It is an ordinary summer Friday night in Lafayette City, with perfectly temperate summer weather, perfect for relaxing outside or enjoying the night life in the city’s bustling downtown. Or at least it was. The news has spread all over the city; the Precious Metal Vault, located in the basement of the Lafayette Financial Tower, is being robbed! Located in the urban downtown of the city, this treasure trove of gold, silver, and platinum is often a target of crime. However, this time the theft was far from ordinary for a few reasons:

One: this is the first time it happened since all the people with powers died, and
Two: the group responsible for the robbery is the Storm Troopers, a gang led by Thundercloud, a well-known supervillain who should be dead right now.

Thundercloud himself looks like an actual thunder cloud; he is a fat man, weighing in at over 300 pounds, and his clothing is a dark gray jumpsuit that covers his whole body. Oddly enough, there is what looks like matching gray cotton balls attached to the jumpsuit as well, completing his look. Despite his ridiculous costume, he is not one to be trifled with, as he can create and control electricity, among other things. And while his two dozen men don’t have powers, they are capable of holding off the police officers that showed up to create a perimeter around the area while the theft takes place. These Storm Troopers aren’t from a sci-fi film either; they’re dressed in black leather jackets with a yellow lightning bolt on the back, along with matching pants.

As time passed, about half of the thugs were engaged with the authorities, while the other half helped load the metals into the getaway box truck through the tower’s lobby. It is a typical office lobby, with a receptionist’s desk, chairs for waiting business clients, and a vending machine that used to have intact glass. Thundercloud himself relaxed, lounging on a beige cushy chair eating potato chips while supposedly “keeping an eye out for trouble.” He didn’t really expect much; since all of the heroes were dead, who was going to stop him? Even so, it was a good enough reason to eat instead of help, so there he was.

However, unknown to the villain, a local meteor crash awakened powers in several people a week ago. And wherever those people are right now, this is when they decided to help the city and stop the malcontents responsible for this. However, when these heroes arrived in the building’s lobby, they were not expecting to find other people who want to fight these villains as well. At least bypassing the authorities was fairly easy, as they were too distracted by the Storm Troopers to really notice much else.

Will these new heroes be able to prevail against this threat? Why is it suddenly raining downtown right now? And will Thundercloud be able to finish his chips?

The city will soon find out!

In the week she had spent trying to get to grips with her powers, nothing seemed stranger to Kestrel now than hearing about what should be a ghost robbing the Precious Metal Vault. Thundercloud was dead, after all. He had to be. When the virus decimated the superhero population everyone mourned and no one expected the virus to have been selective about who it took.

And yet there it was. Kestrel bolted upright on her couch when the news broke. She turned up the volume on the TV as the murmurs of other concerned students filled the corridor outside of her dorm room. Was this a nightmare? Her sleep had been disturbed since the meteor fell but this felt all too vivid. She watched intently as news anchors argued over how this could be happening, interspersed with helicopter footage that didn't show much of anything beyond the initial encounter the authorities had with an armed force storming the building and the briefest glimpse of a rotund man dressed like a thunder cloud.

She stared at the TV and her mind filled with static. All the superheroes were dead. The supervillains, or at least this supervillain, was not. Thundercloud was no joke and a handful of beat cops didn't stand a chance against him. As far as Kestrel knew, she was the only other person with superpowers right now. New, fledgling, barely explored superpowers but superpowers all the same. The feeling of responsibility crushed her, the voices of her parents in her head telling her not to go crushed her even more. But they were several hundred miles away and safe, Lafayette Financial Tower was 10 minutes away from her dorm, 5 if she ran fast. She had to go.

Pushing her way out through the corridor took some effort but once she was out and wriggled her grey jacket on, Kestrel ran straight for the tower. She was never exceptionally athletic but the faster her heart pounded the more grateful she was for never skipping physical education. The closer she got to the building the more precarious her run became. Crowds of people were either forming or fleeing, local bars overflowed with people piling inside for safety or just to watch what was happening on the news.

Lafayette Financial Tower loomed over her. The same crushing feeling kept eating away at her but it was far too late to back out now. She would never forgive herself. A cursory glance at the entrance of the building revealed that the local authorities were still locked in a standoff with the Storm Troopers. With any luck, the rest of Thundercloud's force would be down in the vault and not in the lobby and with that haphazardly formed plan she ventured forth. She pushed her way through the crowd that formed in the surrounding area and put up the hood on her jacket. The crowd was large enough to have spilled over near the side of the building, she figured that without attracting too much attention she could make it from the edge of the crowd to the side entrance into the lobby with a very brisk walk in just a few seconds. No one would notice her while they were too busy watching the main performance and even if they did she doubted that they would call out to her.

And she did just that. In what felt like one swift move she broke away from the crowd, made her way towards the door and entered the lobby, expecting to find it empty or patrolled by one of Thundercloud's lackeys. Instead she witnessed the man himself. A man in a jumpsuit that inexplicably did not burst at the seams, gorging on chips. While she concealed herself behind a pillar, her eyes quickly darted to the sight of another young woman who looked as though she had arrived just moments before. The "Oh no." she uttered told Kestrel enough to go on, and she quietly conjured a vest of energy beneath her clothes.

Thundercloud. Robin remembered not missing any of the supervillains who were killed. But even though the former heroes all succumbed to the virus, in the back of Robin's mind, he logically concluded, statistically speaking, there had to be at least one supervillain or hero who survived. So when the news came on that Thundercloud was not only alive, but up to his old antics, Robin was less surprised and more distraught. Of all the possible supervillains, why did it have to be him?!

Robin had been a bookworm for most of his life. His solution to any problem was to research it, know it inside and out, then use the most effective means to solve it. Robin was a bit of a prepper, and had a plan for any situation. In his downtime, he liked to research supervillains' strengths and weaknesses, on the off chance he would somehow become involved in a situation with them. That was before he discovered his Grandfather's study. And of all the supervillains that Robin hated, it was Thundercloud who really stuck out to him. Robin had researched the obese man, pouring over video and witness accounts of his actions. Robin deduced that he was a lazy man who preferred to take things easy, stuffing his face whenever he got the chance, letting his minions do the heavy lifting for him, and only getting involved if it seemed like things would fail. Much as he would be loathe to admit it, Robin found it an effective strategy, if not detestable and cowardly. On a professional level, Robin found his methods distasteful. On a personal level, Robin was disgusted with his mannerisms and lack of class. The librarian had no time for slobs, and no patience for those who would actively try to hurt others to attain their own goals.

Robin had immediately departed. Despite the rain, he had been taught how to magically coat his talismans to be somewhat waterproof. This was after it started storming suddenly a few days ago. His sensei had taught him a technique for creating a talisman that can survive the elements. While he hadn't perfected it, it was good enough that short of diving into a pool of water, Robin would still be able to use his talismans. The magic that had permeated them would not deteriorate. Taking back alleys and remaining low to the ground, Robin flew off towards the scene, wearing only a ski mask to protect his identity. He had landed just outside the police cordon, and was trying to figure out a way inside, when he noticed a young woman sneaking in. Following behind the distraction she created and remaining out of sight, he waited to see what she could do. Robin watched the young woman as she made her way into the lobby. Did she have some sort of plan? Maybe she can-"I was shocked to learn that a powered individual survived the virus."

