---

“I’LL KILL ALL YOU SUPERS! FUCK!”

The shout full of rage from the now really pissed off villain caused Rosaria to immediately turn her attention to the inside of the lobby. Drats. That doesn't sound good at all. She realized that there's no time at all. Not even to wait until the wounded girl outside with her respond to her question. It was bad. Rosaria didn't like this at all. Moving in without a clear plan had never been something she liked as it more often led to undesirable consequences than the other way around. And yet there was just no time, so whether she liked it or not she will have to act now or never.

And then a thud as another woman just got thrown out from inside the lobby, landing right in front of the entrance where Rosaria and Paige were standing. Rosaria immediately moved to check on the woman, but then there's yet another quick development as she heard another loud shout from inside. "Everyone! ALL IN!" She saw the man who shouted, rushing toward the blinded villain with everything he got. So in the intense situation, Rosaria quickly surmised that she had two possible things to do. Help drag the woman that just got thrown from the inside get to safety or help the man that was attacking Thundercloud. Both seemed crucial, yet there was no time to think which will prove to be the better course of action. So it seemed obvious to Rosaria what she should do.

She decided to do both. Nothing else much I can do... Can only hope that this will actually make a difference! She quickly took out her combat knife, flipped it around so she's holding the tip of the blade, and then used all of her considerable knife fighting skill to thrown it as strongly and accurately as she can, aimed at Thundercloud from an angle that will not hit Kane. Thus the knife flew through the air, its blade pointed straight to hit Thundercloud on the side of his chest. Without skipping a beat, Rosaria then demanifested her power to make herself fully corporeal and then started dragging Kestrel away as fast as she can. There was no way to know whether her knife and Kane's strike will be enough to stop the villain's own attack and that was a risk she had to accept when she decided to both attack and protect in one move.

And with all that was going on Rosaria unfortunately didn't notice the other body in the lobby, that of the now unconscious Olivia. But then again even if Rosaria had noticed her, there wasn't really any way for her to help Olivia...

Paige

---

Paige could see her frantic rambling was a little overwhelming to the skull faced figure. She swallowed at the dryness in her mouth and tried to breathe through the pain in her side. She had a moment to collect herself before Rosaria responded. Her chest tightened at the news Rosaria's powers couldn't help free anyone, and she did certainly have a point about ... her appearance. Her eyes turned anxiously back to the building.

Rosaria's question hung between them, punctuated by silence. Could she? She could walk, maybe even jog, but could she carry someone like this? How much could she speed herself up before just moving someone would hurt them? She could feel her heart beating up into her throat as she tried to think.

What could they do?! She turned a frightened stare back toward Rosaria, unable to find an answer to give.

"I'LL KILL ALL YOU SUPERS! FUCK!"

Paige watched Rosaria turn and run back toward the building, swearing under her breath before limping along behind. Kestrel landed a few feet ahead of them, but Rosaria was on it within seconds. That meant the other two were on her, at least for now. Paige cranked her speed up and moved past the two like a limping blur.

Inside she saw Olivia unconscious on the floor, and Kane ... she just stared in horror. Olivia she could do something about. Speeding over, she positioned herself over the unconscious woman and planned her grab. She also took a few deep breaths, preparing herself for how much this was going to hurt.

Time resumed. Kane shouted. Paige pulled Olivia up from the ground, careful to cradle her neck. She didn't dare move at full speed, but with Kane as a distraction she may not have to. Her jaw clenched as she lifted, fighting back tears even as her powers made her new friend feel a little bit lighter.

Moving carefully, she manoeuvred Olivia outside, down the stairs and behind a stone planter. Setting the woman down, she fell to her knees clutching at her side and panting heavily, eyes clenched closed. She had to go back in, but she felt like she might throw up.

"Everyone! ALL IN!"

As if the pain wasn’t enough, now someone (probably the fag) had punched him in the head! This would not do, but Hot Topic was at least close enough for him to attack now. With an electrically-charged punch, Thundercloud haphazardly struck Kain, hitting him on the side of his waist. It wouldn’t be enough to knock him out, but it did knock him back a distance and removed the rainbow stare from the villain’s eyes.

Just as one obstacle was gone, another replaced it; a knife that struck the side of Thundercloud’s chest. His reaction was immediate and loud. “WHAT THE FUCK!” The fat electric user pulled the blade out of him, his face exuding rage like the blood bleeding from his body. Although he was weakened, Thundercloud’s eyes were finally starting to return to normal, so he knew he could finish things. “This bullshit has gone on long enough,” he thought, “now I can finally-”

“This is Captain Louis Bartholomew of the LCPD.” In all the chaotic fighting and retreating, nobody had noticed the older police officer who had stealthily and carefully entered the lobby. He wore a standard policeman’s uniform, had gray hair and was holding a pistol straight at Thundercloud. “Drop the knife and put your hands in the air or I will shoot. You have five seconds.”

