Kayla Morris was trapped & afraid. Her entire life had come crashing down on her in a matter of six weeks. That’s when her powers had first manifested, and the nightmare began. She had the ability to manipulate the temperature, thermokinesis & it was influenced by her emotions. During a heated argument with her boyfriend her powers altered his internal body temperature giving him a severe fever & sending him to the hospital. In the waiting room she caused a fire to break out and on the way home caused a car accident from flash freezing.

During all of this she was intoxicated on magic mushrooms, Molly & painkillers. She was a college student who loved to party, and had hr apartment blown up in the energy storm. She relocated to a FEMA camp temporarily until her parents got her money to get on campus housing. That’s why after that first horrific day when her powers manifested she began to expect the worst. She knew it was a matter of time before the country began cracking down on altered. Not to mention she found out that people died both from the fiery outburst and the flash freeze incident she caused with her powers. The next few days after the incident she realized both her powers & fault in the incident.

The responsible thing would first be to address her substance abuse as that didn’t pair well with her powers especially since they were tied to her emotions. Her problems with drugs had been present her first three years in college, but the storm had exacerbated them. She was living with her best friend & her younger sister in her apartment prior to the storm. Both of them perished leaving er the only survivor, and drowning her pain in spirits was something she did to numb herself more and more. She lost her job as a waitress fairly quickly and relied on her side hustle working as a e whore and selling cocaine to freshmen & three sororities she had ties with.

A week after getting to on campus housing two of her clients freshmen came to her dorm coked out to rob her at gunpoint. After accidentally shooing an RA who came to check on her due to the screaming things got out of hand. Her power resulted in the would be robbers being burned alive while they fired shots indiscriminately killing some people on campus & harming others. Both of them died she fled the scene wit her cocaine but while rushing to a friend’s place with a car full of drugs and drunk she caused a mini blizzard that led to a truck loosing control and causing a multi car pile up accident. Narrowly she avoided getting caught in the crash but a bystander got the footage on his camera while on facebook live.

Seeing her powers triggering the vicious incident he tried to confront her as it turned out he was a member of the militant anti altered religious group Purity. She attempted to flee and manifested a hailstorm that slammed into his SUV causing him to spin out of control into a Wendys smashing his vehicle into two families & getting all the footage on Facebook live. Luckily the car she was driving was new that she bought from a stranger on the internet so she didn’t have tags yet. She had one of her more criminal friends take the car to a chop shop and she reported it stolen avoiding getting arrested. Still Liberty agents in New Orleans took interest in the footage & started an investigation connecting the Facebook life incident to first violent incident she caused with her powers in the hospital waiting room & the nearby streets afterwards.

She moved to Chicago with her cousins hoping to escape the heat from the chaos in New Orleans. She got tatted up, dyed her hair purple & get colored contacts. Her cousin she was staying with was an aspiring rapper who was a talented local producer & part time robber Taking an interest in her powers he forced her to help with a couple robberies in exchange for money, lodging & helping her lay low in Chicago. In most of the robberies no one was killed, but in the last one the targets returned fire and in self defense she caused a massive amount of heat that literally melted the skin of the shoots as well as their clothes and weapons.

After this she got into a heated argument with her cousin getting drunk and coked out infuriated about being abused with her powers. It turned out he was trying to get one of his clients a record deal with influence from Harper one of the four chiraq kings who was connected to drugs & music. Unfortunately a local liberty agent Gavin took interest in the incident and co-ordinating with New Orleans officers followed up on her case. Around this time fed up with her cousin she froze him and his room-mate alive then shattered them taking over their house and paying the rent in his name for the month. She planned to move to another state to start a new life with an old ex of hers who she confided in as he told her he was also altered.

He lied and still seeking vengeance for their relationship reported her for the reward for information on dangerous altered, having recorded the cell phone conversation where she confessed to crimes with her powers. Liberty took wind of the situate and Gavin working with the New Orleans agents took her in. From there she was transported to the underground prison for altered humans in Nevada, underground the Tartarus Compound.

She was among several other altered who’d been indicted for various crimes some serious like hers and others minimal violations of Forrester’s new laws the were felony charges by technicalities. This maximum security facility was designed with altered in mind & they had individual cells designed with containment plans based off the individuals powers. Hers was reinforced with several layers of steel, metal, & other strong material to be resistant to her temperature manipulation. She was also given hourly intravenous injections of some substance that seemed to nullify her access to her powers as well as a host of other drugs to incapciactate her.

However she was also injected with substances that negated the sedating qualities of some of the medications & actually enhanced some of her senses. She was restrained arms & legs, and fed “nourishment” through tube. It was enough to keep her alive, but it was the worst of the worst & was actually making her & other prisoners sick. Those imprisoned in the Tartarus Compound were free to be used as test subjects in a range of experiments by scientists working for the Forrester Corporation & United States Government. Often they divided time between them & a few other agencies to experiment on the prisoners for a variety of purposes. Many of the guards had utter disgust for them & several on a power trip took advantage of their vulnerable possession.

She’d been slapped, cut, burned, spat on, punched, kicked, sexually gripped, sexually harassed, and even fully violated. Many times the guards performed their own experiments sometimes with soldiers testing things like the altered tolerance to pain, humiliation, and certain torture methods just to confirm that the majority had the same response as regular humans unless they had abilities that specifically allowed them to evade or be immune to a certain type of pain or torture.

This was a living hell she had not seen any other people in her position since coming to the Tartarus Compound. “God please I know I don’t deserve it but please help me. At least help me die please please.’ Kayla begged as some tears rolled down her eyes. The water produced from the ears causing her to face to itch but couldn’t even move a literal muscle or finger to satisfy even that basic need. It seemed beyond hope, beyond possibility there was no one coming for her, but if there was she would have no problem following them as would probably any go the other altered going through absolute living torture here at the tartarus compound.

Location: Los Angeles - Train Station

---

Marie kept Juan close as a gang of men, members of Purity, beat an African-American woman who they claimed was one of the Enhanced. Though the language they used was more colorful and much more derogatory. They used batons hitting her in the head, back, chest and legs till she collapsed in a pile.

Juan hid behind Marie pressing his head against her back as they moved. He did not like the violence. Every minority was being abused in some form by these people. He knew how he was treated by people and this was worse.

They managed to queue for the express to San Francisco. Security was tight Marines were on the platforms in fatigues with weapons. They did nothing to help the woman or others harassed beyond the check point. This made Marie mad and Juan a bit nervous.

After they made it through the check point Marie, started chewing out a Hispanic Sargent for not doing anything in Spanish. There was a lot of finger pointing and hair flipping. The Sarge looked at her and said calmly, “Speak English and yes we are doing something.” He sighed then continued, “People that complied are being protected, including you and brother.”

Time: Evening
Location: Los Angeles, Train Station
Interaction: @Meleck

---

Jason walked about the masses blending in with the regular members of society. With his powers he was able to secure a negative altered status ID without too much of a hassle. When his mask was donned he was a force of terror & revolution opting to fight against oppression. However in his day to day life he still had a therapist firm to run. With the ability to control others he wasn’t overly concerned about money but he wanted to maintain his civilian guise until the time came when it wasn’t needed.

Thoughts of Saiyu’s untimely demise plagued his every waking moment when he didn’t give the reigns of control over to his alternate persona of Justice & vigilante identity as Reaper. He’d fully embraced his alternate darker self budding beneath the surface as an effective means to push away his ordinary life where he felt inadequate in helping others by merely speaking to them about there problems.

Currently he was on the prowl surveying the thoughts of numerous occupants of the station. Outside of running his rebellion, he devoted equal amounts of time to finding more members to his cause. He selected places at random to perform these searches, preferably those untouched by the growing conflict with altered & the many factions that had spawned as a result of their existence. He was enjoying a cup of tea whilst sitting down with a book in hand, the 48 Laws of Power. His focus was divided between absorbing the strategic lessons from this literary master piece & browsing thoughts to find altered.

He had the unfortunate experience of picking up some vile hate filled thoughts. Turning his head in the direction of the source he spotted a mob of purity members brutally assaulting a helpless black woman accused of being one of the altered. Diving past her surface thoughts he was sickened to find she was a mere victim of regular pre-existing racial hatred I the world & mob mentality. This poor soul wasn’t even gifted with the very powers she was taking a beating for being accused to have.

But a glimpse of another thought swiftly stirred his attention away from the woman’s plight. Here and now he wasn’t Reaper, not to mention there were armed soldiers everywhere. Any conflict he engaged in would require blatant use of his power to avoid being riddled with bullets.

“People that complied are being protected, including you and brother.”

Overhearing this he peered into the minds of two youth, a man & woman. Digging deeper a smile crept across his face as he had finally stumbled upon another of his kind. Sure from what he perceived this boy was timid and perhaps even socially inept. But the power coursing through him could prove to be valuable. Not to mention the world was becoming a very divisive place and in order for survival, those that were alike needed to stick together.

He closed the book and stuffed It in a gym bag he had slung over his shoulder with a few other personal belongings inside. Getting up he waltzed over to the marine heavy check-point producing his identification and making his way through. This family member he’s with doesn’t seem to wield any power, but she has a fiery persona not to mention she’s protective of him. Just as Olivia serves as a key element to infiltrating & acquiring more information from the CIA, perhaps this Marie can prove to be essential as well. To truly spur my movement I believe I’ll need to include those who sympathize with us even if they do not share our powers.

The age of the altered was upon them and he didn’t have a minute to waste. He used his power to infiltrate the minds of Marie & Juan. Using his telepathic powers he caused them all to appear in a different realm of existence. Instead of a train station the three of them alone appeared in a lush garden full of vegetation, fresh fruit & wild-life. In reality they had gone nowhere physically, Jason had merely zapped up their subconscious into a telepathic realm while simultaneously rendering there existing personalities control of their physical bodies still able to carry out communication & any other goals they needed to acquire.

Within the telepathic realm Jason used his power to instill an emotion of calmness into the two as he approached them with a smile on his lips. “Hello Juan, Hello Marie. Forgive me for all of this, I know it’s quite sudden. But do not be alarmed, my name is Jason. I’m an altered human with the power to manipulate thoughts & move objects with my mind alone. As you may have noticed it is quit dangerous for our kind these days, I’m to assume your on the way to San Francisco because of it’s declared status as a sanctuary. At least that’s why Juan Is here, and you Marie are his guardian correct? First off we have not physically left the train station, this is merely an illusion manifested with my power within the private shared collective space of our subconscious. Regardless if this conversation goes on for say twenty minutes, by the time it’s over no more then a minute or two will. Pass in the real world. Anyway I’ve come to you with an offer, that being unlimited protection & wealth for the small price of joining forces with me in forging a new world. One where soldiers assigned to protect us won’t turn a blind eye to a woman In distress getting beat by thugs just for being different.” As Jason spoke, he made angelic wings appear behind him as well as a glowing illuminated yellow halo over his head. “So how about it then, have I managed to obtain your interest?” Jason finished his voice echoing about in this imaginary world formed by his telepathic abilities.

