Heavy footfalls echoed through the trees, as leaves danced through the air. A young boy, clad in grimy clothes that hadn't been washed in days and were in need of repair, wielding a bow and arrow gave chase. The target? A beautiful white-tailed deer he had been tracking for a day and a half. The beast had given him the slip twice now and cost him twice as many arrows. The hunger pains in his stomach leaving him drained and irritable. But he would not give up. This hunt, if successful, would feed him for days. As the dear broke through the trees and into a clearing Arthur saw his chance. Stopping at the edge of the clearing he knocked an arrow and took aim.

"Lord above, help my arrow to fly true."

As the arrow loosed, it audibly whistled as it soared through the air Finding its mark. As the arrow pierced its jugular, the deer dropped instantly, writhing in pain as it began choking on its own blood. Arthur was quick to action, slinging his bow over his shoulder and drawing his knife. Making his way to the poor animal he placed a hand it gently, in attempt to comfort it before plunging his blade into its heart putting it out of its misery.

"Rest now. Be at peace. Your life was not taken in vain."

It wasn't the largest deer but nevertheless, its weight was enough to cause Arthur to struggle as he lifted it off the ground and through it over his shoulder, careful not to damage his bow. With his hunt concluded, Arthur headed back into the tree line. If he remembered correctly there should be a small pond nearby that he could set up camp by. As he hiked through the forest, his mind finally free to wander, he looked back on the events of the past few days. The fact was he had no idea what he was doing here or what Merlin wanted him to learn. This time was strange and full of things that quite frankly scared him. Somehow the people of the future managed to tame beasts made of metal and ride within them. Not only that they somehow managed to capture lightning in bottles and use it to light entire villages at night. That wasn't even the weirdest thing about this time. Arthur had seen woman in relations with other woman, men in relations with men. They had tiny people that they kept locked in boxes to put on plays for their own amusement. This land he found himself in was truly strange at times.

The worst thing he had yet to experienced was these small handheld devices that spit fire and metal. Arthur was still nursing a wound in his side left from the cursed device. The worst part about it was he had no chance to react. It happened in the blink of an eye. As he continued through the tree's they eventually opened up again to reveal a quaint little pond. Dropping the deer a few feet from the pond along with his bow, arrows, and sword, Arthur made his way to the water's edge. Hesitating briefly, he knelt down and dipped his hands into the water to wash away the blood from his hunt. He then stripped off his shirt and began cleaning his wound, letting out a low hiss through his teeth as he did so. The pain itself was unlike anything he had ever felt. Somehow the cursed device had managed to punch a hole right through him, but by the luck of the lord they had missed anything vital. If it hadn't been for his fire cantrip cauterizing the wound, he would surely have bled out within the first day.

When he found his hands and wound sufficiently clean, he rose and began his search for firewood. Being in a forest it was relatively easy to gather a nice pile of wood. Once the wood had been gathered and arranged into a firepit, Arthur stood back a few steps. Focusing his thoughts on the image of a fire erupting he reached out with his left hand, and with a snap of his fingers a flurry of embers exploded forth from his fingertips washing over the dried wood. The wood sizzled for a moment before dying down. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Arthur focused yet again before snapping his fingers and unleashing another torrent of embers, this time following it with a counterclockwise swirl of his hand sending a small gust of wind swirling through the wood, breathing further life into the embers until a small fire began.

"Yes!"

Arthur's excitement was short lived however as he realized he had to begin cleaning his kill. Even with his injury the process only took him an hour and a half. Thankfully Arthur had had the foresight to place a few venison strips over the fire to start cooking, so by the time he finished cleaning his kill he had a few cutlets ready to eat. Grabbing his dinner, Arthur took a seat by the fire, said grace, and dug in. The fact was, he had been living off of squirrels and rabbits for the last sense he arrived in this time. This venison was like a godsend, and he thanked the lord for such. As he ate, he couldn't help but think back on his training with Merlin. That man had pushed into many a trials and tribulations, simply to make him a better ruler? How was a twelve-year-old boy getting the shit kicked out of themselves by three grown adults supposed to make him a great king? How was getting stabbed, and slashed, and burnt supposed to make him a better lord? How was hunting a wolf pack with nothing but a dagger supposed to make him a better man?

Maybe he did have a purpose behind his teachings, but sometimes the Wizard could be truly cruel. Ok, so he taught Arthur how to use a bow and arrow. How to wield a sword and cast spells. He taught Arthur to read and write, but he never just talked to Arthur. He never sat him down and asked him how he was doing or feeling. It was nonstop training for as long as he could remember. In fact, sense coming to this land, his time spent in the forest was the first time he was able to relax in quite some time. Alas, with his meal finished, and his belly full, it was time to practice his swordplay. Standing up and stretching, he let out a pained groan as his side was awash with burning pain again. This combined with the privacy allotted to him in the forest, made Arthur opt to leave his shirt off as to not aggravate the wound any more than it already was. Grabbing his blade Arthur took up his stance and began to practice.

"Come at me goat fucker! Hyaaa!"

It had been quite a busy day for Danny, and more than a little tiring. Exams were coming up soon so classes were getting more intense, and he had filled in for one of his friends in the afternoon basketball match. But they won that match, so he was brimming with energy. And judging by the smell on the wind, he would need that energy soon. He heard it before he saw it - many pairs of feet thumping at high speed towards him. He ducked into an alleway and watched 6 colourfully costumed figures pass, along with a few exasperated security guards. A robbery then, which wasn't exactly a rare sight in Grailham city. Most people would keep their head down at an incident like this, but Danny wasn't like most people.

He quietly slunk out of the alleway, tailing the group as closely as he could. A good person would do what they could to help justice, right? But there was a limit as to what he could do alone, especially against a group of 6. So, Danny decided to watch. As the group ran ahead, he slowly kept pace, taking one shoe off and then another as his feet morphed into reptillian claws. He placed his shoes in his pack before suddenly leaping at a wall, turning his hands into claws and scrabbling up the brickwork. From his new vantage point he spied on the group, trying to track which direction they were heading towards. He wasn't interested in fighting the group directly, but if he could find their getaway route and get there first, he would have more options to work with.

On the rooftops of Grailham, a blond haired teenager let out a wolfish grin and began bounding from rooftop to rooftop as he chased his quarry. The hunt was on.

"Apparently Dad dug this bad boy up from underneath some ancient Greek ruins," Kaede explains to the strange serpentine mascot hiding in his bag known as Trinity.

