two remaining women. Miz Demeanor had already started to run, she’d abandoned the money and jumped on a motorbike, using one of her toys to get it started. The yellow-haired Fel-Honey though, was still in a state of shock, looking at the dead woman as blood poured out on the asphalt.

Before he could think, Dennis wrapped a construct around the woman and took to the sky. Bullets ricocheting off of his constructed shield. The men in black gave chase. Dennis wanted to soar high and make sure bullets wouldn’t hit anyone in the surrounding buildings, but he couldn’t get the Rod to take him any higher with the way he was carrying his passenger. He swept through a side street and then down an alley and back onto another side street. He knew Lost Haven like the back of his hand. He started to hear sobbing from underneath him, and could tell she was starting to come back to the real world, far from the horror show they just left behind a few streets ago. A van jerked out in front of them and more men in black poured out. He cut down another alley and saw a parking bay full of Harleys in the distance.

“Do you have the same toys as the others?”

More sobbing. He couldn’t see her face.

“Hey! Listen! DO YOU have the same things as your sisters. If I put you down near one of those bikes can you get away?”

Suddenly, the woman peeked out. Tears streaking her make-up. She nodded. “Yes.” She spoke softly.

“Good. But wait until they’ve gone.” He put her down behind some dumpsters, and unencumbered he swept down main roads and alleys at a far greater speed, before suddenly bursting straight up into the sky, far above the city. Far beyond the range of rifle fire.

The woman crying behind a dumpster looked up and saw something beautiful, something she’d never noticed before.

A man soaring into the sky over the city, clutching a small bar with an eagle on it which shone brightly in the sunlight, as if holding a lantern in search of justice over the city. As much a man as a guardian angel.

It had been half an hour since his first encounter with the new monsters, but The Wanderer could see no end in sight of the fight he had managed to get himself into. Much like the fire and sand-based monsters that came after his first fight, more of the monsters crawled out of the woodwork and went for him. Panting over his recent conquest, a plant-based monster, he looked around the wreck of the streets he had been fighting in. With the number of times he had been thrown through buildings, he had a gash on the top of his head, open through the left side of it. With the blood streaking down the left side of his face, his burn scars on his right and the building dust from being thrown, he looked an absolute mess. Despite it all, he was still holding strong. The anger was still evident in his fatigued face as well as the purple flames around his entire body. While he can still go on with the fight with these strong monsters, he still hasn’t recovered from his previous engagements with the Hounds.

As he was kneeling down beside the recent monster, he watched as another group of them appear. As he had now figured out that each monster had a theme based on their abilities, he could judge that the next group of monsters had the abilities of light, ice, speed (by judging by how much it twitches), wind and rust. While he was still panting, the mutant gritted his teeth as the group approached him, the twitching monster hanging back from the group. ”Just how many of these fuckers are there?” he moaned, reactivating his psionic blades on both his arms. With the inclusion of the metal monster he first faced, he had faced 7 in total, seemingly staggered in size. The group that was coming towards him was certainly the largest group he faced of them. ”At this rate, I’d rather face those Hound bastards than another large group of these things.” Getting back up to his feet, he stood his ground as the rust and ice beings charged towards him.

Suddenly, a swirling portal opened up nearby. From out of this portal, two heroes hopped out. The first was a mountain of a man. However, his height and muscle mass was not the man’s most unusual feature. That distinction belonged to his elephantine head. Behind this man, a woman exited next. She had nine fluffy fox tails, along with two ears from the same animal instead of regular human ears.

“Really? Ice? This couldn’t be any easier,” the Kitsune heroine said while her nine tails began to glow. She then held out her arm and blasted a burst of flames from her palm. With this torrent of flames, she created a fiery wall that at least caused the ice meta to think twice before charging forward. The rust meta, however, did not have the same fear of melting. Therefore, it was the elephant man’s turn to shine. He charged forward to face the charging metahuman monster. When the two collided, a contest of strength ensued as the two individual’s struggled against each other. The elephant man eventually overcame his foe, lifting him up over his head and tossed it at the ice monster, knocking both of their feet and onto the ground.

With both the ice and rust monsters taken down by the new arrivals, the wind and light monsters stood there, snarling at those that they were fighting. While both the downed monsters were still figuring out what had happened, it wouldn’t take them long before they got back to their senses. Throughout all of this, the speed monster still twitched in the back of the group. The Wanderer felt a bit uncomfortable with the monster remaining in the spot for as long as it did while its buddies were being taken down by the new arrivals. Though he had to admit, the assistance of the two people was a big help. Even if one looked like they were animal hybrids of one form or another. But for now, he had to focus on the fight at hand.

Suddenly, the twitching monster surged forth at incredulous speeds towards the kitsune woman. With the sheer strength of the monsters, the mutant had to think quickly before she got taken down by surprise. Deactivating both of his blades, he phased from his position to the ground between the charging monster and the woman. With psionic flames covering his entire body, he braced himself as he took the monster on. While they collided with brutal force, The Wanderer held on as his feet skidded across the asphalt as he slowed the monster down. He gritted his teeth once more as he struggled with the force, but somehow, he held firm as they moved to a stop a few meters from the kitsune woman.

”Thank you for the assistance,” he grunted, audible as he held onto the strength of the monster. ”If you guys are capable of using other abilities outside of heightened strength, I recommend you use them.” As his strength was about to fail him, he spun around the speed monster. During the spin, his left arm sparked to life as the deactivated psionic blade was summoned again. As the monster started to move away, The Wanderer took the opportunity and slashed at the monster’s legs. As the attack connected successfully, the monster tumbled to the ground in a heap. It was shortly rendered unconscious with a few fists to the back of the head, the sudden force bouncing the head on the road despite the resistance to the impact. Panting again, he spun his body back around and faced the monsters. His body was placed between them and the kitsune woman, the ice and rust monsters now back onto their feet. ”Not sure if you’ve already faced them, but they seem to have the ability to resist physical hits.” With the psionic blade still on his left arm, he prepared himself for the next wave.

The kitsune heroine, who was called Firefox, placed her index finger against a communicator device clipped onto her fox ears that crowned the top of her head, as if she were receiving some information from another teammate on the other side of the communicator. She then crouched down next to the speed metahuman that the Wanderer had just taken down and rolled him over so that the metahuman was laying on his back. Firefox focused her fire powers onto the tip of her finger and pressed it against the circular device that was attached to the meta’s stomach. After she scorched the device and pulled it off, the metahuman’s warped appearance returned back to normal.

“Looks like these little devices are the cause of these berserker metahumans,” Firefox stated to Gajana and the Wanderer. “If we can get those devices off them, we can neutralize them.”

The Wanderer remained poised as the kitsune woman announced a solution to stopping these monsters, who turned out to be a person with abilities under the control of a device. While his body hadn’t changed its position to face her, ready to take the others on, he thought back to the other 7 he had fought with earlier. While the first one had been defeated without the use of his blade, the other 6 had. There was a deadly weapon in his possession when fighting them. At any moment during those fights, he could have killed an innocent victim. And he hadn’t checked the bodies after each fight. The fights only bear a resemblance to his fights from his time, where each mutant he faced ended up dead.

Then, he smiled. ”It’s a good thing that I didn’t kill any of them earlier,” he answered. Luckily for him, his psionic eye saw the energies coming from each body and, in turn, saw the life force that came from them. While he was unsure of how closely linked they were, he deduced that psionic energy and life force were intertwined. That much he had observed from his 5 years in learning his trade.

His smile faded as he focused on the task at hand. ”The other seven beings I’ve fought before still have their devices,” he announced to her and her comrade. ”While I could have blasted them off with my psionics, my abilities seem to be unpredictable with me being in this time. The only thing I can do is help your friend take these 4 down while you take off the devices on the unconscious ones. Sound like a plan?”

The two Immortals agreed to the Wanderer’s plan, although they was not sure what he meant by not being in his own time. Firefox stood up and stepped away from the speed metahuman, whom she had just reverted back to normal. Gajana also took a defensive stance facing the remaining metahumans, who had been driven mad by the Hounds.

All the while, the standing monsters remained there, drawing close to the small group.

The waves of Hounds of Humanity foot soldiers slowly began to wane, yet, even so the sheer numbers were nearly overwhelming. At least they should have been. However, the group of extraordinary individuals that had assembled in Sherman Square shortly after the satellite attacks that had erased two American cities from existence, and left a third in ruins had given the murderous thugs all they could handle, and then some.

From his perch on the roof of a small two story storefront at the corner of the square, Lyger watched the battle unfold. On one side of the square, Icon and some of the others battled a group of the massive walking tanks while at the same time, Iron Knight went toe to toe with a man in a suit that was very similar to his own. Though the Hounds’ armored warrior appeared to be a formidable foe, Arthur was able to overcome the man with sheer skill and experience. From there, Lyger could see that an old ally, one of the metas that he had teamed with not only during the Pax Metahumana affair, but also to take down the demonic spree killer Nightmare and his brood, Radiance being surrounded by a number of Hounds jackboots. Just as Lyger aimed to fire a grapple line from his wrist gauntlet, Radiance proved again that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, as she unleashed a chain of lightning that went from one troop to the next, stunning each man sending him to the ground in convulsions, effectively taking them out of the fight. Though they were stunned, they were relatively unharmed, and would be easy for the authorities to take into custody once this was all said and done.
In contrast, Lyger frowned when he saw the carnage wrought by the man who had introduced himself as Pantheon. Though they were on the same side in this fight, Lyger did not agree with the powerhouse’s disregard for human life. Although the Hounds of Humanity had committed unspeakable atrocities, it was not the place of the heroes who stood against them to pay the role of executioner. As heroes, they were held to a higher standard, and they had to be above wanton killing—If the weren’t, they were no better than the Hounds themselves. Lyger made a note to himself that actions the likes of those committed by Pantheon would need to be addressed, but at another time.

Just below him, Lyger saw the young woman who had approached him on the rooftop in Crown Ridge, the very same woman who had revealed herself just before the battle broke out as Flux. She was pressed up against the outer wall of the building with several of the Hounds approaching her. Without hesitation, Lyger stepped off of the ledge, landing between Flux and the Hounds. Before the surprised thugs could react, Lyger bounded towards the nearest Hound and met him with a right cross followed by an elbow to the Adam’s Apple, which caused the hapless Hound to drop to his knees as he gasped for air. A quick knee to the back of the head took him out of the fight. The unconscious Hound hadn’t even hit the ground before Lyger had moved on to the next, jumping away from the prone Hound and rolling to the next, connecting with a rising uppercut that took the man off his feet, sending him to the ground with a thud. As Lyger was about to move on to the next Hound, seven more Hounds began rushing toward him.

Wonderful. He thought to himself as he prepared himself for the new arrivals. However, much to his surprise, they never reached him. Instead, the groups of approaching Hounds simultaneously were slammed face first into the ground, as if some force was suddenly pushing down on them, rendering them unable to move. He looked around in surprise, and found Flux standing behind him, her eyes closed in concentration. He didn’t know exactly what she had done, or how she had done it, but he was impressed nonetheless.

“Neat trick.” He said as he suddenly noticed movement at the center of the conflict. It was Icon, who had taken hold of a large mech that had been fighting at their side, and rocketed off towards space, with several others in tow. Then, he heard Iron Knight’s voice echo through the speakers in his suit.

“Everyone, who is not going with Icon, should lick your wounds and get ready to head out. You all are going to have to be on you’re A-game if you want to get out of assault the Hound’s main base in one piece.” Iron Knight paused for a moment as if he were momentarily distracted, then continued.

