@canaryrose@DarkRecon

"The flare?" Joseph asked. "What's the fl-ueghuh!"

Unfortunately, he had yet to make it very far into his questioning before he was silenced by a car to the jaw. Of course, he'd been expecting this from the moment he realised Jamie was going to drive, but even after resigning himself to that fate, it didn't make the impact any easier to take. It was almost enough to make him feel sorry for poor... he decided he'd go with 'Angus'... in the back seat.

However, he was at least glad to see that Jamie seemed to know where she was going, because he only sort of did. Directions weren't really his strong suite at the best of times. Hell, he only even knew how to get to the target from the Hags place and back because it was actually a surprisingly frequent trip for him, and even then he usualy needed a crudely drawn map to avoid getting lost most of the time. Trying to get from there to HERO 1 without a cheat sheet sounded like actual hell to him.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Jamie mention something about Starbright not being free, and after briefly mentally kicking himself for letting his guard down, looked out the window to see the protestors and their signs.

"He wasn't on the list..." Joseph mumbled, loudly enough for the others to hear despite mostly just talking to himself. "But he has been unusually helpful recently. Maybe he's finally turned against the Wings publically..."

He nodded at Angel's suggestion comment about social media. He wasn't big into it himself, but he knew Starbright was meant to have quite a large presence in that type of thing, being a celebrity and all. If he'd said something there, it only made sense that the Wings sent someone out to try and silence him. Of course, this would also bring even more negative attention to them, but these were the people who only sent two minor villains out to take Jamie down. It was looking more and more like expecting sensible plans from them would only leave him disappointed.

Damn it, his mind was drifting again! He had to stay focused! As they crossed the bridge, he performed some last minute checks. The runes on his clothes hadn't been damaged in the fight, which was good, and he had full stock on most runes, although he would just have to hope he wouldn't need to short-circuit any more machinery, having used all of that type against Wireman. In terms of weapons, everything he could still carry from his broken down scooter had full ammo, and he had a good stock of close range goodies for when it came to that. So all in all, things were looking pretty good assuming he didn't need to fight any robots or similar cybernetic baddies. His head was feeling a little fuzzy after getting knocked around during the drive, but hopefully that wouldn't be too much of a problem.

Upon entering the base, he was glad to see that most of the potential enemies inside already knew better than to try and fight Jamie. All except-

"Oh no! Don't tell me they got to you too Admirer!" He shouted, a small hint of genuine distress leaking into his voice. He'd actually thought the Admiral was pretty cool, like an older version of their gang.

This frustration only grew stronger when the older man addressed Jamie, telling her he'd be bringing her in.

"Are you serious old man?" He asked, already moving to avoid the anchor as he swung it. "Did all those games we shared mean nothing to you?!"

An image flashed through Joseph's mind. The two of them sitting in the break room, a game of Battleship that he had firmly lost on the table betweem them, as he held his head in frustration while the old anchor-wielder laughed uproariously. It was a good memory, a happy one. It may also have been one he completely fabricated. It was possible he sustained minor brain damage during the u-turn.

But it had been real to him...

"I mean come on, how can you just forget about me after all that?! I'm wanted too damn it!!!"

Now, if anyone were to ask him about this later, he'd make sure they understood that he was only saying all of this to mess with the Anchorman. However, he couldn't deny that a small part of him was legitimately peeved over how he had been completely ignored. True, in the picture they used of him in the list, he'd been in the background, facing the other direction, and half of his head had been out of the frame, but... still!

No, wait, calm down and focus.

He blinked, returning to his senses for, well, hopefully at least a few seconds. His head clear for the time being, he pulled a few sticking tags from his pocket and dropped them at his feet, leaving them inactive for now.

"Jamie, over here! I think I've got a plan!"

Pandora stepped through the portal having reorganized her belongings. At the very least, she was doing something again. It had been a long time since she moved through a portal like this one, but never before had she ever crossed such a vast distance. It was a useful ability for sure. Though...Grace did drop them a bit close.

"Could have landed right on a bloody cop..." Pandora murmered under her breath. Pandora waited. It would be ideal for them to interrogate a police officer, see which ones were or weren't involved in the murders or the cover-up. One of them, at least, had to be crooked.

"Well, with your powers, Aria," Pandora whispered. "We could find out anything we wanted if we get our hands on enough coppers. I could easily snag a few without being noticed and bring them to you. Right now, though, I say we wait to see what Alpha here-" She stopped talking as a serious and stern looking young man dropped from the sky and crossed his arms. Then, he didn't say anything. Kind of an anti-climax, really. Pandora looked at him stoicially. Then, she juttered out her chin and lower lip, bugging out her eyes expectantly. "Well? What?" She asked, expression returning to her normal mild annoyed state.

She looked over at the school girl, Patricia. "You know this one?" She asked. Pandora knew a few of the goings on, and she had heard of Kanati before but her research wasn't paying off, as the identity of the stranger had slipped her mind. Either way, he didn't seem immediately hostile and Aria and Alpha weren't panicking. Alpha told them to fill him in, even.

"All right..." She marked him down as a new ally in her mind. "We're here to commit some felonies. You in, or what?" Pandora asked, making bitter light of the situation.

Instead of putting her head down and shoving her way through the crowd, Jamie waved cheerily at the belligerent onlookers. She was very much aware that she was in a delicate position, being wanted as an accomplice for mass murder and all, but kindness was the best policy. Attacking her coworkers was a last resort, and she doubted anybody would want that anyways. They had all seen what she could do. It wasn't pretty. But before Jamie could make a beeline for the elevator, someone, much to her surprise, stepped in their way. She only vaguely recognized him from work parties and such, but she fixed him an amused stare all the same. No fear pumped through her veins, no anticipation of a fight. She almost wanted to laugh, actually. This guy looked funny! What with that sailor’s outfit and the anchor… what a fun gimmick! “No, it doesn’t!” Jamie giggled. “Silly goose. It’s not like I actually did anything. We can just let bygones be bygones and you can let me up there and I’ll see you at the next office party, no big-”

But midway through her cheery posturing, a shockwave echoed through the ground. Jamie was so caught off guard that she didn’t even remember to redirect like she had done earlier with Dungeon Troll. The blast threw her to the floor, something that didn’t happen often. “Ow, dickhead!” she shouted at Admiral, picking her head up off the floor and panting, glaring at him. That had hurt. She was fine, but still… why would her coworker attack like that? Didn’t they have any faith in her at all?

Jamie picked herself up off the tile floor, glaring at Admiral, wondering how to attack. Strategy wasn’t her strong suit, but that anchor seemed to be sort of important, right? Maybe she could break it? She examined it as Joseph attacked. No, it was metal, probably. His hand, though… that she could work with. “Take this, asshole!” Jamie screamed once Joseph had moved out of the way. She extended her right hand and blasted his anchor hand, breaking it and sending the anchor skidding away. “You want some more? Huh? HUH!” Jamie was ready to attack again- she was pissed now. No one knocked her over and got away with it. She had her hands up, ready to attack once again, when Joseph’s voice called to her. She turned her head, hands still up. “It’s alright, Jojo! I’ve got it handled. I’m pretty sure Admiral’s going to let us go if he values his collarbones.” She slid her gaze to Admiral. “Right? Or do you need a reminder, maybe?”