"Wait, your dad's an archeologist?" Trinity asked.

"Trinity, we've established this before," Kaede replies.

"Teehee~"

He continued to walk around the museum, browsing the place and exhibits, before a most sinister team arrived to crack the glass and rob the place.

There were six of them.

"This looks like an emergency," Trinity says, "quick, transform!"

"No," Kaede replies, "if I can handle it like a man, I'll handle it like a man."

Kaede runs forward to the scene, and while they were distracted by the knight man's antics, he performed a low kick on the group's blind spot, disorienting them as they began to lose balance before he punched one in the nose directly, following it up with a crotch kick. He proceeds to punch another in the stomach, taking advantage of the disorientation to land more hits.

"Had enough? HAD ENOUGH?"

Arkin
It's been a few days now.

Food hasn't been a problem. You're pretty sure Caterpillars are supposed to be herbivores, but the large fangs suggest otherwise for you. You've had some leaves as well as some birds you've managed to catch and you can't say you've felt anything wrong in your stomach, so it seems as if you can digest basically anything. You also found a river, so drinking water hasn't been an issue. You miss the convenience of modern technology, but all things considered, being lost in the woods hasn't been all that bad. Usually.

You're a Caterpillar. Not just any caterpillar, mind you, but a caterpillar nonetheless. Your legs are stubby and numerous, and you still aren't all that comfortable walking around on them, much less running for your life from a pack of hungry wolves. One wolf would have been fine. You can deal with one wolf. All you'd have to do is spit webs at it until it's completely stuck, then either bite a vital point or throw a big rock at it. You got that first part done just as another showed up, and then another, and another, and now only the head start afforded by bluffing with the spots on the side of your body is keeping you alive. It didn't take long for the wolves to catch on once you bolted, but you think it's too late to start standing your ground now.

The tree roots of the forest floor cause you to stumble over and over, but the rest of your legs keep you upright and moving. Even so, it doesn't feel like enough as the sounds of the wolves continue to draw ever closer. Your stupid caterpillar head isn't made to look behind you while running away, and your anxiety starts to mount as you realize you're not going to be able to lose them. You didn't want to get yourself stuck up on a tree all day long, but it beats getting ripped apart and eaten alive. You go to the nearest tall one and climb it, defying gravity with your weird velcro feet and come to rest on one of the lower branches, a dozen feet up, staring down at the newly formed encirclement of barking dogs. You've never owned any pet other than a goldfish, but you're pretty sure you're more of a cat person.

You take some time to catch your breath and evaluate your options. The higher branches of the tree you're on that could actually get you onto other trees don't seem thick enough to sustain your weight. You'd think the dogs would get bored and leave, eventually, but after a few minutes of waiting they still seem content to bark at you from below. As time passes, you start to get bored and annoyed. You spit some sticky webbing at the dogs to try to get them to go away, but some of the wolves always break away from the collective in order to aid the victim in tearing it up and eventually going back to barking. You already spit out quite a lot earlier, and you don't think you can immobilize all of these wolves, so you rule that out as an option that is available within any reasonable amount of time. Eventually you just shrug as much as a caterpillar is capable of shrugging and decide to climb higher. Maybe they'll give up faster if they can't see or smell you at all.

You climb up as much as you can so as to obscure your figure in the canopy. You are mostly green, after all. As you do however, you misjudge the structural integrity of one of the branches and it snaps. You figured you'd be lighter, given how you can walk on walls so easily with just feet velcro, but it's the very same feet velcro that is now dragging you down, off the tree, into a metaphoric pit of literal wolves. Your life doesn't flash before your eyes, but you do feel miffed that you're going to die because you were too fat. You've been made fun of for being a beanpole your entire life and now the operating tables have turned. Metaphorical operating tables. There certainly were literal operating tables back in that lab, but getting turned into insectoid wolf chow was less 'unethical surgery' and more 'Captain America's zappy chamber'. At least you weren't turned into a literal beanpole, but you can't say this is much better.

Time seems to slow down as you fall towards the fractal of snapping jaws, and it stays that way as one of them leaps up and bites down on your tender fleshy nape.

The next moment is a blur as you come crashing down hard on the forest floor and the back of your neck bleeds profusely. The pain is debilitating, but the offending jaw that bit you is already gone somehow. You desperately struggle to get your bearings as you scramble to your feet, which suddenly feel far less numerous. You panic a bit at the foreign sensation, but either you don't have good pain receptors there or you have some insectoid adrenaline keeping you from feeling it, so you prioritize taking stock of the wolves eyeing you from a short distance away with spooked looks on their faces. For some reason they've backed off, which doesn't make any sense to you until you finally realize that you are now covered in fur.

You look down at your little paws with a mixture of bewilderment, excitement, and exasperation. You didn't know you could be anything but a big creepy bug ever again, but discovering that whatever happened in that lab has made you even freakier than you initially thought makes you mentally groan. Next thing you know you'll shapeshift into Frankenstein, or maybe you actually will become a literal beanpole, or both at the same time. Who fucking knows? Sure as hell not you!

The wound on your neck must not be as deep as it feels if you have so much time to think about complete nonsense while the novelty of shapeshifting into a wolf wears off and the real wolves close in on you with a decidedly predatory look in their eyes. You try to communicate with them with little yips that, if you do say so yourself, are absolutely adorable, but suddenly becoming a small wolf evidently has not granted you the gift of wolven speech. You theorize animal speak is mostly contextual, but either way it seems the pack isn't looking to adopt.

You rack your brain trying to think of something to get yourself out of this mess while the wolves are still being cautious enough that you have time to think, but it all ultimately leads back to this fucked up life you're living right now. You went from a caterpillar to a bigger caterpillar to a small wolf. The pattern doesn't even slightly hold, so either you can transform into something else again, you can transform back into a caterpillar, or... you're just fucked, really.

You try as hard as you can, tensing your body as you stretch out, standing awkwardly on your hind legs as if doing so is supposed to help you turn into a bear, but nothing really happens. You figure it has something to do with how you were bitten right as you became this, but there's not a lot of options for you at the moment, you already know Mosquitoes don't count, and trees can't bite. Out of desperation you even bite the bark of the tree you fell off of, which, while distracting for the encircling wolves, accomplishes nothing but putting a bad taste in your mouth. At this point you have half a mind to attempt putting on a show for the wolves like a court jester trying not to get beheaded, but to your luck, you find that a simple focusing thought once again renders you in... your disgusting and useless caterpillar form.