“If my readings are correct, the Hounds have a base located on the waterfront of the nearby suburb, Carver. If someone here can’t fly or have some other form of transportation, you should pair up with someone who can. We need to strike quickly or all of this will be for not.”

“Harry, are you getting this?” Lyger spoke through the com in his mask.

“Yes.” His mentor replied. “It looks like our armored friend is on to something. I’m getting massive energy readings coming from the Northeastern most point in Carver, right by the waterfront. I don’t know what the Hounds are doing, but it can’t be good. I’d suggest you get there as quickly as possible.”

“Right.” Lyger said as he began approaching Iron Knight.

“Let’s go.”

Kensei examined in his hand the device that the Hounds had used to send the winged metahuman into a berserker rage. He kept turning the circular gadget, which he had removed from the stomach of the metahuman, over in his palm before pocketing it. The Japanese warrior then turned back towards Pinup and me and walked over to us.

“I’m going to see if I can find any more of these unnaturally enhanced metahumans. I want you and the Jorōgumo look-alike to remain behind and assist the police in helping the bystanders to safety.”

“A what look-alike?” I asked the Japanese warrior.

“But we’ve already shown that we can handle this situation,” Pinup snapped back, although she was ignoring what Kensei had called me.

“This is a job for professionals,” Kensei stated bluntly, “and your friend clearly does not seem well.”

“What I want to know is what you just called me,” I protested.

“I don’t know if this is the right time for this,” Pinup suggested to me.

“It roughly translates to “Prostitute Spider,” Kensei finally explained the meaning of the name. Great, first that snake-girl called me a pornstar. Now this guy has joined the club and he doesn’t even know my secret identity. Or does he somehow? “But you lack the supernatural aura a yokai normally possesses.”

“See, he didn’t mean a thing by it!” Pinup said to me in an attempt to smooth over the situation.

I then sensed someone reach out towards me. I instinctively flinched and hopped to the side. But when I looked back where I felt the hand reaching towards me, I discovered that it was only Pinup trying to pat me on the shoulder.

“My point exactly,” Kensei asserted, probably correctly concluding that I was not entirely alright mentally from my experience with Pinup’s nightmare causing powers. “And you speak as if you know me.”

“You know,” Pinup desperately tried to explain as she saw Kensei’s unamused expression on his face, “Icon, Blue Blur, Archangel. The gang!”

“I’ve never met any of them,” Kensei replied, “but I have heard of Icon.”

“And since when were you friends with that bitch?”

“Who?”

“Archangel…”

“What? Archangel is definitely a dude.”

"And you know the name of that Blue Blur guy, just like the Game Genie?

"You met that loser? Such a pain."

"I mean, he did just try to attack this city this past month. Where were you?"

“This isn’t productive,” Kensei blurred out. “Now if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”

The pavement a few feet down the road began to crumble as something was smashing its way out from underneath it. Chunks of asphalt flew into the air as a hole was dug into the road. From this subterranean breach, another metahuman, who had been driven into a berserker rage like the others, appeared. Its skin had rugged, rocky protrusions, while its hands possessed hardened talons, designed for clawing through the earth.

“So, I guess you have this one,” Pinup gave Kensei some snark. Instead of speaking, Kensei just turned his head back to look at Pinup and gave her a death stare. Then he returned his attention back to the metahuman, who had just dropped back down into its tunnel. At first, we let our guard down, since, at least how it looked to me, we thought that it was retreating. However, when it appeared again, but in a newly created hole behind us, we instantly knew it had no intent on withdrawing. I guess this Kensei was going to need our help.

People watching was one of David's favourite activities.

He was, perhaps, one of the last true flâneurs left, gallantly strolling down the streets of New York, every passerby a matter of speculation... A puzzle, to be broken down and put back together as quickly as possible.

Even after all these years, it still surprised him how much one could learn about others through simple observation. They all wore their stories, whether they knew it or not: it was in the tailoring and the wear of their clothes; on the scars and tattoos on their skin. It was in their voice and their expression lines, in the way they spoke and interacted with others, and in the subtle, tell-tale signs of their body language.

He particularly enjoyed it when strangers locked eyes with him. He found it to be a strangely intimate experience, and more often than not, very revealing. Most, of course, looked away almost immediately (some more graciously than others), but when they didn't it usually meant one of two things: they either had no fear or confrontation or were experiencing a healthy dose of sexual attraction. Sometimes, a bit of both.

It did not help (or did it?) that everything about David exuded confidence: his aesthetics were impeccable, from his midnight suit, tailored to fit him like a second skin over his impossibly white shirt, to his perfectly polished black oxfords. His jet, wavy hair was generous, elegantly tamed by a hundred dollar haircut, movie-star features unblemished despite the closeness of his shave. A practiced half-smile teased from the corner of his fleshy lips, almost as if he knew something the rest of the worker-ants didn't, rushing through the drollness of their routine.

Most eye-catching -and disturbing,- however, were his eyes. They were unusually clear in their blueness, pale and quasi translucent under a certain light. However, as the shadows encroached they seemed to become more vibrant, almost as if possessed of a glow of their own. They were pretty to look at, certainly... But many found themselves feeling oddly uncomfortable when they looked back.

Despite how much fun he found it to be, observing others was no aimless endeavour. There was a plethora of practical applications in understanding others, especially for someone in his line of work. Like a wolf, he moved amongst the sheep, looking for the juiciest cut of meat.

It came in the form of a young gentleman, perhaps even younger than him. Success was written all over him: there was not a crease in his suit, or even his hairline, for that matter, and wore a muted, wine-red tie that David found just delightful. He held a large, to-go Starbucks cofee in his right hand, despite the late hour, and in his other he held a nice leather suit-case (no doubt, full of important documents along with a lot of fluff). The youth kept raising it slightly to look at his analog watch. It was an elegant piece of clockwork, bather in metallic blacks and silvers which moved in an alternating pattern.

However, David could see beyond his clean-cut façade, understanding the burdens of being at the top at such at such a young age. He could see wrinkles beginning to form, stress and worry slowly becoming a fixture on his forehead. It also seemed apparent that this was not the first time that he had to take work home, obsessively checking the time as he was, and it certainly was not the last time he'd wonder if he had the time to finish it all. Under the right light, David could see his cheap concealer beginning to crack beneath his eyes after a long day's work, aswell as the flakes of dandruff that rested upon his shoulders, no doubt exacerbated by many sleepless nights.

For a few minutes, David idly followed him around, looking for the right moment. Eventually, the man hailed a cab, unwittingly providing the perfect (and only) opportunity.

“Brett, is that you?” he approached the man, not even a hint of his British past in his generic American accent. He did not wait for a response as he lunged towards him and embraced him, a look of confusion on not-Brett's face as he awkwardly balanced his coffee to avoid spilling it.
“My GOD, man, I haven't seen you since high school!” David exclaimed as his hands slid to the back of not-Brett's neck, intense blue eyes disconcerting the young man further as they dove into his own, “Look at you! You always did say you were going straight to the top,” he noted, hands all over the place as he patted and squeezed his arms and wrists, almost in an approving fashion.

“I'm sorry, but I believe...”

Not-Brett could not finish his sentence, as David had thrown an arm over his shoulder and forced him to step away from the taxi, tapping the man's chest effusively, "Forget wherever it is you're going, we must grab some dinner, and I will not take a no for an answer! I want you to tell me every little...”

At this point the young man gruffly pulled away, a flustered look on his face, “Back off man! My name's Adam, not Brett! You're confusing me with someone else,” he stated firmly.

David looked at him, bemused at first, his expression going from realization to utter mortification. “Oh, Christ, I am -so- sorry,” he apologized, “I... the resemblance is just uncanny.”

“It's fine,” Adam grumbled as he shot straight for the cab's door, closing it a bit harder than was warranted as he sat inside.

David watched the taxi lose itself in the city's busy traffic, unable to stop a shit-eating grin from creeping onto his face.

***

Moments later, David was donning his brand new tie and watch, feeling very dapper for his date. Accessorizing on the way to meet his beaus had almost become a ritual for him, and he genuinely couldn't remember the last time he'd actually paid for such things. Not since his life was turned around, anyway.

Adam's wallet, whilst decent, was not as nice as his, and showed more wear than his other accessories: a token from his college days, David surmised. He casually tossed all of the man's cards into a bin, taking a healthy stack of bills from the inside except for a single, hundred dollar bill.

*THUCLINK*

The wallet fell on a homeless lady's coin pot. She incorporated herself on her makeshift, cardboard bed, bewildered to find the wallet just resting there, but by the time she tried to figure out who'd dropped it, the man had already disappeared amongst the bustling crowd.

The next time Eris met Mindy was at the Atlanta Tricentennial banquet in celebration of the city’s founding. Eris wore a slightly green tinged dress, that was sheer but held a covering that was solid emerald underneath. It was hot, just like any other Georgia day, and the massive hills that covered the land surrounded the small party as they were packed in a rarely spotted flat, plot of land. Eris stood by the punch bowl with Charlton, their usual spot for all Goodoire affiliated parties. Charlton served people drinks, and once again shielded Eris from getting any because of another spiker. They stood next to Charlton, pulling on a dirty blonde strand that had come loose from their elegant bun, and stared not so discreetly at Miss Diasco talking to yet again more doctors.

“You really ought to stop staring, sir. The girl may think you hold a grudge, instead of affection.” Charlton whispered to them. Eris continued to stare as they answered him. Mindy wore a rose gold dress, with pink roses scrawling up the side of the dress. It was beautiful, and yet again a simple piece that made Eris feel as if they were trying to hard at these parties. Her hair was brushed back, and held in a poofy afro bun with two silver hair clips, and a gold ribbon.

“What do you think doctors like to talk about anyway, Charlton? They can’t just talk about little Timmy’s knee injury all the time, can they?” They asked. “I mean, I can’t understand half of the things they were talking about last time, and I think it totally turned her off.”

Charlton smiled as he handed a Miss Pumperfickle another glass of spiked punch. “Well,” he whispered again. “Doctors are often prone to intelligent conversation. You can’t blame her, the girl is a genius, madame.” He raised a hand at Mister Heighnsworth on the other side of the field. “Perhaps you should brush up on your medical know how, sir. It may impress her.”

Eris nodded, but then shook their head. “Wait, aren’t you supposed to tell me something different? Like ‘I should just be myself, and everything will be okay’?” They said. Charlton laughed.

“Yes, well. As I said a few days ago, you are not particularly lucky with the ladies, miss. A bit of change wouldn’t hurt you at all.” Eris chuckled.

“Well I guess I can’t change anything standing next to you.” They said. “This is the part where you shoo me away again, so that I can try to win a date with her.”

Charlton checked his watch, and smiled. “Right you are. Off you go then.” He shooed them away, and Eris walked towards Mindy and her posse of doctor friends for the second time. This time, however, Mindy spotted them immediately and practically pulled them into the little circle. She gripped their arm with slight manicured fingers, and smiled at them.

“Hey, you’re just in time to hear Dr. Dougherty’s story about Yale’s Centennial!” She said, excitedly. Eris noted she could get pretty hyper about things, they remembered how she had practically shouted her feelings at the Atlanta social. At first, Eris was so caught off guard by Mindy taking their arm, and smiling at them that they practically forgot why they even came to her in the first place. They soon recovered however, making sure to wipe the glazed look from their eyes.

“Right. The Doctors Yale thing. How did it go?” They asked. Dr. Dougherty stood proud in a black tux, with a rose medallion pinned to his coat. He straightened it, grinning happily.