---

Patricia listened to Alpha quietly, nodding along. Although it pained her to admit it, he had a point. “You’re right. We wouldn’t want to contaminate any evidence. But, knowing Seraph, most of it’s probably made up anyways. Mr. Impressive strikes me as the hair collector type, and Seraph’s sneaky enough to try and plant my fingerprints at the scene. They’re not dumb, and they don’t half-ass stuff like this. There’s a reason why the cops think I did it.” She grimaced, and fixed her stare on the nightclub and the ambulances surrounding it. A chill ran up her spine.

Originally, she had thought that the bodies in the photo were fake- actors, pretending to be dead. But the black body bags on the stretchers were real. People were dead, but not because of her. Who else in Castleburg could’ve killed like this? She gripped the side of the dumpster tightly. The bodies had looked undisturbed in the photos, almost asleep. From obsessive research, Patricia knew that was a hallmark of the Maestro’s murders. But her father was in Coldwater, locked up tight in a tiny concrete box for the rest of his life. It wasn’t him, and it wasn’t her, and there weren’t any other people like them in Castleburg. And the autopsies had apparently came back looking similar enough to previous cases that they were convinced it was her. Automatic, sudden brain death was difficult to replicate in that many people at once. So who had done it?

“Good idea, Pandora,” Patricia whispered to the older (?) woman. The idea had been somewhat along the lines of what she had been thinking, but she hadn’t been sure if they’d be able to nab a cop or not. “Speaking of my power, here. I brought these.” Patricia pulled a little baggie of earbuds out of her pocket and offered them to Pandora. “They’re specially made sealing earbuds that prevent the sound waves that my singing produces from affecting your brain. Basically, it’s an insurance policy. I give them to all my coworkers. Don’t lose them. You’re going to need to put them in once I-” Patricia finally realized that Pandora was not, in fact, listening to her, and blushed bright red. Instead, she was staring at something behind them, arching her brow. Patricia turned her head too, only to see someone she wasn’t sure she wanted to see.

Kanati. Patricia’s breath caught in her throat. Was he here to arrest her? No, he still hadn’t moved. He was just watching. “Uh, yeah, I do…” she told Pandora, fiddling with her hands. “This is Kanati. He’s one of our… ex-coworkers, I guess.” She chuckled darkly.

Then, she turned to Sam, looking him in the eyes. “Sam, I didn’t… I didn’t do anything. I swear. Seraph framed me for- for all this. You’ve gotta believe me. It wasn’t me,” she pleaded. Then, she sighed and drew herself up. “If you’re here to arrest me, I’m not going down without a fight. But if you’re here to help, we’re gonna wait for Alpha to come back before we do anything.” She watched the scene expectedly, too, tracking Alpha across the scene.

“Wait, uh, we’re not-” Patricia protested at Pandora’s comment, but then realized they definitely were committing felonies. She huffed. “I guess mind controlling a cop and interfering in a police investigation counts. Shit, I hope HERO covers for us once this is all over…” she muttered, and then shut up and watched the scene, glancing at Pandora and Kanati occasionally.

---

After doing some digging in the underground fight clubs of Castleburg, something caught his eye. A symbol that a fighter wore, eerily familiar to the time when his life turned upside down. A funeral service, he remembered, but that wouldn’t make much sense for their emblem to be branded into his skin. While it could have been a tattoo designed to make a statement, Zhaire was a little more perceptive than that.

During the fight, the combatant didn’t seem to want to fight. There was growing hesitance, a tendency to look over his shoulder at someone outside the cage. The fight could have been fixed, but it seemed to be in his favor. It was clear that he was matched up with a much weaker opponent, whose powers he seemed immune to. Eventually, he finished the fight with a single blow to the opponent’s head, but it looked like pulling teeth.

Going on a gut feeling, Zy decided he’d look into it. After going through an online forum in the dark web for the club, he found a name and that name, in turn, led to Utica. He had questions that needed answering, and they were long overdue.

Zy told Powers that he’d be back. So, that was how he ended up on the train leading upstate. He stood with a bag slipped over his shoulder as they were nearing the station. Attempts from the attendants to get him to sit down were dismissed. His eyes were glued to the window in thought. As city streets and skyscrapers faded into trees and fields, anxious tension built up in him. Questions of his past, of what he thought he knew, ate at him.

A man wearing that symbol on his jacket took the bodies of his mother and brother. Claiming to work with the funeral services. Though, at the burial, only his mother went down, while his brother had a fucking plaque on a wall. He was told that it was a “special memorial for a special boy”.

Why couldn’t he see the body? The police report said that his body was never found...but that was a lie. That man had him. For what purpose, Zy swore to find out. What if he was alive, all this time? What if--

The train’s sudden stop caught him off guard and his bag fell onto a girl a row over from him. Zy blinked but quickly went to retrieve it.

“Sorry about that--” He caught himself mid-breath at who he had stumbled across.

The girl in question, who had been otherwise occupied by happily listening to her favourite playlist, looked up when a dull pain suddenly bloomed across the back of her head. “Ouch...” The word slipped out in a disgruntled mutter, a hand reaching up to gently rub at where she’d been unceremoniously hit, trying not to mess up the somewhat neat french braids that were in place. Satisfied that she wasn’t bleeding, Brianna turned to complain to the responsible party. Though when she saw who it was, any insults she had been preparing to wield, disappeared into thin air.

“Zy!” The brunette exclaimed, green eyes widening in a sudden burst of excitement. “What are you doing here?! I mean, are you going to Utica?” Brie scoffed at the idea, even if she was also going to the exact same place. Though for the Brookside native, the idea of going to anywhere that wasn’t a giant ass city was pretty amusing. ”Sit down, sit down.” She smiled, pulling on his arm in an attempt to try and get him to occupy the luckily free seat next to her.

“Hey B.” Zy chuckled. Well now he felt a little bad that he wasn’t paying attention. Briefly checking the surroundings of the current stop, it appeared Utica was the next stop. So when she tugged his arm, he was happy to sit down. For whatever reason, it was always a surreal sort of nostalgia whenever the young man bumped into Brie. Well, he supposed he’d only seen his old best friend in passing since his return to the northeast US. Most of his time in the city had been dedicated to finding the Red Baron.

Zhaire set his bag down by his feet. Thinking about her question, he shrugged needlessly. “I was heading upstate to come down from the highs from the city smoke.” He joked, though shaking his head a little.

“Nah, I just had some business to tend to up here.” Zy explained. Before saying that, he had briefly thought about telling his intentions for going to Utica. Though, in the end, he didn’t have enough proof that he wasn’t just chasing an empty rabbit hole. If he told her the reason directly, knowing her, she’d probably drop what she was doing to help him. Zy didn’t want that, plus not even knowing the threat at hand; whatever it was had to be more trouble than it was worth for her.

He caught himself staring and turned his gaze elsewhere. “So, where are you headed? You going to Utica?” He reflected the question back with a smaller smile.