As the policeman counted down, the villain’s rage turned to horror as he realized that this was it. His men were probably dead if this pig was here. Those damn supers had weakened him to the point where the pistol could be lethal. There was no chance of winning, only survival. Reluctantly, Thundercloud did what he was told to do, letting go of his knife and assuming the traditional posture of surrender.



It was finally over. The senseless loss of lives was finally over. It seemed the police had some help though, so Louis felt the right thing to do was ensure these people got help as well.

As Kane was the only one of them nearby, the policeman addressed him quickly and quietly. “You and your friends should take care of yourselves. A few blocks west of here on Washington is Jefferson Hospital.” He pointed in the direction he meant as he spoke with one hand while keeping his other hand on his weapon. “Tell them you’re with the League and they’ll take care of you,” he added, casually referring to the well-known superhero organization. “Oh, and thanks” he finished before he turned his attention to a portable radio he had on him, this time speaking at normal volume. “All units, Thundercloud is in my custody. I need the rubber cuffs and holding cell.” The policeman’s instructions continued along those lines, as the man focused his attention on the villain that had killed so many of his fellow officers.

The adrenaline vanished. The shock wore off. It was over.

Kane's knees buckled as he stumbled toward a nearby pillar and slowly allowed his body to drag itself to ground level. He eventually found himself sitting on the floor, the pillar to his back and his legs splayed outward. The nerves in his body screamed, pushing the pain passed the fog of shock and straight into Kane's parietal lobe. His eyes shut tight and his teeth began to grind as the agony descended upon him like a tsunami.

Composure must be maintained, he thought to himself. Breathe through it. Calm down. The worst is over.

Once the screeching pain died down to an annoying, torturous hum, Kane opened his eyes again to survey the rest of the lobby. Bodies were being bagged. The injured were being lifted onto stretchers. It was picturesque of a nightmare come to life.

The images of the other empowered fighters soon came into view as well. The corner of Kane's mouth twitched upward in an attempt to smirk. He wasn't alone in the trauma. They all gave it their everything to end this horror. For some reason, he took comfort in that. It just felt like they had given birth to a sense of comradery through torment, a bond through bloodshed. They made it and they couldn't have done so without eachother.

"-Ey!" Kane managed to blurt out loudly toward the battered, but victorious heroes. "Any of yous got a Tylenol? Or like 100 of them?" He let out a humorous wheeze before coughing at his own attempt at laughter. "Or..." he started again. "...can any of you give me a lift to Jefferson Hospital? Apparently they'll treat us like royalty if we say the magic words."

---

Well, looks like I'm going to have to buy a new knife. Rosaria had manifested her Shadow Form again as the fight was ended by the arrival of the LCPD Captain. Quite an... anticlimactic end. But what am I kidding, at least it's still a victory... Now, she stood among the other heroes, interestingly enough being practically the least hurt. The others didn't seem to be faring too well. The girl she talked with earlier got some broken bones, the girl whom powers seemed to be related to making jokes were still out cold, the other girl that she helped pull away earlier seemed like she got hit pretty bad too, and the man who threw talismans at the villain during the battle had been put into a body bag. At least this other man, the rather tall one, seemed like he's still well enough to stand.

Still, compared to all of them, Rosaria had managed to came out with only some light bruises from her ceiling-height fall earlier. Got my powers to thank for that, I guess... Rosaria sighed ironically at the thought, before then taking another look at the other surviving heroes. Afterwards, she started speaking. "Umm..." But she quickly paused, being unsure of what to say to these relative strangers that she had fought alongside with. That her voice didn't change even in her Shadow Form was also something she didn't really like. She kind of didn't want to talk, but she also realized that she need to talk with the others. She sighed again before then resuming her words. "I didn't drive here, so I can't really give anyone a lift... And if you mean literally lift, also not possible. I don't have, umm... Super strength or such."

"Still, I can probably help one or two of you walk if that's necessary. Or help carry this unconscious girl here... If I remember correctly, Jefferson Hospital isn't that far away from here. We should make it there pretty quickly even by walking..."

With the searing pain still burning fresh through her back, Kestrel scrambled herself back up to almost standing with the help of one of the police officers. She found herself leaning against the wall by the entrance to the lobby, attempting to take in her surroundings. It seemed as though everyone was safe though she had no sight on the woman she tried to protect earlier. She wasn't sure what to think, despite the worst scenario coming to mind faster than anything else. Her gaze turned upwards, trying to focus on the night sky, as if to salvage some respite from this awful day.

Then a voice broke through her inattention, one she thought she had hallucinated at first given that it couldn't possibly belong to the shadowy being.