“They awarded me the highest Honor a doctor can get in Georgia. The Peach Tree Doctoral Medal of Medicine.” He said. Eris had never heard of such a medal before, and didn’t even know doctors could be awarded things like that. But they whistled in an impressive tone anyway.

“Gold suits you doctor, though I bet miss Diasco here would look great with a medal on her.” They said. Mindy waved away the compliment.

“I haven’t earned a medal yet, Dr. Dougherty is amazing at his job. I don’t think I can ever catch up to his record.” She said. Dr. Dougherty smiled.

“Ah, but my dear Mindy, now that I have this medal I think you will surpass me in a matter of weeks with how fast you save people. I bet by next week, you too will have your own Peach Tree medal.” he laughed.

Mindy looked a bit uncomfortable, the smile slipped from her face. “Well, Doc this medal isn’t the last you’ll get, right? You’ll still be working in the hospitals and-”

“I am retiring Mindy.” Dr. Dougherty said simply. The other doctors around him looked shocked, and started to argue against him. But he simply raised his hand. “Now I know you all will think that me retiring is a bit extreme, but I feel fifty years is enough for me.” He said.

“Fifty years is impressive, Doctor. No wonder you got that medal.” Eris said. “You deserve it.”

Dr. Dougherty nodded. “Thank you, miss Goodoire. Although I may be quitting in the hospitals, my love of science is just too much.” He said. He then turned to Mindy, with a proud smile on his face. “I was thinking of opening a lab, one where you could develop all kinds of stuff. Of course, you will have to take it up with Darius and his cohorts, but if they say yes…”

“Then I’d have my own space, finally!” She said happily. “Oh Doc, this is a great offer. I’ve been asking Darius all month if I could finally get a lab.” Eris balked, more so at the name Darius then Mindy’s happiness.

Who the hell is Darius? They began to worry about Mindy’s dating preferences again.

They shook those thoughts away, and decided to continue their pursuits. “Well, I’m glad you’ll find a place to develop your skill, Miss.” They said. “Maybe I’ll visit sometime and see how you’re doing.”

“I’d love that, Eris!” She said.

Eris smiled. Dr. Dougherty and his fellow compatriots walked away to discuss plans of his retirement. Just like at the social, for a brief moment there was a long awkward silence among them before Eris spoke.

“Hey, we never really got to talk last week. Mainly cause I don’t have your number.” Eris smirked.

Mindy blinked, surprised. “Oh! Right. I was going to give you my number, but then we started to talk about...you know...The Promise?” She winked knowingly. Eris nodded, understanding what she meant.

“I know what you mean. How’s that little secret coming along anyway?” They asked. She looked around in search of people who may be eavesdropping, and then took a few steps towards Eris.

“Soundria is almost complete. In fact, I’ve already got a buyer who wants to try it out.” She said, quietly. That surprised Eris. “I’m not giving it to them, of course. I still haven’t tested it yet.” They nodded.

“Wow, it sounds like you’re on the road to success Miss Diasco.” They said, smiling. They were rather close. Mindy put up a hand in between them.

“If we’re going to be hanging out, you’ve got to stop calling me Miss Diasco.” She said. “Got it?’ Eris laughed, and then nodded.

“Okay Mindy, I understand.” They said.

Mindy clapped her hands happily. “I’m so excited for the lab, you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to get my hands on legit chemistry equipment.” Eris chuckled, and thought about how cute she was when she got excited about things.

“We can talk about this new lab venture of yours later say…. at my house for dinner?” They asked. Mindy nodded again.

“I’d love to.” She said. Eris grinned, ecstatic.

“Perfect.” They said. Mindy took a pen from her dress pocket, and wrote her number on Eris’ arm in small, neat script.

“We can talk about...oh I don’t know, girl stuff over the phone. It’ll be great!” She walked away, and began to chat it up with a few more Georgia elites.

Eris stood in blissful silence for a few seconds, before they snapped back to reality with Mindy’s last words echoing in their head like a warning bell. Girl Talk. Shit. It’s pretty hard to pull off Girl Talk when you’re...not a girl. Or a boy. And it’ll be even harder if this Girl talk entails talking about boys, because while Eris is not one of them, they have never actually been into them. Oh well, the night has not started yet. Let’s see what it brings.
…………………

That night at the Goodoire mansion, Eris had informed their parents of Mindy’s visit. They were a bit confused at first, because they had never known Eris to be friendly to someone unless they wanted to date them.

“You just want to impress this poor girl, don’t you?” Their mother said. She had assumed it was some middle class, mousey type that Eris had dragged home this time, mainly because those were always the types that Eris brought to the mansion. Young, pretty and poor. Eris rolled their eyes.

“Mindy is not poor, she is a medical prodigy who already has her degree in biology and chemistry. She’s a doctor, mom.” They said. Their mom rolled their eyes back.

“So she’s the one everyone was talking about at the Social? I think I saw her, she doesn’t exactly look your type, sweetie.” She said. “But whatever. As long as she’s nice, I guess it’s okay if she comes for dinner.”

Their father came into the dining room, and greeted them noisily and drunk. “Oh please, Charlice. Do you really think her little fling is gonna last?” He said, a vodka shot in his hand. His tie was loosened, and he had obviously had more than one drink at the bar. Eris was going to correct him yet again on their pronouns, but Charlton stopped them short by glancing at them from the corner. Charlton had already set the table, and stood in the corner of the room by the head of the table, with a platter of wine and napkins. Eris bit their tongue and refrained from correcting him. This time.

“Have faith in he- Them, Richard. This girl sounds nice.” Their mother said. She looked her husband up and down disgusted, as he leaned against the back of a dining chair, desperately trying to clear his head. “She’s going to be here any minute, and you decided to get drunk before dinner?” She asked, incredulous.

“Get off my back, Charlice.” He took a look in his empty vodka glass, an groaned. “Hey asshole in the corner, get me another shot.” He demanded of Charlton. Without an ounce of venom in his voice Charlton obliged.

“Right away, Master Goodoire.” He walked into the kitchen, but not before giving Eris a warning look. They made it a note to tread lightly with their father tonight.

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough to drink? You’re going to embarrass us in front of-”

“Who gives a shit? The new broad that bitch has dragged here for dinner isn’t gonna even be here for another week.” He said. Charlton returned with another glass of vodka. “She’s just another whore our daughter brought in.” Charlton flinched a tiny bit, more so because he had to restrain himself from hitting Richard right then and there.

Eris just sighed, tired. “Well, you don’t wanna be here anyway.” They said. “Take his plate away, Charlton. He’s gonna eat in his study. Like he’s been doing for the past month and a half.” Richard scoffed, and then drunkenly staggered himself to his office.

Charlice sniffed in anger as she watched her husband leave for the thousandth time, a single tear forming in her eye. She didn’t say anything, she just tried hard not to cry right then and there, and despite her efforts to not show weakness, Eris saw her as the weakest person they had ever seen. And then, the doorbell rang. Eris looked at their mother, and smiled a vindictive grin filled with malice.

“You better dry those tears up or the guests will be embarrassed for you.” They said in a sickly sweet voice. Charlice dragged in a withering breath, her frame visibly shaking from the effort to pull herself together.

“Charlton, get the door will you?”
………

Hey so I will be writing more for Eris and the gang, and i have a feeling that next post is when things will really start to kick off, so please stay tuned, lol.

“Let’s go,” Lyger told Iron Knight after the cat-themed hero had confirmed the position of the Hound’s base located just outside of Lost Haven.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Chris answered back. Before he took to the skies, Chris turned to give a few final orders to the remaining heroes. Although Chris knew the exact coordinates of the base, he needed a way to let the others know how to get there.

“We’ll be heading westward to Carver. For those who can’t fly, I’m going to make sure the traffic lights don’t slow you down.”

While Chris talked, his armor projected a large street map of Lost Haven on the street pavement. A red dot appeared on the map, symbolizing their starting point at Sherman Square. A red line then began to run through the streets of Lost Haven until it arrived at their destination on the eastern waterfront of Carver. He gave the heroes a few moments to review the route map so that they would at least have an idea where they were heading.

“Now that we know where we’re going, let’s roll out.”

Chris then soared up into the air above Sherman Square. Once he knew that everyone was ready, Chris, hoping the others would follow his lead, jetted off towards the Hound’s base. The flight did not take Chris’ armor long to reach its destination. His computers led Chris to what appeared to have been a run down, abandoned building on the waterfront. The moisture from the river had eroded the external of the building, thereby making it look all the more devoid of life. Yet from the location data intercepted by the Archangel armor and the energy output readings reported by Lyger, this had to be the place.

The armored hero lucked out, since a handful of Hound goons, who were trying to evacuate the facility, stumbled out the front door. These men were taken off guard when they saw Iron Knight landing nearby. But it did not take them long to unleash a volley of lead at the hero. Nevertheless, this was all in vain, as the bullet just bounced off the hero’s armor, like the droplets of rain off a car’s windshield.

One of the Hounds happened to have brought with him an RPG, just for a situation such as this. The man aimed the weapon and Iron Knight and launched its projectile. However, Chris’ computer systems alerted him to the danger and allowed him to side step the missile. Turning, Chris shot down the RPG rocket out of the sky, so as to reduce any potential collateral damage. After that was taken care of, Chris returned his attention to the Hounds.

“My turn,” Chris told these human supremists while his armor’s tracking systems were locking on to the men. In an instance, Chris fired several low-dosage tranquilizer shots at the Hounds, one for each man. Once they hit the floor, Chris rushed forward and restrained these dangerous men with some cable stored in his armor.

Now that Chris had dealt with this first wave of the welcoming party, he turned to the heroes who had followed along and arrived at the entrance of the Hound’s main base.

“This is it. Let’s finish this.”

Just a heads up that this post deals with domestic abuse, so its pretty graphic this time. reader discretion is advised.

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

The table was glistening white under the diamond and pearl chandelier that hung above it as Eris and their mother ate dinner. Mindy had arrived a tad bit later than expected, but apologized upon arrival. She wore a different dress, this one being plain white and trimmed with black lace. It came up to her knees, and she still had her hair in that simple afro puff.

“So, Mindy. Eris says you’re a doctor? Have you saved any lives recently?” Charlice asked. Mindy nodded, while holding a buttered roll in her hand.

“Just yesterday, I had to revive this little boy with asthma after he had an attack. His little heart just completely stopped after awhile, but I managed to bring him back somehow.” She said. She shook her head sadly, despite the good ending. “The kid’s gonna have a few problems later on though. It’s not everyday you have a near death experience at the age of 10.”

“Sounds scary. I wouldn’t want to be him right about now.” Eris said. Almost dying at 10 because you suck at breathing sounds like bully fuel, to them.

“Well that’s what intensive care and therapy is for. What would we be as a society without you doctors to take care of us all?” Charlice said, she raised her glass to Mindy. MIndy waved her hand nonchalantly.

“Oh I’m sure the human race would still be here drinking wine and spirits like they are now.” She said. “This is a nice home Mrs.Goodoire. I hope to have a house twice as big as this when I move out of my parents.” Charlice smiled, proud.

“Yes, it’s a culmination of twelve years of hard work. Keep on with this doctor mess, little lady. You will find yourself a home bigger than mine in no time.” She winked. Eris rolled their eyes.

“You always tell the guests about the house, mom. Why don’t you tell her about your work.” Eris suggested. Charlice glanced at Eris warningly for a second, but then smiled sweetly.