The last few days had been insane. Thomas could barely believe what had happened as he stood in the shower, hot water rushing down his body. It was a pleasant sensation, one that he needed right now. His mind was inundated with stories of the San Fransisco massacre, ones he could not escape as they repeated them over and over on CNN and social media. While Thomas had not been in the part of town that was destroyed, it still affected him.

According to his boss, a fellow mechanic named Ivan had been killed by falling debris during the massacre. While Thomas had only met him once, that first day when he arrived in town, it still hurt to know that an acquaintance was killed by a fellow altered. Following the death, the tone at work changed. Luke and the others were now decidedly anti-altered, and Thomas couldn’t blame them.

After all the violence and unrest caused by altereds, Thomas wondered if they could ever be forgiven. He would be reminded of his own status as an altered when his stress would trigger a mini burst of energy, sending Thomas into the shower ceiling. Thomas swore as he felt his bruised head. Luckily he wasn’t bleeding, but he had managed to crack the ceiling tile.

Figuring that was a sign to get out of the shower, Thomas got out and began to dry himself off. He then entered the bedroom of his basement apartment, his phone on the night table dinging. Thomas didn’t want to check his phone, lest social media tell him more of the world’s woes. Just yesterday, he had seen that there had been an attack in his hometown of Phoenix. For some reason an altered decided to demolish a grocery store. Upon seeing this, Thomas immediately called his family. Fortunately, they were safe as the store was on the other side of town.

As Thomas put on a shirt, he decided that he might as well see what was up. The phone’s ding had meant a text was received, this one from Thomas’ Uncle Rick. Thomas was surprised to see it as he wasn’t even close to his uncle, having not spoken to him since before leaving Phoenix.

Thomas read the text. It said to check out this website: powerdanger.com. Thomas assumed that this was another one of his uncle’s conspiracy websites. Uncle Rick was the one family member at Thanksgiving who would talk about the deep state and other far out theories, and blame the government for all his problems with the law. Thomas decided to open the website, thinking it could be good for a laugh.

Thomas was immediately surprised to find a gallery of suspected altereds. It seemed to be a mix of well known altereds, such as ones with public arrests, and grainy images of people believed to be altereds. Thomas almost closed the site immediately, fearing that his mental health couldn’t handle it. But curiosity soon got the better of him.

Thomas would spend the next twenty minutes browsing through the San Fransisco section. Eventually he recognized a face. It was the ice using criminal he had saved. The page for him listed his name as Xavier and that he had died in the hospital from a drug overdose.

Thomas swore. What was the point in saving him if he was just going to kill himself with drugs. But he also wondered who had taken the photo. Thomas scrolled to the bottom of the page, finding an associated link. Clicking on it, Thomas gasped as a picture of himself appeared. Granted it was a very grainy picture with most of his features obscured, but Thomas still recognized it.

Accompanying the image was the words unknown, energy user, and the date of the photo. Now Thomas closed the website, tossing his phone onto his bed. This was not what Thomas wanted. He didn’t ask for powers but still got them. And now he could be arrested, or more likely lynched. If the government figured out who he was, life would be hard not just for him, but his family and friends as well.

Thomas felt that he needed some air so he left his apartment. He then began to walk, and continue walking. Before he knew it, it had been almost an hour and he was far from home. But he still felt like walking. That was until he heard shouting. Curiosity won out over apprehension, so Thomas went toward the shouting.

He soon discovered two groups, one with signs saying things like: altereds go to hell! While the others said: altereds are the future. While it was clear that both sides hated each other, so far no violence had broken out.

Thomas approached a woman with an altered rights now sign, “What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you what’s going on, these fuckwads beat up a teenage girl on this street, just for being an altered.”

“How did they know she was an altered?” Thomas asked with a slight tremble in his voice.

“Some guy outed her online.”

Thomas thought back to powerdanger.com. If someone could enhance that image of him then his life would be in danger. While contemplating this, Thomas began to hear sirens. Not wanting to have to deal with the police again, Thomas began to back away from the protest.

But just as he was leaving, the last semblance of civility broke as both groups of protesters began attacking each other.

“Fuck,” Thomas said quietly, as he turned to run from the brawl.

Time: Evening
Location: Los Angeles, Train Station
Interaction: @Meleck @chulance

---

The age of the altered was upon them and he didn’t have a minute to waste. He used his power to infiltrate the minds of Marie & Juan. Using his telepathic powers he caused them all to appear in a different realm of existence. Instead of a train station the three of them alone appeared in a lush garden full of vegetation, fresh fruit & wild-life. In reality they had gone nowhere physically, Jason had merely zapped up their subconscious into a telepathic realm while simultaneously rendering there existing personalities control of their physical bodies still able to carry out communication & any other goals they needed to acquire.

Within the telepathic realm Jason used his power to instill an emotion of calmness into the two as he approached them with a smile on his lips. “Hello Juan, Hello Marie. Forgive me for all of this, I know it’s quite sudden. But do not be alarmed, my name is Jason. I’m an altered human with the power to manipulate thoughts & move objects with my mind alone. As you may have noticed it is quit dangerous for our kind these days, I’m to assume your on the way to San Francisco because of it’s declared status as a sanctuary. At least that’s why Juan Is here, and you Marie are his guardian correct? First off we have not physically left the train station, this is merely an illusion manifested with my power within the private shared collective space of our subconscious. Regardless if this conversation goes on for say twenty minutes, by the time it’s over no more then a minute or two will. Pass in the real world. Anyway I’ve come to you with an offer, that being unlimited protection & wealth for the small price of joining forces with me in forging a new world. One where soldiers assigned to protect us won’t turn a blind eye to a woman In distress getting beat by thugs just for being different.” As Jason spoke, he made angelic wings appear behind him as well as a glowing illuminated yellow halo over his head. “So how about it then, have I managed to obtain your interest?” Jason finished his voice echoing about in this imaginary world formed by his telepathic abilities.

Juan could not help to take notice to the world change around him. It made him afraid. City kids are not exposed to much nature. So he held on on to Marie’s left hand.

Marie spoke when he let her, “First, you can drop the angel wing bullshit! Anyone who has spent as much time in Catholic School as we have, knows that angels don’t have wings that is some Persian crap. Second, what is it that you are really offering us? Money, power, drugs…”
She let her street self come shining through her language and her body language.

“He’s not a fighter,” she said to Jason. “He gets beat up at school weekly,” she continued.

Juan looked up at Jason and thought, “I am smarter than they think. I can do things and I hear things that people do not realize I understand.”

Juan sends Jason visions of him picking the school door lock and pick pocketing from a bully. “I learn quickly,” he thinks.

“She likes expensive clothes and fancy things. She wants to study to be a doctor so she can help people,” Juan thought to Jason. Juan put a wall up to block Marie from hearing his thoughts. “I want to have a safe place…” he smiled at Jason and blushed. He was a teenage boy in the throws of having his brain drenched in testosterone and other hormones with a match tossed in to light it.

Time: Late Afternoon
Location: Oakland, California
Interaction:

---

“I won’t let you make a fool of me you stupid bitch.” Kolak infused the pebble with his power ad tossed it Adora, It hurtled towards her. Adora altered her mass letting the pebble flow through her and crash into a wall behind her exploding with powerful force.

“Seems like you don’t have a choice in the matter, you’re nothing compared to me. Seems your boss made a mistake as a match-maker.” Adora replied causing some of the numerous thugs in the room to boo her only for her to clap back with a multidirectional infused wave of telekinetic energy

“Pathetic wench” Kolak yelled out kicking the ground sending several kinetic infused pebbles towards Adora who summoned waves of darkness to consume & contain the exploding pebbles. Shadow tendrils then emerged from the ground stabbing into both of Kolak’s feet, then using them as a conduit for an electrical attack. In the prices of doing so Kolak used his power to charge the shadow tendrils causing them to explode. The trickle down effect led to a direct hit on Adora blasting her, Kodak then luged forward with a burst of kinetic energy and punched the ground beneath Adora striking her with a point blank explosion. “That’s the end of that, alright Cain let’s go else-“

Kolak was flung back by TK as Adora regenerated from the few wounds she sustained from being caught in the blast. the ground beneath Adora striking her with a point blank explosion. “That was fun, but now it’s time to eat I’m oh so very hungry, well really dehydrated, I’m absolutely thirsty.” Adora’s words pierced Kolak, Cain & the other crooks in the warehouse.

Cain punched a hole through a nearby wall he was standing next too. His fist tearing clean through the wall as he received an urgent text he rushed to open. “Kill her now Kalok, we must leave. Lionel’s uncovered the true identity of our supplier so we need.”

Kolak threw a rock on the ground beneath Adora striking her with a point blank explosion. “Oooh I’ve heard some stuff about this Lionel guy and I think we can all agree he does not need boost nor the supplier allow me to kindly interrupt and take care of this.” Adora yelled out laughing as Kolak tossed some marbles at her causing them to expose Adora used telekinetic force to slit Kolak’s neck causing blood to gush out.

Cain’s face widened in shock as did some of the others who opened fire only for Adora only to see her vanish. She flew over to Kolak’s body and grabbed onto the dying altered and used her own power to perform a full drain on him causing him to use his remaining life to yell while emitting a TK barrier around them. From there she caused shadow tendrils to emerge from the ground piercing the bodies of several of Cain’s men. After she drained Kalok she used the tendrils to drain these men, and caused a bird of ice to emerge from her hand and connect to all the shadow tendrils serving as a conduit to let her feast on the drained energies of the thugs.

Cain leapt down to the ground near Adora bursting through her TK shield with sheer force, as the remaining thugs were shaking with fear but still gripping guns. the ground beneath Adora striking her with a point blank explosion.“Oh please your little toys won’t have any effect on me.” Adora’s voice boomed thanks to her sound powers which she used to bring pain to the men.

“That’s quite enough now you’ll be forced to deal with my power. Oh so much delicious fear to consume, and the levels are so high I almost feel divine. I’ll make you pay for Kolak’s life wit your own.” Cain lunged forward breaking through Adora’s TK holds/grips with ease and kicking her into the warehouse wall. “Tsk tsk tsk your weak fearful mind can’ hold me your pathetic.” Cain spoke with disgust & dismissive disdain towards Adora.