The wolves seem to have stopped giving a shit about your freakish parlor tricks as they leap at you in earnest, and you only barely manage to put two and two together in time to vanish before their very eyes. Metaphorically.

Turns out you can even go back to your tiny caterpillar form. It's a simple matter from there to hide within the fallen leaves littering the forest floor as you sneak away.

---

The closest thing you have to a home in the woods is this cave you found behind a small waterfall. The magic of it is partially ruined by how obvious it is, but on the upside you can get into it without getting wet and other animals don't seem interested in it because of the noise of the waterfall. It's also adequately deep to stay dry, albeit its inner confines are dark and seems to lead to the center of the Earth with how deep it goes. You've only slept in it once, since you've been wandering downstream in search of civilization, but it's convenient enough that you'd like to come back here if you're unable to find anything. You're still not sure how you're gonna work around the whole 'freak of nature' thing, but maybe if you can find someone to communicate with you can win human rights in court and work at a circus freak show for a living.

...You sigh.

For now, you just lie in the shallow end of the water pooling at the foot of the waterfall, trying to get your wound clean. You can't exactly dress it considering your lack of opposable thumbs or sterile materials, but it luckily doesn't seem very deep. Your wolf form is smaller than your larger caterpillar form. Maybe suddenly shrinking minimized the damage?

You have too many blessings to count for someone in as shitty a situation as you are. When you've done all you think you can for your wound, you shake off what water you can before realizing that transforming into a smaller form and back can displace most of the water on you, drying you right quick.

You feel too hungry to be wholeheartedly continuing your journey just yet, and while you would normally look for food on your way, it might be nice to just stick around for nightfall while you have the cave. You could just eat some leaves, but you're in the mood for some meat, and what better prey than those damned wolves from before?

It takes a while, but you eventually manage to track some of them down. You can tell the others are nearby, and you silently curse their relaxed formation. Aren't packs of wolves supposed to stay really close together? It certainly would have saved you the trouble earlier, but now it should be their downfall. This time you aim for their annoyingly loud maws and seal them shut before they even notice your presence. Like that, you are able to dispatch then one by one, though you stop at just two because you're frankly just here for the food.

You wrap one up in a cocoon like a spider would and kill the other. Animals being treated below humans goes without saying for the continued function of human society, and your instincts simply tell you that it's kill or be killed. Maybe you had some hesitation when you decided to eat an entire bird, but any you might have had before is long gone now. All it takes is a bite on the neck to end the wolf's life, but what you don't expect is suddenly becoming enveloped in a golden light as soon as you do.

The first time it happened was overnight. You were asleep, suddenly waking up comparatively enormous, and you even started getting concerned you were going to end up a kaiju. The second time was a mess. You had your eyes shut in anticipation, and even if you could see, it would just be a spinning blur of gnashing teeth and feral, hungry eyes. Well, and light apparently, because gaining a new form seems to come with a light show. For a moment, your own light hurts your eyes enough to force you to shut them, but when you open them again, it's already over.

You have wings now, apparently.

You're rather shocked you didn't need to go through a chrysalid form, but it's ultimately a relief. The idea of melting yourself down was making you nervous. You hurry back to the cave and toss the wolves inside before examining your reflection on the water.

You seem mostly the same size, though your wingspan is probably three meters already. They're not the prettiest, but at least they're an amber color instead of a dull brown, and they even have some rather mesmerizing eye patterns. Seems you're a moth, not a butterfly. You're glad you got a wolf form before this one, because the existential dread of being an ugly moth forever probably would have gotten to you. It might have even been worse than your first night as a caterpillar, which you're pretty sure was the worst night of your life... Okay, maybe nothing's topping that one, but you toss the thought aside before you dwell on that night for too long.

You somewhat belatedly realize that you should be able to fly now and immediately begin trying it out. You smash your face directly into a tree and decide to put it off until after you've eaten that wolf. As you're eating, you ponder the conditions for the acquisitions of your forms and realize that maybe killing more wolves will get you more forms. Before even finishing your meal, you switch to your wolf cub form and do your best with your tiny jaw to bite the other wolf to death. It eventually succumbs beyond a shadow of a doubt, which troubles you, since you didn't get any new form in the process. You decide you need more wolves to experiment on and, after finishing your meal, take off in search of yet more of them. Flying is still a bit too difficult for you, but you keep trying anyway as you clumsily throw yourself through the trees in search of them, as well as any other prey unfortunate enough to catch your eye. THIS MOTH HAS TEETH.

---

For the first time since the start of med school, you stay up late into the night, trying all sorts of different things to no avail. You realize with some guilt that you probably went overboard on that wolf pack, and you end up having to dispose of the excess wolf carcasses by burying them, not wanting to attract any untoward curious wildlife. When you're finally finished burying bodies in the middle of the night like a serial killer, you decide to sleep off the issue. You still have a few restrained live wolves to try things out on for tomorrow.

The next morning, after breakfast, you decide to take a different approach. You wrangled the wolf and killed it all in your caterpillar form, giving you a moth form. While you've killed more wolves already in all of your forms and eaten them in every which way, they remained tied up and defenseless because of your moth form. Your moth form doesn't seem like it'll evolve any more, but if you released a wolf, would they then be valid for evolving your other forms?

Look, you're grasping at straws here. You clearly evolved after scoring a kill so you can't think of anything better to try, and it's something you're going to need to understand in order to properly live out the rest of your life as whatever the fuck you are now.

You go through with it, reasoning that you can just change back into your moth form and shoot webbing at it if things get dangerous. You use your weird moth teeth to rip through the bulk of the webbing on your penultimate wolf, then back up, leaving them to struggle free the rest of the way themselves as you get into position to block their exit. You then change into your wolf cub form and hope that the half day or so of leaving it without food has done more to reduce its strength than the desperation and hunger has done to render it viciously ravenous. You could always starve it longer and try to fight it when it's weaker, but you value your time, okay? You could always try again with your last wolf when they get weaker if this one bolts, or even find new opponents in the woods.

When the wolf finally frees itself, it predictably runs towards the exit, the source of the only light in this cave, seemingly trying to ignore you. You are just a small wolf cub after all; nothing like the weird insect monster that put it in this mess. You refuse to let it go without a fight and leap at it, clamping your jaw directly on its neck as it passes by. Like a dog that refuses to let go of a tug rope, you end up hanging off of it, completely suspended above the ground. Perhaps not expecting such viciousness from a pup or just scared after the ordeal it's been through, it yelps and staggers before rectifying itself, letting out a low growl and trying to crush you with its body weight. When it fails to loosen your grip it goes back to making yelping sounds as it panics, unable to get you off with its claws or teeth. Left with no clear option, it gives up and leaps directly into the waterfall.