“My work. You’re right, Eris I never do discuss my work affairs with others.” She said in an even tone. “And you also know why.” Eris sighed.

“I guess I do. Hey, I think I’m done with dinner now.” Eris pushed their plate away, even though it was half full, and Charlice pretended not to notice for the sake of Mindy.

“You can eat later then.” Charlice said, taking a sip from her wine glass.

“I’d rather not eat at all. I think I will just spend the rest of the night upstairs. Mindy, you coming?” They asked.

MIndy looked up excited. “Oh yeah, I’d like to see the rest of this beautiful mansion! I bet you’re room is like something out of a fairytale.” She said. Charlice scoffed softly in her drink, but kept her comments to herself. Eris smirked.

“You can see for yourself.” They said. Mindy followed them upstairs, and Charlice heard the soft click of the door closing. She sat alone at the dinner table, softly caressing the handle of her butter knife.
………..

Eris’ room was nothing like out of a fairytale, much to the amusement of Mindy Diasco. While Eris had the giant bedroom, with the comfy, big bed and dresser, the room was decked head to toe in posters of old musicians. Mindy took a particular shine to an old autographed picture of Elvis that was hanging up on the meridian walls over Eris’ beauty mirror.

“So you’re an Elvis fan, huh?” Mindy asked. “My dad is crazy about 50’s rock, he won’t shut up about it at parties.” Eris laughed.

“Well, he was a very popular guy, or so I’m told. I never actually met him.” Eris said. Mindy walked over to the giant bed, and ran her hand over the soft blanket and coverings.

“Oh my god.” She breathed. “You sleep on this? Every night? It feels like Heaven, Eris.”

“They don’t have good beds where you’re from?” Eris asked with a smile.

Mindy rolled over the bed, gleefully. “Not one’s made from literal clouds and angel wings!” She exclaimed. “My bed feels like a pile of dirt pretending to be fabric compared to this.” Suddenly, Mindy shot up, a serious look on her face. “Looking at all of these posters reminded me of Soundria. I’ve run into a bit of a bump in testing.” Eris sat down on the bed next to her, listening intensely. They nodded for her to continue.

“There seems to be a strange symptom that comes along with the effects of the medicine. While I made it to soothe people internally, there is definitely some external side effects.” She said. “I don’t know how to exactly define it, or explain the phenomenon to you but-” She stopped talking as they both heard a loud, and arduous knocking noise coming from downstairs.

Eris gulped, as they knew exactly what the noise was. It was repetitive, and the force of it’s impact against the walls shook the room slightly. It’s fine. He’s just burning off steam in his office. And then they heard Charlice scream from downstairs. Mindy jumped up off the bed, wary to go to the door and check downstairs.

“What’s going on down ther-?” She began to ask. It was soon cut off by the thunderous noise of their father’s feet coming up the stairs. Eris grabbed Mindy by the arm, and dragged her to safety by the bed. The door burst open furiously, and Mr. Goodoire stood angrily in the doorway with Charlice by her hair behind him. Charlton’s warning about reverting back to old ways echoed in their head for a split second, before they fully assessed to scene before them. Richard held a bottle of what looked like old cider in one hand, and Charlice’s blonde curls in the other. Charlice was crying pitifully, and by the look of her face, Richard had already taken out most of his anger on her. She sported a busted lip, and a bruised eye. Blood and tears mixed together, and mascara ran down her cheeks. All in all, she looked absolutely awful just then. Mindy shook fearfully, not able to take her eyes off of Richard.

Eris breathed in slowly, and Richard chuckled darkly. “What’s the matter, bitch? Mad because I crashed you’re little tinder date here?” He said. Eris ran a hand through their hair, pulling it from its bun. Their blonde hair fell past their shoulders in waves, and Eris looked at him with tired, strained eyes. In only a few seconds, he had pushed them to their limit.

“Where’s Charlton?” They asked, quietly. Richard took another swig from his bottle, and when he found it was empty, he threw it at the wall making Mindy jump.

“He’s taking a nap.” Richard said simply. Shit. That can mean literally anything in the state he’s in. Charlice tried to pull herself away from him gently, but Richard yanked her back with his hand, and she fell on her knees, crossing the rooms threshold. He looked at Eris then, a look of malicious intent on his face. “You’re coming with me, tonight. I signed you up for a very long trip.” He said.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Eris asked, quietly. They never raised their voice in anger, they just kept a flat, tired monotone as they talked.

“It’s a cathol-” He burped. “Catholic school. You’re going tonight, girl.”

“They.” Eris said.

“Fuck off. We both know what’s in your pants.” He said, rudely. He glanced at Mindy, cowering behind Eris. “That whore can’t stay tonight. You’ve gotta pack your bags.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” They said, confidently. Mindy reached into her pocket where her phone was.

“Siri, call 911.” She said quietly. Richard glared at her.

“You bit-” But before he could get the words out, a bat came to the back of his head, and he fell unconscious on the floor. Charlton stood in the doorway, a bat in hand and a bloody wound in his side.

“Jesus.” Eris breathed, shocked at the blood seeping through his nice, butler coat. “We need to get to a hospital.”

Eris ran to Charlton, jumping over their father’s body.

“I’ll stay here until the cops come, you just bring him to the hospital.” Mindy said. Eris didn’t waste anytime at all following her instructions, and ran outside of the mansion with their butler in hand.

……..

The hospital was just as Eris had remembered it the time they had come here. They remembered how they had come to be in a hospital bed back then, and thinking of how he was then, they almost couldn’t believe they didn’t see this coming the minute he walked in the dining room drunk off his ass. The minute they both walked into the hospital, Charlton more or less being dragged along by Eris, a nurse rushed up to them, and he was taken from their arms. Eris sat in the waiting room for two hours, staring at the tiled floor the entire time. It wasn’t until they felt a hand on the shoulder that they looked up.

“Hey, how’s he doing?” It was Mindy.

“He’s fine. Just a little shaken is all.” They said. “They told me he’s resting now. We won’t be able to see him until tomorrow.” Mindy nodded. They both sat there quietly for a few seconds. This time Mindy broke the silence.

“You know, you really ought to think about leaving them.” She said. “You’re father seems rather…”

Eris looked at her. “I can’t just leave my parents behind. That’s not how the world works, Mindy.” They said. Mindy sat up straighter.

“Well…” She began. “You gotta think of something. I mean, he said he was sending you off to Catholic school. Tonight. That doesn’t sound very good at all.” She shook her head. “And you’ve been really nice to me all week! You don’t deserve any of that man’s punishment.” Eris blinked at her sudden confidence.

“Catholic schools are tricky, Mindy. Once you put your name in the Tithe basket, there’s no getting it back out again.” They said.

“Eris, listen. Going to that Catholic school after he assaulted your friends and family is just the kind of thing he would want.” She said. “I know how men like him work. They don’t care about family at all. They care about impressions.” Mindy stood up. “Tomorrow we will think of a way to get you out of this mess. Me and that butler guy who seems to be really nice.”

Eris thought it over for awhile, and shrugged. If it will put her at ease, then fine. We can pretend there’s a solution here. And so tomorrow came. Eris hid at Mindy’s house, away from the Catholic collection bus that came to their house a few minutes after the police arrived. When the visiting nun who was supposed to collect Eris came for them, they were quickly turned away by the police, and had no idea of where they could have gone.

The nuns got word that they were probably hiding at Mindy’s house, but Mindy’s mother was very understanding of the situation, and told them off from her house as well. That day, in the hospital room, Mindy, Eris, and Charlton discussed plans for Eris’ escape.

“I overheard him talking on the phone before he went ballistic. You have a bit of time before he can properly send you off.” Charlton said.

“We have time?” Eris asked.

“He wanted to throw a party announcing your leave. You weren’t going to be there, of course, but I believe he was going to set some sort of video system up so that you yourself could say goodbye to folks from the School.” He said. He sat up in the hospital bed, sipping on a cup of tea completely relaxed. “He went crazy over something the other end had said. I’m guessing they didn’t want to set up your camera or something. It was pretty hard to hear what with him cursing them through the phone.”

“Then the party is the perfect place to escape a second time.” Mindy said. “We can’t hide you forever at my place, the nuns are bound to get to you at some point. If we hold a party before you leave, then we can escape again before they get to you.” She clapped her hands, smiling excitedly. “And I know one place they’d never look for us!”

Eris laughed. “Well this all sounds good, but like you said. We can’t hide forever.” They said.

“You’re right, sir. We can’t. But we can hide just long enough for us to get rid of the School. Maybe while we’re hiding we can negotiate with them, and explain ourselves. I doubt women of God would send a child back to a horrid man like Richard.” Charlton explained.

“How could we possibly convince them though? They’d probably just brush us off, and call me a ‘troubled’ soul or some shit.” They said. They rocked back in the chair, leaning against the bed frame. “There’s no way they’d believe a butler, a doctor, and a...whatever over Richard Goodoire, Entrepreneur of the century. And Charlice would defend that bastard till the end of time. She’s cowardly like that.”

Mindy looked a little defeated at Eris’ words, but Charlton continued on.

“I wasn’t really thinking of us as the one’s doing the convincing, actually. Perhaps a fourth party could suffice.” He said quietly. Eris looked at him, and he nodded as if confirming something. Mindy looked lost looking at them.

“What are you both going on about?” She asked.

“Vivian.” Eris said. “She could definitely convince them. We just have to make it seem like its not coming directly from us. Otherwise it won’t work.”

“And, Miss Vivian is an avid supporter of the Church. She carries a rosary with her in her maid dress everywhere she goes.” Charlton said.

“Who is Vivian?” Mindy asked.

“She’s the maid. A few days ago, Richie yelled at her for missing one of the polished cups.” Eris explained. “If we can get Vivian in on this, than maybe…”

“This might work then!” Mindy said.

“Don’t get your hopes up. We still have this party to plan, and Charlice to deal with it.” They said. “We have got to get to Vivian fast, before she decides to scram off to some other rich persons house. I wouldn’t blame her, though.”

Valencium? Did she seriously just say her name was Valencium? Way to cap off your big damned hero moment with a title that sounded like an over the counter boner pill, Maddy grumbled to herself. Still, lame name or not, it wasn't going to distract her from what she had to do now.

Trying to show some level of confidence, Maddy jogged out of the building to a chorus of surprised voices and camera flashes from the onlookers, which intensified as she was followed out by a groggy Sergeant Shredd in handcuffs.

"Hey, it's the new hero!" one reported cried out, reaching over the police line with microphone in hand. "What's your name and powers ma'am?!?" Maddy blinked, not entirely paying attention to the press as she was surveying where the loud noises were coming from.

"I...er...I'm..."

Before Maddy's second attempt at a name, there was a tremendous bang just one street over as a wrecked police car suddenly sailed from a side street with an almighty crash.

"I'm busy, talk to you in a sec!" Maddy said quickly before running over to the barricade the police were forming with their vehicles between the civilians and the oncoming threat. Massive footfalls shook the earth and filled the air, only to be drowned out by a screeching electric guitar solo worthy of Eddie Van Halen erupting from the street the police had their guns trained on, as around the corner emerged...

"Oh good lord, that is tacky."

While that was probably the least helpful descriptor of the oversized mech that emerged onto the street, it certainly wasn't an inaccurate one. The giant bipedal robot, visibly armed to the teeth and built for hard combat, had been vandalized and overdecorated to an absurd level, painted almost entirely in a discordant mess of flames, American flags, and skulls where there weren't chrome spikes and plating bolted onto the heavy armored surface, many of which protected the speakers mounted in the chest and connected to a sound system blasting classic rock at full volume. Even the head had been decorated with a fake metal Mohawk and a chrome-plated jaw to complete the look.