The young woman called attention to herself. Thundercloud's disgusting form looked unamused. And by the looks of things, she didn't have a plan past that. Her face said it all. She expected something to happen, but it didn't. Robin sighed, now seeing that he was needed sooner than expected. Before either the villain or the woman could do anything else, Robin produced a few talismans from his jacket, holding them between his fingers like playing cards. He stepped forward out of his hiding spot, walked slowly to interpose himself in between the woman and Thundercloud, all while speaking a mystical Japanese chant. As he spoke, blue flames ignited at the ends of his talismans. "Rin! Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!" All at once, he tossed one of the handfuls of talismans at Thundercloud as he shouted, "Aku ryou taisan!" They flew like throwing cards toward the fat man, burning bright with magical fire. And where they landed, they exploded like firecrackers, filling the room with a thick smoke. Robin had confidence in his aim, since his Sensei had him practice card throwing along with magic. And as Robin watched the smoke, he brought the other handful of talismans at the ready, reaching into his jacket to grab more. Without looking at the young woman behind him, he addressed her. "I hope you can do more than announce yourself, miss."

Paige

Can you please stop ignoring my calls?

Paige stared down at the message, chewing at her lip with a deep frown cut into her face. 5 missed calls from 2 numbers, and a barrage of texts. How long could she avoid them? Normally a Friday night out with her friends would be a great way to forget the week, but there was no forgetting this week, and she just wanted to be alone. Her phone chirped at her again.

Please be advised, downtown Lafayette is under a state of emergency. Remain in your homes and stay clear of the area.

Paige frowned. It wasn't a text, it was a push notification from the city. Youtube was a little more informative. She listened as the anchor on a breaking news stream echoed the statement in the notification, but went on to explain the situation. They flashed a closeup of thundercloud, though it did little justice to his aesthetic.

Paige was still frowning when she stood up, clutching her phone at her side as she moved upstairs to her room. The amazon package she'd received earlier was sitting undisturbed on the bed. She'd felt too silly to try it on earlier, but now she kind of needed it. Everything inside fit well, and the wet-suit like outfit left her feeling less self-conscious than she had expected.

Part of her actually felt kind of lit.

The outfit left no room to carry anything, and so with one last look at her missed calls and unanswered texts, she set her phone down and left the house. She made sure no one was around to see her hiding her key in the yard, and promptly broke into a run heading toward downtown.

Time slowed around her, and she started to feel lighter. Eventually she was leaping in graceful bounds, carried swiftly toward downtown past vehicles moving a millimetre a second.

She was a little surprised when the first raindrops slapped hard against her cheek on her way to Lafayette Financial Tower. The weather had been so clear, and now seemed forebodingly thematic, though Paige thought little more of it than creepy and inconveniently painful as she drew closer and closer to the scene.

Getting past the blockade and the Storm Troopers was easy, they likely hadn't even seen her. Miscalculating how much ground she needed to stop herself in her light-weight state, Paige bounced and stumbled an extra dozen feet or so on landing, and where she meant to position herself just outside the smoke-filled lobby, she instead wound up right inside.

Ahead she could see the outline of two figures, one tall, one short, neither looking anywhere near 300 lbs. Thundercloud was nowhere to be seen, though not much was currently anywhere to be seen. Her lips drawn into a tight line, she decided she would need to wait for the smoke to clear. She would have to return to normal speed for that to happen. That meant She would have to be careful.

Taking a deep breath, she let the world catch up around her, eying the smoke around her nervously for traces of a great big man with thunderpowers.

"I hope you can do more than announce yourself, miss" she heard a masculine voice say, though the first words were too deep and distorted to make out.

So who were these two?

Sitting on the simple yet comfortable padded chair she placed beside the window of her bed room, Rosaria looked out of the window to gaze upon the road outside. The night. Rosaria had always preferred the night over the day. The night after all tended to be quiet and more peaceful, with a lot more shadows and much less light, allowing her to remain unnoticed by people way easier than during the day. That's also why she chose to have a nocturnal lifestyle, sleeping for much of the morning and afternoon and remaining awake for the evening and night. Perhaps that was also why the powers she had suddenly gained had such great synergy with how she lived, what's with all the literal turning and melding into shadows. It still perplexed Rosaria why she gained these powers. Why her? And why now? The super powered people had all went extinct due to that weird virus after all...

"Well daughter, perhaps that's why." The voice made Rosaria turned away from the windows, looking at the source. The figure of a middle aged man sharing some likeness with Rosaria's own physical appearance talked to her, pointing to the screen of the television that had been left on in the room. Rosaria's father, Lukov Voronin. A loving father and husband that had always tried his best for his family, a dutiful man and the person Rosaria looked up to the most in life.

Oh and he was also someone that's no longer alive, killed nearly 4 years ago in a tragedy that left Rosaria all alone in an uncaring world. This Lukov was merely a hallucination, a product of Rosaria's own mind borne of trauma and regrets. A typical occurrence, these hallucinations. Rosaria had long since gotten used to them. Yet it was also by her own choice that she often addressed these hallucinations as if they were real; it helped her feel a semblance of normalcy in her life.

"Perhaps, father. Perhaps..." Rosaria turned to look at the television screen showing a live news coverage of a crime in progress; the Precious Metal Vault, being robbed by a group of people. And for once it seemed like these criminals might just succeed where countless others had failed. That was in no small part because of the ringleader of these law breakers; Thundercloud, a supervillain whose name fitted quite well indeed with his appearance... A supervillain that should very much be dead along with all the other super powered people. Rosaria frowned as she watched the news; why is Thundercloud alive? Why is he making an appearance now? Is there any connection at all between his reappearance and Rosaria's own newly obtained powers? The thoughts swirled in her mind until another voice brought her out of her contemplations.

"Maybe there's a connection indeed, dear... And you know what to do, yes? We had all talked about this together." Another figure appeared, standing beside Rosaria. This one's the hallucination of a middle aged woman, Rosaria's mother, Sabrina Voronin. Rosaria nodded in response, an ironic smile on her face as she talked "Yes, mother... I suppose I might as well take this as a chance to... start. Making a difference and all that. Heh..." Rosaria stood up from the chair, turning off the television using the remote placed near her chair on a low table. Then without another words, she walked over to her wardrobe. She already had some clothes prepared for when the time to be a "hero", as laughable as the idea of that was to her, finally showed itself.

Finished changing, she head for the door out of her apartment room. She took one last look behind into the room, gazing at three figures standing there as if to see her off. Her father, her mother, and her older brother, smiling at her and looking very real indeed. The figure of her brother nodded at her "You go and get them, sis. Show them all what a Voronin can do." Rosaria sighed and shook her head at that, a light smile on her face. "Sure thing, brother... Well, I'm off.

She nodded back at them and turned around to face the door once more. Well then... Here goes nothing. An instant later, her entire body turned into a shadowy figure, dark and partially transparent. And then the next moment, she was gone, merged into the shadows under the door and in the dark corridor outside.




It didn't take long for Rosaria to arrive to the crime scene. There were always plenty of shadows in the night, and she's able to move very rapidly using the shadows. That it was raining didn't hinder her at all; the rain couldn't even touch her while she's one with shadows. From within the safety of the shadows, Rosaria watched. She had always been someone with extraordinary attention to details, and she fully intended to put that into good use before making her next move.