“Yep! I’m off to an electricians convention!” Brie beamed, seemingly genuinely excited about it. To be honest, the young hero really had no idea what happened at a convention, but when she’d been invited she’d had grand ideas about rooms packed full of wires and generators. She would be sorely disappointed to find out this was not the case. “I thought they hated me cause I cause blackouts and stuff, but apparently some company wants me to be their sponsor!” She added happily.

“What kind of business do you have?” Her head tilted to reflect her curiosity, eyes glancing over to Zys own even when he looked away. “Is it HERO stuff?” Brie had been so happy when she’d found out Zy was working for HERO, though as of yet they’d really had no chance to work together, even though she knew it would be totally cool if they did.

Zhaire shrugged his shoulders at her question. “Nah, I’m just checking to see if an old friend still lives up here. I’d have called first but he’s an old guy, not too tech savvy.”

This was true to a certain extent, as he did want to find the man that took him away, he’d surely be old by now...At least that’s what he told himself. From her explanation, it seemed like she was just up here on a trip just because. He was glad to hear that she was coming up here for what seemed like a fun reason. While what she said about the counterintuitive reasoning against her invitation was interesting, Zy didn’t suspect enough for foul play to be at work. He definitely didn’t want to ruin her trip if she was just taking a break from HERO.

“But, it looks like I’m running into young friends on the way.” Zy smirked, kicking his feet up on the seats of the empty row in front of them. “So, how you been all this time? We hadn’t exactly had time to catch up…”

Her eyebrows raised questioningly at the mention of an old friend, wondering who he could mean. They’d once run in the same circles though she supposed that had been a long time ago now. Inwardly shrugging her shoulders, she smiled lightly at his question. “I’ve been great!” Brie replied, pulling her own feet up so that they were tucked underneath her, despite having been told multiple times by the train conductor to stop doing this.

“Well...working for HERO was kinda weird at first. They have loads of rules and stuff, and I kept getting told off for weird reasons.” Frowning, her nose scrunched up in annoyance at this thought. “But they pay super well so I guess it’s worth it...but what about you?! I thought you’d fallen off the face of the earth for a while y’know.” A small frown briefly flashed across her face as she nudged him in the side with her elbow. It wasn’t that she had been worried, he could obviously look after himself, but it had still saddened her to lose contact with one of her closest friends.

Zy seemed rather attentive to her description of working for HERO. From the sounds of it, Powers’ organization was strict but worth it, at least for her. It was a strange feeling between being genuinely happy for her, yet hurt when learning she was doing great without him. There was once a time where they were something close to inseparable. Of course it was his own fault for leaving, and like she could read his mind, she asked about it.

He looked at her and he smiled, though it was rather small. “I...It was hard to function after Mom died and I…lost Dizzy. Some of my family was close, I initially would have lived with them…” Zhaire paused, staring off into nothing now. There were several seconds of silence as his body tensed and slowly relaxed again. His head shook.

“But I couldn’t-- Not after what happened. So, I left and I drifted from place to place for a while. Been a lot of places, learned a lot of things. Went through a period where I was eh...angry.” Zy darkly chuckled. “But I met some old kung fu guy, when I came back to the northeast US, he lives in Jersey. He helped me through it, to gain control over myself.” He calmly gestured with his hands, now able to look back at Brie.

“He taught me a few tricks too.” He smirked. “Apparently, he worked with HERO back in its early days, and lived in Brookside too. He inspired me to come back as he kept reminding me of home and you.--” He froze momentarily.

“And everyone that was still here when I left, I mean.” Zy was sure he masterfully recovered that fumble of words. “With the skills I learned, I figured I could use it to help home. I guess Glide tipped Powers off to what I was trying to do because he found me and offered me the job. I thought about it a while, and I took it.”

Zy sighed, feeling like he was talking forever. To be honest, this was probably the first time he got it out in the form of words. Even more honestly, one of the only times he felt comfortable enough.

With all of that said, he wasn’t sure what to add, so he kept quiet.

“Right…” Brie's voice quieted as he spoke about his family. Although she had always struggled to understand others when they spoke of loving their parents, she knew how close Zy had been to his mom. “I’m so sorry about that Zy. Your mom was great…” She smiled lightly, “But Dizzy? What do you mean you lost him?” The young hero looked down at the ends of her brunette braids, playing with one of them absentmindedly as she remembered the time when she’d tried to dye her hair an outstandingly brash colour of pink. It was amazing how easily she could feel herself slipping into that familiar back-and-forth that had always passed so easily between them, even though they’d both been tearaway teenagers when he’d disappeared.

Despite the sadness of his earlier words, she was unable to stop the loud laugh that escaped her lips when he mentioned his mentor, prompting a few stares from the passengers around them. “Wait, did you say a Kung Fu guy? Really?! That’s brilliant!” She shook her head, breaking the palpable tension. “You’ll have to show me some of your moves.” The hero raised her eyebrows challengingly at him, “Though I bet I’m still a better fighter.” She was of course referring to her own brand of rather scrappy fighting, which although chaotic, usually yielded her pretty satisfactory results.

Zy hadn’t realized his wording drew attention to Dizzy’s absence, and he was thinking of ways to change the subject. However, she did it for him, smoothly smirking and crossing his arms. Some of the weight that he dragged on his shoulders felt lighter, with her lighthearted mood. He remembered her always doing that. That light in the dark; the diamond in the rough. It was what drew him to her in the first place, a quality Zy was sure her new group of friends liked about her as well.

“I’m sure we’ll see one way or another.” Zy jested, looking back up as apparently an announcement on the screen declared they were nearing the Utica Transit Station. Zy pulled his feet back down and sat up a little straighter.

“Well, it looks like our stop’s coming up.” It ate at him a little, as he was hoping to talk to her a little longer. At least he managed to get through this part of the reunion with her, as it wasn’t like this was the last time they’d see each other. He was actually pretty glad that she wasn’t mad at him for running off, as that was really one of the things holding him back from approaching earlier on.

“It was cool; running into you again. Felt like old times.”

Brie's gaze followed his to look up at the screen and she nodded, reaching over for her clearly well-loved backpack, which was fraying at the edges and had smudges of dirt on the canvas fabric. “That was quick!” She grinned as she watched the train begin to slowly pull into the station. “Yeah, it was super fun to catch up. We should meet up after Utica or something, or even here if you’re not too busy!” Brie looked over to him as she stood up, slinging the straps of her bag over her arms.

“I’m probably gonna be bored out of my mind when I’m not at the conference.” She’d heard that Utica wasn’t very interesting, though she’d already begun to google touristy things to do. Brie had never really been a tourist before so even a city as mundane of this was enough to excite her. It would be even more fun if Zy tagged along as well, though she supposed he was going to be busy with his old friend...whoever that was. Although she was still curious about it, she knew Zy well enough not to push it any further than she already had done. As much as she desperately wanted to do.

“Well, see ya later!” The young hero pulled him into a quick hug as people began to trail out of the carriage, shooting him one last smile before following after them. Zy’s hand raised to wave after she started off, the other slugging his duffel over the shoulder.

Stepping out of the train and looking around, a feeling of anticipation welled up in his stomach. Just like that, it was up to him now. The mystery of his childhood had roots in this downbeat town. If Dizzy was still alive or not, Zhaire was going to find out.