"Still, I can probably help one or two of you walk if that's necessary. Or help carry this unconscious girl here... If I remember correctly, Jefferson Hospital isn't that far away from here. We should make it there pretty quickly even by walking..."

Kestrel pushed herself away from the wall and limped over towards the talking shadow. Her landing earlier had brought its own pain it seemed.

"It really would be safest if we went as a group. I'm not sure any of us are in a state to fight anything else tonight should anything happen."

"And...I want to say thank you for getting me out of there. Everything got kind of out of control."

Paige

---

Paige clenched her jaw and winced as she sat back onto her feet. Straightening up made it a little easier to breathe, made it a little easier to focus. Thoughts of Kane flooded into her mind as she stared helplessly up at the door. She had to get back in there, everyone else was giving it their all and here she was on her knees licking her wounds.

She was still scolding herself when the officers from the plaza rushed past her. Her stomach clenched as they crossed the threshold into the building, expecting to hear a hail of gunfire and see blasts of lightning ... but there was nothing, just angry shouting from the officers.

... it was over ...

Paige struggled to her feet, stifling groans of pain, but she found herself lightheaded at the end of the journey, still resting against the planter when the officers led Thundercloud out in restraints. Her jaw clenched, she couldn't even look him in the eye ... she hadn't seen what transpired at the end, but she didn't feel like part of the victory.

The others were gathering inside, speaking to one another. She could only hope it was a sign that Kane was still alive enough to talk to. Officers were still setting up a cordon, but she could see EMTs behind the barricade tending to injured police, wondering if she should wait to be tended to or ... make herself scarce before anyone asked ...

---

Sometime later, inside the Jefferson Hospital...

One way or another, the group managed to reach the hospital. It turned out that saying "the magic words" really worked wonder for the battered new heroes. It was essentially a lie, as none of them were affiliated in any way with the League. But they did technically defeat Thunder Cloud, foiled his heist, and effectively took out all of the villain's Storm Troopers as well so who can possibly argue that they didn't rightfully earn the treatments they received in the hospital? If anything, they deserved even more than just free treatments; considering the current situations, it seemed likely that they were the only super heroes left around and they already lost one potential member no thanks to Thunder Cloud.

Well, at least the treatments they received were pretty much the best available indeed, so it's also not like they were unappreciated for their efforts. Broken bones, bruises, internal and external wounds, all treated to the best of what the hospital can afford to give. Of course, some of them suffered damage way worse than some of the others and will take more time to fully recover... But they will recover, the hospital promised them that much. And so there they were, five strangers turned fire-forged allies. They were pretty much treated as VIPs in a way, considering the room they were assigned to was pretty big and comfortable, with further assurances that they just need to call a staff member if they needed anything more.

The skull-faced shadow ghost person wasn't there with them anymore though. No, because in its place was a young 100% normal-human-looking woman wearing simple ribbed grey sweater and long black skirt, sitting on one side of her bed. She was really one of the luckier ones, coming out of the fight with only one or two minor bruises. Definitely no need to wear a hospital gown, and she could've even decided not to stay the night in the hospital if she wanted to. In the end, she decided to stay for two reasons. For one, while she might not be in a bad shape, she's still pretty much exhausted and didn't feel like taking the journey home. The second was her curiosity towards these fellow "heroes" that had fought Thunder Cloud together with her.

As for why she didn't bother staying in her Shadow Form... Well, in Rosaria's mind, there really wasn't much point in maintaining the form anymore. It would possibly make things more awkward for everyone in the room anyway, considering they all definitely needed to talk to each other... Or at least, that was the plan. Rosaria ended up just observing the others in silence for a while. The joke-spouting heroine was still out cold, but the rest were awake. Looking at all of them like this, it really didn't looked like they were super-powered individuals at all. All of them, including Rosaria herself, looked just like ordinary people. It was a funny feeling. Back when there were many of the supers, she were not one of them, and had wondered from time to time what life was like for a super. Was it like this for them too? Aside from the super powers and all... It doesn't feel any less or more mundane. Heh...

Anyways... No point being silent like this I guess. With that thought in mind, she turned her gaze towards each of the other heroes again. She let out a sigh before then starting to speak. "Alright. So... I suppose introductions are in order and all that... I'm Rosaria Voronin..." Then she paused for a few seconds, wondering what more to say. An idea hit her soon enough. They're all super-powered individuals after all so the best way to add to the introduction would be... "And I uhh... Can turn shadowy. With a skull for a face... Somehow."

Numbness. Sweet, merciful numbness. Kane's eyes couldn't help but fixate on the IV drip that was administering his pain killer. Each drip seems more fascinating than it had any right to be. An involuntary smile crept over his face as the euphoric relief continued to spread throughout his body.