The crime scene was much like what the news report showed. The police were engaged with the endearingly named Storm Troopers, henchmen under Thundercloud. Getting past this scene of confrontation would be child's play for Rosaria. She might have had her powers for only a week, but she had gotten the gist of how to remain within the shadows easily enough; all these people have no way whatsoever to even perceive her.

But then, as Rosaria continued her observation, she noticed some breaks from the pattern... To others focused on the battle between the cops and the Storm Troopers, these people wouldn't be notable at all as they were all making the effort to not be noticed. But to Rosaria with her attention to details, they stuck out. These were individuals that didn't looked like they belonged to the police, the Storm Troopers, nor the civilian onlookers. Whoever these individuals were, they had all managed to sneak into the lobby of the Lafayette Financial Tower.

Finishing her observations, Rosaria then decided on her next course of action. Remaining one with the shadows, she moved rapidly ahead to follow these individuals into the lobby, arriving there promptly.

What she found inside looked to her to be the beginning of another confrontation. Rosaria had used the shadows to crept up to the ceilings of the lobby, remaining in one of the dark corners while she watched on as a woman which were one of the individuals who had sneaked into the lobby, addressed the supervillain lounging on a beige cushy chair eating potato chips. "I was shocked to learn that a powered individual survived the virus."

This was then followed by... nothing. What on earth is that woman doing...? Rosaria thought to herself as she watched on, observing how the woman looked unnerved after saying her piece; as if she expected something to happen.

And who's that hiding behind a pillar? Rosaria noticed another woman who, like herself, seemed to be observing the confrontation from the shadows. Albeit, not as literally within the shadows as Rosaria herself was doing. Alright... What's happening here? Why did all these people sneaked in here? Before Rosaria can ponder the questions more, things proceeded even further. One of the individuals she observed sneaking into the building, the trench coated individual with the ski mask, leaped forward from his hiding place. He took out... Talismans? And these talismans seemed to just suddenly ignited at the ends with blue flames. How did he?... Could it be that this man also possessed powers? Is he a survivor of the virus? Or... is he like me?

Thoughts filled Rosaria's mind as she remained in the shadows to observe the scene. So many questions with no clue yet as to how to answer them... But it seemed like she will have to put trying to answer the questions later as the confrontation looked to be moving to the next level when the man shouted words in a foreign language while tossing some of his talismans at Thundercloud, causing explosions to burst and fill the room with smoke. "I hope you can do more than announce yourself, miss." Rosaria heard the man said immediately after.

Regardless of all that had occurred, one thing can pretty much be confirmed: Things didn't occur in the way that Rosaria had expected at all when she decided to leave her room and be a "hero"...

Sarah had been leaned over her laptop on the dining room table, excitedly clicking keys and observing the contents of the screen for the last ten minutes. Apparently, a high profile robbery was happening at the financial center in town. She was watching a livestream hosted by some bystanders near the incident. They had caught footage of professional looking men in black leather jackets forming a firing line. Police cars arrived three or four at a time. They pulled their vehicles in front of the entrance and used them as barricades, setting up their own offensive line.

‘Thundercloud is behind this, huh?’ she thought, chewing on her nail and thinking over so many years of her old superhero obsession. ‘So some of the old guard are still alive.’

In the livestream video, there was suddenly loud noise and screaming as gunshots fired off left and right. The conflict had just turned hot. The bystander, fearing for his life, turned his camera away from the scene and ran for it. Sarah closed her laptop and smiled. She was feeling excitement more than anything. A kind of nervous mania was animating her. She had been waiting for a chance to make herself known - how could she turn down the chance to be a real hero? ‘Things might not be this interesting for a while.’

Sarah grabbed a paper airplane from her dresser and walked towards the balcony. It was of a more elaborate design than usual, and there were several others like it strewn around the room with bent noses. All seemed to be folded from high quality, solid paper. The shut-in girl slid open her glass door and looked over the nighttime city skyline for a moment, before setting her paper airplane down and rushing back inside, closing the door behind her.

Sarah threw herself onto the bed, her heart racing. She had already prepared a body. She would take the plane to pick it up and then make her way to the crime scene. She was sure she could make it in time. She took a deep breath and then focused on the paper airplane which sat on the other side of the glass. A few seconds later, her gaze slackened and her body went limp.

Nobody was flying high above the city. Icy wind flapped at the paper which made up her new form as she soared over busy streets. Sarah could animate any object she possessed, and she could make it float through the air if it wasn’t too heavy. The plane shape of the paper was just a caprice. But Sarah delighted in that kind of thing, and she had convinced herself that the aerodynamics of the paper airplane would help her fly faster. Maybe she had been right, as she quickly arrived at her destination - a department store. There, Nobody crushed into the ground unceremoniously, bending the nose of her last pristine model.

In front of her there was a pane of glass for window shopping, and behind that was the prepared body: it was a mannequin, dressed in this season’s hottest fashion. Sarah focused until she could feel its fused plastic fingers as her own. It was a strange sight - the mannequin suddenly stood up from its stand and began to move in a somewhat lifelike way. It wasn’t much trouble for Sarah to make its arms and legs move in the appropriate manner - they had been made jointed for posing purposes. Nobody put on some shoes, and grabbed a pair of sunglasses to hide the worst of her ghost-white plastic face. A nearby shopper caught a glimpse of her and screamed in shock. The mannequin strutted out the door with confidence, causing the store’s alarms to sound off like crazy. Some of her clothes still had tags on them. ’I wouldn’t wait around for the cops to show up tonight,’ she thought to herself, knowing that the force would be busy at the moment.

The mannequin walked into an alley the next block over and retrieved, from among some trash and cardboard, the go-bag which she had prepared for just this occasion. She had been very busy since discovering her power. The bag didn’t contain anything spectacular, just spare odds and ends she might use in case her current body failed. Nobody unzipped the bag and left it open. It might end up useless otherwise. The strange figure started moving again with a brisk walk. She had somewhere to be.

It wasn’t long afterwards that she arrived at Lafayette financial building. The standoff had continued. It seemed that a few were now injured on either side. Somehow there were still some bystanders at the scene, recklessly watching the event play out. Nobody approached the shootout at a jog. One of the officers saw her coming and said “Miss, stay back. This is a dangerous situation,” but her plastic legs only sped up. He held up his hands to grab her, but amazingly, she leapt into the air and and cleared the police line in one jump. Levitating a body like this was no real problem with her ability. Sarah loved her power sometimes.

She landed towards the top of the stairs, near the armed thugs. They were momentarily stunned by her appearance and were slow to react. Sarah threw herself through their line and started running past. One of the thugs grabbed her for a second, but she sent him to the ground with a forceful shove. She bolted towards the door to the building. The thugs started after her, but they couldn’t afford to leave the front, because the police had also started making a push and they had to be held off. She was going to make it.

Gunshots rang out as she made it inside. Two bullets burst through her chest, shredding her top and sending sprays of plastic behind them. It seemed the grounded thug had managed to line up a shot on her. But the mannequin didn’t stop. She turned the corner to the lobby, hearing more gunfire go wide.

Sarah’s entry had succeeded, but she knew that her body wouldn’t take much more abuse. Even now it made a scratching and clicking sound every time she turned her head. Figuring that she would have company soon, she crouched behind one of the office desks and hid.

It seemed that there was already some action going on inside the lobby. Thundercloud was there, and a number of others in plain clothes and assorted odd outfits. There were flaming cards and then suddenly a thick, obscuring smoke. Who were these guys, that were already two steps ahead of the police? Special agents? Or something else? Sarah waited to see what would happen next.