No matter what it takes.

---

The man walking out of the elevator made Chad somewhat uncomfortable - it was rare for him to see a person taller than him, and even more than that, he had never been in the same room as someone with so many mutations. Chad shook the feeling quickly, recognizing the figure almost instantly based on their green skin and choice of attire. The Shocker lacked as much merchandise as some other Heroes had, with the only poster of the Hero displaying his name as 'Frankenstein'. Even if the posters printing was brief, Chad rarely saw people refer to The Shocker by the proper name.

Chad used to think it was pretty funny, but recently, he had started to sympathize. Chad didn't have much time to try a friendly approach however.

"Just die! How about that! Hah! Serves you right, you prettyboy piece of shit!"

Lighting shot forwards at Starbright, faster than Chad could react - if the attack had been aimed at him, he would have definitely been hit despite his super speed. Starbright, however, had much more experience as a Hero. Chad's mouth gaped open from behind his mask when he saw his Idol dodge the attack

Before Chad had a chance to congratulate Starbright, the Hero started to question The Shocker as he walked backwards.

'Bullet, quickly give me your phone and unlock it for me."

"S-sure thing."

Chad handed Starbright his phone, not even noticing the incredibly fast movements Starbright made.

"The Shocker! Noooooo! I can't believe EAGLES got to you too... Try to remember, we were friends back in HERO. How could you not remember that? How could you just attack me like this? You know I am innocent Shocker. What crime have I, Starbright, committed to be hunted down by EAGLES, huh? Answer me that."

Chad was confused as he moved out of frame of the camera - Starbright had just finished telling The Shocker that he didn't recognize him, but now he was recording him and saying they were close friends? The thought that Starbright was streaming hadn't even crossed Chad's mind, considering how briefly Starbright had his phone. Much more importantly - Starbright was brining up a good point. Despite being a Hero, The Shocker was attacking them for no reason at all.

"You haven't done anything, Starbright! We're just looking for our friend..."

No, Chad recognized what was going on. The Shocker joined EAGLES, just like Starbright said - he wasn't a Hero anymore, just like Seraph.

These feelings were reaffirmed when another blast of lighting erupted from The Shocker's gauntlets, blasting the phone from Starbright hands. Chad gaped as the smoking piece of melted plastic smashed into the ground, glass breaking off from the screen as it bounced several times. The Shocker was definitely not a nice person.

Chad heard the roaring of the crowd outside, at first unaware of it's origins. He was even more nervous when Starbright stumbled. As Starbright began explaining, however, it all began to make sense.

"Well good job... dumbass. You and your other ugly ass EAGLES buddies just killed Starbright on an international live stream. That just leaves one loose end."

Chad didn't have much time to appreciate Starbright's great idea, however. He posed and a blast of light beamed directly at The Shocker - and even when it wasn't aimed at him, it was bright enough that Chad was thankful his helmet was tinted.

"Take care of him please."

Finally seeing his chance to help out, Chad clenched his fist and started to run. Chad tried to keep low to the ground, planning to shoulder tackle The Shocker in the mid section, and back into the elevator he came out of. Chad always envisioned his first fight being a lot more... fair. But considering the phone that The Shocker just vaporized was only a few weeks old, he felt justified in being a little rough.

If Chad was lucky, The Shocker would be too busy covering his eyes to defend himself or attack. And if he was slightly less lucky, missing and slamming into the wall wouldn't give him a concussion, or send him through the wall and down the elevator shaft.

If he was unlucky, Chad would experience his first taste of real hero work.

Standing at attention, K Nine listened in as Bulldog recounted his side of the events that had happened so far as well as the evidence that was discovered against Aria. Any other day, K Nine would have followed the rulebook on this one.

But not today...not after seeing and reading Aria's side of the story during the week.

"...with all due respect sir...despite all that...this all feels like a setup...she can't even LOOK at a dead boy without feeling sick...plus, I'm sure you heard about what happened to me, Aria and several others a week prior during the fourth of July festivities...kidnapped...hunted by Ogre's...the villain Nero...if anything, she's mostly the reason why we all lived through that...if I may speak freely for once...bullshit of a kidnapping...we had even obtained evidence that linked Seraph to it...but after what Powers did to the bar here a week prior and his sudden "retirement" allowed him immunity from that case thanks to his lawyers no doubt..."

Then, much like he did before, K Nine stopped talking monotone and spoke in a normal voice. His emotions on this matter showing.

"Again, with all due respect Bulldog, I don't like this whole setup. Right now, all were doing is feeding Seraph's ego. And I know Wings of Law had taken credit for things they never did. They did it with Hero One and I KNOW they did it with CPD over the years. And now were supposed to "trust" his word while his Eagles run around the city causing damage worse than Hero One has ever done in one mission? Even now from what I heard, a fellow hero Brum has lawyered up in Aria's defense and Starbright is using HIS social media status to rally support for her through out Castleburg. But more importantly sir...don't you find it weird that Aria got THAT sloppy with fingerprints and hairs left behind even though she hid herself behind a hoodie? And the fact that the list of people Seraph thinks committed these murders is mostly those that were kidnapped a week ago minus myself?"

K Nine then closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he continued.

"Then there's the fact that he hijacked every general media device from T.V.'s to Radio's to broadcast his suspicions. Even before that, a villain called Caustic did that to publicly execute then Wing's member Rainbow Dancer with him admitting to the wrongs the Wing's of Law did...you should know Bulldog. The only reason Seraph and his Eagles are getting away with this is because the ICOSA is dragging their heels on this but then again, Power's sudden "retirement" might be one of the reasons for it."

K Nine then took a deep breath then went back into "monotone" mode.

"...sorry sir...but all this stinks worse than a pile of trash...and as the CPD, we can't exactly sit on our butts and say "well we don't believe you Seraph"...but we do have criminal charges on Seraph for causing all this ruckus and NOT leaving it to official hero teams and CPD among suspicion of kidnapping myself and the others...but yes sir..."

He then saluted Bulldog but told the first "lie" in his life.

"...I'll keep an eye out for Seraph if by some miracle I do find him...then I'll personally put a pair of Isolene Handcuff's on him...as for Aria...I'll try to bring her in sir...but I do it under protest..."

On that, he then left towards the alley and dumpster the others were hiding in.



Thing were heating up as Alien Angel watched the fight from her vantage point in the air. She really was just distracting The Admiral so to give her allies any openings for an attack.

It seemed to work as The Admiral lost his anchor and an injured arm...but when he made the ground and even parts of the building shake, even she knew all bets were off.

Even more so when he rushed at Quake with his war statement.

"Heads up Quake!", Alien Angel said as she quickly dove towards The Admiral, ready to punch the guy flat on his back.

"Ooh, that sounds good, I loved the first one too..." He beamed back down at Grace as she spoke, just being so adorable. "Of course you can call me Tommy, Gracie..." He continued to listen to her talk before the cough cut across across the room, originating from the Rumibot. Tom was a little annoyed that Rumi had seemingly ruined their moment, but he supposed there would be plenty of time for smooching and being cute with Grace after this whole thing was over. So he crossed his arms and watched Grace as she went over and created a portal for Rumi to escape from, before coming back to him. Tom couldn't help but smile as she grasped his hand tightly before the pair set off down the hall.