It gets much harder from there to keep biting as the current washes you two down the river, but you at least managed to prepare yourself for holding your breath in time. It seems that you're dragging the other wolf down, because for the most part, you both remain under the water's surface as you're carried downstream. You close your eyes and focus on nothing but holding on tightly as the wolf flails about, but eventually the flailing stops, and with it, you feel the size of your jaw grow.

You ditch the other wolf and manage to doggy-paddle your way to the river bank a new wolf. Just like before, you've skipped all the intermediary steps and gone straight to adulthood. Not only that, but you seem to have made surprisingly good progress down the river in the process. You try out your new form by continuing onward in it, relishing in finally being faster than that wobbly excuse for a gait you had in your caterpillar form. Finally achieving practicality, you can also finally enjoy having a mundane number of limbs for extended periods of time. Hell, it feels so nice that you break out into a run. All-fours isn't nearly as hard to adapt to, and you pick up a nice, cathartic stride. You start to space out as you simply enjoy your newly improved running capability before being snapped out of your reverie by something that smells really good. It doesn't smell quite the same as your wolves. After that river ride, the wolf you came here with probably doesn't smell great right now, though you're not sure where exactly it's gone off to. You follow the (good) smell, which strays a bit from the path of the river. You weave your way through the trees until you come across a small pond, the source of the smell. A ways away, you spot some shirtless dude with a sword next to what remains of a freshly cooked deer, no doubt the source of the smell. It's then that you hear it.

"Come at me goat fucker! Hyaaa!"

You're terribly confused, both at what he had to say and what he was doing, but you weren't about to let the only living human you've seen since those explorers slip through your fingers. While it seemed as if he was out camping, he had to have come from somewhere, and somewhere is exactly where you want to go. You stalk over towards him, only catching a whiff of his blood over the overpowering smell of cooked meat when you draw closer. Maybe you should have been able to earlier with your weirdo wolf nose but it's been a long time since you had cooked meat. You stop and observe from behind a tree as he swings his sword at nothing over and over again, quickly recognizing the wound in his side as a bullet wound.

This, unfortunately, raises more questions than it answers. No sane person is camping in the woods with a bullet wound unless they're a criminal, right? Still, you hesitate for only a moment. It doesn't really change anything what kind of person he is if you can get him to lead you back to human civilization. You get closer still to him. You wish you had something to offer him, like that wolf floating down the river, or a way to dress his wounds, but so far the only leverage you have is being unobtrusive, so, in spite of the appetizing remains of that deer being present, you sit stoically on the side, waiting for him to finish whatever the hell he's doing. You had wolf for breakfast anyway. Does that make you a cannibal? You didn't eat it in your wolf form, but...

Ah, forget it. You don't want to think about how fucked up it is that you're here now as you are. You'd rather ponder the connection between the guy's sword fetish and that bullet wound.

...And, he's noticed you. Okay. Don't mind the wolf staring at you like a voyeur, he just wants to stalk you all the way back to town, absolutely nothing to be concerned about.

James Harris

James groaned as he walked into his apartment, fresh off a double shift. His side was still throbbing slightly, his ribs still in the process of knitting together from where he turned that little boy’s break into nothing but a few bad bruises after the tumble he took out of the tree. It was no walk in the park having to finish his shift with a broken arm, but he powered through worse in the past and at least the worse is over at this point – should only take another hour or so – and then he can just kick back and enjoy his first vacation in far too long. He hasn’t had a real day off in ages, now – as long as he doesn’t get called back in – he’ll have three glorious days of peaceful bliss.

Collapsing on his couch his plans for the night unfolded behind his eyes like a beautiful picture. It’s still early afternoon, so first, he’ll take a nice nap – get his ribs sorted out – then he’ll head out to grab some dinner at Wu’s. He loves Wu’s, they make the best dumplings in the city – it’s a pity they don’t deliver. Amy’s also going through quite a sticker phase according to Sarah, so maybe he could make a quick stop on the way and pick some up for her, maybe grab some glow-in-the-dark stars for above the twins’ cribs as well? That’ll earn him some ‘Best Uncle’ points for sure. Then with both stickers and dinner acquired, hell come home and just kick back and relax with the next Terry Pratchett in his collection.

Good plan…

---

Prize obtained! Walking out of the store into the evening air, he placed his purchases into his various coat pockets – zipping them closed afterwards – and finally continued on to Wu’s. That had taken longer than he was expecting – almost a half-hour – but he got a pretty good selection for the kids, so he’s definitely going to be popular when he sees them tomorrow. Getting unto his motorcycle, he turned on his helmet’s Bluetooth and the sweet sound of Queen immediately filled his ears. Singing along – badly – to the words, James started the drive to Wu’s. Traffic’s looking good, his nap might have put him a little behind schedule (he should remember to set his alarm next time) but the drive isn't that long, for the first time in ages he actually feel's well-rested and pretty soon he's going to be partaking in some delicious food. Tonight’s looking like a good start to a well-deserved break.

A pink blur zipped all over the museum. That blur was followed by a few drones filming his every move. That pink blur was Dynamo, better known as Cameron Mason. According to his manager, there was something going on at the museum, and it would make a perfect caper for an episode. Cameron wasn’t so sure about filming this, but his manager told him people loved it. If that was true, who was he to complain? It was his job to make people happy!

“Cameron pay attention! There’s a action happening. If we don’t get Dynamo on camera, this will have all been for nothing!” Cameron’s manager said from an earpiece in his ear.

Cameron soon found the action his manager was talking about. There were a bunch of other heroes here. How was Cameron not the first one here with his speed? Well whatever. He could still do something. One of which was a man brutally beating up another robber. Cameron had to intervene. He ran right in between his them. “Whoa whoa whoa! Stop that mister! That’s mean!” He then turned his attention to the guy he was beating up. “You must be a robber. ”IIIIIIIIIIIII’m Dynamooooooo!” He exclaimed while striking a pose and flashing a peace sign. “You should put that stuff you took back. Pwease?”

“Your asking nicely?! Hit him Cameron! We need action!” His manager yelled in his earpiece.