"How long we gotta wait up here anyway," asked Steve as he peered over the edge of the rooftop to catch a glimpse of the crowd below. He lifted his rifle and used the scope to get a better look. Cops glared intently at the lobby's entrance while pedestrians and onlookers gasped any time a shot rang out.

"Til the boss gives the signal," Carl reminded stoically, holding his own rifle securely in his arms while the rain splashed off his Storm Trooper jacket in a sporadic rhythm. With the current downpour, Carl could understand why his associate was eager to get back inside. Nevertheless, orders were orders and Thundercloud would not take insubordination lightly. Their jobs were simple: they were the eyes in the sky, the lookouts in case something were headed their way that could wreck the boss' plan. Truth be told, Carl thought it was as much a waste of time as Steve did. The heroes were gone and the cops were a joke. This score was going to be cake.

That's when both of the uniformed men heard the sound and, in unison, looked up toward the sky.

A hulking shadow cut through the air, appearing out of nowhere and descending fast. In what seemed like a split second, Carl looked on as the figure, cloaked in rain and darkness, kicked its foot out and planted it in Steve's chest, launching the stormtrooper airborne before he fell into a tumble several yards back.

"What the..." Carl whispered, a tinge of fear in his voice. "Who the fuck are you?! Are you- are you one of them?" He fumbled to get his rifle into firing position, his nervousness getting in the way of his effectiveness. "Did you just... Can you fly?!" Just as the last word was spoke, the large, dark figure moved with a speed that seemed uncommon of something that big. He... It?... charged right at Carl. Just as the stormtrooper was about to pull the trigger, his rifle was seized by the muzzle and pointed upward. The bullet shot out but all it had any chance of hitting at this point was a cloud above.

"No," the dark figure whispered, answering Carl's question. He then ripped the gun from Carl's grasp and tossed it aside. The stormtrooper was physically trembling at this point. He looked back over to Steve who was still lying on the ground. Was he dead? Unconscious? Carl couldn't tell.

"D-do you have super strength or something? Is that your power?" he stammered, half paralyzed with horror.

Carl could see hints of his teeth as his face contorted in a snarl.

"No." The answer was sharp, void of all emotion. The dark figure grabbed Carl by the collar and pulled him very close. Carl could finally see the contours of his face. His eyes were like two brilliant orbs in a twin sea of blackness, his mouth a thin line across a very square jaw.

With a violent push and an equally abrupt pull back, the figure rammed his forehead into Carl's. A sickening crack rang out into the night as the figure allowed Carl's limp body to fall to the ground. Silently and with purpose, he left the two fallen guards and headed toward the rooftop accessway before finding his way to an elevator that would take him to the lobby.

---

15 Minutes Before...

This is stupid, Kane told himself as he looked over the rooftop's ledge. He had made his way to the top of the Downtown Sheridan Hotel which sat adjacent to Lafayette Financial Tower, but was just a bit taller. Down below, shots were being fired, police were on the scene already and Kane couldn't help but think that this was a place he simply didn't belong. When he heard of the situation playing out on the car radio, he immediately turned around and headed toward the scene but now that he was actually here, he couldn't help but wonder why.

He didn't even have a proper mask to hide his identity. In a scramble, he was able to find some leather polish in his glove box and used that to create a sort of painted domino mask on his face. As he reviewed it in the mirror earlier, he couldn't help but think he looked like some punk putting on a Crow Halloween costume. He didn't even have his handcuffs or any weapons of which to speak and now here he was trying to figure out how to make his way to the center of a showdown with a notorious supervillain. I'm such an idiot, he thought again.

There was no route that he could see that would enable him to enter the building from the ground. Kane was nearly six and a half feet tall... He could hardly be described as inconspicuous in a crowd. Out of options, Kane had noticed the Sheridan and decided to take the elevator up to the roof to see if he could gauge a better point of access. Now that he was up here and could confirm that, no, there way no great way to sneak a huge, goth, Tarzan looking man into a heavily observed building, he stood there stumped.

Just then, the roof access door of the Financial Tower opened up and out came two armed cronies in their Storm Trooper jackets. Kane squinted, trying to see passed the falling rain to accurately size each of them up. Physically, they didn't appear too intimidating, but their weapons certainly did. I bet if I went through that door and took the elevator down, I'd hit almost no resistance, he silently mused. But how the hell am I going to get over there and passed those guys? He looked at the palm of his hands and just shook his head. His powers were useless for this sort of thing.

He peered over the rooftop edge again and a stupid thought crossed his mind. A stupid, dumb, never-going-to-work-in-a-million-years thought. Stop it, he mentally scolded himself. That only works in the movies. You can't possibly jump this thing. You'll miss and you'll die! It's out of the question. As he continued to analyze the distance, his head slowly cocked to the side. I am perched a little higher, though... If I get a good running start and make sure to roll when I land, I might be okay...

He could hear the stormtroopers murmuring something to eachother, but couldn't pick up on the words they were speaking through the sound of the rainfall. Instead, he just started taking long, backward strides, shaking his head in disbelief at this own impending stupidity. I can't believe I'm about to do this. You're an idiot, you're stupid, this isn't going to work, YOU'RE. GOING. TO. DIE! As his back hit the Hotel's roof access doorway, he was forced to stop. This is as much of a running start as the building would allow. He took in some deep breaths and let them out very slow. His thoughts were panicked, screaming at him to reconsider with images and imaginings about the many ways this could fail. He bit his lip. This was a bad idea and it was time to grow up and abandon these fantastical dreams of being a superhero.

Or...

Fuck it. Kane's entire body dropped as all of the physical force he could muster bust out of his legs and sent him torpedoing forward in a sprint. Each step hit the ground with a hard thud and a massive splash. His velocity was increasing, his adrenaline pumping. Finally, he vaulted up upon the hotel roof's ledge and just as he was about to make his final leap... he slipped!

FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!

After a dog-like yelp, Kane was airborne, his arms flailing wildly. It wasn't long before his feet were above his head in a mid-air tumble. He kicked out his leg to try and brace for any sort of impact, as if reaching out for a landing. Kane forced his eyes shut in a clench and silently accepted his doom.

Suddenly, he felt his foot's impact with an infirm object. He opened his eyes just as his own tumble ended, timed perfectly for him to land in a roll. Meanwile, his wild kick had managed to collide with one of the storm troopers. You've got to be shitting me, he thought with the excitement of a child. I did it! I'm alive! He wanted to squeal and jump for joy!

"Who the fuck are you?!" Kane's sobriety immediately took back over as his eyes darted to the Storm Trooper that remained standing. "Are you- are you one of them? Did you just... Can you fly?!" The trooper began readying his rifle. The hairs on Kane's arms would have stood on end had they not been soaked.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. I can't get shot now, not after all this! He had a light Kevlar vest on, but that rifle looked powerful enough to cut right through it. He knew he'd have to react and he'd have to do it now or he was dead. Kane mustered everything he could and charged forward. With almost no time to spare, he grabbed the muzzle of the rifle and pointed it upward. The trooper pulled the trigger and a shot blasted forth.