Cain lunged forward kicking Adora in the stomach, then hitting her with a few punches causing her to cough up blood. As Cain went for another attack Adora went to encase his arms in ice then used TK to trip him, then used plants to restrict him, and uses vines to pierce his legs. “Now your mine dinner.”

“No Way!!” Cain screamed drawing on even more strength breaking out the ice & plants, then clapping his hands producing a shockwave aimed at Adora. It seemed to send her flying back only for her to shoot a shadow tendril forward thrashing Cain against the floor, whilst Adora began laughing.

“Oh now I see your so pathetic allow me to do the honors." Adora laughed as shadow tendrils burst from the ground wrapping around his remaining thugs lifting them in the air. Adora then used her powers of mass to shrink all of the thugs causing Cain to yell out before Adora snapping her fingers using TK to literally rip the shrunken criminals to shreds. Their miniature bodies being absolutely no match for her telekinetic force blasts.

“NOOO!!!!! MY MEN!!” Cain dashed forward at far greater speeds then before punching Adora with such strength the resulting shockwave disintegrated part of the roof behind her and sent her flying Into the air. Cain came crashing to the ground bloody & battered as he collapsed on the ground struggling to stay conscious seeing what remained of his men reduced in size & trapped in shadows. “This can’t be.”

Cain reached in his pocket for the boost pills he had only for Adora to cause them to fly out of his hand and into hers. Adora smirked and caused all the shadows to form into one massive table of shadows the was raised high into the sky where she was. Two of the remaining shrunken thugs now on the shadow table ran towards the exit only for Adora to launch two ice spikes at them tearing through both of them.

“Pathetic and as for the rest of you.” Adora’s eyes briefly flashed going black as the shadows beneath the table vanished. Adora then lifted the table up in the air and formed the table into a one giant straw that encompassed the remaining people. Cain leapt into the air as Adora used TK to compress the shadow cylinder straw that contained the rest of his men. From her pocket emerged a miniaturized bottle of sprite which she returned to regular size.

“YOU BITCH” Cain yelled as his momentum from his earlier jump carried him towards adora. Adora flicked a penny towards Cain then used Kolak’s power to make it explode sending Cain crashing down to the ground much to his men’s intense fear seeing their boss sent flying their last hope of escaping their darkness trap.

As they began pleading with Adora to spare them, she used TK to push the survivors down the shadow straw followed by the rest of the sprite drinking the remaining survivors alive. This caused the dark energy in her eyes to dissipate as she flew down to the ground near where the injured Cain was. “Mhmmmm that was fun the remaining followers you had went well with my sprite. I’d been saving that for when I got done with everything, but a girls gotta satisfy her thirst right. Besides all this fighting & flying my soda was bound to go flat, so I was like I might as well finish it while it was still bubbly.”

“You fucking monster, you killed my Potna Kolak, then you slaughtered my men & ate the remaining survivors alive. You…are fucking evil…I hate you…I…”Cain struggled to get up and Adora coldly help but burst out laughing.

“Oh I’m evil, coming from the other half of the person responsible for turning Oakland into a war zone, although I admit maybe eating your employees infront of you was a bit much. Why do you want to join them, honestly among the palet of powers I can use to kill you, that is a horrible way to go. Did you know the same power I used to take your pathetic “potnas” power is also subconsciously used on any people I eat as well. It’s like those poor bastards experience the worst of both worlds.”

“Hines won’t sell you shit, I’m his main customer you idiot! You need me! Give me back my people throw them up bitch.” Cain stumbled forward throwing a punch at Adora however it had no effect.

Adora used TK to simulate greater strength and slapped Cain backwards into a fold up chair. Then lifted the chair in the air with TK and smacked Cain with it a few times before making a shadow fist to crush the chair. The fist then formed into chains that wrapped around Cain but were connected to Adora. “Your power is good, it’s related to fear. You can convert anyone’s fear into physical strength, the more people scared, and the more frightened they are makes you increasingly stronger & more durable. Honestly that’s my kind of power, if I had to pick between draining you or Lionel, your power is more well suited to compliment both the rest of my arsenal & my personality.”

“No….how…did you.” Cain struggled to speak, succumbing to his injuries rapidly. Without the fear of his men to draw strength from he was reduced to that of a regular human. Adora used TK to lift him up and drew him over to her. Leaning in she kissed him draining him of his powers, memories, everything except his life force itself before backing up and pushing him to the ground.

“That was delicious really, I was tempted to just drain the rest of your almost over life but I want you to suffer, for daring to beat me senselessly you will suffer.” Adora used her powers to lift him into the air. With mass powers she reduced him in size, creating a shadow hand that flicked him into her waiting jaws and she chomped down biting his right arm off then gulped him down.

“Mhmm now I’ve got the taste of blood in my mouth okay I’ll need to fix that.” Adora picked up a piece of rubble tossing it it in the air. Using her mass powers she mad the small rock grow to the size of a pebble, then caused it to detonate wiping out the warehouse and two buildings on the right & left of the building. Emerging from the rubble fully healed in a TK shield she waltzed over to a vending machine across the street. Forming shadow spikes she tore the machine open and grabbed a can of Sunkist.

“Oh I love orange soda, this should get rid of the taste. Note to self don’t eat people bleeding heavily, just feed on there energy. I just really wanted that guy to have a slow death, I mean he completely fucked up my mascara.” Adora spoke without regard for the life she just took as she guzzled down her Sunkist and peered through Cain’s recent memories. Simultaneously she shape-shifted into Cain, and took flight heading to the meeting spot with a man she was very eager to meet, Lester Hines.

Time: Evening
Location: Los Angeles, Train Station
Interaction: @Meleck

---

Jason could sense the fear emitting from Juan at the stark change of scenery he'd caused them as well as Marie to undertake even though they were in the exact same physical locale. That was one of the many benefits of having telepathic powers that let him breach the minds of others.

Following Marie's outburst he obliged her request & made the angel wings around him dissipate. "I had no intension of offending you I merely wanted you to make you comfortable. Many people are comforted by the idea of angels watching over them. Although with recent events it seems many people's angels must be on vacation. What I'm offering you is those things you mentioned, an endless supply at that."

Peering into Marie's mind caused the shown imagery to change. Lavish mansions, stacks of money, briefcases full of cash, designr clothes & bags, sports cars, & many other things associated with a life full of wealth. However when Juan turned the tables and adapted to use his own mind to transfer his own thoughts to hi that intrigued him. He respected the young altered's choice to keep Marie from being able to hear his thoughts as they were communicated to him. He saw deep down that Juan was resourceful & could learn things faster then the average person, but how that unconventional way of thinking & learning had hampered & halted him in the past.

"I see you are different from the others, from most everyone. Not just with your newfound powers either, your mind dosen't operate like everyone else. Your different, and I can use that. Any physical limitations you have can be overcome, how would you like to come to me. I can offer you that safe place you desire, and will allow Marie to come with you. I can teach you to be stronger normally & stronger with your powers. Join me yung Juan & the world not only can but will be your oyster."Jason said extending a hand to Juan & adding a sligh telepathic nudge to trust him even though he was a stranger.

Rough times were coming ahead especially since him & his men begun launching strategic counter-attacks against deployed stationed national guard military forces meant to enforce the Forrester's new anti altered laws. He was happy that Mayor Chen had stood up metaphorically speaking of course for their rights as that had led to a sweep of other mayors in different cities issueing similar declarations. However this merely felt like the calm before a raging violent anti altered storm and as such he wanted to stand firm & raise his numbers during this brief interlude of peace before the action resumed which is why he was out at the LA train station scouting people's thoughts to find more altered to join Reaper. Juan wasn't the perfect soldier & Marie probaby would be more then a handful, but they had potential to be so much more.

Time: Evening
Location: Los Angeles, Train Station
Interaction: @Meleck @chulance

---

Following Marie's outburst he obliged her request & made the angel wings around him dissipate. "I had no intension of offending you I merely wanted you to make you comfortable. Many people are comforted by the idea of angels watching over them. Although with recent events it seems many people's angels must be on vacation. What I'm offering you is those things you mentioned, an endless supply at that."

“You did not OFFEND me,” she said in a tone only a teenage girl could make. What he promised her would be a better life than she had.

Peering into Marie's mind caused the shown imagery to change. Lavish mansions, stacks of money, briefcases full of cash, designr clothes & bags, sports cars, & many other things associated with a life full of wealth.

Marie liked what he was showing her. Who didn’t want to be the Kardassians with out the drama.

Juan had spent most of his life trapped in his head in a world that few people could understand. Fewer still could enter. Here was a man that was fully in his world. Keeping people out was easy. He kept the noise, the other teenagers, things that overstimulated him out all the time by hyper-focusing.

Juan focused the scene to a nice white room with white furniture, The joy of being in his mind.
Two chairs showed up and Juan motioned the man to have a seat. He worked his nerve up and finally looking at him asked, “What do you want me to do? Marie is set on going to San Francisco and getting a job.”

“Marie can be helpful if you don’t push her the wrong way. She is a natural actor. If you need some to be a secretary, maid, or things like that, she is your girl. She is too protective of me. I can take being beaten up, just not ignored,” he said. The image of being trapped in his thoughts and everyone ignoring him because they did not understand him.

"I see you are different from the others, from most everyone. Not just with your newfound powers either, your mind dosen't operate like everyone else. Your different, and I can use that. Any physical limitations you have can be overcome, how would you like to come to me. I can offer you that safe place you desire, and will allow Marie to come with you. I can teach you to be stronger normally & stronger with your powers. Join me yung Juan & the world not only can but will be your oyster."Jason said extending a hand to Juan & adding a sligh telepathic nudge to trust him even though he was a stranger.

Juan took his hand and his offer.

“Let me show you what I can do,” Juan said. He pictured the Marine Patrol Pack. “I can steal that guy’s pack and his jacket,” he thought so Marie would not hear. A little mischievous smile crossing his face.

“a military radio might be helpful to you,” he thought. Juan did not like guns they were too loud.

Time: Evening
Location: Los Angeles, Train Station
Interaction: @Meleck

---

Jason was delighted that Marie wasn't offended but in fact enticed by his words & images. He intended to make good on his promises after all they were of little effort when he could command the minds of others to accomplish these deeds. He saw the fiery spunk in Marie a normal human albeit one who'd go the extra mile for her altered cousin. Then there was the cousin himself master of light, mentally regressive but talented none the less even if in Marie's own words he got "Beat up every week".