@Crow

Thrust. Parry. Counter block and roll. Pommel smash, then follow up with a shoulder charge. Horizontal slash followed by leg sweep. Arthur's body went through the motions as if it were second nature. Envisioning himself surrounded by enemies, he built his strategy in his mind. Feign panic, follow up with two handed guard stance. Wait for enemies to rush together and then, bringing his sword down by his left hip Arthur swung his blade across the horizon, swirling his free hand to create a whirlwind of air around him as he began to spin like a top. He managed to make one full rotation while keeping his grip when something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, breaking his concentration on causing his feet to slip out from underneath of him on the slick dewy grass.

Arthur let out a grunt of pain as he landed on his injured side, his sword tumbling from his hand and sliding away from him. As his eye's focused on what had distracted him. There was a brief moment of panic as he realized he was being watched by a wolf. But as Arthur rolled to his feet, left arm out as bait for the oncoming bite sure to come, he realized the wolf wasn't charging him in his moment of weakness. Surely the beast had smelled his blood and could tell he was injured, so why wasn't it charging. Maybe it was the distraction? Surely this wolf wasn't alone. Wolves never hunted alone. Scanning the tree line surrounding him he kept his right hand on his knife, ready to draw at the first provocation, but it never came.

The beast was alone? Not only that, but as he looked into its eyes, he saw traces of what he could only describe as humanity. As he maintained eye contact, he slowly rose lowering his left arm and releasing his grip on his knife. He saw the beasts eyes flick over to the cooked meet off to the side and that's when he realized, it wasn't interested in him, but the venison. Slowly he rose his hands in front of him fingers splayed to show empty hands before slowly making his way over to the cooked meet. Drawing his knife slowly as not to scare the wolf he sliced off a few slivers of meet and tossed them a few feet between them.

"Tis fine noble creature. Be not afraid, I wish you no harm. If thee needs sustenance, I have plenty to share. Eat and rest. You have nothing to fear from me."

So as to prove his point, Arthur slowly sat down and cut himself off a small slice and brought it to his lips. Twas a truly odd feeling indeed trying to share a meal with a wolf. He had never had any good experiences with wolves or dogs in the past, so he was still nervous, but if he could avoid slaying one of God's creatures he must try. All life was sacred after all, and if unprovoked, he would gladly share in his bounty with any. Even a wolf.

Soft breaths trickled past warm fur, spindly arms wrapped around what remained of a past better left forgotten. An embrace, tight and close, a boy and his friend, a scene of wholesome serenity. It was something Skylar, or Star Scourge, had grown to appreciate. The silence; something which had once deafened him, surrounded by walls of cold steel. Nightmares continued to plague restless nights, tired eyes attesting to such truths, despite Skylar’s shallow lies.

A supernatural glow, azure illumination above a small, pale nose peered ahead, a gaze meeting the surface of flakey, old wallpaper. How long had it been? Four months, if memory served, the boy’s fingers tenderly combing through his friend’s silken coat. Without Cosmos, the terror of an outside world grew all the more horrific. A mundane interaction, a casual transaction, a heartfelt conversation; aspects of life Skylar was still growing accustomed to. Though he wished to claim that a rapidly beating heart did not keep him from peaceful slumber, the boy still shifted his focus towards whatever doorway was closest, fear creeping down his spine. A scene played out, syringes and lab coats on full display. Open or closed, it made little difference, for from the darkness they stepped forth, an operating table on the horizon.

Clenching his teeth, Skyler’s embrace tightened further, Cosmos’ calm presence lulling the boy into a state between fear and comfort. Though months had passed, closed eyes brought him back there, to the facility. Screams, needles, pain, chaos, thoughts whipped back and forth, prickles stretching across the lad’s paper pale skin. A gulp traveled down his throat, darkness lit by sapphires coated in eternal shine, darkness sharing a tale of safety and trauma, a spiral of contradiction to confirm Skylar’s reality.

Up it went, stress confiscating its space, anxiety growing ever stronger until finally the veil of turmoil was pierced by a familiar sound. Vibrations dragged against a hard surface, a ringtone denoting Skylar’s caller. Slowly, a spindly hand extended from where it had held the boy’s canine companion, scrawny fingers wrapping around the outline of his cellphone. ’Diane,’ a name Skylar had come to associate with a call to action. It was a woman who retained the mutant’s purpose, the one thing allowing him to escape self-made torture. Out there, on the field of ceaseless battle was where Skylar felt free. It was where he could shed thorny shackles slowly wrapping themselves into a strangle hold. It was where he could pretend like the past seven years never happened, where he could don the cape of a hero and put these anxious terrors to rest.

”Hello,” a soft voice trickled past Sky’s lips, fuzzy ears fluttering at the sound of his tune, soon accompanied by a large, wet snout meeting his chin.

“You sound like shit,” came a response, “it’s ten o'clock, are you in bed?”

Brief silence came to meet the conversation before eventually Skylar spoke once more. ”What do you want?”

If one had the ability to hear grins, wide and mischievous, this would certainly be an apt opportunity to put such feats to the test. “Always jolly, aren’t you?” Diane mused, british accent proudly presented, “listen, there’s a robbery taking place at Carlyle Museum,” she began, “seems like some other blokes are dealing with that, though.”

”So why are you calling me?” The boy sighed as he sat, thin sheets of soft fabric falling down his shape where Cosmos echoed the motion, tail thumping against the mattress with each passing breath.

“Because while they’re dealing with that, an old friend is going to use the chaos to his advantage. Ever heard of Ember?” Diane did not bother humoring a response. It was rhetorical, knowing full well that Skylar’s knowledge of heroes and villains was lacking at best. “Nasty bugger in an impressive suit, isn't he? He’s after an ancient relic that’ll make him proper troublesome. Be a pearl and deal with that, will you? If you leave now, you’ll catch up to him.”

A savior from the ever flowing rivers of despair, Skylar stood, bare feet padding across an empty floor until socks soon found themselves pulled on. It was what he needed, an escape from himself by diving into conflict. Attention turned towards Cosmos, the dog’s head tilting where eyes far more intelligent than a typical canine met the boy’s own. ”I’ll be back soon, Cos’, be a good boy,” Skylar lowered himself to a knee, arms cradling his friend before a small, tender kiss met Cosmos’ snout. ”I love you,” came a quiet utterance met by a high pitched bark. Two products of a traumatic past, both keeping the other sane, with foot and paw firmly planted upon the ground. Reaching for a casual shirt alongside cargo pants, Star Scourge certainly lacked the appeal, but he was a Hero; that much he would confirm. With azure force encircling the mutant, an opened window served as his exit, and the museum was not far off.