"Where the fuck did they get that thing?!?" one of the police officers shouted.

"Ask them after we kill it, take that thing down!"

Gunfire raked the great machine, but it did little more then superficial damage as it stepped forward, raising an arm to point at a nearby cluster of policemen. The officers quickly dived out of the way as a torrent of flame erupted from the metal hand, incinerating one of the police cars instantly.

Suffice it to say, Maddy was a bit floored. This thing was above all things, big. Really big. She had gotten up to one, maybe two stories tall on her own, but this thing looked almost twice as large as that, probably even more. Maddy steeled herself, trying to draw upon whatever was inside her that allowed her to change size, almost begging herself for her powers to work. This wasn't going to be and easy fight, but it wasn't going to be one she backed down from.

"Hey! You with the crappy paint job!" The mecha's flames cut off as it turned to glance at Maddy striding towards it, almost regarding her with curiosity. "Yeah, talking to you!" Maddy shouted at the thing, barely hearing herself over the intensely loud rock music. "Shut down the robot and come quietly, or I'll have to take care of you myself!"

The robot paused, shifting slightly on its feet as the gunfire from the police tapered off. Maddy stared up at it with bated breath, for a second believing that maybe she had gotten through to whoever was piloting it. Looking back at the police officers, she shot them a thumbs-up to indicate she could handle this. Crunching metal suddenly pierced the still air, and Maddy snapped her gaze back up as the robot lifted a car off the ground, swinging it overhead to bring it right down on Maddy.

Panic mixed with instinct in a millisecond as Maddy drew on every bit of concentration she had, and in that one moment, it just clicked. Just like when she discovered the formula or the perfect mix of chemicals in a puzzling experiment, she discovered what it was that made this power click. Maddy couldn't hope to describe it, but as she consciously felt the sensation of her body growing for the first time, she knew she could control it.

Maddy quickly re-attuned her senses to the real world after this experience as the robot brought the car down on the outstretched arm of the now massive Madeline, whose sudden change had elicited shocked gasps and a flurry of camera flashes from far below. Twisting the car out of the arm of the mecha, Madeline mused over how strange it was to hold the vehicle in just one hand as she gingerly set it down. If she thought things were odd and alien when she was small, it really was nothing compared to what it was like at this size. As Maddy took thundering steps towards the mecha, she even noted with amusement that the terrifying robot was only a few inches taller then she was now.

"Last chance," Maddy warned the mecha, poking it in the chest and idly wondering what her voice would sound like to the normal sized people below. "Power that thing down or you'll have to tangle with me."

There was a pause where the mecha seemed to think about its course of action in the face of a far more threatening enemy. Maddy couldn't help but crack a smile as the robot's pilot stewed in its own thoughts, only for the robot to rear back and slam its chrome plated fist into her chest. Maddy stumbled backwards from the blow, crushing the hood of a vehicle underfoot by accident and throwing up dust as she impacted into a nearby building. A pang of worry hung around in the back of her head, but when Maddy realized that a blow powerful enough to smash cars felt like a normal punch at this size, she couldn't help but be amused as weapons emerged from the mecha's arms as it prepared for combat, blasting its rock music louder then ever. Feeling more confident then she had in a long time, Maddy raised her fists into a fighting stance and charged.

“Vivian, just hear us out on this one.” Eris pleaded. Vivian Estrada Julio Rivera was the Goodoires family maid. She worked full time, and cleaned the house top to bottom with the help of Charlton, monday through saturday. She wore a black, plain maid’s dress, and pinned her graying brown hair up in a messy bun when coming to work. Right now, she cowered again for the Nth time in a corner as one of the Goodoire members asked her for an impossible favor.

“No.” She said, bravely. “I cannot lie about this, Madame. That man will get me!” She was deathly afraid of Richard, and Eris had to convince her that Richard was nowhere near her right now. “No, no, no.” She said shaking her head. “That man is here somewhere. He told me, he watches my every move!”

Charlton shook his head in disbelief and groaned. “I can’t believe he would fill her head with lies like this.” He said. Eris shrugged.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t think he would stoop so low either. But it is Richard.” They said. Eris placed a hand on Vivians shoulder, gently. “Vivian, Richard Goodoire is no longer in this household. He’s in prison now, where he belongs.” They tried to calm her down, and it seemed to work a little.

“He said he was watching me. That if I ever quit, I would never find work again.” She said, her voice quavering. “I don’t want to lose my job, miss.” She began to cry a little, and Eris looked down, embarrassed. They never really knew what to say when it came to tears.

“Miss Vivian, I promise, nothing is going to happen to your maid career.” Charlton said. “We made sure that Mr. Goodoire can never hurt anyone ever again. But if you don’t help us, that man will leave a lasting impression on this family. It’ll be as if he has won, despite being behind bars.” Vivian looked at him, and sniffed pitifully.

“You promise this man is gone?” She asked. Charlton nodded, smiling warmly.

“Yes, he is behind bars as we speak.” He said.

“Okay. I...I will help you. I will tell them what I have seen happen here.” She said quietly. “But remember this- You promised this man could not harm any more.” She pointed a finger at both of them. “If anything happens to me because of this man, then I will blame you.” Her voice was icy, and held no mercy. Eris nodded.

“We understand.” They said.
……

They now had a plan, one that would be executed on the fifteenth of may, at exactly 12:00 A.M. Charlton would set up the preparations in their room, while the party went on down below. That night, Eris Goodoire would be throwing a party, a final farewell bash before “she” heads off to St. Marian Gildeharts School of the Enlightened, an old Irish catholic school in the midwest. Charlice allowed for any and all of Eris’ friends to be invited, and so a few people from their school had attended the party. More than one of their past lovers had shown up, hoping to make some dramatic statement by showing off their new items. Eris pretended to care about them being there, and smiled fakely at everyone who came to greet them. It was around 9:00 when the nuns from St.Maria’s showed up to the party. Eris breathed in deeply, relaxing themselves for the onslaught of religious piety to come.

The first nun to approach them was an elderly woman with a stern face. She regarded Eris with slight contempt, probably thinking how scandalous it was for a “girl” to be wearing a dress with no sleeves or gloves to them. Eris held out their hand, properly, and greeted her. “Hello, miss. Welcome to the party, I’m glad you could make it.” They said.

Mindy eyed Eris from the corner, where she stood by the punch bowl with Vivian anxiously waiting to tell her story. Mindy gave them an encouraging nod, and Eris braced themselves. “Your mother has told me about your...confusion.” She said.

Eris restrained themselves from rolling their eyes. “Well we can’t all be girls and boys, ma’am. Have you been outside lately?” They asked. The nun squinted her eyes at Eris, wondering whether or not that was a jab at her bigoted opinion.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked. Eris shrugged, and gestured toward the back of the dining room where the pool was.

“Just that Georgia air is nice during the summer. Even though it’s hot, it makes for great star gazing.” They said. The other nuns surrounding the old one had dispersed after awhile, and were now milling about, chatting it up with Eris’ school friends. “I don’t think my mother told me what your name was?” Eris said to her.

“I am Mildred Goldhue. I am the Head Sister at St.Maria’s. And your future principle, young lady.” She said. She stood tall with an air of confidence, and respect. Eris couldn’t believe their luck.

“You must have been in the sisterhood a real long time, I can almost feel God’s aura coming off of you!” They said, earnestly. Sister Goldhue looked taken aback a little, and cleared her throat.

“Well now, thank you, Madame Goodoire.” She said. “Have you...any interest in the church?” Eris sighed dreamily.

“Well, I didn’t at first. But then-” They pointed to Vivian, who immediately stood up tall at the slightest provocation toward her. “My friend, Vivian, started to tell me about God’s will, and his Angels. It really got me thinking about my past decisions.” Sister Goldhue looked over at Vivian, who waved shyly, flashing her rosary tied around her wrist intricately. Sister Goldhue saw it immediately, and smiled softly.

“My, I came to judge you too quickly, child. I should have known God would have a part in your journey.” She said. “He has one of his own right here to guide you.” Eris smiled, with equal amounts of warmth.

“Yeah, Vivian’s great.” Eris said. “She’s a really great worker, and she practically prays everywhere she goes. Why don’t you go say hi to the woman who practically raised me in God’s light?”

“I think I will do just that, Madame.” She said. “She seems...nice.”

Eris watched Sister Goldhue walk over to Vivian, who greeted the sister the minute she looked over at her. Thankfully, Sister Goldhue didn’t find that suspicious, and began to talk to Vivian about the Church. They smiled, now all that’s left is for Vivian to start talking.

The party went on for awhile, and Sister Goldhue and Vivian never left each other's sides. At around 11:00, Eris decided to sneak to their room in order to see how the preparations for the escape were coming along. When they first entered, they could not see anything because of how dark it was. Charlton had insisted on keeping the room dark to avoid suspicion from anyone down below. Eris entered their room, whispering. “Charlton?” They asked, quietly.

A small match was struck, and Charlton revealed himself sitting on the bed. “Hello, miss.” He said. In his hand, held rope and a tether. Eris walked over, and crossed their arms.

“How is everything coming along?” They asked. Charlton nodded.

“Everything is going fine. I managed to get an old friend to provide us with a car.” He said. “He should be here in a few minutes.” Eris pursed their lips. “What’s the matter sir?”

“It’s just...Are we really about to get away with this?” They asked. “I mean, there’s a lot of shit that can go wrong. All I can think about is…” They groaned.

“Everything is going to go according to plan, miss. Charlice is downstairs, and Vivian is becoming good friends with the nuns.” He said. “Mindy informed me that she hasn’t quite told the Sisters about Richard, but that at the rate she’s going she won’t need to. Sister Goldhue seems to think of her as a sort...companion? I think that was the word she used.”

“Companion?” Eris laughed. “They just met, Charlton.”

“I know, miss. But they do seem to be getting awfully close.” He said. “I believe Mindy said she spotted them holding hands by the poolside.”

Eris stood there in silence. And then it clicked. “Don’t tell me...Charlton, you don’t think…?” Charlton just shrugged.

“I don’t know sir, but she did remind me a bit of you and your romantic pool dates that you used to throw.” He said. “Maybe it’s fate.”

Eris shook their head. “Man. If they end up getting married, do you think Vivian will invite us to the wedding for setting her up?” They asked.

“Perhaps.” Charlton checked his watch. “It is almost time to enact the plan. My friend should waiting right outside the bathroom window.”

“Why the bathroom?” They asked.

“No one will be there. I made sure of it.” Charlton said.

Mindy then entered the room, knocking on the door softly to announce her presence. “It’s almost time.” She said. “Vivian and Sister Goldhue are still sitting outside together. I don’t know what they’re talking about but I made sure to remind her about Richard.”

“Well then, let’s get going.” Eris said. “We don’t have all nigh-”

“I knew it.” All three heads swiveled to the doorway, only to see one of the party goers. But one that was very familiar to Eris. “You’re up here with your new catch, probably fucking her before the night ends.”

It was Cassidy Righberry. An impossibly tipsy, Cassidy Righberry. Mindy looked confused, wondering what Cassidy was talking about, before recognizing her.

“Cassidy Righberry?” She said, confused. “Are...you drunk?”

Cassidy wore a pink, bedazzled sweetheart dress, with little hearts on the bosom. Her strawberry blonde hair was curled, and pinned up in an old fashioned bob cut. She stood about a foot taller than Eris, and right now her height was doing her any good as she swayed on her feet.