It wasn't long before they happened upon the other scene taking place on the floor. They happened upon it just in time to see The Shocker blast the cell phone out of Starbright's hand. "Woah!" Tom exclaimed, stepping back a little. He wasn't sure if he could do another fight... But then he looked down at Grace, who was urging him to do something to help. Well, he definitely wasn't going to back off in front of his new girlfriend... And Chad and Starbright needed help as well, he supposed. So he stepped forward, intending to send The Shocker simply careening back into the elevator to tie things up nicely.

And then suddenly, Chad came running forward at, well, bullet-like speed. Tom couldn't help but be impressed with the young hero, super speed was definitely a cool power. And it looked like it was going to be effective on The Shocker, who was tidily sent back into the elevator, which dinged and started to go down. But then, suddenly, a burst of electricity came from the elevator, stopping it in its tracks as The Shocker, clearly very angry, began to step back out, still rubbing his eyes a bit. "Don't worry, I'll handle this..." Tom said, quickly floating over to try and deal with it.

He quickly floated over and flipped gravity sideways for a moment, which sent The Shocker back into the elevator, Tom quickly floating in and joining him there. He narrowly missed a burst of electricity which flew over his head, keeping The Shocker pinned to the back wall of the elevator as he kicked his foot backwards, trying to find the button to send it back down. He felt his food collide with something, then heard a beep, and Tom quickly floated back out just before the doors closed and the elevator went back down. Tom sighed before turning around. "Alright, he'll probably just come back up again, so we should get out of here." He quickly walked over to Grace and took her hand again.

@Hitman @Jumbus @Duoya

Pandora nodded at Kanati and pressed her back against the wall. She kicked some garbage out of the way with her bare feet that somehow seemed remarkably clean. As she was doing so she was reaching with her back hand without looking. Grasping at the empty air. Eventually she turned around and looked annoyed at Aria. "Gimme the things." She said, as if it was Patricia's fault for not understanding right away.

Pandora had listened as well as she could to Alpha and Bulldog's conversation. When Alpha re-appeared she crossed her arms. "Did you have to leave him so conclusively and with such dramatic finality? I was hoping you could be in Club 27 for my plan. I do have a plan, by the way, and it's better than yours." Pandora said dismissively to everyone in the entire group, her unique take british accent somehow enhancing her haughtiness.

"Alright," She rubbed her palms together.

(How long has it been since I've done a plan like this?
Since the First World War, probably.
What about that one time in Vietnam?
Oh, right. Well, hopefully this ends up better than that.
And those riots in the sixties.
Ah, yes! Good times, good times.)

Pandora formulated her thoughts and then looked to everyone in the group. Once she had gotten a general sense of their powers she nodded again, like this only confirmed her previous thoughts.

"Right. We've got Active Enhancement, Passive Enhancement, and Temporary Puppetry." She pointed to Alpha, Kanati, and Aria in that order as she spoke. Then she turned the thumb on her self. "And me. Who can do whatever she wants." She said smugly, turning her back to the group and focusing her attention on the brick wall behind her.

"So, we've got us here. A few buildings east of us is Club 27 with the space they've cleared out around it." As she spoke, a visual map came to life on the brick wall. She gestured her hands and fingers, and bright white chalk appeared on the brick. In only a moment an incredibly detailed, if slightly stylized, map appeared. There was a collection of chalk circles huddled in one of the alleyways. A peach colored one for Pandora, a purple one for Patricia, a light blue one for Alpha, and an orange one for Kanati. The colors just felt right somehow. One thing she knew for sure was that this visual representation was far better than anything Grace could do, and she didn't need to mess with anyone's flowers to do. Only some dirty ugly brick wall next to a dumpster. Her map would really only improve it.

"Our plan is as follows: Step one: Infiltrate Club 27." The little crew of chalk circles weaved from building to building making their way up to Club 27.

"We'll have to subdue a few cops if we want to get inside." At this moment a few golden stars appeared. The Kanati dot and the Pandora dot moved onto roofs and around corners to take them out. "I can use my powers to tie up anyone and seal their lips shut. Or just poke around and turn off their vocal cords." Pandora mentioned casually.

"Meanwhile, Alpha will go back and convince Bulldog to let him take a look around and find that secret room. Your advanced senses would make a good enough excuse for you to be an investigator." Pandora thumbed at Alpha. "If you do find the secret room, don't say anything to Bulldog. Just do nothing."

Pandora "zoomed in" the entire map to a wall outside of Club 27. "Once we've cleared out a safe space for us to enter, I can open up a wall for us on the inside." The chalk drawn wall of Club 27 opened and the circles stepped inside. She was just showing off, now.

"Once in, we find Patricia a safe place to hide. Then, Kanati and I sneak around and stealthily subdue our uniformed enemies. We bring them all to Patricia where she keeps them asleep, or hyponotizes them to do her bidding as she sees fit. Such as explaining away the disappearance of their allies or reporting in on radio checks. Meanwhile, Alpha, you run interference. Communicate with Kanati and I using hand gestures and eyeline, to report guards we may not have line of sight on. If you think any of the other cops might get onto us, attract their attention or inconvenience them. You'll be our man on the inside. All the while, one by one, myself, Kanati, and Aria drain the entire club of it's police population without anyone being the wiser. And, no one gets hurt." Pandora explained her meticulous plan. The circles defeated star after star and brought them back to the Patricia circle, where Z's and birdies fluttered over the collected cops heads. Meanwhile the Alpha circle attracted and distracted various golden stars until at the last moment all four circles converged and instantly defeated the remaning cops.

"Once that's all done, we have all the time in the world to get evidence to prove Patricia's evidence. Besides the fact that she couldn't leave fingerprints if she was wearing gloves, of course. Locate that secret room and have a poke around. Once we're done, Patricia knocks everyone out and we're on our merry way. If you could wipe there memories of the entire ordeal, even better." Pandora depicted their team fleeing the scene unharmed. Then, Club 27 exploded in a fiery orange burst of chalk.

"We don't have to blow it up if we don't want too." She chuckled.

"So, that's my plan. I've done this sort of thing before and it worked out. It's easier if I just drag people underneath the concrete and let them suffocate in silence, but I get the impression you lot wouldn't be happy with a massacre like that. So it's a good thing I have you, Patricia." She smiled and leaned back againt the alleyway wall, her muscled arms crossing.

"It's either that or you all wait here trying not to be caught while I spend the next several hours swimming blind in the walls trying to find the secret room and investigating it myself, and just hoping I don't miss any evidence." Pandora exanimed her nails briefly while she spoke. Her mood seemed to have brightened as she went into the details of her plan, like this was a return to form for her. One could easily note, however, that she left little or no room for criticism or collaboration when it came to the plan of action.

Flustered, Patricia blushed at Pandora’s blunt demand. “Jeez, sorry. Here. Take them.” She stuffed the earbuds into Pandora’s hand roughly. How was she expected to know that that was what she had meant? “No need to be a bitch about it,” Patricia muttered under her breath, a sentence not intended for Pandora’s ears.