---

Feeling the night air licking past his skin, Sky exhaled a relaxed breath, flight as effortless as a practiced step. It was the first thing he leaned towards when freedom was tasted. A world extended before him, and a Starlit flight soon followed. It was freedom incarnate, arms outstretched as the warmth of a breeze carried him forth, a lullaby sung by leaves on the wind, and yet, that was not the serenity he was heading towards. Not now.

Carlyle Museum, an impressive sight by every measure, a collection of relics plucking at strings of the past, a mummer’s dance for those who would stand and listen. A shame it would be, then, for a missile to allow entry and further chaos. A projectile small, yet deadly, fired from a wrist launcher as it pierced the air in a straight path for the Carlyle Museum, but was met by an unexpected obstacle, sapphire force preventing the device from proceeding, but rather, repelled the missile back to whence it came. There, it met a holographic shield, another technological addition of Ember’s airborne suit, a barrier to protect him from an imminent explosion caused by none other than his own device once fired, and returned. “The fu-..!” A robotic voice echoed before Ember spun on his heel, the man’s visor zoning in on a most unwelcome addition. “Fucking hell, not another super powered freak,” he spat, “look, just in and out, no one needs to get hurt.”

”You were about to blow a hole in the roof, dude,” Skylar retorted, his brow raised where the lad crossed his arms, an ethereal aura of starlit blue keeping him afloat far above mingling life below. Life which grew into a more sporadic motion at the sound of an explosion.

“A quick entry,” Ember shot back, “I’d have been gone by now, you know.”

Another sigh slipped past Skylar’s lips before the boy raised his hand, a swipe conjuring forth a devastating current of azure force, a spectral blade to slice through that of which it struck. Ember, however, was a quick actor with rocket propelled suit lifting him above the attack, “some Hero you are! We’re not even done talking yet, and you attack!? Fuck you, man!” The power-suit clad gestalt hissed, a beam of concentrated plasma released from his gauntlet to strike at the Starlit boy, a beam met by azure wrath where Skylar’s own pulsar ray of Starlight connected with immense heat to warrant yet another explosion between the combatants, a shockwave pushing them further away from one another.

”Sorry, still getting used to making you tools feel validated,” Star Scourge scoffed, a torrent of explosive orbs launched forth, spectral missiles glimmering like the cosmos, each bursting into an azure expanse of dangerous energy where they followed Ember’s flight. Supernatural marvel clashed with technological wonder, a display of fireworks and flamboyance, sapphire blue alongside topaz yellow painting the sky in chaotic light.

“Psh.., I’ve always hated you super-freaks,” Ember exclaimed, seeing how Starlight began to envelop him in a sphere of whirling destruction, a fate he was able to escape before bursting forth, changing course as he dove further towards the ground. “You could catch one! Catch these, you little shit!” A shout echoing across the night sky, one accompanied by missiles fired. With sections opening across Ember’s armor, projectiles were scattered, “want to save some innocents, Hero!?” The museum was not their target.

Eyes brimming with Starlight shine widened at the decision Ember had made. Beneath their battle, a gathering had clustered, cell phones produced with cameras recording. ’Oh no..,’ Skylar’s heart skipped a beat. He couldn’t stop Ember’s onslaught without leaving himself open, and yet, the lad’s shape vanished, fading into starlit energy before once more manifesting as a guardian between skies and earth, a teleportation to position the boy. He extended his arms, a wide echo of azure force emitted to hold the mass of missiles in place, Starlight working to telekinetically hamper their advance and freeze them to the spot only moments before exploding.

The shockwave forced Skyler to the ground, his powers regaining their equilibrium before cushioning the mutant’s descent, one which would have otherwise spelled his end. No, that was not an honor Ember would allow the effects of something so impersonal. Taking this moment, this split second of granted advantage, the man’s engines severed a distance once held between the pair, a holographic sword extending from his gauntlet to pierce Skylar’s chest. “So fucking predictable. All that power.., wasted..,” a mere whisper, Ember’s visor close to Skylar’s ear, a hand on the boy’s shoulder and blade pushing through his spindly shape. “You let your guard down.”

Blood blue as the deepest ocean flowed down the mutant’s body, glittering in the moonlight, tired legs held up by an unforgiving sword. ”..y-you.., too..,” a raspy echo returned, Skylar’s hand grasping Ember’s metal clad throat. Azure destruction washed over the man, embracing him as a scream left his helmet. Ember was blown back, his armor shattering as he rolled across the asphalt, a tumble reaching an abrupt end. Though on his knees, Skylar’s hand remained extended, Starlight glimmering around his prey, slowly crushing Ember’s body beneath its grip. ’K̶̳͛̿͝i̸͙̠͛l̸͙̖̓͐̈́l̵̘̋̓ ̶̪̞̔h̶̤̘͂̏ï̴͔̈m̵̨̗̚.̵̧̭̗́͆.̵̩̜͖̅͐̏,̷̘̐ ̸̝̏ķ̶̺̗̿ǐ̵̞̺̈l̸̽̈́͘ͅl̸͉̃ ̴̳͗̋̚͜h̵̜̾̃̂i̸̱͕̩̾m̷̧͔̰͂̇.̷͚̯́͗.̷̛͈̭̝͝͝,̵̧̙͕̀͘ ̶͙̑̀̊d̵͎͔̭̂͑̓e̸̻͕̰̿͌̊s̴̳͊̿ṭ̸̨̔̐̈r̵̠̜̿̊o̴̳͈͙͌̈́y̶̹̯͕̽͌.̷̠̯̗̓.̶̡͔̐̓̓,̷̧̬͘͜ ̵̞͛͗ḋ̸̖́e̸̻̦͘s̶͕̊̿t̴̘̒̕r̵̟̺̲͊̌͝ò̵̠̲̳͗̓ÿ̸̦̭́̆͝.̷̲͕̎.̶̲͈̅̎̑,’ there was silence. As if the world had reached a freezing point, Skyler trembled. His vision was fading, the mutant’s strength trickling away, and with it, his senses returned. Star Scourge swiped his hand, sending Ember into a lamppost, knocking the man out, but retained his life.

Eyes once mimicking stars in their glow were dim, a fatigued, desperate motion attempting to pull the boy forward. ”Cosmos..,” he tried, darkness claiming him.

As big and populated as Grailham was, it was surprisingly easy to be alone. Curious, for a supposedly social animal like humans ,but it suited Miria's purposes well enough. And some time just spent out by oneself was always good, anyway. An ordinary young lady would probably be concerned with walking around a city at night, alone, but she was far from ordinary and quite confident in her ability to defend herself.