His feet, adorned in some fascinating fluffy yellow socks with little robber traction dots (a gift from a nurse) nearly touched the southern railing of his hospital bed. His gown felt a few sizes too small, but was grand enough to cover the important bits. His long hair sat disheveled upon his head, traces of debris and possibly blood decorated a few strands here and there.

Despite it all, there he sat watching the liquid within the hanging bag drip, drip, drip with a goofy, slouched grin.

"I'm Rosaria Voronin..."

The declaration was enough to shake Kane from his trance.

"And I uhh... Can turn shadowy. With a skull for a face... Somehow." Kane's grin shrank until it resembled a small 'o' while his eyebrows levitated up his forehead. He had so many questions but the words refused to leave his mind and venture out to his lips. Instead, he just sat there looking a bit dumb for a moment or two before finally saying...

"'Eyyy Rosaria!" followed by an exaggerated, and arguably frantic, wave of his hand. "Ah'm Madnot... Mad-... What am I trying to say?" The question seem more posed toward himself rather than anyone else in the room. "I'm Madnite? I'm... I'm MidKnight!" The discovery of the correct words sent a gleeful surge of energy through him as he revealed his moniker. He then looked back up at the IV drip. "Holy shit, they need to turn this stuff down," he huffed with a smirk.

Giving his fellow heroes his attention once more, he continued. "But I think I can trust you guys. Especially after all that!" He motioned with side nod toward the general direction of the Lafayette building that they had just left. "You can call me Kane. An' I uh... I'm not really sure what I do, per se, but it gets rainbowy as fuck whenever I do it!" The goofy grin returned as the gentle giant beamed with pride.

Kestrel lay back in her hospital bed, feeling her attention get fractured into pieces. She listened to the conversation happening beside her between the giant man and who she previously saw as a shadow with a skull, now apparently a young woman. In the corner of the room the barely audible sounds emanating from the retro looking television were catching her attention too, live aerial shots of Lafayette Financial Tower were being shown as reporters discussed just what could have went on in there.

Ultimately she decided that watching reminders of what had happened not so long ago was not making her situation any better and she focused more on the duo talking beside her, just about catching their introductions. Kestrel turned to face them, the adhesive of the painkiller patch on her back pulled at her skin and she felt herself jump slightly, as if anticipating another bolt of rogue lightning.

"I'm Kestrel...Hi." She waved faintly at Rosaria and Kane. "I...Make things appear? For a while at least."

"Have you guys had your powers very long? It's been a week for me and I'm honestly still not sure any of this is real."

She made an attempt at sitting up to talk better but the pain in her back cancelled that idea immediately. Instead she realised she felt exhausted. Initially blaming it on the pain before remembering that the exhaustion started far, far earlier. She sensed her powers were involved somehow, and she certainly hadn't used them as much throughout the entire week she had them as she did in the last few hours. Delaying sleep felt like the best course of action, she wanted to meet the people she fought side-by-side with first, and not getting any information would make her too restless to sleep anyway.

---

Rosaria listened as Kane and Kestrel also started talking, introducing themselves and what their powers are. After Kestrel was done, Rosaria looked at Paige expecting that she will introduce herself next, but instead found that the speedster had passed out. Perhaps it was out of exhaustion, perhaps it was out of the pain, but regardless it seemed like she might not be waking up for a while. Thus, Rosaria instead turned to look at Kane and Kestrel again. She nodded simply at them and then took a deep breath in and out once before talking again.

"Right, you're the one that fired that... rainbow beam. That was... A good one, I suppose." She looked at Kane as she spoke. "MidKnight, huh... So you already uhh, decided on a... moniker." Thinking about it, she haven't really thought up much about a hero name and such. She had contemplated it briefly, and thought up something that was quite self-descriptive to what her powers are: Spectral. Wonder if that's even a good name... Oh well, I suppose it doesn't matter all that much? She shrugged, more to herself than anyone else. "I suppose mine is Spectral then... Up to you guys which name you want to call me with."

Rosaria then turned to look at Kestrel. "Make things appear?... Were you the one who made those barrier things then? To be honest, I was wondering if my eyes were playing tricks on me seeing those... Anyways, no." She shook her head and then briefly looked out the windows, staring at the night sky outside. Then she shrugged again before continuing "Not very long. Quite recent just like you. And I have no idea why I suddenly got it... One day I was just like everybody else and now I stopped a known villain from robbing the Precious Metal Vault. Talk about bizarre..."

There was also the fact that, because of the virus, said villain was very much supposed to be dead just like all the other supers. Rosaria looked down as she finished her words, wondering in her mind whether Thundercloud being alive and her suddenly getting her powers were related in anyway.