Patricia listened to Bulldog and Alpha’s conversation as best she could from behind that dumpster. Her ears, though used to picking out quiet notes of song, strained to hear their conversation. In the end, though, she got the gist of it. The evidence against her was damning in their eyes. If it had been someone else accused, Patricia might have been quick to judge too. Even if some of the details didn’t add up. She leaned against the dumpster, her calves tiring of squatting on the ground. None of this made sense. Maybe it was her nervous, stressed brain or some sort of lack of common sense, but nothing she had in her mind as to why made any sense. The Wings of Law were bad, she knew, she had always known, but they couldn't have done this alone. They had to get to the bottom of this. And it probably started with that secret room hidden in Club 27. They needed answers, and that was the only way to get them.

A set of hazel eyes carefully peeked out from behind the dumpster as Alpha returned to their little hide-out. She was loath to admit it, but a sliver of herself still thought that he might turn her in. Her rational mind, of course, knew that he wouldn’t- not after that speech he just made about her being innocent and how the evidence didn’t match up. Still, though. Patricia’s breath caught in her throat, muscles tensing up as he walked over. But, as a rational person would expect, he did not arrest her. Relaxing and letting out a barely audible breath of relief, Patricia shot him a thankful look and one of her kinder, less sarcastic smiles. She’d need to thank everyone here after this. Maybe say sorry for putting them in the line of fire for her sake. It was only fair.

She had been about to speak up and say something about getting to the secret room when Pandora started monologuing about her plan. Patricia had the burning urge to roll her eyes, but she fought it down valiantly. It would do no good to piss off this lady who was helping her. Even if Patricia already didn’t like her too much. Mild dislike was mixed with gratefulness, of course, but Pandora seemed rather dickish and self-important.

Even if she did come up with a bomb plan. Patricia listened begrudgingly, although her eyes did widen when Pandora drew the map on the wall. Was that her power? Making moving illustrations? Kind of a useless power for this, but maybe it was something more than that? Listening to it, the plan seemed pretty plausible. She had never quite tried finely controlling an entire roomful of people at a time, but that… that was a non-issue. That she wouldn’t bring up. She could do it! Anxiety nibbled away at that assurance, but she held onto it, clenching her fist. Right. She could do this. No matter how complicated this plan seemed.

At the end of Pandora’s little monologue, Patricia glanced around at her colleagues. She then slowly raised her hand but put it back down again as soon as she realized she wasn’t in school, damnit! “You’re right, I... wouldn’t want that,” said Patricia. Who would? She drew herself up into a squat again, feeling oddly small under Pandora’s gaze. “I do have a question though. About you.” She stared Pandora down, pressing her lip into a line. “What exactly is your power? You made that map move, and you mentioned swimming through walls, and dragging people under concrete… I think it’s only fair that you tell us what you can do before we try this crackpot plan. I, for one, don’t like being left in the dark.” Patricia said this all in her trademark blunt tone. One could notice, however, that she gripped her shirt a bit tight while she was saying this. She was nervous.

---

This time, Jamie was ready for the Admiral’s attack. With a technique similar to her fight with Dungeon Troll only a half an hour or so earlier, Jamie felt for the vibrations emanating from him. Then, in a burst of energy twice as strong, it all came roaring back at the Admiral, going the opposite way it had come. Jamie panted, satisfied with herself. But a move like that took a lot out of her- she couldn’t keep this going forever. Still, though, when the Admiral came running at her with a punch, still off his rhythm, she sighed. This guy is so persistent! Grabbing his hand before he could throw that punch, Jamie twisted around and slapped him in the face. With a twist. With her palm, she sent out one of her signature concussive blasts- but right into his face.

Jamie, of course, let go of the howling Admiral once she saw he was down, setting him down gently on the floor. “OMG, I am so, so sorry!” she squealed, staring down at her poor, poor, bloody victim. Guilt rose in her. He looked messed up… she hadn’t meant to hurt him that badly. “I didn’t mean to… oh. I just… you wouldn’t stop! I had to. I’m sorry. I bet the medical team will be down here soon enough, though, and H.E.R.O has wonderful surgeons. You’ll be… you’ll be alright.” Despite him having attacked them, Jamie felt bad for hurting the man. He was a hero, after all. Her colleague. But they were the good guys. Why would he attack them if he was, too?

Leaving behind her moral quibbles with her own actions, Jamie turned to Joseph and Alien Angel (who was now permanently Angela in her mind). “We should probably get going upstairs. I still wanna find out what that signal was about… I hope no one is hurt!” Jamie then glanced down at Admiral and blushed. “Else. No one else is hurt. Like one of our friends.”

Rumi sighed and had the OMNI hop through the portal Grace made. At once he was met with the shockwaves from the battle between Jamie and the Admiral. The OMNI backed away from the fight and slid over a countertop to duck behind it, then proceeded to peer over it to spectate. There was also a rioting crowd outside HERO One for some reason, screaming about Starbright's death or something. Concerned, Rumi opened the security feed on his screen. Fortunately, Starbright was still standing, at least, which meant he was still alive. He was confused, but shook his head, deciding to deal with one problem at a time and returned his attention to the battle. Fortunately, the battle did not take much longer, as Jamie soon finished off the Admiral with a well-placed blow.

Hopping back over the counter, Rumi walked over to greet them with a wave. "Come on, you three. Bypass needs us upstairs. Through the portal now," Rumi said to Jamie, Joseph, and Alien Angel, gesturing towards the portal with a thumb. Rumi was a bit puzzled at Angel's appearance, not recognizing her at first. She didn't appear in his memory of HERO One's heroes, active or retired. Then he recalled her information from H.E.R.O.'s wanted list database. If the descriptions were correct, then this was most likely one of the vigilantes H.E.R.O. was after. What she was doing here, Rumi had no idea, but if she was offering to help, then Rumi had no reason to turn her down.

Going through the portal first, the OMNI jogged back to where he had first heard the lightning originate. Once there, Rumi spotted Grace and Tom, as well as Starbright. "Hey guys, I got Quake and Rune with me, and someone called, uh... well, she should probably be the one to introduce herself," Rumi announced to the group.

---

It appeared as though his hunch about this all being a fallacy was right. Alpha seemed to be the first to acknowledge his presence, asking the women to fill him in on the situation. Despite the minor annoyance that the red-haired woman had addressed him with, Sam himself wasn’t put off by Pandora’s attitude. Instead, his focus was on the one that he knew, or at least he thought he did.

Throughout the young girl’s explanation, Sam’s eyes narrowed slowly. She did not have the heartbeat of a liar, nor the scent of guilty fear. Thus, his suspicion was satisfied enough to lean in favor of believing her. He was between listening to her, and the Police Chief’s dialogue with Alpha.

The police seemed to truly believe her to be the suspect, though, the evidence towards putting it on her wasn’t too conclusive. From Patricia's own words, Seraph managed to get her fingerprints in the crime scene though. Otherwise, all they had was a hooded figure in a sweatsuit and deceased citizens with no typical means associated with a murder of this scale. Their deaths, the Chief likened to ‘meningitis’, which wouldn't be within Patricia’s power range, at least not on record.