An immediate sense of tinnitus rang out in Kane's head. The shot was loud. Slightly disoriented, Kane answered the Trooper's question with a simple, "No." However, with the ringing in his ears, he could only manage a throaty whisper through the pain. Frustrated, he ripped the rifle out of the troopers hand and threw it aside angrily as if his current discomfort was the gun's own fault.

"D-do you have super strength or something? Is that your power?" the trooper stammered. Kane could barely hear him passed the ringing.

Did he say super strength, Kane asked himself. He was still unsure, but decided to assume as much.

"No," Kane answered again, trying to focus passed fog of tinnitus. Well, at least I don't think so, he began to muse. Maybe I do? Huh. Maybe I need to force it out just like last time...

Kane then grabbed the stormtrooper by the collar. You have to focus if this is going to work. Embrace yourself. Embrace your super strength. You can do this... With that, Kane delivered a particularly violent headbutt.

FUCK NO YOU DON'T HAVE SUPER STRENGTH, he mentally shouted at himself as the pain seared through his entire head. Kane immediately dropped the now unconscious man and stumbled toward the Financial Tower's roof access door. Oh my god, I might have a concussion! Why are you so stupid?! Also, why are these stairs spinning? Don't trip down these stairs or so help me...

Clumsily, he made his way over to the elevator and threw himself inside before hitting the button for the lobby. The initial descent only added to his dizziness. He squeezed his head with both of his hands, trying to get everything to settle, trying to regroup. He hadn't even gotten to the hardest part of this operation, yet.

As soft, nondescript music was playing overhead, Kane rolled his shoulders to loosen up and punched his fists together, resulting in a chorus of cracked knuckles. It's game time, he reminded himself. Put your war face on and let's finish this. Just then, the iconic Ding rang out and the metal elevator doors slid open to reveal none other than a gluttonous Thundercloud as well as some other faces that were far less familiar to him. Kane had obviously been noticed and the second of silence felt like an eternity. Slightly nervous and feeling like he was being put on the spot, he finally blurted out...

"It's time for justice, and his name is MidKnight."

that.doesn't.even.make.SENSE.GAH.DAMMIT!

Thundercloud, by his nature, was not a deep thinker. Usually applying enough electricity to a problem solved it. And yet, when some random girl walked in and said what he could only guess was a bad attempt at humor, he had to take a moment to figure out what the hell was going on while he finished his chips. No sense letting those go to waste, right?

Apparently someone else disagreed, as he heard some weaboo shout gibberish Asian words before throwing fire at him. Thundercloud thought he heard someone else too, but he didn’t see anyone, so he shrugged it off. The attack had hit his suit and chips, causing a few of the “cotton balls” to lose some of their form as if they absorbed the damage, while the bag of snack food was destroyed entirely. It did hurt a bit, but the villain was more annoyed than in pain. What was with these nuts? Mmm, some salted nuts sounded good right now. After whatever this is was done, he’d have to get some from the machine, Thundercloud thought.

He got up from his chair in time to see some other girl arrive. How in the world did this one get here? Thundercloud had a feeling someone else was here as well; this was confirmed when he heard gunshots and another person entering. He even noticed small plastic bits that made a trail leading to a desk; Thundercloud grinned, as if he was a genius for noticing someone was hiding behind the desk and that somehow there were heroes alive who wanted to stop him.

The smoke had fully cleared by now, giving one of the Storm Troopers easy access to his leader. “Loading’s done. Orders, boss?” he asked.

“Get the truck and move. Have the others come here.” He vaguely gestured to the motley crew of “heroes” as if to illustrate why. He was sure he could kill these things himself, but 11 of his men would be a good backup plan.

The Trooper nodded in response and ran off, ready to fulfill his orders.

Thundercloud was about to speak up again, but he was interrupted by the ding of an elevator.

"It's time for justice, and his name is MidKnight."

The evil man could only roll his eyes as he briefly addressed the relative newcomer. “Whatever, Hot Topic.” Turning back to face Robin, Thundercloud decided to respond in kind. “Hey Chinaman, I can do that too. Ching! Chong! Ping! Pong! Ding! Dong!” With each racist sound, he pushed his palms forward, blasting a burst of electricity at Robin and the heroes near him, including the one hiding behind a desk. That would be enough to kill them, right?

“Told ya,” he concluded, casually shooting a blast of electricity behind him at Kane like he was an afterthought.

Yeah, some nuts sounded good right now.

Still trying to catch her breath, Kestrel was dumbfounded by the scene that unfolded in front of her. In just a few short minutes the mostly empty lobby had filled with an assortment of other people and...A mannequin? It would've made less sense if she hadn't spent the last week trying to figure out why she could manifest objects made of energy through thought alone (and occasionally hand motions, if precision was involved). No, this particular situation seemed almost deliberate. From the meteor that made mostly minor waves in the media to the realisation that not everyone with superpowers succumbed to the virus.

“Hey Chinaman, I can do that too. Ching! Chong! Ping! Pong! Ding! Dong!”

Kestrel didn't have enough time to absorb the sheer absurdity of what had just happened in front of her, from the mannequin to the hulking man announcing his arrival as the elevator stopped by the lobby. The sparks crackling suddenly towards her cut that time shorter still. The electricity, seemingly aimed at the man that attacked Thundercloud first, spread throughout the room and forced her to dive out from behind the pillar. With her presence now revealed (though she suspected it wasn't as well concealed as she initially hoped) and panic kicking in she gestured with her hands.

With little time to concentrate, she put up several barriers around the lobby, hoping they would protect some of the other arrivals from damage or at the very least, possibly, absorb some of the energy. She knew from her week of testing her powers that objects disconnected from her would not last long but given the speed of Thundercloud's attack and the frantic situation unfolding before her eyes that may not have mattered too much.

"I really hope none of you are with him!" She yelled. Unaware that the blast from the storm in a jumpsuit was strong enough to fracture the pillar she had just hid behind.

Robin's mind worked quickly, as the blasts began to form in Thundercloud's hands. A quick glance around demonstrated that Robin was no longer alone. Who were these people? New heroes, hopefully. He hadn't seen them arrive, having been focused on Thundercloud. He took a moment to chastise himself. It would've been bad if one of these people had come to Thundercloud's aid, and here, Robin didn't notice they came. Seeing that the blasts were aimed not just at him, but those around him, Robin immediately threw his talismans at the ground in front of himself and the other people. Where the talismans landed, a flash indicated a barrier, transparent like a window, appeared.

Robin didn't know how strong the blast was, but he didn't think the barriers would last long. As he heard someone shout "I really hope none of you are with him," he immediately turned to pick up the woman behind him (inadvertently, and subconsciously, resorting to a princess carry,) and flew to get out of the way in case the barrier failed. He landed a short distance away, and put the woman back down.

Producing more talismans, Robin returned his gaze to Thundercloud. "You dare mock the sacred incantations of the Onmyouji?!" Robin said, as his attention shifted slightly to the henchmen who were running in after the blast. He decided to focus on the Storm Troopers, knowing that Thundercloud on his own was a match for him at this current time, and possibly the others here. "If you're all here to help, I suggest we try to isolate Thundercloud! He's the biggest threat in every way possible, but I don't think we can easily deal with him if he has backup!"

Robin threw Talismans at the henchmen rushing in, the small bursts from the paper exploding against their body armor. The armor was relatively unscathed, but one of the henchmen wearing it was sent down to the ground. The man was dazed, and would certainly have trouble getting up after feeling what felt like a dropkick to the chest. Robin took off again, holding Talismans in his hands as he floated in the air.