When Juan shifted the scenery to a pleasant white room, Jason was surprised. But he'd taken them within his mind, perhaps this boy realized that and was able to play around with the setting. So few others had been able to do much even wihin the confines of their own minds, showing they spent little time up there unlike this timid boy who was an expert.

He took a seat, not that it mattered. He wouldn't face any strain from standing up, not while he was a mental projection. "I want you to do what you do best already. I want you to apply that "unconventional" thinking that people have lectured & slandered you for to my own plans of making the world a better safer place for people like us, the altered. I want you to use your powers to take important things such as documents from my enemies unannounced. I want you to grow stronger with your powers, to the point that your fine tune usage eclipses even the mightiest of regular men's brute strength to compensate for your own lack of it." Jason continued telling Juan what he wanted & expected of him where he to join Reaper's association of altered determined to liberate the rapidly stripped rights of altered humans.

As Juan showed him more in the form of images depicting an imagined scenario wherein he stole from the military patrol pack he was pleased. "Yes indeed you seem to have the idea already of the type of things I require, military radio & anything that contains knowledge of counter-actions by law enforcement against me & our kind will be very helpful. Alas we've spent enough time in our heads for now, we must return to the real world whereupon I will approach you. Follow me and I will direct you to one of our living quarters where we can talk more in person & become further acquainted with each other."

As Jason said this he dispelled the telepathic connection he'd formed with himself, Marie & Juan. Dissipating the telepathic lnk between them caused them all to "Return" to the real world. As said & promised by Jason only a mere 45 seconds had passed in the real world during the time Jason had dragged them all into their subconscious. They were all still standing around the train station however Jason spotted them in reality and approached them.

He made a nuanced glance towards the black woman that lay on the ground beaten & battered nearby some bragging protestors armed with batons yelling out expletives & threats towards any other potential altered. Jason closed his eyes and rapidly ran through thoughts of people in the surrounding area until locking onto a racist man not far away from their location driving a ford pick-up truck stuck in traffic & cursing rudely at people in-front of him. Using his teleknetic powers he lifted the truck with the man inside off the ground resulting in screams of fear from the passenger within. Then he sent the truck higher into the sky no doubt raising the victim's heart-beat rapidly. Then focusing on the brutes armed with batons he hurtled the truck towards them, all of a sudden the pick-up truck came from the sky and crashed into the group of baton wielding purity members.

He also slyly moved the beaten woman's body away from the purity members with TK dragging her along the sidewalk so as to not be in the "line of fire" of the truck he brought down on her attackers. Yells & screams were heard as the flying truck collided with & crushed the lot of them, followed by panic & pandemonium from everyone nearby gripped with fear from witnessing a truck come from the sky & land on top of the very people who were advertising their hatred of the altered populace the loudest. Jason made his way over to Marie & Juan with a warm smile on his face, in no way indicative of the bloodlust behind that kind accepting smile. Not at all making him appear to be the man who silently used his powers to avenge that beaten women to maim & injure the purity members who had violently accosted her.

"Oh my look at that, it seems to be training trucks I say we make our way out of here, why don't you two follow me? So I can make good on my promise, and grant you the same things in real life that I showed you in my vision. Come on then, just get off when I get off." Jason requested before turning to walk over to & board the train having instructed the teens to follow him when he get off planning to lead them to the mansion.

Time:Afternoon
Location: Los Angeles, Philly Cheese Steak Shop.
Interaction: @Meleck @Damo021

---

The Honorable Mayor Chen sat in the chair of his office going through the pile of mail, notes, and phone calls that had piled up on his desk. It was the usual stuff, get-well wishes, drop-dead wishes, and notes from former officials he had met and even friends, asking him to change his mind about being a sanctuary city. Then there was the standard Mayoral business to attend to. Part of the city had been destroyed and needed to be dealt with.

Bubba sat in a leather chair away from the window with a graduate-level chemistry textbook on Quantum Chemistry. Lost in thought and doing something with his hands.

Chen shook his head and smiled. Bubba was normally reading his Bible. This was something new.

Towards the bottom of the pile, there was a message from Ms. Nyssa Devout. He picked up the office phone and dialed the number listed. He reached Ms. Devout’s assistant and made arrangements to meet with her at Buster's, a hot sandwich restaurant that made “real” Philly Cheese Steak that was the best in San Francisco. He picked 1 pm as the lunch rush would be over and it would give them time to talk.

Nyssa was in her office overlooking the makeshift camp she had set up not so long ago, just thinking that felt off as it felt like a lifetime ago since setting it up, people had come and gone, thanking her and many of the volunteers that offered to stay and help keep things running. Of course, most of the displaced people remained, having nowhere to go and refusing to leave San Francisco, their home. She would of course do the rounds, believing it was the human thing to do, making an appearance, speaking to survivors face to face, giving them time and assurances. hell, she even carried a little boy around who got separated from his parents in the camp and helped him find them, they were very thankful.

Her assistant had informed her that Mayor Chen had got back to her and arranged a meeting between herself and him, it was not very often Nyssa had the time to meet with mayors or the like so this meeting would intrigue her no doubt, after all the last 24 hours for the man was probably terrifying, to say the least after declaring San Francisco a sanctuary for altered. It was a crazy move but one she very much respected. So it was a chance to meet him and discuss issues within the city and see if there was a way for Astraea to increase its presence and help out more than just a camp on its own private property.

The meeting place was… different but in a way that made sense, a small sandwich restaurant on the corner, just after the lunch rush, and of course should give them some privacy while they discussed a myriad of topics. Nyssa had called up Micheal, her driver to do the usual, dodge remaining roadblocks that refused to leave the city, and had her security detail follow in the second armored escalade. She wanted to get there just a little bit early. She would have Michael wait outside in the SUV while Graham and James also waited in the second SUV to keep a lookout. Vincent and Thea entered the restaurant just before Nyssa did and sat in different places, to overlook the meeting just in case. You never know who might try something stupid, Picking a seat Nyssa held of ordering anything until Chen arrived.

Chen arrived and was happy to find the handicapped parking spot outside the restaurant was free. Bubba slid into the spot like a lineman about to sack the quarterback. In a matter of a moment, Chen was on his way into the restaurant. He noticed Nyssa from the description that her secretary gave him.

A couple pushes on the rims of the wheels of his wheelchair and waved to the restaurant staff and then he was near the table. They had started his usual, a Philly Cheese, double the meat, hold the green peppers, add the garlic and extra cheese, and a Coke to drink. After lunch will be the lecture from Bubba about trying to eat right and the fact he did not need all those calories.

“Ms. Nyssa?” He said in a pleasant tone. As she looks at him he makes a polished and practiced comment, “I know it is rude, but forgive me for not standing to greet you.” Chen had become a politician and he wanted to deal with the elephant that was always in the room with him before things progressed. It was not she was expecting him to take her out on a dance floor. Still, the chair made many people uncomfortable, and they did not spend 18 hours stuck in one.

“I have been hearing you and your people are doing a nice job of taking care of people at the camp,” he said, letting her know that he was paying attention to things.

Nyssa had noticed when Chen had made his way over to her and immediately the young lady pleasantly smiled at him as he came to the table. “It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Mayor,” Nyssa replied before getting out of her seat, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek while shaking his hand before she would go and sit back down as a waitress had come over to take an order from her, it was nothing too crazy, however, she ordered a grilled cheese dog and a diet coke and let them leave to sort out the orders. “There is nothing to forgive, It is the thought that counts. But how are you doing Sir? I saw the news on what happened to you.” She replied brushing a few strands of hair over her ear.

Chen smiled a bit. “It is not my first time being shot. It hurts all the same.” He left the like hell out of his statement.

“Thank you, I must admit it is not easy, but I feel that I had to do something when one is in a position to help all those in need and Astraea is in a position to do that. Although I never imagined that I would be setting up a prefab camp to help FEMA in our own backyard.” Nyssa paused for a moment. “I should probably say sorry for not consulting you sooner, even if on private property, I kind of just dumped a massive camp within your city without even thinking of asking.”

Chen waved a dismissive hand to that. The aid was needed and the issue of usage would be settled when things settled down. He would send FEMA the bill.

“If you like and if you have the time with everything going on, I would love to invite you over to see the camp, see the work going on, to be fair I have to thank those that volunteered to stay and help, we are fortunate to have some police and ambulance services stationed there after the loss of the hospital, their expertise is invaluable.”

“With 8 hospitals in the city, we should be able to set up a rotation to help. Maybe even get one of the Naval Mercy Ships to aid with some of those services,” he said. Ten minutes away was a military base with enough search and rescue teams and equipment to handle a lot of injuries. There were still walking wounded.

“I think that would help camps and the injured significantly. We could pick up the slack with minor injuries and those displaced. It should allow the remaining hospitals to concentrate on the more serious and life-threatening injuries. Hopefully, it would help each other to alleviate pressure on both sides.” Nyssa would reply, it was a sound plan and one that could all be within San Francisco.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed a flag flying at full staff. “Bubba, could you go have them lower the flag to half staff,” he asked. He had issued the order to honor the dead. 1 day for each person meant they would remember for a long time.

He turned back, “I would love to come to visit the camp. Is there something that is needed at the camp? I can try to pull some strings with the Governor,” he said.
He doubted that he would get any Federal Resources. His city had more people than some East Coast states. He put on a smile that was genuine. He cared about his people and wanted to protect them. To be honest, the Enhanced scared him, but he trusted that not everyone was evil. He might be a former cop and he could be cynical about people and their choices.

Nyssa thought for a moment while seeing the flag be put to half-mast, it would be something she would reflect on again later, so much loss of life when the humanitarian aid division was set up within Astraea, it was supposed to help more troubled regions around the world, the storm changed all of that. “Besides keeping the water running and the power on? The downside to us going out and using prefab homes is being connected to the power and water grids. Without that, they would be glorified tents.”

Again Nyssa paused, what she was about to come out with was probably the most obvious problem, Astraea is a corporation, not FEMA. “I guess the biggest issue supplies, the checkpoints cause delays to much-needed provisions, we are using more than we can get in, and after your announcement yesterday, It was correct to assume that all entrances and exits will be blocked around the city. Forrester is no doubt throwing massive fits right now.” That last part did get her to smile slyly.

“I was wondering also if there was anything we could do for you, Mr. Mayor? While we have been neutral thus far, we have fully capable private security resources in the city. Our facility where we set up camp was originally a major security hub, one of two within California. Maybe we can help alleviate the pressure on local law enforcement, or beef up security in critical areas?”

“With about half the police force dead or injured, we need help. But we have to be careful not to do it in a way that does not look like the officials are giving away their authority. I am sure that the Chief could be persuaded to deputize some of your security forces if they came from military or law enforcement backgrounds,” he said as the food arrived.