More importantly though, if the suspect was self-conscious enough to wear gloves, then why would they leave fingerprints?

Sam himself was starting to develop many of his own questions about the situation. Questions that could only be answered if he had a look at things himself. Perhaps his senses could give him some insight on this particular oddness that the police are clearly not picking up on.

Alpha’s response meanwhile was firmly against Seraph himself, which, while honorable, would make him possibly a target of wary eyes in the police force. Then right when he returned, Pandora had gotten into a plan that she seemed to develop on the spot. It was pretty good, and while in any other situation the Hunter wouldn’t like to go against the law, the reason was to keep from misrepresenting HERO. With the organization in a sense, out of commission, they were on their own.

While the jokes made by Pandora about possibly letting the officers suffocate to death, considering the circumstances, her plan seemed solid enough to follow. It wasn't long either before Patricia asked the more apparent question to Pandora's actions. Her abilities shown in this small exhibition were rather extraordinary, ironically even among superhumans. It was as though matter unnaturally moved to her will. It made him wonder just how far reaching and potent her abilities were.

For now, he was simply satisfied that she was on their side. Thus, for the first time since his appearance, Kanati’s posture shifted and he eyed the entrance of the alley.

”If we are doing this, we should likely make a move as soon as possible. Although, I will point out, Alpha’s sudden reappearance after his vocal theatrics a moment ago, would be rather eyebrow raising.”

It was a balmy afternoon. William was clutching the collars of his coat, bracing against the coastal wind. The smell of the sea, the tiny mists of water that came from waves crashing against wave breakers, the cawing of seagulls. All of it was so foreign yet so familiar to him.

This was where his ancestors once lived. Scandinavia.

Without disclosing this trip to his parent, to Brie, to anyone really. William just got up and left. He didn't as much as leave a note of absence to Powers either. Surely there would be hell to pay once he returned. Oh well. Such is the consequence of his actions. No matter. William needed to get away. From nothing in particular. It was just him, needing to find his sense of self again.

Standing on a small pier, William watched the ebb and flow of the sea current, feeling naturally drawn to them. Jumping in for a swim would be foolish, but not out of the question. He was more worried about his clothing and belongings disappearing as soon as he dove into the frigid sea. Perhaps another time, he thought, when it was more appropriate.

The life in Castelburg can get monotonous. Sure, the fighting offered by the random criminals and monsters keeps one on their toes. But, for William, it was becoming a drag. He loved hanging out with his friends at HERO. Sure. He loved hanging out with Brie. But towards the end there, it felt like he was living his life around those two things. His friends and Brie. He glanced at his phone. No messages. No calls. It was to be expected after all. In that moment, he had half a mind to just throw his phone into the sea and disconnect from the world entirely.

Breathing steadily, he concentrated connecting the timing of his breathing to the flow of the sea. Breathing in when the sea flowed towards him and exhaling when it inevitably ebbed. His eyes slowly closed and he could feel his powers, something he has not used in a long while, welling up inside him.

Sounds of crashing waves and the repetitive calls from seagulls as they searched for more food could be heard. William, in his semi-meditative state, seems to slowly fade out, and figuratively become one with the sea...

K Nine listened to the group as they discussed their next action as a group. Then he heard Pandora speak her mind on her laid out plan.

While he didn't like knocking out his own CPD team members, Bulldog included in seemed, he also hated to admit it. They didn't have much of a choice.

Both her and Kanati were also quick to point out his "behavior" with Bulldog as he let his emotions show before with him as well as asking him to personally see the crime scene himself.

"...I apologize...but...meeting Pandora for the first time before...well I couldn't keep...if I may speak freely, keep the 'stick' up my ass in her case...but if we make it through this...I'll be sure to tell Powers and Lavender why it's called retirement...at any rate...I don't like the methods were going to apply to the CPD...but...would it help if I...lured Bulldog near here so we can have a...private...talk...", K Nine then asked monotone.



Alien Angel had did her part with The Admiral before. Now, it seemed most of the "group" was gathered from a "portal" super power it seemed.

Then, the comment or two thrown at her for working with a criminal.

She just dismissed it till members of another group called Division X suddenly came in but thankfully, it seemed they were here to help. Alien Angel did have problems with authority types but she wasn't about to complain in this case. Castleburg was in serious trouble if everything the commander here, Ether, said was true.

Though it seemed she wasn't aware of the "other" organization that was helping Seraph...

"Heh. About time. The ICOSA is taking their time but...eh. Whatever. Not like any of you trust me anyway. Say what you want about the "Infinite" group but let's just say even we were tired of Seraph's "Ego Trip" as my boss put it. Though at the moment, I'm just the first responder", Alien Angel said.

She then looked at everyone.

"But just so you know, it's only me at the moment. As the portal girl put it, too much help from my group would make it look bad for the rest of you but still, not about to sit this one out. But hey, it's your call all. But just to warn you. Anyone tries to slap some Isolene cuff's on me or any funny business and I'll give you a new hole to breath out of", Alien Angel then warned.

But settling down, she then said this.

"But if you all think your in over your head, I'll call in my own reinforcement regardless..."

@canaryrose@DarkRecon@Hitman@Scarifar@KaijuBaragon

Joseph could only stand in place for a moment, trying to clear his head from what he was beginning to feel pretty sure might be some form of minor brain damage as he watched Jamie manhandle the Admiral with ease. He knew there was a one-liner somewhere in that situation, probably about proper admirals knowing how earthquakes caused tsunamis and that they should avoid them, but by the time he'd gotten to the point where the wording would be even somewhat close to good enough, too much time had passed. Instead, he just quietly grumbled to himself about how much of a failure he was, crouching down to start collecting up the runic tags he'd dropped for the plan that never ended up happening.

When he was finished, he looked up to see that Jamie still seemed to be pretty torn up about how badly she'd ended up hurting the Admiral. He frowned in concern, wanting to say something, but not sure what. After all, he was feeling sort of similar over what ended up happening with Wireman, so wouldn't anything he tried to say just make him a hypocrite? And that wasn't even counting his diminished mental capacity.

But she was upset.

"Hey, are yo-" He began, starting to reach out to her before a familiar voice interrupted him. Surprised, he turned to see Rumi, who told them to go through the portal so they could regroup with Grace and the others. However, he was more concerned over the fact that he hadn't noticed Rumi beforehand. His head must've gotten messed up a little worse than he'd thought if his guard was down that much, an idea that out a frown on his face. He had to be more careful. If he wasn't, there was no telling how much danger he could end up getting everyone into.

After stepping through the portal, Joseph only really half payed attention to Grace, as she rambled on about not wanting to hang around criminals and real science and stuff. He couldn't help but wonder whether she knew how well over half of their gang had been to some form of prison, although maybe prison wasn't so much the right word for his. Mexican Gulag might have been more appropriate, considering how he and the others had been treated and also did she just say minijets?