In what was becoming an all too regular occurrence, explosions rocked the relative peace of the evening. It didn't take that long to get the general direction and begin running toward it. As some do in this city, either heroes themselves or the sort drawn to opportunities to see them. Either outcome was one Miria could be happy with. She'd get involved if she had to, though she wouldn't be too impressive in ordinary civilian clothing. She'd have to ask someone how they actually had those ridiculous outfits ready at a moment's notice one of these days.

By the time she arrived on the scene, a few others had already gotten involved. Including one she recognized. Dynamo. So much for a scoop, with that guy and his drones around. The sound of her hurried footsteps would surely have already alerted everyone there to her arrival. Silver hair streaming behind her, Miria hardly seemed to be winded as she burst onto the scene. "You and that crate aren't going anywhere," she announced with all the authority and command of someone used to giving commands. "You won't be getting past me, anyway." She didn't move to engage, but instead to head off anyone trying to get away, with or without the loot.

Fiadh paced her apartment, trying to calm her restless mind. She made rounds around her hoard, offering occasional glances to take it all in. She has amassed a humble fortune, not much but it was more than she ever owned in her life before. True to the fey’s word, she has been led to many things. Many pretty, tantalizing, intoxicating things. It is euphoric, to look at, to know it is hers and hers alone, maybe a little from causing envy in others. Whether one might seek the beauty of the jewels and art, the value of the gold, or the knowledge in the books, tomes, and grimoires. She had something most people would want, and knowing that gave her a tingly sensation. But it did not satisfy her, it never did. There was always that voice, a whisper at first, that has since then begun to chant. More. More. I must have more.

She had no mirrors, vanity was not her vice, but the glittering gold provided enough of a reflection for introspection. She never saw herself, but what she would be. What she is. Gone were her dark red hair with a slight curl, her fair complexion, her smile, thin build, and other features that would attract the right, and sometimes wrong, kind of attention. Replaced by scales, horns, grimace, and eyes that betrayed a constant lust for more. Day by day, her future became more and more appealing than her ‘weak and pathetic’ human form, a thought that terrified her. She is even calling it the human form, as if she wasn’t human. Maybe…maybe she isn’t anymore.

“When will it be enough?” Fiadh asked to an empty room.

“I just need to fill this void with another diamond, maybe two.” She replied to herself.

“It’s always just a little more though…isn’t it.”

“It has to end at some point though, right? Eventually this obsession will be satisfied.”

“Maybe a few more books….and some more gold, that’s gotta do it. Or…maybe…The Carlyle Museum has one of a kind artifacts…” Fiadh’s conversation with herself was interrupted as she began to feel a familiar and hated sensation. She gave in, again.

It starts with sensation, her flesh is numbing like when you rest on your arm to long, and quickly shifts to pain. She has dealt with the transformation many times, not enough to get sued to it, but enough where she is not crippled by the pain anymore, just exhausted. She acted quickly to strip down, her human clothes were not made to fit this other physiology, and she hates to have to buy more when she can avoid it.

Over the next minute or so, her body began to visibly transform, flesh was split revealing glittering scales, the nubs on her back and tailbone began to expand and lengthen, forming wings and a tail, her legs and feet twisted into something less human and more befitting of a dragon, she also gained enough body mass to put on a few feet of height. Her least favorite part was the head, suffering perhaps the greatest transformation of any part, with her hair shedding along with her skin, the skull reshaped almost entirely to support a lengthy snout, her eyes shifted from oval pupils to reptilian slits. By the end of it, she was an amalgam of human and dragon. Human enough to not be entirely monstrous, but her silhouette was definitely not human. And luckily this form can get away with not wearing clothes and not violate public decency laws. Otherwise, the time and money spent finding a discreet tailor would be annoying.

Fiadh took stock of the situation. A mess on the floor, some blood and viscera being the only evidence of her transformation, which she will need to clean up. Boots, Jacket, jeans, good. But not the gloves or underwear, damn. Too ripped up to wear.

“Great… another pair ruined. Way to go.” Fiadh hissed to herself, her words forming visibly as a green haze that was expelled from her mouth. Luckily, she could not poison herself.

I’ll worry about it later. Need to get to museum and claim…no, just view, something new. Get my mind off this. Distract myself. Fiadh was thinking, trying to ignore her covetous desire. Maybe going to the place with a lot of stuff she very much would like to own is not the best idea, but no one said she ever thought things through. Or at all.

Now, to go to…. Fuck, can’t use the door. Shoulda done the dragon thing outside. Fiadh said, looking dawn at herself, she broke a few things before and she hates having to pay for replacements. Oddly the though of someone who is trying to hide their curse walking out of their apartment and potentially reveling themselves to their neighbor, nor the thought of awkwardly walking through a hall and down stairs made for someone a few heads shorter than she is now, was not something she was concerned about like you’d think, it was the thought of having to spend money that was her concern.

I really need to be looking for a new place with more space, before my collection or I get too big… Fiadh looked around and settled on the window, it might get scratched, but a scratched window still opens and closes fine unlike a crushed door handle. Carfully she opened it and crawled outside, digging into the side of her apartment before carefully shutting the window. She stretched her wings out, to get a feel for them, before furling them back in a resting position. Fiadh was not confident enough in her ability to fly, not yet, but she can glide. Deciding on her path, she climbed up her apartment to get to the roof. From there she can glide from building to building and climb up where needed. A much quicker way to cover the distance than by…paw. Or would it still be foot? Can she change the phrase to fit her situation? Either way, she will get to the museum expeditiously.

James Harris

James was just passing Carlyle Museum, Wu’s almost within his sight, when an explosion in the air broke through his music and nearly caused him to crash into a lampost. Thankfully, over a decade spent honing his skills as a rider, made it so that his reflexes kicked in in time to pull his Harley to a stop. Looking up through his visor revealed his initial expectations to be accurate. A villain in an airborne suit was exchanging banter with a new hero. As he looked closer, though, a frown crossed James’ face. It seemed like all the heroes kept getting younger these days, the one fighting robo-suit definitely doesn't even look old enough to drink. What’s the world even coming to these days? He swears that…

Damn…James’ starting to sound like his father…he feels old.