“Two things that might work to help with the border problems. First, we are mostly surrounded by water and we have a deep harbor, so cargo ships could dock here if needed. Second, we have areas where helicopters can bring cargo in and out of the city. We should have the lights and power back on for most of the city in the next day or so. A week or so for the water and sewer.”

“Homes, stores, barricades, work for people to do,” the mayor said.

He stopped for a moment. “There is something we really need,” he said, putting the sandwich down. “A way to have secure communication and some drone or satellite coverage so we can see what is going on,” he continued.

Nyssa carefully listened to the mayor when her food and drink were set down, she smiled at the waitress and mouthed a thankyou before putting her attention back to the man sitting in front of her. “Hmmm should be easy enough, Majority of the men and women working in our security sector are ex-law enforcement or military. They wouldn’t step over boundaries, although equipped similarly to police, they are for all intents and purposes, private security. We could provide security for areas to free up police to do their jobs and be more flexible, I would never dream of replacing them.”

She was relieved to hear power and water could be back on soon, it should help her camp provide more of the basic needs of the people in its care. The prefab homes were all hooked up to the grid etc… so once power and water were back on they would have access to it and provide far better than FEMA camps. The border issues also made sense, ships and helicopters can still come in and she made a mental note to report that back, it would make Astraea more flexible instead of just relying on trucks for deliveries. It was the last thing that the mayor mentioned that had Nyssa stop altogether for a moment.

Nyssa cleared her throat. “I must admit I didn't foresee this kind of request. Unfortunately, I can’t grant that kind of request, I am only the head of private security and humanitarian aid, for the time being, My father is the one I would have to forward your request to. Although I personally couldn’t see an issue with secure communications and surveillance packages, Ultimately I can not make that decision. But I promise to put your request forward.” Nyssa went back to her meal, honestly, she wished she could make the decision, she wanted to do more, for more reasons than one but until she was in charge of the whole corporation, for Military matters she still had to go through her father, however, if such actions were to be taken Astraea wouldn’t be fully neutral anymore, the discussions continued while they ate their meal.

Chen was as charming as he could be. He knew he was going to need aid. He also knew there would be a cost associated with asking. The world was an “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.”

Time: Evening
Location: Los Angeles, Train Station
Interaction: @Meleck @chulance

---

Marie felt the push to trust Jason as did Juan and she followed. In her head, it was like she was a teenage girl who had been dropped at the Mall of America without adults and with a pile of other peoples’ credit cards. It wasn’t like she wanted to steal the stuff, mostly. She did want to make a better life for herself and make sure that Juan was safe.

Juan on the other hand found the first person that could actually understand him. It was scary and exhilarating. Juan was also a bit sad. He wanted to steal the marine’s helmet, jacket, and backpack. They looked cool and military stuff was discouraged in the toxic estrogen-enriched environment he grew up in.

After they got on the train and it started moving, A Hispanic Young Man about eighteen years old came over to her and started to play his machismo card.

“¡Hola Chica! Debes ser nuevo por aquí. Tal vez necesites ayuda para mostrarte los alrededores,” He said letting his tattoos on his arms and his chest show along with the bling he wore.

His hand signs indicated that he was a member of the Latin Kings. Marie smiled as she stood up letting her body draw his eyes. Guy’s were stupid when they were not thinking with their brains.

As the train stopped at the next station Marie shifted her body. She let her breasts and hips speak and then in a very sexy voice said, “¡Hola!” She walked towards the man and right before the doors were too close, both her hands came up, there was a flip of the hair and with a twist of her body. Spanish words come from her mouth telling him she wasn’t that kind of girl as she shoved him out the train door and ending with a fiery, “Vete a la mierda!” He stumbled and fell grabbing for her arm. As the doors of the train closed, She gave him a double bird salute (flipped him off with both hands) while holding the handle of Sig 320 sub-compact 9mm handgun. She did her best to hide it from the train’s security camera. There was some cheering and a bit of laughter at what had happened. She only took the gun because she did not want him to shoot at the passenger car.

This was the kindest thing she had done to a gangster since seventh grade. Since that time four of her former girlfriend all had children of their own. She knew the score. She also knew it wouldn’t have worked either. He was Mexican and she was Puerto Rican, two totally and very different cultures. She also did not want the slum life for her children when she had them.

She hid the gun as she went back to her seat and sat down. She tucked the gun inside her purse. She smiled at Juan and put an arm around him. She smiled at Jason in her with a “Yeah, I’m a street rat princess,” a bit of I am dangerous, a healthy dose of you can’t control me, and a touch of come hither in case anyone was watching.

Jason was a nice-looking man and not that much older than she was. He dressed like he had money and spoke like he was educated.

He was much better than the street punks and want-to-be’s that seemed to be drawn to her. Her fashion sense screamed I am on the market, heavily influenced by MTV and the media. She was dressed in a range that was a step up from urban hooker and below a modest suburban catholic school.

Inside Juan was fuming at not being able to protect Marie. Juan held a lot of anger inside as everyone knew what he was going to do. In reality, he was not sure what he wanted to do to the gangster. Like sex, sometimes the fantasy of violence is better than the real thing.

Juan did a much better job of watching the car and Jason. He had spent most of his life looking at one thing and watching other things. The episode of how it’s made was going over security lock boxes like the ones in banks. He did not think he could pick a vault lockbox. But knowing there were two keys was good information.

Two rows back on the left-hand side of a car, a man had his video phone up and it looked like he was recording something. He might be using one of the new recognition apps to see if it matches anyone in the altered human database. This he could do something about.

After Jason got up to get off the train Juan stalled for a second. Marie was up and encouraging Juan to hurry. The man let Marie go to the door and he followed slightly behind and to the left of the man. Juan with his left hand reached out and grabbed Marie’s right inner thigh giving it a squeeze. This got her to scream and turn around swinging. She cold-cocked the man with a right hook. It was a sucker punch and it just about dropped him. As he bent over from the blow, Juan pulled his cellular phone from his jacket pocket and palmed it, moving to get off the train. He tugged at Marie who was ready to go-toe-to toe with the man who looked in shock as a few other people jumped in to protect Marie from the pervert. Marie managed to get off before the doors closed. He was detained by the crowd till the transit police could question him. Juan gave a little smile as the screen saver said Purity.

Teaming Up

---

^{A collaborative post between @Chulance & @Xandrya}

Flint had to be very careful with the role he was playing. Working in Liberty came with certain dangers that previous jobs he had didn’t include. But that was to be expected working for a black ops operation focused on combatting, detaining, and if needed killing unruly superhumans. But he faced more challenges then the average agent seeing as how he was working undercover for the CIA. Like the director Jack whom he’d became close to over the years, he didn’t trust this whole Liberty operation entirely.

It made sense to open up a new agency that focused primarily on the issue of the altered sure, but the fact that Liberty wasn’t known to the general public or even the government at large. As well as the fact that the Forrester’s family had a massive hand in the funding of the organization, it meant they had a very tight grip on the narrative of Liberty as well as the focus of the goals they wanted & wished to accomplish.

However now his work had come across something useful. Sitting in his office he was examining some files he had on some paintings. Liberty had different sections to divide the work-load. He was currently working in the investigative section, whose primary directive was to seek out potential altered human activity that they or the rest of the government at large wasn’t currently aware of. Which meant in layman terms they were looking for active altered humans using their powers with impunity irregardless of the new guidelines the President had decreed to limit the usage of these powers. At first this department was filled with mostly speculative work, but as they continued to progress they started getting a knack for their jobs & picking up on signs of potential altered human activity. Flint had stumbled on something himself, but this was unlike any of the other potential superhumans he’d investigated & encountered thus far during his brief tenure at Liberty.

No, this was something he had to report straight to Jack. As it was a potential game-changer, the files on his computer were a bunch of well done artistic paintings. The truly unique thing about these paintings is that the events depicted on them were not abstract, no far from it. Each event depicted on the digital renditions of these paintings he was looking at where real events that had transpired in recent times, and a few of which he suspected were to be taking place in the future. His hunch was one that he was very sure of, that somehow the person behind these paintings, had the ability to somehow gaze into and acquire glimpse of the future. Now whether they witnessed the future then used a brush to depict what they say or if they’re artistry was intimately linked with the functionality of their powers was something he had no idea about. Still under the guise of a smoke break he stepped out the office, making sure to take & spark an actual Newport to not arise any suspicion and shot a text to the CIA Director. I’ve got something major Jack, call me now, this is a game changer not just for us, but potentially your daughter too Flint shot the text then took out his phone as he took a few more puffs of his cancer stick awaiting the director’s call.

Jack had been through hell the last couple of days. He had not heard a single word from Olivia or this Reaper guy, though the only comforting thought and the only thing keeping him from going over the edge was the fact that her death had not been transmitted to him or anyone else for that matter. To add to his turmoil, his wife, upon finding out what had transpired, had gone to stay at her sister's house after a rather big argument. The fact that Jack was home alone made the days longer for him. Nothing to distract him from Olivia and her kidnapper, and nothing other than work to keep him busy.

Currently, Jack sat at his desk having just received a document from one of his field agents. Reportedly, there had been no activity at the warehouse and the burner hadn't been utilized again. Leaning forward, Jack positioned his elbows on the desk and rubbed his temples. How could he had been so stupid?

But his cell phone notifying him of a new message broke him out of his thoughts. Jack picked up the device and noticed it was Flint reaching out to him. After reading the message, he dialed him, wondering about the news he was so eager to share.

Flint had just finished his smoke & was debating on sparking another for a continued excuse for waiting outisde when his phone started ringing. "Finally old man." Flint said to himself with impatience but happy that the director was finally returning his contact. He quickly answered the phone to speak with the dirctor. "Hello I'm glad you reached out to me, I'v got intel on a truly urgent matter. As you know I'm working under cover in Liberty, I've stumbled across a potential altered that may be able to peer into the future. The evidence I've accumulated is a series of painting by an artist operating under a fake name but all the events depicted in her artistry have occured, and they were depicted long before they happened including one photo of a giant woman in San Francisco with buildings on fire, and Lorizilla written on the bottom left corner. I removed all my research from the liberty mainframe and have it on a flashdrive, I think we need to pursue this artist, having intricate knowledge of events before they happen will give the CIA the edge, not to mention if we get our hands on this person we can use their power to find Olivia if she's still alive..but I mean she's still alive right cause no confirmation." Flint caught himself at the end, he personally would never have put the lives of his family at risk for anything job related even if the punishment was prison so while he sympathized with Jack, he felt that Jack didn't truly love his daughter as he should since he risked an ambush on a dangerous altered rather then give up the intel Reaper wanted in exchange for her life itself.