“What are you doing here?” Eris asked.

“I wondered all last week why you didn’t talk to me. Now I know.” She said.

Eris raised their hands defensively, trying to calm her down. “Cassidy-”

“You moved on so fast, Eris” Cassidy said. “You didn’t even glance in my direction the entire time you were at the social. I’m the reason you even got into the Social, Good Wire!” Eris internally groaned at how Cassidy butchered their name, again.

“Sir, I do think we should get going. My friend can get a bit...angry when kept waiting.” Charlton said.

“None of you are going anywhere.” Cassidy said. “I’m glad you’re headed off to this stupid Catholic school, Eris. I won’t have to look at you if you’re gone forever.”

“Cassidy, can we please talk about this some other time?” They pleaded.

Cassidy scoffed. “She isn’t even you’re type. I can’t believe you ditched me for some plain girl. She didn’t even come to the social dressed correctly. It was red and black only.” She said.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but we’re leaving.” Mindy said, pushing past Cassidy.

“I’m telling Ms. Goodoire. I bet she’d love to know her daughter is up here smooching on some new conquest.” Cassidy staggered after Mindy.

Eris turned to Charlton. “How the hell did she even get drunk? Who keeps spiking the punch at these things?” They asked, incredulously. Mindy ran down the stairs, in the hopes that more people would dispel Cassidy’s rage. It didn’t.

“Come back here, you home wrecker!” Cassidy shouted, which made everyone stop talking and turn their heads to the scene by the stairwell. Mindy stood on the last step, looking up at a deeply inebriate Cassidy Righberry. “You have no shame.” Cassidy spat. The nuns looked worried and concerned more so for Mindy than for Cassidy.

“Cassidy, I legit just met you a few days ago.” Mindy said, softly. “I don’t know what’s going on between you and Eris, but it’s got nothing do with me.”

Charlice barged in on the scene, furious. “What’s going on here?” She demanded. Cassidy looked at Charlice with an evil grin on her face.

“Oh you really wanna know, Mrs. G? You wanna know what your Daughter was doing a few minutes ago before I walked in?”

“Not me.” Mindy mumbled under her breath.

“She was screwing this-this pansy right here!” Cassidy pointed at Mindy accusingly. Mindy stood there, awkwardly rubbing one of her arms.

Charlice crossed her arms, angry. “Is this true, Mindy?” She asked.

“No, of course it’s not.” She said, calmly. “I feel there is no hiding it anymore. We were planning to sneak Eris out of the mansion before the nuns could take...before they left for the School.” Sister Goldhue, with Vivian closely following, came into view.

“And I bet I know why.” She said. Vivian held onto her arm. “That man. Richard Goodoire. I have been fully informed of his abuse. I, at first, thought that he was maybe...falsely imprisoned. That perhaps it was some sort of misunderstanding. But I now know he was not a God fearing man as he claimed over the phone.”

Mindy perked up. “You’re the one he was yelling at?” She asked. Sister Goldhue nodded.

“Vivian here filled me in on what exactly happened after our phone call. I am...appalled that he would use my Church as a...as a means to punish that poor child.” She sniffed a little, and Vivian said comforting words to her in spanish, patting her back softly.

Charlice uncrossed her arms, and looked at Sister Goldhue with confused eyes. “So...what? Are you not going to take Eris with you?”

“Well-” Sister Goldhue began. However she was suddenly cut off by the thunderous crash of an old, rusty red camaro crashing through the front door of the mansion, completely destroying the stairs and interior design. The guests scrambled, and screamed, running out of the way of the car. Charlton and Eris bolted down the steps, Eris grabbing Mindy and dragging her to the car quickly, and without a seconds word the doors opened and Charlton shoved them both into it. The butler got in himself, slammed the door, and the car’s tire screeched against the marble flooring, pulling some of it off revealing plaster underneath. The rusty red camaro rolled backwards, and away. It drove out of the house, onto the front lawn, and past the gates of the Goodoire estate, leaving everyone utterly confused and wanting questions.
............
in case any of you are unaware, Sister Goldhue is an old closeted lesbian. and she just met the love of her life in one single post, so congrats to her having a better love life than me, all while being completely fictional at the same time!

“Oh not much. Now, what do you say we put these dogs down for good.” Lyger said.

Isaac flashed a white grin through a black balaklava that showed he could imagine little better.

The pair ran out of the back alley and…

...directly into a pack of black garbed Hounds dressed similarly to the Vigilante. Beyond that Hound stormtroopers with high powered weaponry and black visored helmets.

“I’m getting pretty sick of you low grade, bigoted shit-heels biting my style…”

Suddenly a red mist swept through the junction, Hounds fired out of surprise.

...or they tried to. The mist ate away at the soldiers metallic firing pins, knives, blades, the guns themselves.

Isaac chuckled and pulled his sticks.

“Carbonite nightsticks. No rust. Never bite the dust. Unlike present compan-- Hey!”

Lyger was in no mood for sitting through this man’s endless talk. These people had done too much damage. This was too important. He charged and immediately took the fight to the Hounds, flying with kicks and claws. Isaac quickly followed, throwing powerful shots with the nightsticks, and reading and counter-punching. He cut a path through the men like they were nothing. These people were trained, but if anything it harmed them. It was like they’d all sat through a 3 hour class of how to fight like him. He could read every opening move like a book, slip and counter appropriately.

Meanwhile Lyger was having his own fun, he fought a more chaotic style. Rode his metahuman athleticism, was acrobatic in ways that Isaac couldn’t imagine. He’d throw flying kicks and elbows, claw thrusts everything came natural and somewhat raw. Isaac was mostly grounded, but balanced. He’d thrash kicks at joints, stomp in a kneecap, but would mostly throw combinations, occasionally he’d grab a falling Hound and use him to shield from others advancing and then throw his human shield away to clear himself more space.

The pair were having no problems with these footsoldiers. Especially with firearms out of the equation. Isaac looked across to see how others were handling. Spotting someone he’d later come to know as Pantheon showing reckless disregard for life, Isaac growled out in shock.

“He’s killing too many of them…”

Lyger was busy and not in earshot. His own fight taking him some distance away, and unable to be heard over the din of the conflict.

Isaac yelled and pointed. “He’s killing too many of them!”

Lyger looked up, he kept fighting but he had his attention now.

“How do you think they got so many units here so fast?! Why do you think they haven’t nailed this place with their goddamn satellite weapon yet?!”

Isaac threw another combo, dropping four more Hounds. Lyger kept himself clear as well.

“They’re based around here! They don’t want to hit their own people if they can!”

The pair fought on, buying more time to holler to one another.

“What’s your point!?” yelled Lyger.

“Everyone he kills gets us that one person closer!”

More pummelling.

“Closer to what!?”

Isaac stomped a Hound’s kneecap in, whose leg spasmed underneath him and he screamed.

“Pipe down… I’m talking to my mate here… ACCEPTABLE LOSSES!”

At that very moment he saw a blue and silver streak shoot skyward. The pair of street level heroes spent a moment watching him soar. Then resumed pummeling Hound troops’ whose numbers were now starting to dwindle.

“Ah shit..!”

“Yeah! That’s not a good sign..! Hold on!”

Isaac started working for space again, taking more time to break individual Hounds down with specific care.

“I’m going to get us some answers!”

He managed to work himself some time to square off one on one with a likely sort, one of the Hounds storm troopers who had a full-face helmet.

“Where’s your base?!”

“Go to Hell!”

“Only if God sees how bad I’m about to beat you…” he fired back through his voice modulator, another bright white leer contrasted against his black balaklava.

The Hound stepped in and led with a straight right, the Vigilante caught his hand and pulled, dragging the trooper off balance, before bringing an elbow up caching the bottom of the helmet and snapping his head back. The Hound was stunned and that was all Isaac needed. He grappled, pinned his arm back and growled in his ear, applying strong pressure on the arm at both shoulder and elbow.

“Last chance… where are you based? Or you lose the arm, first at the elbow then I’m going to pop your damn shoulder! Tell me! Because someone here will, and I’ll have made you lefthanded for no reason!”

The response held a sense of resignation in the soldier’s voice, but not for the reason he’d hoped. It was the sound of someone who knew he’d made a terrible mistake and that intense pain was now going to be coming his way. A sound of a believer taking penance.

“F--Fuck you!”

Isaac sighed deeply. It sounded like wind blowing across a megaphone through his voice modulator. But it was a comparable pregnant silence compared with what was about to come.

Isaac gave a violent yank on his arm, felt a crack and it was immediately followed by a loud shriek, muffled only slightly by the helmet.

“Where. Is. It?”

More screaming.

“Damn it…” Isaac thought to himself.

“WHERE?! The shoulder!” Isaac yelled to be heard over the screaming.

More screaming. Another Hound tried to intercede. Isaac kicked him in the face, inadvertently putting more pressure on the wrecked elbow.

A horrific bellow came out of the trooper’s helmet.

“Last chance! Where are you based? Or the shoulder goes.”

Wheezing, muffled cries of pain and he was pretty sure the man had wet himself.

None of these were the answer he was searching for.

Isaac applied heavy pressure, to the man’s back and with a sudden effort felt the shoulder pop.

Less screaming, more shrieking. The trooper’s pain receptors had to have been ablaze.

“Talk, dammit!” He yelled, now starting to sound desperate himself. He was fast running out of options.

“Get off him, you mutant filth!” The Hound he’d kicked in the face yelled, getting back to his feet.

“Where is it!?” Only screaming, followed by a series of shallow breaths. “Shit, too much. He’s going into shock.” Isaac thought to himself. He walked over to the new Hound threat and kicked him in the stomach, winding him and buying him some more time.

He returned to the Hound trooper and did him the ultimate mercy; with a solid kick to the head he dropped him like a sack of spuds.

“Where?!?” He screamed, getting really close to the fallen trooper. The forced rapid breathing had slowed and there were no whimpers. He was unconscious, that much he was sure about. He rolled the trooper over and lifted him by the helmet.

“Either of you! Last warning! Where are you based!?”

“Go to Hell, you meta psychopath!”

Isaac stared the second Hound right in the face, and with a crazed glare and grin he laconically corrected soldier.

“Not a metahuman. Just a concerned citizen.”

And with that he gave a hard twist and turned the entire helmet around with both hands and dropped the trooper to the ground.

“Jesus fucking Christ! You just-- you just snapped his God damn neck!”

Isaac strode over to the other Hound. Who started to scurry away on the seat of his pants.

“Where… are… you… based?”

“Please! I have a family! Are you kidding me? You can’t-- Really? You’re human?”

Isaac slapped both hands on either side of the terrified Hound’s face.

“There’s plenty more of you. One of you WILL talk. Don’t make this have been for nothing. Like I told him… Last warning now…”

The Hound footman started to cry.

“Where are you based?” The slow steady nature of the Vigilante’s voice was truly terrifying.

“We-- We have a massive complex by the waterfront in Carver. Please don’t kill me. Please. It’s-- it’s not far from the bridge to Brooksdale. By the docks. I’ve forgotten the quay number now. But you’ll-- you’ll know it when you get there. Please don’t do this…”

Isaac let go of the man’s face. “Thank you.” He started to walk away. He stopped by the fallen trooper and bent down. He pulled the helmet off.

The trooper was wearing it backwards. The Vigilante had subtly unstrapped the helmet earlier when he last checked on the unconscious man and screamed in his face.

He walked back to the Hound who talked and threw the helmet firmly into the chest of the Hound who had talked. “Catch!” He caught it with two hands, getting knocked slightly off balance.