Thundercloud responded to the attack, which seemed to wake him up and get him excited. As he barked orders to his underling, Sarah’s avatar peeked around the desk to watch and listen. ’The truck! That must be the getaway vehicle. If I can stop that, Thundercloud’s plans are toast.’

She identified the truck as the underling approached it. She crawled out further and began to focus, hoping to make it hers. But her heart stopped as she realized that the big man had also caught a glimpse of her. The two locked eyes for an instant as Thundercloud started charging and firing off his electric blasts. A large one sped towards Nobody, threatening to overwhelm and destroy her.

A “No!” rang out in a scared, girlish voice from the vicinity of the mannequin. Just before she was destroyed, a barrier of light went up and protected her. On impact the shield crackled and eventually shattered in a small explosion.

“Thank… you…” the puppet said in shock. But she came back to and started focusing again. She had been given enough time to work, and she wasn’t going to waste it. The mannequin fell limp on the ground.

Across the lobby, a thug had just started the truck and was mashing the gas, but to no avail. “Damn thing doesn’t wanna work.” The thug leaned out the door and said “Hey boss the truck is acting weird.” Just then, the vehicle lurched, knocking him from inside. The door seemed to close on its own. It locked itself and the truck went into reverse, jerking backwards and accelerating unexpectedly. THUMP. THUMP. Two of the thugs had just been hit and rolled over by the huge machine.

The truck came to a stop, and Sarah threw her new toy into drive. It started moving again, this time back towards the others and the front exit. She hoped she would be able to hit Thundercloud on the way out, but even if she was only able to get the car out of the building, it would ruin the villain’s plan.

The truck squealed as it gained speed, it’s headlights blaring towards its target: the big man in the grey suit. Sarah thought it was a good move. If he destroyed the truck with a lightning burst, it would have a good chance of destroying the money as well. If he didn’t evade well enough, he might be at the mercy of her fellow heroes. ‘ “Fellow heroes”, huh? Sarah liked the sound of that. She might have smiled, if she had a mouth.

"Hot Topic," Kane repeated quietly. As he looked down at his wardrobe, he thought I got most of this stuff from Target... His sense of focus sharpened once more when the room began strobing with blinding light to the soundtrack of the fat man's blatantly racist rhetoric. Arcs of lightening shot out in various directions. Kane could only watch on helplessly as the would-be heroes reacted in various ways. The distance between he and them was too great to traverse and be of any help. Nevertheless, he had to do something. Just as Kane was about to engage in a sprint toward the action, another arc of lightening shot out seemingly intended specifically for him.

Kane was fast, but not faster than the speed of light. As his eyes were in the process of closing in anticipation for the shock of his life, he heard the sound of the electricity crashing into something just in front of him. With a split second of a glance, he could see that the arc had collided with a sort of force field mere inches away from his body. Soon the lightening dissipated as well as the barrier along with it. Kane's eyes were as wide as ever. I'm... I'M INVINCIBLE! How did I even do that? He looked at the palms of his hands again with utter confusion. He simply had no idea how his powers worked.

"I really hope none of you are with him," yelled the freckled woman with the gray jacket from across the way. Kane then looked on as a robot - wait, is that a robot? - just barely recovered from a separate electrical attack. It seemed the android was also able to conjure up a force field of sorts. Amazing! We can both do it!

"If you're all here to help, I suggest we try to isolate Thundercloud!" cried out another of the heroes as he floated around the room launching projectiles with explosive results at the storm troopers. Cool, cool, he thought to himself. Those are some neat tricks.

When his gaze returned back down to the action, a look of horror fell over him as he bore witness to the robot suddenly crumbling into a lifeless heap Holy shit, Kane thought. It must've used up the last of its batteries. He quickly began scanning the room to see if he could locate some sort of outlet as he jogged over.

"It's okay, I'm he-... -re..." Kane's voice trailed off as he looked at the fallen android. Something didn't look right. Kane hesitantly lifted the arm to try and discern how the wiring worked, but there was no evidence of motors or circuitry at all. "HooOOoo," he moaned out shakily as sudden realization hit. He instantly dropped the thing's arm. "Haunted mannequin," he concluded with a shiver. "Big nope! Uh uh. Fuck that noise, fuck that noise all day," he muttered as his attention fell on the storm trooper reinforcements. He couldn't waste any more time. He needed to get back in the game. "Alright, enough of this. Let's crack some skulls."

Despite the confusing circumstance, confidence began to swell within Kane as he made powerful strides toward one of the oncoming storm troopers. Brows furrowed, lips curled and hands balled into tight fists, Kane pulled his right arm back readying a hell of a hook. He didn't have super strength, that was for sure, but the force of his punch was still not to be trifled with. However, just as he was about to spring his blow upon the storm trooper's head... another storm trooper beat him to the punch... literally.

"The hell...?!" Standing there, confused as ever, Kane looked on as a couple of storm troopers began fighting their fellow comrades. "What the shit is this?!" he cried out, feeling robbed. He just shook his head in bewilderment as the in-fighting continued and tried to take in the rest of the scene unfolding before him.

"Come on. Come ON. Let me hit something!" he growled under his own breath. The amassed heroes seemed to be holding their own pretty well. Kane wasn't even sure where his skills would best be served. Just then, he felt something push him from behind. As he turned around, he realized that one of the storm troopers had stumbled backwards by accident and ran into him. Slowly, the two met eachother's gaze. A gradual, mischievous grin formed on Kane's face. All of his pent up energy exploded out into a hell of a punch that almost immediately broke the storm trooper's nose and sent him falling back, unconscious.

"Ha! I got that one! Everyone saw that right?! MidKnight, motherfucker!" Kane gloated. Afterward, he cocked his head to the side sharply, causing his neck to crack and, with a smile that refused to leave, he shouted out, "Who's next?" That's when he saw it; a massive box truck that appeared to be steering without a driver. "You're kidding me." Cautiously, he backed away from the truck's intended path. It had to be the same ghost that made the dummy move before.

Not wanting any part of that, he decided to pick up one of the automatic guns from a fallen storm trooper. Screw trying to be fancy, he thought to himself as he aimed it toward the direction of Thundercloud. To his surprise, the ghost truck appeared to be headed toward that same destination.

If that thing doesn't take you out, these bullets are going to find a new home in your knee caps, he silently declared as his finger rested just off the trigger.

...and then I'm shooting out those tires. That ghost better not follow me back home, I'mma be pissed.

Paige

---

Paige didn't notice the arrival of the last two heroes. The gunfire outside easily masked the sound of mannequin limbs scrambling across the floor, and even if she weren't staring at Thundercloud, Rosaria would have been impossible to see until she chose to appear. Kane, she noticed. Thundercloud looked like he was about to speak when the cheery, out-of-place ding of the elevator bell drew his stare, and Paige's own.

Kane delivered his catchphrase, or what she had to assume was his catchphrase. She just stared, at an angle to stare past Olivia and Robin into the elevator. That ... doesn't make any sense. Thundercloud recovered and spoke, turning his attention from the new arrival back to the heroes who had so blatantly stepped into his path. Heroes right? Not just idiots? Or did that depend on how this turned out ...