The CIA director had his free hand flat on a piece of paper, but the moment Flint mentioned Olivia, Jack subconsciously crumpled the document without caring about its content. "I don't know whether Olivia is alive," he responded, his voice cold and without a hint of emotion, "I just know we need to get her back." The director clenched his jaw as a sudden wave of anger washed over him, but he let it subside before speaking once more. "Can you—"

Just then, his work phone started ringing. Without thinking, Jack picked up the receiver and just as quickly slammed it back down to effectively end the call before it even started.

"Can you video call me soon? Somewhere private...I want this off the books for now."(edited)

Flint nodded he could tell that regardless of his perceived perception of JAck, he did care about Olivia. Perhaps what happened was a learing experience, even if it was the worst way for that to happen. "Yeah I can, I'm on break at Liberty right now and I can get away from the office. We need to get a lead o this paintr, right now the focus should be trying to look into the uploads made by her, track down the ip address, and that should lead us to her real location & identity. We make her an offer to get her help, either work with us or get turned in to liberty, whom I'm sure will be less forgiving to someone who literally has access to the future." Flint responded to his director

For the first time in what has felt like an eternity, Jack could hold on to a little bit of hope. "Whoever this individual is, she would be insane not to accept the deal. If for whatever reason there's a painting about this Reaper guy, I want to know about it and I want to bring this woman in the moment we find out her identity and question her. Even if there isn't a painting already done, maybe she can tell me more about Olivia.(edited)

Flint was ready to get out of this Liberty office anyway, he felt more comfortable around his fellow CIA agents whom he knew and could trust. "Right I'll be on the way, like I said I removed all the information from the mainframes so we should have the edge on this investigation." Flint responded a bit more excited then he should have been, an indication that he didn't want to maintain this post any longer then he had to. "I'll be at the office shortly." Flint added with a tone of finality before hanging up

Flint had finalized the call, and Jack sighed as he put his phone down, knowing that he’d be a little more anxious than normal as he waited for Flint to contact him once more. But deciding that sitting around wasn’t going to help him any, Jack stood up and walked around his desk to exit the office. As he stepped out, Beth turned around with a smile. She didn’t have any clue as to what was going on. In fact, no one in the office did. Aside from his wife and Flint, and the boys over at San Francisco Police Department, Olivia’s kidnapping wasn’t news that was spreading around. Not yet, at least.

“Hey Beth, Flint Walker is going to be joining me for a very important call. If someone comes in or calls the office, just ask them to leave a message.

“Yes sir, you got it.”

“Alright, thanks.”

With his hands now in his pockets, Jack walked past her and down the hall. He was going to make himself some tea to see whether that would help calm his nerves.(edited)

Flint finished sending the files over on the precognitive painter to Jack before turning the keys to his hotel & locking the door. Before getting situated he went to pour himself a glass of crown apple and took out his laptop to join the private zoom channel he'd set up with Jack. I'm sure the bossman will be happy with the fact that this painter's IP address from the majority of the uploads isn't in California. Hopefully that gives me an assignment that lets me get the hell out this state Flint thought to himself as the zoom connection finalized.

"Okay Bossman Jack, you got the notes I sent over. It's an assortment of all the paintings from this artist, I have no idea if all of them are precognitive in nature. I did the best I could with my limited resources, but you should have people from the tech/IP department revers search/trace those uploads to try to get an actual location for this artist, then we should search that area see what property if any are there, and who if anyone lives there, that should narrow down our search for this future painter.” Flint said bringing up his plans & ideas to Jack to possibly help aid them in finding this individual.

“Also this may not be related but there's been an assortment of lottery winners concentrated in three areas around Houston Texas, Atlanta Georgia, & Boulder Colorado, only reason I bring that up is I suspect that perhaps someone with precognitive powers is behind that either by selling winning numbers to people for a percentage or perhaps using their power to win multiple times & using different people to collect the proceeds, which may be a connection to this painter or anyone in this country that has a power to see the future." Flint added presenting the whole of his research on possible precogs in the United States

“Hmm...that’s a good suggestion. Alright, I’ll have some of the guys here look into it and once that’s done see if there’s any correlation between the locations of the images and the locations of the lottery winners. Either way, you and I need to take a flight out once we pin down the artist so I’ll reach out to Hanes myself and request you for a few days. I’ll tell him it’s a past case of yours, and if he asks you for details, just feed him whatever viable lie.”

Jack then saved the files he had received onto his desktop and double clicked the multiple images before moving them over to the second screen to still be able to see Flint. He grabbed his prescription glasses and put them on as he looked more closely at the paintings. “One of the techies here owes me a favor, so I’m sure he’ll work on this without logging it if I ask him to.” It was then Jack sat up straight once more and began drafting an e-mail.

Flint nodded taking in the information that he got from Jack, it seemed everything was going according to plan. "Your right and I'm looking forward to the flight, both to get an edge and also because personally I'm suspect of what Liberty's true long term intentions are with the altered they bring aboard. I can understand the need for secrecy but something about the upper management gives me a bad feeling boss. Let me know as soon as you get in touch with hanes, I'll start packing ahead." Flint said with a grin eager to get going and be around the CIA people he trusted more

A few moments later, Jack ended the video chat and phoned Hanes. The two men exchanged some pleasantries, chatted for a minute or two, and then Jack dove straight to business. He went on about a previous case, an actual one Flint had worked on that had given him headache after headache and despite being old, still had some loose ends to be resolved. It was the perfect excuse, the only lie being that Jack hadn’t revisited the case just yet, but that didn’t matter much as there wasn’t any urgency to get back to it. “I appreciate the loaner, Hanes. I’ll make sure to repay the favor in the future if needed be. He shouldn’t be here for long.”

After saying their goodbyes, Jack let Flint know he was in the clear.

Time:Morning
Date:Date of the first time jump
Location: Los Angeles, Mayor's office
Interaction: @Meleck

---

Bubba dropped a gold brick on the mayor's desk. He had dropped five others.
"That should help us help the city," Bubba said proudly.
"Ten pounds apiece," he continued. "Three hundred and eight-four Dollars an ounce. That makes it about $336,000 if my calculator is right," he said with a laugh.
Alexander looked at him puzzled for a minute.
"IF you can do this why are you even here?" he asked. It was clear that Bubba could be rich with little effort.
"Shit, man. If I ran off who would drive you around. Watch you eat those awful greasy sandwiches and keep you from drinking your poor sorry ass to death," Bubba said in a tone that was playful and serious.
Chen had pissed off some powerful people. Bubba was kinds of a shield for him.

Chen's plan to keep the testing centers closed had some major help when the city's sewage system started backing up into buildings. Three of the septic lift pumps failed from debris in the sewer lines from the attack. That was the official report. Chen suspected one of the supervisors who oversaw the waste treatment had done something to help this along. But there was no official word on when the parts would arrive. The Gang war in Oakland limited access. That meant the buildings where the testing centers were going to be had been closed till the pumps were working and the buildings were properly cleaned. Chen looked at Bubba who was smiling with his big white teeth at him. Chen thought for a moment that maybe Bubba had paid someone off to make that happen. But he did not want to know.

The legal wrangling was done, Chen lost of course. A newly appointed Federal judge that President Foster had managed to nominate appoint and get through the Senate in a week. In Chen's mind, it stunk. Still, he was not actively blocking it and accidents are going to happen when you rebuild a city's infrastructure while using it.

So there was still an unofficial stand-off.

Time: Evening
Location: The Mansion
Interaction: @Meleck

---

The house was everything that Marie dreamed about. The den had a television set as big as her bed back home. There were real books in a room they called the library. She had her own room on the second floor overlooking a kidney-shaped pool. The house was big, fancy, and there was good food. For the first time in her life, there were real live servants to take care of them.

Marie sat in the bay window near a fireplace wearing an off-white princess dress and brushed her hair. She had been in a Bikini that was small enough that her momma would have been blushing all the way from Chicago. She also had ordered jeans and shirts, dress clothes were a bit foreign to her.

In her mind, this was a dream come true. She was fully under Jason's spell.

Juan had a room across from Marie. In his mind, the house was too big, too loud, and not his home yet. He had buried his head into a screen trying to adapt to this new place. He ate at the table and tried hard not to be noticed by the staff. There was even a lady that said she was a special education teacher to help him transition and learn. She was nice, but his time in school had taught him to be leary of new teachers. Some were mean, others were just cruel, a few were nice, all were too busy. This one came and went spending time with him and showing him things he wanted to learn most of the time. Her name was Nancy. At times, she did the standard things special ed teachers do, trying to figure out what he was capable of. Juan tried to play his cards close to his chest but his eyes and body language gave him away. He did not want to give more of his mental capabilities away than he had to. Being smart meant more homework.

Mr. Jason also helped him to calm his mind down enough that he could even smile at Nancy. This was a rare event, smiling at teachers.

Juan really wanted to be useful for Mr. Jason. Marie had started calling Jason that. Juan thought it was strange, but he did not like being scolded by her. What surprised Juan was that Mr. Jason let him come and go as he wanted, well within reason. His first outing was to the McDonalds three blocks away. Free food and he was back. His third outing netted him a military laptop, one of their radios, a camo jacket, and pants - too big, a patrol pack, and a helmet. He liked wearing the uniform even though it hung off him. He wore it down to dinner.

On his fifth outing, he brought home a million-dollar cashier's check with no name. In his seventh outing, he brought home three puppies from the pet store. He thought about bringing home a teenage girl from the mall, but could not figure out how to do that. The puppies like him better anyways.

All of these things, minus the uniform and the puppies he placed on Mr. Jason's desk.



Marie felt the push to trust Jason as did Juan and she followed. In her head, it was like she was a teenage girl who had been dropped at the Mall of America without adults and with a pile of other peoples’ credit cards. It wasn’t like she wanted to steal the stuff, mostly. She did want to make a better life for herself and make sure that Juan was safe.

Juan on the other hand found the first person that could actually understand him. It was scary and exhilarating. Juan was also a bit sad. He wanted to steal the marine’s helmet, jacket, and backpack. They looked cool and military stuff was discouraged in the toxic estrogen-enriched environment he grew up in.

After they got on the train and it started moving, A Hispanic Young Man about eighteen years old came over to her and started to play his machismo card.

“¡Hola Chica! Debes ser nuevo por aquí. Tal vez necesites ayuda para mostrarte los alrededores,” He said letting his tattoos on his arms and his chest show along with the bling he wore.