"Hey, Portal Girl, do we really need to use the jets? Aren't there any other options? Because I don't think I'll be able to fly one properly, an-"

And then he was cut off again. He would've frowned at the idea that this might become a habit if he wasn't too busy coughing in the smoke. A moment later though, he managed to frown anyway, noticing the rifles pointed at them by... who he thought might be Division X soldiers. He hadn't seen much of them since he joined up with HERO, but he thought he at least vaguely recognized them. Almost unconsciously, he found himself shifting his position, putting himself between more of the guns and Jamie. Was it the best idea in the world? Probably not, but it's not like that had ever stopped him before...

Thankfully, before he had to put his potential as a meatshield to the test, a new figure emerged. Apparently Grace thought it wasa going to be Mr Impressive, but thankfully this turned out not to be the case, instead being some sort of... robot girl? Or actually maybe just a cyborg. He'd actuallly thought it was just armour at first, but a quick observation made it clear that no, that was probably her actual body. It seemed like the knew Jamie and Tom too, and Joseph let out a sigh of relief as he realised he wouldn't be getting in a shootout with HERO's elite fighting force. In fact, it actually sounded like they'd denounced Eagles just like the rest of the gang had, and were going to help them fight back!

He let a new grin appear on his face as he caught the moon belt. That sounded cool as hell, and he would find a way to put it to good use. However, he was once again brought back to reality by the knowledge that they were still planning on using the minijets, which wouldn't be great...

"Oh, but... Ah jeez, fine. I won't be able to fly one of those things on my own though..."

Tom couldn't help but crack a big smile as Grace opened up a portal, and through it (being lead by Rumi) walked Joseph and Jamie. He felt great about finally seeing his friends again - even though it had been like, 2 days at most since he had seen them last. But with all that had gone on in the last couple of days, it really felt like weeks. But the pair weren't alone - they were joined by someone who Tom was fairly sure he had never seen before, because he would definitely remember seeing someone (something?) like this before. Some kind of pink-purple creature. Whatever. He didn't particularly care who this person was at the moment, simply turning to Jamie and Joseph with the smile still on his face and saying hello to the both of them. Neither of them seemed to comment on the fact that he was holding hands with Grace.

And then, right in the middle of Grace giving a nice long explanation of what they should do, the hallway was suddenly filled with smoke. He held on tight to her before the smoke cleared to reveal a disturbing sight - they were now being pointed at by a whole armoury of scary looking rifles, being held by equally as scary looking Division X members. Tom gulped. Well, it looked like Division X had been taken over by the Wings of Law. Fucking great. He didn't think that there was any way they were going to get out of this one. The sound of Mr Impressive clanging his way back down the hallway was not a welcome noise, either. By now, Tom's betrayal was likely known... Somehow, they were all going to have to fight their way out of this.

But it wasn't Mr Impressive, of course. It was a girl. When she stepped into view, Tom had a vague sense that he knew who this girl was, although he couldn't remember that much. She certainly looked very cool, clad in her leather jacket and everything. And she was even cooler when she called off the Division X members from their armed stance. Tom let himself relax. It looked like they weren't going to be carted off or shot after all. But he still didn't remember who exactly this girl was, even as she went and gave Jamie a big hug. Then she walked over to him, and Tom suddenly remembered. "Oh, Cora!" He said before he was suddenly gripped in the tightest hug he'd ever felt, that made him audibly say "Ow."

Tom seemed interested in the moonbelt for a moment, before he quickly remembered that he could float around and fly anyway. Then, Cora put her arm on his shoulder and looked serious for a moment. That seriousness seemed to be justified, as it was announced to Tom that he'd probably be sent to Coldwater for a few months after this whole thing was over. Tom's mouth went dry for a moment as his eyes widened, trying to splutter out a response before Cora revealed she was just kidding. Tom groaned and rolled his eyes, before turning back to Grace. "Come on, let's go and get the best seats on the minijets."

@Hitman @canaryrose @rabidporcupine @Scarifar @DarkRecon

Jamie turned around and smiled at Rumi, relieved. He looked okay… if a lot more robot-y than usual. If he was okay- and he was talking like he was okay- the others were probably okay too. “Hey, Rumi! I’m coming, don’t worry.” She noticed Joseph try to say something and get cut off, but figured he was talking to himself (as usual) and decided just to ignore it. He was so weird sometimes… She stepped through the portal after Joseph and Alien Angel, and came out onto the 14th floor along with them.

Yet happy to see all her friends were okay, Jamie was immediately confused by Grace’s statement. Who was a criminal here? Was it her, after breaking Admiral’s face? No, that was stupid- Grace hadn’t even seen that. “We’re not working with any criminals, Grace!” said Jamie, before noting that she had she and turned to Alien Angel. Her mouth widened, and she raised her brow. “Angela isn’t- oh. Actually, she is. But- but- she’s a good criminal. I think.” Jamie then elected to shut up and not say anything else, lest she embarrass herself.

The rest of Grace’s speech was boring. Jamie stopped listening after Grace said something about where Seraph was hiding out. An island? There weren’t any islands around here, though. Jamie’s next thoughts were about Hawaii, strangely enough. She and her family had vacationed there once, and it had been pretty cool! She knew Seraph’s island was nowhere near Hawaii, but still, Hawaii was a cool island. A prison island wouldn’t be as cool as Hawaii though. Jamie tuned into the talking again just as Grace seemed to be finishing, planning to interject and say something very dumb, before smoke began to pour in the room.

Familiar with debris dust, a startled Jamie immediately put her arm over her mouth, trying not to breathe it in. She glanced around at everyone else, ensuring they were still fine. What had just happened?! Had someone attacked? Jamie was about to send out a shockwave to knock over anyone else in the building when she noticed a suspicious red dot on her arm. Then another. Then another. And they were moving- oh no there were snipers trained on her. She glanced up to see an entire squad of what looked like Division X soldiers. What were they doing here? Trembling like a lead, Jamie put up her hands- then realized that would be the opposite of reassuring with her power, so she put them behind her head instead. Whatever would convince them to not shoot her. “We’re on your side, dickheads,” Jamie muttered under her breath, glaring at the masked-up squad.

Another figure came walking out of the smoke, and a faint recognition tickled at the back of Jamie’s brain. Blonde, tall, cool-looking… was it Sama- no, she was dead, that was right. That meant it must’ve been Cora. This didn’t put her entirely at ease, though. Cora was with Division X now, and those were the people aiming guns at them. But she waved them off, and Jamie relaxed slightly, putting her hands down once she saw guns weren’t pointed at her anymore. She exhaled, relieved, and smiled right back at Cora, although warily.

If she was expecting anything, Jamie was not expecting a hug. “Cora… hi! It has… been a long time… ow ow ow please let go-” She had to draw in a breath after Cora did let her go. Jeez, that woman hugged tight. She didn’t remember her hugging that tight, but apparently she did. Jamie listened to the rest of Cora’s talk, nodding along. She smiled big when Cora said Powers was okay. Yay! Everyone was alright.

“Ooh, my suit! Yes please.” Not usually without her suit, Jamie was certainly feeling the strain on her body a bit more than she usually would’ve been. It wasn’t bad, but she certainly didn’t want it to be. She gestured for her suit from the Division X agents, and, upon getting it, made a beeline for the bathroom to change. Once she had done so, she left the bathroom and headed for the roof, towards wherever the Minijets were.