Thundercloud's racism almost made her feel ... deflated. Being a super villain was no excuse for being ignorant. It might have been meant to offend, but it was enough of a distraction that Paige was caught off-guard when the large, cotton-ball clad man then spread his palms in their general direction and opened fire. Bolts of electricity shot forward with terrifying speed.

With only Robin and Olivia between her and kajillion volts, she decided to forget for a moment that she had super-powers, and instead threw her hands uselessly up in front of her face. Thankfully someone with more presence of mind cast protective barriers around the room, and by the time the little speedster opened her eyes the bolt was already dissipating across the surface of one in front of her, Olivia and Robin no longer standing between her and the bulbous man.

OMG MOVE STUPID! She scolded herself, trying not to think about what would have happened if not for that barrier.

Slipping into super speed, she took a look around to assess. Thundercloud's Storm Troopers were rushing the front door, they must have been finished whatever they'd been planning, getting ready to leave. The big man himself was just throwing lightning around the room wherever he pleased, knocking down those invisible barriers with each hit. Most of the people who appeared to be opposing the heist were taking cover behind barriers, except the man from the elevator who was ... pouring over a mannequin ... where had he even gotten a mannequin ...

Her brow furrowing further, Paige turned to look at Thundercloud again. Robin could throw his talismans, someone could cast barriers, the others she had yet to size up ... but how many of them could get close?

Paige could get close.

She tried to lower herself into a stance from which she might get a running start, but she'd slowed down too much, her legs pulling up under her and hovering there. She wouldn't be able to get a running start at this rate. This was going to be tricky.

Lowering her feet back onto the ground, time returned to normal around her, Thundercloud looking like he could throw another attack at any moment. Paige didn't have a moment to loose, ignoring the sound of Troopers starting to fight behind her, the sound of Olivia's justified outrage at being carried, of Robin's outrage at being mocked. Taking off at a sprint toward Thundercloud, she knew she would be making herself a target ... an easy target. As soon as she had a bit of speed she slowed time, not to a stand-still, just enough to get an edge.

Launching herself into a jump, she planted a kick against his chest, surprised by how much resistance the large man provided against her foot. Landing in place, another kick to his gut helped her create backward momentum, and she darted back to cover, returning to normal speed to see if she'd accomplished anything, or if her strikes had gone unnoticed.

Peeking out, though, the first thing she noticed was the set of headlights bearing down on the villain from behind. A look of dire confusion spread across her face as, from behind her mask she stammered "O-optimus?"

... this was becoming such a strange night.

Well this had just became complicated. Annoyingly so. Rosaria thought to herself as she watched a rapid sequence of events happening ever since the man in the ski mask threw those exploding talismans thing at the potato-obliterating villain. Truly, this wasn't what she expected at all. And well, unexpected complications kind of doesn't work well for her. For one, her power is most effective when the element of surprise is maintained until the right time to strike showed itself. And well... explosions and dynamic entries are the exact opposite of maintaining the element of surprise.

Making matters even worse, the explosions from the ski masked man didn't seem to hurt Thundercloud much. As the smoke cleared, the villain was still standing; now looking annoyed at the disturbance and the destruction of his potato chips. One of the Storm Troopers then entered the area, mentioning something about the loading being done before then being dismissed and told to bring reinforcements with him by his boss.

Watching on, Rosaria had intended to deal with this henchman, to prevent him from bringing in reinforcement. But as she contemplated her move, a ding came from the elevator which then opened, revealing a tall man who proceeded to say "It's time for justice, and his name is MidKnight." ..... Umm. What? Ooooookay. So whoever this new addition was, he got a penchant for the... "dramatic". Rosaria internally sighed, it was really getting more and more crowded here.

“Hey Chinaman, I can do that too. Ching! Chong! Ping! Pong! Ding! Dong!” The racist remark from the villain brought Rosaria's attention back to him. Then the counterattack came as Thundercloud blasted these supposed heroes with bursts of electricity. See? This is why you don't go for frontal attacks... Rosaria thought to herself as she watched on. Fortunately for her, she had stayed here within the shadows on the ceilings in one of the corner of the room, far from the area of attack.

Then the woman hiding behind the pillar dived out of it. Then barriers showed up. Ski mask man protected that first woman. Dramatic tall man ran to whoever that was that just collapsed. Too many actors and actions to keep track of, even with her exceptional attention to details. This is chaos indeed. Not good at all.

Rosaria didn't like it one bit, but she had no choice in the matter did she? So she tried her best to take stock of the situation while remaining where she was, trying to see how to best make her move if at all. So obviously these individuals fighting Thundercloud and his goons were heroes. Who'd expected that so many had survived the virus? Was it wrong after all, what people said about the virus killing off every super powered individuals? Thundercloud's still alive after all, who's to say that others didn't survive as well? Or maybe these people just got her power too, just like Rosaria herself. Regardless, it proved that she wasn't the only one around with power that was willing enough to use it to try to stop Thundercloud.

... Maybe she should just go home? The thoughts crossed her mind for a bit. After all, they looked like they got the situation under control. Someone even managed to somehow made some of the goons fight their own allies, so the goon situation seemed to be under control for now. Maybe she should just attack Thundercloud then. With all these heroes out in the open, it will be unlikely for Thundercloud to be able to anticipate being stabbed in the back by a being who can freely merge with the shadows after all. He probably wouldn't even have the chance to realize what happened, so this sounded like the best possible move for now.

And then a truck, likely the one Thundercloud and his gang was using to load the wealth they're robbing, was suddenly heading straight on a collision course with Thundercloud. And it's unmanned. Un. Manned. Nobody there. Nada. It's a freaking self driving truck. What, was Rosaria not even the only one who can practically turn invisible?

Nah. Scratch that attack plan. Rosaria decided that she will continue watching for now as it was for the best. And well, alternatively...

... Going home is starting to sound like a very attractive idea now... She thought in her head as she sighed internally yet again.

“Barriers, huh? It seems the Chink and his girlfriend can do more than speak gibberish,” Thundercloud thought as his electricity and the defenses countered each other. The heroes were safe, but for how long?

"You dare mock the sacred incantations of the Onmyouji?!"

“Never mind. What’s the best way to respond to that?” the villain asked himself. And what did he think of?

“OH, ME SO SOWWY. ME LOVE YOU LONG TIME!” Yeah, that was genius, Thundercloud reflected to himself as a triumphant smile appeared on his face. But then he saw the mannequin reveal itself, followed by the truck heading towards him, two of his troopers turning traitor for some reason, and the punk rocker aiming a gun at him. It was time to focus and end this farce.

First, he yelled at his men, ordering them to “kill the emo like he wants!” as he shot bolts of electricity at the two pun-controlled men, knocking them out cold. “I’ll handle the rest” he added after that. His Storm Troopers obeyed, shooting their guns at MidKnight before he could shoot the villain.

Next, right before the truck hit him, Thundercloud gave it the finger. This wasn’t just because it was funny; the vehicle stopped in its tracks right in front of him, seemingly turning itself off. Whoever or whatever was moving it, they would be horrified as they realized that this was an electric truck. Whatever they tried, they would no longer be able to turn on or control it.

Yeah, this was turning out great. All of his immediate threats were gone and they could always get more meat shields later. Mmm, meat. “Alright, you retards, time to die!” Thundercloud declared as he shot more electricity in the direction of Robin, Olivia, Kestrel, and Paige. However, unlike last time, he was striking in a wider area, hitting the tall lobby windows as well. These were destroyed on impact, similar to the various pillars, pieces of furniture, and other places to hide being hit by lightning with his attacks. If the electricity didn’t kill these heroes, they won’t be able to hide for long, plus at this point the building might not even last long.