Isaac dropped him with a heavy right hook.

He turned to where Lyger had been, but he was already gone.

The Vigilante ran to his car. Icon may have been going after the gun, but Isaac was going for the finger at the trigger.

He pushed his car to the limit, squealing tyres and leaving rubber on the corners. As he was crossing the bridge from Little Sicily he caught a glimpse of the Iron Knight’s metallic form jetting overhead.

If the fight in Sherman Square was anything to go by, he wouldn’t be alone.

Alex stood across from another man in the ring, this man looked about 50 years old, he had greying hair on his head and his beard. The crowd roared as the announcer would yell in Chinese. The Cameras zooming around the room. Here they were, the second round was about to begin and Alex would be as calm as he could be. Jumping forward he would begin with three quick strikes, aimed at the stomach, the head and the chest, all three were blocked. The old man suddenly jumped over Alex’s head hitting him on the temple with two good shots, the second he landed he tried to sweep Alex’s feet. Alex jumped over the leg sweep while turning. Using his momentum he brought a foot around to kick the old man in the face. The crowd cheered. But what they didn’t see was the chi that both men had released. The kick had been almost countered by this older mans chi. He had his more developed from years of fighting. But Alex wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

He would switch stances as he leaned his torso back, as the man came up with palms open feigning attacks to the head. Alex wouldn’t even bite. He simply jumped back, the old man landing where Alex was originally, but he wasn’t quick enough for Alex. Alex launched himself after landing, planting a foot right into the man’s chest sending him stumbling backwards. Following it up with a fist to the head and then to the gut had the old man keeling over. Grabbing his head and throwing a knee up Alex would feel himself connect right on the man’s face. The man flew backwards and hit the ground. The bell rang and the crowd went wild.

-----
Later:
Alex laid on his bed eyes closed. He missed it, although he had fun at events like this he missed the idea of training someone who was unruly, but most importantly he missed just having company. He would call his girlfriend but she was asleep long ago. As for anyone else, he wasn’t the type to cheat nor was he the type to go and do promiscuous things. That’s when he heard a knock on the door. Walking over and opening he would see a tall man standing over him in a suit with three men behind him,

The man spoke in Chinese, but Alex understood him plainly. “In the next round you will be in the semi-finals. My clients have a lot of money on that fighter, enough money to know where you are sleeping. If you throw the match you can get a share of the profit… if you don’t… We will kill you.” It was a loose translation but Alex could tell that that is what was being said. Alex shook his head as he looked at the 3 men behind the already tall man in a suit. He saw that each were flashing sub-machine guns. Alex would shake his head at them. “Go fuck yourselves.” he would say as he took a deep breath and throw a punch right for the man’s chest. He let his chi explode with the punch sending the man flying into the other three. Alex would walk out as they were struggling to get up and kick each one in the face to knock them out.Quietly and calmly walking back to the hotel room he would pick up the phone and call the police, knowing that depending on who these guys were involved with might have the police in their hands too.
-----
An hour later

Alex stayed laying in bed as he was reading some type of book, after dealing with all that chaos he was just happy to be in a relaxed state. That’s when the phone rang. Looking over he got up and picked it up. It was his old master. His eyes shot open at the news, he didn’t say anything he simply hung up the phone as he cursed in multiple different languages. “What the fuck. How am I going to find a small American girl in all of China?!” he exclaimed. He lowered his head as he thought about Nicky and her special powers, how it would help her basically go anywhere she wanted because she wouldn’t get tired. He needed to make some phone calls. He wasn’t technically allowed to leave and not show up to a match by order of his contract. Otherwise he would be searching for Nicky. But if the police came after him, he would wind up in jail, or worse and that wouldn’t help her at all. He had to rely on the few people he knew to search for her.

“What the hell, Max?!” Charlton screamed at the driver of the rusty red camaro. Max Heighnsworth, the man driving, was a round pudgy guy in a black jacket and a torn Led Zeppelin t-shirt. He stared at the road with dark, brown eyes hidden behind a mop of messy hair. Charlton gripped the side of the car door, while angrily staring at his supposed “friend”. Max shrugged.

“I got tired of waiting. Plus there was this chick who kept making fun of the ride-” he said. He patted the steering wheel with affection.

Charlton stared at him in disbelief. “Are you serious right now?” He asked. “You could’ve ran someone over!” Max groaned, and slumped in his seat a little. He looked in the rearview to check on Eris and Mindy.

“Well, I didn’t. And besides, we got your kids out of there, and now we’re on our way.” He said.

“Where are you even taking us? Mindy said she knew a place.” Charlton asked.

“Which one is Mindy, again?” Max asked, scratching his chin.

“The one with the dark skin is Mindy.” The butler explained. “She is the Doctor I was telling you about.” Max nodded as if remembering suddenly.

“Right. Little Miss Prodigy.” He said. Eris and Mindy slept in the backseat together, Eris lazily leaning against the door frame, and Mindy slumped up next to her. “We’re heading for the shop. It’s the one place I could think of a bunch of nuns would never step foot in.”

Charlton shook his head. “I cannot believe you. I am definitely getting fired after this.” He said. Max laughed.

“You mean you had hoped that after kidnapping some elites kid, that they’d let you stay on the job?” He asked.

“You’re right. I was doomed from the start. I’m still blaming you, though.” Charlton said.

“Of course you are.” Max said, grinning. “But for a few days it’ll at least be like old times.”

Charlton smiled, fondly. “Right you are, Master Heighnsworth.”
…………..

When Eris and Mindy woke up, Max had finally stopped the car at their destination. Eris groggily opened their eyes, and tried to shift themselves in a sitting position. Mindy got up sleepily from Eris’ side, and blinked slowly. “Where are we?” She asked. “I feel like we’ve been driving for hours.”

“We have.” Charlton answered from the front seat. He unbuckled himself, and got out of the car. Eris yawned, and tried to blink the sleepiness from their eyes. Mindy did the same, and they both got out of the car on tired feet. Max had stopped in front of a small music shop called “Radio Central”, written at the top of the building in tacky red lettering with a tiny cartoon rocket on the side. It was a small little, brick building with rain stains and graffiti on the side. Posters for indie bands Eris had never heard of littered the sidewalk, and the windows of the storefront. Max took out a pair of keys.

“Welcome to Radio Central. The shittiest music store in Atlanta.” He said, sarcastically. Eris patted the side of the building before stepping inside.

“It could use a paint job.” They said.

“Woah…” Mindy breathed, as she looked around the crowded shop. The store was crammed full of old vintage CD’s and posters from the 80’s. “This place is so cool!” She squealed. Max chuckled.

“Yeah...I thought so too. Until I went broke.” He said sadly. “Now it’s a burden.” He flicked on a light, and the tiny room was suddenly alive. Eris could see what made Mindy so happy, and they had to agree. Radio Central was a wonderland for music lovers.

“This place is awesome.” They said. They spotted a record in one of Max’s “Classics” bin. “Holy shit. How did you manage to get your hands on every single Prince Album ever? I can’t see one that’s not missing here.”

“I have my ways.” Max said. “Most of ‘em were hand-me-downs from my old man. And Charlton.”

Charlton cleared his throat. “Yes, I do remember now where most of my collection went.” He said. Eris picked through some of the albums, while Mindy stared at the autographed posters on the wall.

“How did you and Charlton meet anyway? The only other person he can stand to listen to go on about Prince is me." Eris asked.

“I...used to work for Max’s family awhile back.” Charlton explained. “Before I was your butler, I was his.” Eris looked over at him.

“Oh.” They said. “How come I never-”

“It’s complicated, kid.” Max came from the back of the store. In his hand he held an old record player. “My family used to be top of the line, like yours. They fell broke a couple years back, though. And that’s how I ended up here, and Charlton ended up with you.” Eris scoffed.

“Clearly you got the better end of the deal.” They said. Twirling a Prince album between their fingers, they glanced at Mindy admiring the posters on the wall. They smiled. “You’re more of a music lover than I thought you were, huh?” They asked.

Mindy smiled sheepishly, “Well...I do love a fair bit of music. Though I doubt it’s too your level.” She said. “Your whole room is covered in posters of people I’ve never even heard of.”

“But I bet you’ve heard the songs before.” Max said. He set a record on, and the shop was filled with the dulcet tones of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”

“I have heard this song!” Mindy said, excitedly. “But only in really old movies.”

“It’s Frank Sinatra, my dear.” Charlton said. “He was a very splendid singer.”

“Until he dropped dead.” Eris said, rudely. “I heard he knew the mafia.”

“Oh those are just rumors. I heard it was some kind of gang.” Max said. “I mean, didn’t he live in New York for a little bit?”

“He lived in New York? I thought, he was from Chicago?” Charlton asked, confused.

“Frank Sinatra was an enigma even to his death.” Eris said, shaking their head.

“Well, wherever he was from, the folks around him must have been really lucky to hear him.” Mindy said. “I mean, just from this one song, I can tell he must have been really talented.” Charlton nodded.

“That he was, miss.” He said.

“How many records do you own, Max?” Mindy asked. Max shrugged, looking around the store.

“I have long since lost count, honey.” He said. “If I could hire someone else to just help me out with this place...I could probably tell you.”

Eris perked up. “You’re hiring?” They said.

“Sir, If I may object-” Charlton said. But both Eris and Max ignored him.

“Yeah, but only to people willing to work.” He said.

“I’m willing to work.” Eris said.

“Eris, what if they find you? You won’t exactly have time to work from your bedroom.” Mindy said, concerned. “And what if the police get involved?”

“Oh the police will definitely get involved.” Charlton said.”I have no doubt in my mind that at least one of us is seeing the inside of a jail cell.” Mindy looked at both of them frightfully.

“Wait, seriously-?!" She began.

“I am very well prepared for Prison, Miss.” Charlton explained. “Besides, we have money aside to bail us out. Or at least one of us.”

“If anything happens, I’m just gonna sell the shop, and use the money to get out somehow. I’ve got a guy who’s had his eye on this place for ages, and he would do anything for it.” Max said. “I think he even offered me money at one point, but if I’m going to jail for this, then I guess I’ll use him as my get out free card.”

“Then...why are we still going along with it?” Mindy asked.

“To help Eris, of course. I just roped Max in to help me out.” Charlton patted Max fondly on the shoulder. “Thank you for answering the call, and I’m sorry you might end up having to sell this place to get out because of me, but it means alot Master Heighnsworth.”

Max shrugged. “It’s cool, Charlton. Besides, I was gonna get rid of this place sooner or later.” He said. “It was only a matter of time.”

“Still...Something doesn’t sit right with me about this. I don’t know what it is.” Mindy said, shaking her head. “I feel like there is something else we’ve been neglecting about the plan. Not that I don’t trust you Eris, it’s just...I guess you could say this is the part of the story where some unforeseen plot twist pops up at us.” She chuckled, and then stopped. “I should probably stop, or else I’ll jinx us.”

………………

Days passed before the police finally found Eris and the gang at Radio Central, but to Mindy’s shock and surprise, they were not there to arrest her, or anyone. “Ms.Goodoire isn’t pressing charges, but she did want to speak to both of you two.” One police officer pointed to Eris and Mindy. Mindy nodded solemnly. She had a horrible feeling about this. Eris nodded nonchalantly, and followed the police officers to the squad car. Charlton and Max were free to go, but were told to not return to the Goodoire household.