His hand signs indicated that he was a member of the Latin Kings. Marie smiled as she stood up letting her body draw his eyes. Guy’s were stupid when they were not thinking with their brains.

As the train stopped at the next station Marie shifted her body. She let her breasts and hips speak and then in a very sexy voice said, “¡Hola!” She walked towards the man and right before the doors were too close, both her hands came up, there was a flip of the hair and with a twist of her body. Spanish words come from her mouth telling him she wasn’t that kind of girl as she shoved him out the train door and ending with a fiery, “Vete a la mierda!” He stumbled and fell grabbing for her arm. As the doors of the train closed, She gave him a double bird salute (flipped him off with both hands) while holding the handle of Sig 320 sub-compact 9mm handgun. She did her best to hide it from the train’s security camera. There was some cheering and a bit of laughter at what had happened. She only took the gun because she did not want him to shoot at the passenger car.

This was the kindest thing she had done to a gangster since seventh grade. Since that time four of her former girlfriend all had children of their own. She knew the score. She also knew it wouldn’t have worked either. He was Mexican and she was Puerto Rican, two totally and very different cultures. She also did not want the slum life for her children when she had them.

She hid the gun as she went back to her seat and sat down. She tucked the gun inside her purse. She smiled at Juan and put an arm around him. She smiled at Jason in her with a “Yeah, I’m a street rat princess,” a bit of I am dangerous, a healthy dose of you can’t control me, and a touch of come hither in case anyone was watching.

Jason was a nice-looking man and not that much older than she was. He dressed like he had money and spoke like he was educated.

He was much better than the street punks and want-to-be’s that seemed to be drawn to her. Her fashion sense screamed I am on the market, heavily influenced by MTV and the media. She was dressed in a range that was a step up from urban hooker and below a modest suburban catholic school.

Inside Juan was fuming at not being able to protect Marie. Juan held a lot of anger inside as everyone knew what he was going to do. In reality, he was not sure what he wanted to do to the gangster. Like sex, sometimes the fantasy of violence is better than the real thing.

Juan did a much better job of watching the car and Jason. He had spent most of his life looking at one thing and watching other things. The episode of how it’s made was going over security lock boxes like the ones in banks. He did not think he could pick a vault lockbox. But knowing there were two keys was good information.

Two rows back on the left-hand side of a car, a man had his video phone up and it looked like he was recording something. He might be using one of the new recognition apps to see if it matches anyone in the altered human database. This he could do something about.

After Jason got up to get off the train Juan stalled for a second. Marie was up and encouraging Juan to hurry. The man let Marie go to the door and he followed slightly behind and to the left of the man. Juan with his left hand reached out and grabbed Marie’s right inner thigh giving it a squeeze. This got her to scream and turn around swinging. She cold-cocked the man with a right hook. It was a sucker punch and it just about dropped him. As he bent over from the blow, Juan pulled his cellular phone from his jacket pocket and palmed it, moving to get off the train. He tugged at Marie who was ready to go-toe-to toe with the man who looked in shock as a few other people jumped in to protect Marie from the pervert. Marie managed to get off before the doors closed. He was detained by the crowd till the transit police could question him. Juan gave a little smile as the screen saver said Purity.

Time: Evening into Night
Location: Michele's Apartment
Interactions:

---

The light knock on her front door prompted her to get up with a glass of wine in hand already halfway done. Bypassing looking through the peephole as she knew who her visitor was, Michele opened the door and saw Michael standing in front of her. “Please, come in,” she said with a smile, stepping aside to let him into her home. As he went, Michele could smell the cologne he had on. Going by the scent alone, it seemed he had good taste. His clothes also backed up that theory. Michele then closed the door behind her and turned her attention to Michael.

“I’ve prepared some finger food to snack on and there’s no shortage of alcohol in this household so please, you’re more than welcomed to help yourself."

"Wow… this is…" Michael faced Michele with an impressed smile. It wasn't just the food. Michael couldn't help to admire Michele. "It's nice! Almost feel like you're spoiling me." He looked her up and down before turning to walk across the living room to the open dining area. His eyes scanned over the food before locking onto the ham croquettes. Those gotta be good.

She let out a small laugh, almost as if she were embarrassed from Michael claiming she was spoiling him. She did like him, and apparently she had made that obvious enough for him to pick up on. "Ah, well, it wasn't too much trouble at all," she responded, her accent forcing its way through her words much more so than she'd like. Following him to take a bite herself, she continued the conversation after taking a sip of wine. Michele tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before speaking. "I figured it was safer than getting take out, especially after the day I've had."

"Hmm?" Michael responded with his mouth full of a delicious croquette as he wondered what might have happened. He gulped down the food quickly, worry on his face. "What happened?"

She shrugged her shoulders as she spoke. “My hospital visit turned a bit chaotic, someone was holding a hostage in the lobby making demands and throwing around threats. The cops came and shot him eventually. I’m fine, though I’m not sure about everyone else.” Michele then diverted her gaze away with a hint of sadness. Michael raised his eyebrows, and was not sure what to say. Perhaps it was one of those things that you didn't comment on. “I’d rather not look at the news too much these days, you know." His hand rested on Michele's shoulder.

"Then we won't… Trust me, things feel like they're getting worse by the day. Speaking of, that woman Lori. The one that destroyed a quarter of the city. She just showed up at my place while… Maybe I should start at the beginning." He let loose a sigh before explaining. "You just can't tell anyone, okay?"

Tensing up, Michele looked up at Michael as if she’d been betrayed. Why was that woman at his place, exactly? And why was he telling her about it, especially since he requested it be kept a secret. Something about the situation just didn’t sit right with her in that moment, but they were past it at that time.

“Okay, I won’t,” she responded matter-of-factly. This made Michael hesitate for a second, but he'd take her word over her tone for what it was worth.

"This woman impersonating one of Floyd's ex girlfriends showed up to the condo. The thing is, she was really some ex-cop that had a vendetta against him. I knew of Lisa and that she and Floyd were on okay terms. I let her wait for him there, but she was really just going to shoot him the moment he walked in. And not only did this crazy chick have a gun, but she was altered too. She could heal…" Michael paused remembering Lisa's lifeless body. "We fought for a good minute. I tried to talk some sense to her, but she wasn't going to stop. Then she showed up. Lori Martinez. Don't ask me how or why… I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I attacked her. Didn't even waste a moment. Floyd did too, but she basically shrugged everything we did off… and then she killed the ex-cop by just draining her power or something. And then she left." Michael shook his head as the event replayed in his head.

She was listening as he went, following along with his narrative. The nightmare that Lori had brought upon San Francisco was something that should have never happened. Who knows how many innocent people lost their lives that day...too many to count, that was for sure. "Wait, so she killed the ex-cop, but not you two? She just walked away?" Michele was curious, though her words may have come off more accusatory than she would have liked.

"Yeah… that's the weird part. She saw us use our powers too. Floyd thinks she didn't care about us because she thought she had the powers we were using already." Michael briefly raised his index finger from his free hand and made a small spark of electricity appear at its tip. Once he stopped, he continued. "I don't know whether to feel grateful or afraid. If I had used more of what I could do… I don't think I'd be… here." He couldn't believe he had said that.

Not all that much was left of the wine Michele had in her glass, and she gulped what remained in one go. "I'd say you should consider yourself lucky because that monster doesn't have any limits whatsoever." There was some bitterness in her tone, but in that moment she didn't care if she came across cold-hearted when speaking about Lori. Michele then changed the subject, not to try to mask her hate but she'd rather be engaged in more pleasant conversation. A slight smile formed on her lips. "If it helps any, I'm glad you're here too." She grabbed a slice of ham and cheese and took a bite as she walked over to the couch, telling herself to grab a seat before she became dizzy.

Michael agreed with Michele's cold words, and was uplifted by her warm ones. Watching her finish her glass prompted him to get his own to keep up. After grabbing and devouring another croquette, Michael wiped his hands and went to join Michele on the couch. He took a seat right beside her and figured they should keep the mood up with the bad news out of the way.

"On a better note, I got a promotion at the driving gig I told you about. Never thought it would provide more than my HR job." He shrugged

"Oh that's great, I'm happy for you! My work has been...sporadic, but I make the best of it." Michele smiled at him, reaching for the remote for her TV. "Do you want to listen to some music? I'll play you some of my stuff. I haven't composed anything lately but you know, I will again one of these days."

"Composed? You make your own music?! Come on, let's listen to what you got! 'Show me what you got!'" Michael mocked the big head aliens from the show Rick and Morty.

She laughed a little, reaching for the remote. "Well I'm no Mozart, but it pays the bills. I have a portable keyboard in the closest but I usually go down to the hall to put the hours; I prefer it there anyway." Michele turned on her smart TV and clicked over to her playlist. She then selected the first song and clicked play. "This is one of the first pieces I ever recorded."

"Not Mozart huh?" Michael said with sarcasm as he listened to the quaint keys playing a beautiful melody. "Obviously better… I bet you can sing too." Michael grinned.

"Well..." Michele looked away, instantly blushing. "A little, yeah, but don't ask me to sing right now cause that's not happening." She then turned back to Michael. "How about you, any special talents I should know about?"

"Plenty." He put on a playful smirked. "I'm a really really… driver." Michael chuckled and poked Michele in the side before getting up and going for the food again. "I'm also a great eater..." He then poured himself another glass of wine. "...and drinker." He took a quick sip for dramatic effect. "You want another?"

“Oh? I’m a great drinker myself but I don’t think I can compete with the likes of you. I only say that because the body mass simply ain’t there,” she gestured to herself. “But yes, I’ll take another glass please and thank you.” Michele leaned back on the couch, getting comfortable. “Oh and bring the snacks too..."

Michele and Michael had enjoyed, food, drinks… maybe a tad too many, and talking. The croquettes had been rendered nonexistant, and the snacks had been nearly dealt with. The wine? Don't ask about the wine… Things had been going great with Michael and Michele currently sitting close while watching Kevin Hart's Let Me Explain. It was a few years old, but Michael still found it funny

"A bum bump!" Michael laughed just before a loud bang was heard Michele's before it flew open, the locking mechanism and the doorknob appeared warped and melted as Jorge, the thug from the first time Michael and Michele met. Jorge wasn't alone either. There others stepped, with one of them having glowing blue irises. Michael got up from the couch, initially shocked, but remembered he had powers now. And this time he had a better handle on them than last time.

Nearly jumping out of her skin, Michele also got to her feet. It took her a moment, but she soon noticed that one of the men standing by where the front door used to be was the one from the incident a couple of days ago when she had been attacked.