As Thundercloud continued his barrage, he noticed the lobby start to feel cold and windy from the weather outside. The rain was falling harder, as it should. Good. He also noticed that one or two of his “cotton balls” had gotten smaller somehow. How did that happen? It probably wasn’t important though. What was important was that these wannabe heroes were gonna die.

Things really were gonna be great.

-----

Besides Paige’s assault, what Thundercloud didn’t notice was that one of his electric strikes happened to hit where Rosaria was hiding. While the attack didn’t damage her directly, the lightning’s light caused the shadow to be erased, ejecting her from it and stunning her.

For Rosaria, things really might not be so great.

“OH, ME SO SOWWY. ME LOVE YOU LONG TIME!”

This fool.

Robin immediately saw the battle wasn't going well, mostly due to the fact that Thundercloud seemed impervious to his attacks. He knew that his talismans could strike harder, but he didn't know how to properly utilize them. There had been stories in the past of Onmyouji capable of bringing down entire skyscrapers with a single talisman. His talismans were nowhere near as potent, but maybe they could be. He just needed to figure out how-“Kill the emo like he wants! I'll handle the rest!”

Dammit! Robin threw several barrier talismans in between the Stormtroopers and...MidKnight, was it? Hoping to shield the man from the bullets. Of course that meant MidKnight couldn't fire at Thundercloud either, as his barriers would block the bullets from his rifle, too.

Seeing that truck-kun came out of nowhere to try and Isekai Thundercloud, Robin wondered who set it on course to do it. Then it occurred to him that there was a mannequin who had been moving on its own, and suddenly stopped. A spirit, perhaps? wondered Robin. Not that they did much. Thundercloud stopped it, and turned toward the rest of them.

“Alright, you retards, time to die!” Thundercloud let loose another pulse of electricity, this time striking in a wide arc. Robin threw down more barriers, and seeing that he and three others were being targeted, overlapped them in a pattern to maximize the amount of protection. To limit the amount of people he needed to protect, he landed right beside Kestrel, meaning one less barrier needed. Noticing the damage, however, he knew that this building wouldn't last much longer.

"I need to consult with my sensei. Can you protect me?" Not waiting for Kestrel to answer, Robin began chanting again, a magic circle appearing nearby. "Rin! Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Zai! Zen!" Robin immediately attached a talisman to the circle, and there was a huge blast of smoke as he shouted "Pyu, pyu! Hakishujo!" When the smoke cleared, a large cat with two tails was sitting, yawning as if it just woke up. Robin immediately knelt before it. "Narumi-sensei! My talismans aren't powerful enough to breach my foe's defenses. Please, teach me how to better channel my magic."

The cat regarded Robin for a second, its tails twitching in annoyance. After a short moment, the cat opened its mouth. "Fish." Robin looked up at the cat quizzically. "Fish," the cat repeated. "You know the deal. You want my assistance, you want the teachings of a youkai, you need to make an offering. Until then, I have no obligation to do anything for you." The cat suddenly slumped down to the ground with a yawn, leaving a glowering Robin gripping his fist in anger.

With her barriers now gone and after seemingly receiving some help from the talisman-throwing stranger with protecting others, Kestrel tried her best to take quick stock of the room. The pillar behind which she previously hid was fracturing, that much was clear. But it would last for a little while at least. She was ready to conjure something to slow or break its fall if and when it was necessary.

She never did receive a response to her callout, not a verbal one, but with all the other mysterious arrivals in the room now fully engaged in fighting Thundercloud and his goons she was fairly certain that they were all there for the same reason. Even the truck making its way alarmingly fast towards the walking, talking storm. It seemed, at first glance, that they had the advantage. Thundercloud was strong, and he was clearly holding back, but the odds were against him especially as his armed militia fell or became enthralled by dad jokes.

Then in a flash it seemed as though they were all back where they started. The thralls fell, zapped by their own boss. The hulking man from the elevator was in the sights of several rifles and the truck was no barreling towards Thundercloud. She had intended to approach the girl with the deadly humor or try and catch up with the girl that seemed to disappear from place to place to try and organise better but she had only enough time to formulate the thought before Thundercloud began lashing the lobby with more electricity.

Wider arcs this time. If she put up barriers all she would be doing is splitting the electricity briefly before it rejoined itself on the other side. She considered throwing something at Thundercloud, an energy tennis ball perhaps? She feared it might dissipate before it hit him but she didn't have to worry about it long.

"I need to consult with my sensei. Can you protect me?" The ski-masked stranger had landed next to her and without giving her time to respond he began to chant. The barriers he had put up for others helped but she suspected (and hoped she was wrong) that the different nature of this attack would make them only partially effective. Still, he had asked for help and she wasn't about to fail.

Kestrel had to think. Fast. Thundercloud's electricity obviously didn't function like normal electricity, but shared enough properties to be just as deadly. The visible lashes of yellow lightning that permeated the room looked almost as though they were flowing. Could she make a wavebreaker? Applying fluid dynamics to electricity seemed absurd yet not much more than the events unfolding around her. On the other hand, she wasn't sure how the energy that made up the objects she conjured interacted with electricity. She couldn't tell in the earlier chaos if her barriers were destroyed or if they simply dissipated upon contact with Thundercloud's attacks. The wavebreaker seemed like an idea for another time, Kestrel had something else in mind.

She conjured two lightning rods. Or rather, two glorified spears composed entirely of energy she couldn't fully understand and she was about to try and use them as something resembling lightning rods, if lightning rods were made with superpowered physics in mind. What could go wrong?

By the time Robin had uttered "Pyu, pyu! Hakishujo!", one rod was jammed firmly into the floor beneath Kestrel. After which she braced for the impact of Thundercloud's attack before attempting to throw the other through the now 'open' windows...

Sarah was disappointed when the villain ably reacted, shutting down her machine's power in an instant and eventually bringing the vehicle to a stop. The headlights went dark as the electronics all ceased to function. For a moment the truck seemed to drag itself forward, in spite of the lack of power, and even in spite of itself. It crept a few feet closer to Thundercloud, before stopping again. Sarah felt a strange and new sensation - a sort of burning and pressure that made her feel like veins were going to pop because of the effort.

'Ugh... this is too hard. I've gotta find another way.' Nobody looked around the room for a new method, but nothing jumped out at her immediately. Thundercloud was proving to be extremely powerful. It was all the young heroes could do to stay on their feet! 'What beats lightning in the comics? It must be... rubber...' Sarah hatched a plan and started putting it into action. The lug nuts of the front left wheel began to turn under her ghostly influence. It wasn't long before the distinct ringing sound of metal was heard as they fell to the hard floor of the lobby.

At that time her opponent was summoning up more power and blasting lightning all over the place, blowing out the windows of the building. She wasn't a direct target, but some of the arcs slapped against the truck as they passed and shattered all its glass as well. The truck lurched again, this time leaning over as its tire popped off and began rolling around. The heroine had made it her new body. First it circled back behind the truck and made its way around the room, gaining speed - before flying back at Thundercloud with enormous momentum. It was a heavy duty tire, which would be difficult to deal with even if it didn't have such a high velocity. Sarah planned to bowl him over with it!