They drove for what seemed like hours, before finally pulling into Eris’ driveway. There was caution tape around the whole of the front door, and where the steps were. Mindy and Eris had to pull it up over their heads in order to pass through it. Eris pushed open the front door, and standing in the entrance way waiting for them was Ms.Goodoire. In her hand she held official looking documents and a pen, a sight deadlier than a gun when it came to this family.

“Eris!” Their mother greeted them with great warmth, which they immediately knew was forced. “I’m so glad you’ve been found, honey.” She said. Eris looked at her, suspicious. Charlice then turned her gaze towards Mindy, and gave what Eris could only know as the “True Charlice Goodoire smile.” It was evil, and sly, and held the air of someone who has won a very long game. “And Mindy. I’m so glad they have found you as well, as I have a big surprise for you both.” Her voice dropped off near the end, and it was at this point the police had left. Mindy gulped, and grabbed Eris’ arm for support. So much for not jinxing them.

Charlice sighed heavily, and loudly, stretching her arms. She waved the documents around so that they could see them clearly. “I have something for you to sign, Mindy. And I think you will agree to the papers once we have our talk.” She said.

“I...I’m not signing anything.” Mindy said, determinedly. Charlice chuckled, darkly.

“Oh, but you will. If you don’t you can forget about ever being called ‘Dr.Diasco’. Sign them, or I will sue you for kidnapping my daughter.” Charlice said.

“She didn’t kidnap me, Charlice. I left on my own.” Eris said, through gritted teeth. They didn’t know what game Charlice was playing at here, but by the looks of the documents, it was clearly a very dangerous game.

Charlice scoffed. “Who are they gonna believe? Me, or some girl so confused she can’t even-”

“That’s enough!” Eris shouted. They stomped over to Charlice. “I don’t know if you know this, but we haven’t exactly been the closest on the family tree. So please, stop talking as if you’ve known me.” They said. “I don’t know if you can even call yourself a mother, seeing how you pawned me off on the butler for half my life. What gives you any right to call me your daughter other than some papers you signed 16 years ago?”

“Well I don’t think it’s going to matter anyway, daughter or not. While you’re not going away to some school, you are being held in this house. And I can do that as your legal guardian.” Charlice threatened. “Mindy, get over here and sign these papers.”

Mindy gulped. “What...what are they?” She asked, tentatively.

“A patent for your new drug, of course.” Charlice answered. “I was a bit curious about you, Mindy. My daughter was never really the type to bring in the smart kind. So I did a little digging of my own, and found out you had an advert planned for this mysterious, mind changing drug called…’Soundria’. It sounded...amazing. So I called in and…”

“No…” Mindy whispered horrified. “You...you were the buyer who wanted…”

“Yes. I wanted to buy you’re newest batch, but you said something about it being...buggy? Not ready yet? Of course, back then I was willing to wait, but now…” Charlice shook her head. “Now I want it for my own. As you can see, my daughter needs it greatly.”

Mindy looked horrified. “You’re...you’re sicker than he is! You’d give your own child untested medication as...as a punishment?” She looked close to tears.

“I don’t care if Mindy signs that piece of shit, there’s no way in hell you’re getting me to take that medicine!” Eris declared.

“It doesn’t matter, Eris…” Mindy said, horror struck. “The drug...it’s not ready yet... God what have I made…?” Mindy staggered on her feet. Eris went to her, and placed on her back. “Maybe it...maybe it won’t work. Maybe it’s a fluke...maybe...maybe…” Mindy was mumbling to herself.

“Well, it seems the poor girl is broken. Hopefully she’ll find company in her science lab. After she signs these pages.” Charlice walked over to both of them, and handed Mindy the pages which Mindy weakly grabbed at. Her eyes were glossed over, and all Eris could hear her saying was “Maybe” over and over again. “Sign the pages, Dr.Diasco.” Charlice said sweetly.

Mindy grabbed the pen in Charlice’s hand, and looked at Eris with a lost expression. “Mindy, I doubt whatever this is...is gonna be that bad.” They said. “The worst it’ll do is-”

“Give you a headache. Right.” Mindy said, deadpanned. She signed the papers, and then slowly backed away from the pages, as they fell to the floor from her hands. Mindy stumbled to the door, and Eris didn’t see her for quite awhile after that day.

Charlice happily clapped her hands together. “Yay. Now...about your punishment.” She said to Eris.

There was no one to protect Eris now. It was just them, and their deranged mother, all alone in a giant fancy mansion.
………..

The walls of Eris’ room had been stripped bare, and all that was left was the meridian hued plaster. The slight, fading green tinge looked inviting to them, and they braced themselves for whatever Charlice had planned for them next. “Now, this is much better, sweetie.” Charlice said, patronizingly. “I never understood why you wanted all those ugly posters anyway. I doubt you even actually liked any of those bands or singers. You were...what do you call it?”
Charlice stood in the doorway, dressed lavishly in a velvet red plunge dress. Eris thought she looked way to old for a dress like that, especially since she had no assets to show off anymore, but instead of playing along with Charlice’s mind games, they sat on the bed.

“Get. This. Over with.” Eris said. “I will take whatever lame ass punishment you have in store. Just like I’ve taken the other ones. There’s nothing you can do to me.” They spoke bravely. Charlice smiled sadly.

“Oh but I beg to differ.” She said. She walked over to Eris’ beauty mirror where sitting on top of it was a cassette player. Charlice pressed play on the tiny machine, and the room began to fill with the smooth sounds of Kenny G’s sax. Eris had noticed what it was immediately, and became very worried for their mother’s health just then.

“You’re gonna punish me by making me listen to Kenny G for hours on end?” They asked, jokingly. Charlice shrugged.

“Something like that. Music does wonders for the soul, you know.” Charlice said. She began to sway slightly on her feet, swinging to the music. “Your father and I used to listen to Kenny G when we were kids. He was new back then, and everyone was just...feeling the vibes from the music, as they used to say. We would sit and listen for hours to this man play jazz.” She shook her head fondly. “I never realized how much I hated music until after he left. Honestly, I don’t even know why I asked about your love of those posters. Clearly you got more than one undesirable trait from that man.” She sneered at Eris.

“So where’s this medicine?” Eris asked, snidely.

Charlice tapped the cassette player again with one nailed finger, and then left the room. She locked the door from the outside, a newly added feature Eris guessed was put into place the minute they left with their butler and friends in tow. They sat on their bed, and stared at the walls blankly, waiting for the medicine to kick in.
………..
288 hours till Surround Sound Activates
………..

On the first night, Eris could not sleep. The music was just a little too obnoxious, and it had begun to repeat itself as there were only 12 songs on the one tape. The medicine came in the form of pills, and at first Eris refused to take them. The first day, they got away with not taking any of the dreadful pills, and making it through the punishment completely fine. The second day, however, Charlice had their food drugged and laced with them. Eris soon began to feel the slight effects of Soundria.

They felt calm, and oddly sleepy. The music helped soothe them to bed, rather than annoy them, and Eris felt that even with the pills they would make it through this. The third day followed, and then the sixth. And then a week went by, and they were feeling completely and utterly alone. Charlice no longer brought food up to them, she had a tiny slot built into the bedroom door for the food.
…………..
120 hours till Surround Sound Activates
…………..

By the end of the first week, Eris was completely lost. They stared at the walls blinking rarely, but almost never falling to sleep. Through it all, they fought against the intense drowsiness, as they always had terrifying nightmares amplified by the sounds of the music. Drugged and feeling hopeless, they passed out a number of times falling into the depths of their night terrors. Charlice could hear their screams from her bedroom.
…………....
24 hours till Surround Sound Activates--->>>>Countdown ON: 24:59:00
…………………….
On the last day, Eris no longer slept in their bed. They were curled on the floor, unblinking and extremely hungry. They had tried to eat, but gave up after a while because of how heavy their bones felt. They knew the punishment could not go on forever, that their mother could not just forget about them being up here. But another part of them urged on by the voices in their dreams told them that she had long since abandoned them. The floor was very uncomfortable, and it was hard to breath for Eris, laying on their side that way. They could do nothing about it, though.
…………….
Countdown ON: 00:04:12
…………….
The day had sped by, but Eris could not tell at all. The sun had set, and in a few hours it would rise again. Charlice had the curtains removed, and the windows boarded, more so to ensure that Eris could not escape this hell rather than to add to the torture.
……………..
Countdown ON: 00:00:00 ---->>>SURROUND SOUND ON
……………………..

Eris wished that the music was gone, or that at least something else replaced its noise. They tried to remember what it was like listening to anything other than the Saxophone. As they searched their memory, they came upon a song they remembered from their childhood, and began to hum it slowly. The melody was off, and they couldn’t quite remember it because of the music from the tape. And then, by a sheer miracle that not even they could comprehend in that moment, the song changed.
……………..
SURROUND SOUND ACTIVATED
……………..
Suddenly the dulcet tones of Kenny G’s sax were over taken by George Harrison and his friends. Eris sighed in relief from the torture of the music, and began to hum along happily. They closed their eyes for the first time in days, and let the music feel over them. They imagined in their mind all of the things that the music made them feel; a panorama of color and shapes filled their mind, and they were happy for the first time in days. They slowly tapped their fingers on the ground to the song, hitting the beat everytime the chorus came in. They opened their eyes, and continued to tap, only to find that everytime they tapped little pixels would pop up from the ground in the same brightly colored orange that was in their mind.

They felt power come back into their body, not enough to fully escape the room, but enough to sway and dance to the beat of the song. They made the little pixels rise up from the ground, and they stared at its color happily. They danced freely then, letting their minds eye do the work, and suddenly the room was filled with Sunflowers. The room was dark, even with the bright glow of the pixel podiums and sunflowers. Eris wanted sunlight, like the song sang. “...Here comes the Sun…” They raised their arm slightly, a giant purple block forming from the movement. “Here comes the sun, and I’ll say…” As the bass line was struck, they felt themselves come alive again with no vigor. “It’s alright!” And with the chorus line being sung, Eris blasted the walls of their room using the purple block.

Instead of sunlight, they were greeted with the moons face, but they had been trapped in darkness for so long it didn’t matter to them. They wanted the music to be louder, they wanted other people to hear it, and based on the harried screams of Charlice Goodoire, they were heard. They looked behind them, the music blaring so loudly, and Charlice’s terrified face before them. They smiled at her, sweetly, and with new frightening eyes. Eyes that were once a dull grey, turned into a vibrant green. Pure Meridian.

With the last few minutes of the song playing, Eris raised their arm in the air, and they shot through the roof literally on a golden sunflower, smiling wickedly as Charlice screamed. They stood on the roof with the glow of their creations below lighting their path. They walked down a stairway created by their own imagination, a stairway made of purple and orange blocks fell before their feet leading to the roof, and all the way to the front lawn.

The destruction they left in their wake continued without them, however, and soon the whole house was destroyed with the power of music and dance alone. They were no longer Eris Goodoire at that moment, they had transformed to something completely insane and not all together there.

That was the day they gained their abilities, and donned the short monniker E.G.
………………
SURROUND SOUND OFF<<------DEACTIVATING….
……………………....

Okay so this is not the final post in E.G's origin story, I do plan to write another short follow up one that shows them fullfilling the rest of the Bio Origin i posted awhile ago. But, while this isn't the last post, it's definitely the last in their origin story, like this is it, the whole shabang guys. It's been real fun putting these together, so without further ado, I present to you a new addition to the posts!



"Tonight's Atmosphere" is a little feature I've decided to add to my posts in which you guys get to listen to a song that inspired me in writing the characters and plot featured in the story above, so i hope you enjoy it, my taste in music has been called terrible before, so click at your own risk.