“What the hell?” Michele’s heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest. “Get out—” She wasn’t able to finish her sentence as one of the men stepped forward and launched something in her direction. The impact sent her flying backward until her back hit the wall. Michele was left stunned for a moment due to the hard and abrupt stop, but when she looked down she noticed she was being held against the wall by a chunk of ice. It covered her from just below her chest to her upper thighs, effectively trapping her arms and hands in place.

“Michele!” Michael shouted before as his attention was to her instead of the three men.

Thinking quickly, Michele immediately projected her clones to appear in front of her, acting as a barrier before the five girls went after the thug who had struck first. The clones assured Michael, but a little too late as a blunt strike cracked him on the side of his face, sending him stumbling and a little dazed as he was caught off guard. The next few blows were made at his body as he stumbled before he stuck his footing and grunted as he released streaks of electricity that danced across the surface of his body, causing the attacker to halt his next attack.

“Shit!” The lanky man backed up.

"I fuckin' told you! This cabrón can zap your ass if you put hands on 'im! Let Joel blast 'im." Jorge ordered as Michael was squaring up with the very guy Jorge was talking to. Michael and the man locked eyes for less than a second before raising his right hand to release a flash of light towards the man's face.

“Gaahh!” He backed up while holding one his hands over his eyes while Jorge and Joel squinted from the sudden intense brightness. Michael took the advantage of the intruders being dazed, advancing forward.

The sudden intense brightness made Michele shut her eyes and turn away from the chaotic scene happening in her living room. The rest of the girls, however, were unphased by it as two of them broke off from Joel and proceeded to take down one of the remaining intruders. They flanked David on either side, grabbing his arms and putting him on the ground instantly by sweeping both legs simultaneously. He very well may easily overpower Michele or one of the clones, but not two of them.

“Now’s your chance!” One of the clones turned her head towards Michael while her and her counterpart pushed down on the thug to keep him pinned to the ground. With a thrust of Michael's hand, he fired electricity at Jorge who hadn't even had the chance to jump into the attack himself. Jorge dove onto the floor to avoid the attack only to be hit with a second attack of electricity. Michael kept the attack short due to not knowing how lethal it was. Jorge grunted on the floor with his hands glowing a bright red, but he couldn't readily get up. Michael assumed the man was done for and hurried over to Michele while looking at his palms.

"This should work." He said as his hand emitted heat that started to melt the ice.

Simply watching, Michele waited anxiously to be freed. She was shaking from the cold, especially as the ice began to melt. But beyond Michael, she saw something that slightly disturbed her. Who knows what had enraged the girls, which would explain why one of them was bashing her attacker's head, repeatedly smashing it against the floor despite his unconscious state. The others engaged with the thug begging for his life were kicking him senseless, and Michele was sure he too would be unconscious soon. She and Jorge then exchanged glances before he gathered whatever strength he had as he struggled to get to his feet.

“Michael, turn around!"

"Huh?" He let out before swiftly turning around to face Jorge getting up defiantly. "You fucking-" Michael didn't even get the rest of it out before he fired… nothing? Michele and Jorge didn't see anything leave Michael's palms. Confusion was painted on Michael's face, but he didn't lower his hands or re-thrust his hands. Jorge smirked. He was surroinfed, yes but the two he wanted dead were in his path. Right in front of him. Michael appeared to be spent and Michele was stuck on the wall.

Jorge took a step forward and held his stomach as he dry-heaved. Michael finally lowered his hands as he watched Jorge hold back from vomiting until he let it all out on the apartment floor. Michael walked forward and punched Jorge on the side of his head, knocking the ill man over onto the ground. He squirmed and moaned, unsure of what was happening to him as he continued to vomit on his side. Michael hadn't noticed the clones' brutality due to his current tunnel vision. But the sounds of the rhythmic pounding on the hard floor grabbed his attention. As his sights landed on the women, he paused in shock.

Michele… Are they killing them?" He turned to her, jumping a bit as he remembered her being stuck to the wall by ice. He hurried to her with hands glowing with heat again. "Michele…"
She shook her head, in part confused but afraid she somehow may have had something to do with the sudden aggressiveness from her counterparts. “I—I don’t know. I mean I didn’t actively wish them dead but I did want them gone. Maybe they took matters into their own hands…”

Michele looked down until the ice was melted enough and she was able to break free. “Hey, stop that!” She walked over to the clones, the lot of them pausing to look up at her.

“Nobody hurts you, Michele. Nobody hurts us,” one of them replied, the look in her eye unnerving even to Michele.

“Just take them outside, please…get them out of my sight,” Michele turned towards Michael. “I guess those guys were evil enough to attract the evil in them, or the evil in me…” Michele sighed, her hands rubbing her eyes as if she wanted to clear her head. “What am I supposed to do if I can’t get them under control?”

Michael placed his hands on Michele's shoulders for comfort, knowing full well what it was like to not have full control of his abilities. Though these powers came with a lot of perks, it was hard not to be afraid of what you could do with them.

“You will, okay? We both will.” He assured Michele. How could he make such a claim when their powers were so different? I probably did more damage to that guy than her clones did. The clones worked together to carry the three men out of the apartment and even the building. They simply dumped the men out back by the dumpsters.

Michael inspected the apartment door and door frame. He noticed the door could be shut, but not secured.

“Hey, I'll sleep by the door tonight. The lock is busted. Maybe I can move the couch against it.” He tried to ignore the other damage done to the place as he offered to be an extra layer of security for the apartment.

Her buzz was fading, though it was not entirely gone. "Yeah, let's put the couch up against it and I'll bring out an inflatable mattress for us to sleep in. I want to clean this place up first though...it looks horrid." Michele's mention of them both sleeping on the inflatable mattress caused Michael to look her way. He briefly watched Michele go to the closet by the bathroom to grab some cleaning supplies. She planned to tidy up the space then hop in for a warm shower herself.

"This shouldn't take too long," she commented as she handed off some of the supplies to Michael who gave her a small smile. Just then, she felt the familiar tingle whenever her clones returned home, so to speak.

“You should see my place if you want to know horrid… Shit, I… nevermind. I'll clean up that mess tomorrow.” He had forgotten about the mess at the condo he promised to clean up. Two ruined living spaces in one day.

The two had spent hours cleaning up the apartment. They made it a bit fun by talking over what had happened with a bit of humor to lighten the mood. Michael was placing some of the cleaning supplies back into the closet, while also being ready for Michele to hand him whatever she had too.

“We make a good team. Me and… all of you.” He joked before turning to face Michele with a smirk. “Maybe you can come over with me tomorrow and help with my place?” Michael honestly just wanted a reason to have her as his company.

"Oh, so now I'm your cleaning lady?" She teased, lightly jabbing him on the side with the tip of the broom before handing it off to him. "I suppose I could help," she shrugged, "pay you back for helping me tonight. Honestly, I'm not sure what I would have done if you hadn't been around to save me from those two to begin with."

“I'm glad I was there too. It was how we met.”

And with that, Michele headed towards the bedroom, her voice a little louder so Michael could hear her. He was just shutting the closet door when she spoke.

"I'm going to take a quick shower if that's alright with you, so please make yourself at home."

“I won't break anything else.” He replied as he found the wine again. Why not? He took a seat at the table since the couch was now pushed into the door. Without any pause, he poured and indulged in a drink. He tried not to think about the thugs that broke in, but it was hard to not think about it as he sat idly by. He shook the thoughts from his head and set up the tv to play Weeknd's Beauty Behind the Madness on shuffle.

Michele emerged from the bathroom about 15 minutes later, her hair wrapped up in a towel and donning a bathrobe. She simply smiled at Michael as she walked across to her bedroom. Michele took a moment to search within the walk-in closet for the mattress, though it didn't take her all that long to locate it. She pulled it out and rejoined Michael back out in the living room. "Are you tired yet or do you want to continue drinking for a little while longer?" She inquired, nodding towards the glass of wine in his hand. "I'm fine either way." She then placed the box down in front of her. At the same time, Michael quickly poured a second glass of wine and set it down

“How about you get another glass while I get the mattress ready.” He insisted as he walked over to the box at her feet and started carrying it towards the most open spot in the living room. “Feeling better?” He asked while removing the inflatable mattress from the box.

“Oh yes, a shower always helps.” Michele walked over to the kitchen to get another glass from the cupboard. What little remained from their evening before the surprise visit had been put away, and the rest had been thrown out along with the rest of the trash. She grabbed the bottle and poured as much as possible before the glass overfilled. Michele intended to be distracted that evening, and that’s exactly what she was going to do. Grabbing the glass, she took a sip and carefully walked over to where Michael was setting up the mattress. She was a bit eager to see where the night would take them. “Here’s to no more interruptions.” Michele raised the glass briefly before taking another sip.

“I can get with that.” The inflatable mattress was the type that you plugged in and let inflate on its own. Good thing, because he wanted to rejoin Michele. As the mattress inflated with its loud humming, Michael grabbed his glass. “And cheers to a wonderful night with the lovely Michele.” He eyed her robe-clad figure before he paused at Michele's striking brown eyes as she sipped her wine.

The two laughed and talked for a bit, the stress from earlier slowly melting away, at least that was the case for Michele. She was enjoying Michael's presence, and she thought it was a safe bet to assume that there was some level of mutual attraction going on judging by their interaction with one another.

After downing the last sip of her wine, Michele put the empty glass down next to the couch. Such action led her to realize she was dizzy, but she simply shook it off. "I'm gonna go ahead and get some blankets, and you can make yourself comfortable if you wish."

“Of course.” He removed his shoes and socks before setting them against one of the walls. He then contemplated removing his jeans as well. He wouldn't be comfortable otherwise, and Michele did say 'make yourself comfortable' just now. After a shrug, he removed his jeans. Boxer briefs never hurt anyone anyway. The inflatable mattress was already covered by a maroon-colored sheet. The television was cut off so all there was to do was lie down.

The sound of the inflatable mattress rubbing against itself filled the apartment announcing his action.

Before making her way over to Michael out in the living room, Michele turned off the lights as she went. There was a floor lamp she turned on and dimmed to the lowest setting for good measure in the rare event that their evening took a turn for the worse again. "I hope you don't mind it gets really cold in here at night since I prefer it that way," she went on as she unfolded the blanket and let some of it fall on Michael.

“I think you'll keep me warm enough… And with what you can do, there's more than enough Michele to do it.” Immediately after the fact, she joined him under the covers. Michael embraced Michele, holding her comfortably while they retired for the night. The crazy day was finally at its end and it wouldn't be the last one to come, but these two had each other to depend on. Michael and Michele.