It was as he was ruminating the loss of his youth that the battle above continued, the banter apparently over - normally it lasted longer. Watching the fight from his bike, he couldn’t help but sigh at the crowd. He’ll never understand how people can risk their lives just for a few pictures or a video to post on social media, they’re not trying to help, they’re just standing there making great targets of themselves, a needless distraction for heroes to worry about instead of giving all their attention to the villain they’re supposed to be fighting. Almost as if the universe could hear his thoughts and decided to prove a point, the fight took a turn. The villain’s target changed. He had one leg already off the bike - ready to start running towards the crowd for all the good it might do - shouting at the idiots to get out of there (most of them didn’t even budge…how is humanity not extinct yet?), when the hero teleported from their position above to in front of the incoming missiles, shielding everyone with their powers.

Unfortunately, robo-suit took advantage of the hero’s momentary lapse and ran them through with a blade. What happened next…well, it was pretty brutal. For a second there, James was almost certain that robo-suit (now suit-less) was about to be obliterated, before the bugger was simply - painfully - knocked out. That’ll definitely leave a mark, but James couldn’t be bothered to care about him right now. The hero was bleeding really badly, and starting to list forward. Leg back on the Harley, he revved the engines loudly and sped forward, yelling threats at the crowd so that they’d get the heck out of his way. Something must have come through in his voice, because the people actually jumped out of the way (seriously, a motorcycle they’ll dodge but not missiles?) allowing him to park next to the hero just as they hit the floor.

He doesn’t remember getting off of the bike. One moment he was on it, the next he was kneeling next to the hero - and damned if they didn’t look even smaller up close - rolling them over and lifting the lens to inspect the wound. From the location of the wound it looked like it would have had to go through the sternum - so there’s definitely broken bones - and from the amount of blood leaving the puncture wound, it’s more than likely that something had been nicked by the blade. Blood loss is the greatest danger here, so that’s what he should focus on first.

Taking a deep breath, he gently brushed the hero’s dark hair out of their face, quietly saying “You’ll be okay kid, I’ve got you.” Feeling the connection establish, he watched as the bleeding first slowed and then stopped completely as the gash knitted itself close - not a mark remaining. Pain bloomed in his chest as he felt the warm wetness of blood trickling down beneath his shirt.. Grunting slightly, he forced himself to keep going, he’s had worse and his abilities will keep him from dying from blood loss because of this. Thankfully, the shirt he's wearing is one that's a little small on him (tomorrow's laundry day) so that'll help slow the bleeding a little. The bones are next.

Fricken heck. That one smarts. Forcing himself to sit still, he did his best to breath through the pain as he literally felt the cracks in the bone form. The edges of his vision darkened slightly, and once the last crack was healed, he nearly collapsed himself, but since he first discovered his gifts, he had become extremely well acquainted with pain and being able to power through injuries. Heck, he just had to deal with another broken bone a few hours ago! He’s got this. A critical look over the hero established that - while the kid was still far too pale for his liking - they were out of the woods. They still had to deal with the blood loss, but there wasn’t much that James could do about that, only rest and fluids will really help.

Next he went over to where the villain was still out, quickly checking him over. No fatal injuries. Doesn’t look like any bones are broken. The worst this guy should have when he wakes up is a bad concussion and some painful bruises. It doesn’t quite seem fair, does it? This is the guy who tried to blow up a whole street and yet it’s the hero who gets all banged up. The one who really deserves a broken sternum are people like that.

A gasp escaped him as he felt a connection form and he immediately pulled away. It’s been ages since he last connected with someone accidentally and he could just feel the frustration building. Of all the people to accidentally heal! Only…he didn’t feel any new injuries on himself…maybe…he hasn’t established whether the connection only works one way yet…

Okay, yeah, nope! Not dealing with this right now! Firmly pushing that thought out of his mind, he lowered the lens on his helmet and gestured towards the two nearest gawkers. Addressing them as they shuffled forwards. “You two. Wearing belts?” They gave confused nods of confirmation. “Good. Take them off and tie this guy up. If the police haven't been called yet, do so now.” Seeing them hesitate, he felt the frustration build - needing to take a deep breath to calm himself before he spoke again. “C’mon, quickly now, move it please.”

Finally getting a reaction out of them, he moved back to the kid - still out - and gently manoeuvred them to lean against his bike’s sidecar, before reaching inside it and pulling out a half-full bottle of water as well as a scarf he keeps forgetting to return to his brother. Wetting the material, he gently dabbed it against the kid’s pale face. “I know sleeping’s fun, kid, but this aint the best place for a rest.” No response, not that he was really expecting one. A crinkle from his coat momentarily distracted him, reminding him of its contents. He didn’t even think about it as the words left him - half meant as a joke, half hoping that the kid in front of him is as taken by stickers as his niece is and actually takes the bribe. “If you wake up now, I’ll give you a gold star…”

---

@Shard

"Malice.."

"As long as there is malice in this realm, my appetite will never be saturated..."

"Blood and darkness.."

"I am the evil that eats evil."

"I am the slumbering Fel that walks the nine realms along with the old gods and the new - I am.. "

"Ah...S--Sir Flauros, you're scaring tonight's shift. Is something wrong?" one of the crew spoke, a lowly imp stood his ground, trembling in fear as their manager begins to act ominous and started monologuing from out of the blue.

The other imps and demons in the back kitchen cease their actions as well, all with concerned looks on their face and can't help but acknowledge their demon general's frightening aura.

Flauros broke out of his wicked trans and looks around; realizing that his hunger for sin got the best of him.

"Oh my.. my apologies. It's just that my eye is acting up and has detected a suitable amount of malice somewhere not far from here. It's almost intoxicating..which reminds me, it's time to feed the ole' dogs." He explained with a smile on his face, returning to his friendly demeanor.

"Now, now.. Carry on everyone. and make sure to give our customers the satisfaction that they need and keep up the good work" Flauros clapped his hands in dismissal to his crew.

"Yes sir!" the crew shouted in unison, all returning to their kitchen duties and workstation.

After which, Flauros went on his way to the shadowy back alley of the cafe.

"You boys hungry?" He said with a wicked smile on his lips.

From out of the corner of darkness, two demonic hellhounds manifested straight from the abyss itself. These otherworldly dogs are invisible to the naked human eye and can be only seen by those who can see the supernatural.

On the rooftops of Grailham, a blond haired teenager let out a wolfish grin and began bounding from rooftop to rooftop as he chased his quarry. The hunt was on.

"Assess the situation first. I've detected multiple targets, one of them is on the roof. Although, i don't think he's with them, he doesn't have those absurd bright color schemes the others does" - Flauros scratched his chin and ponders for a bit.

"Now fetch.." with a simple command from Flauros. The ravenous hunting dogs snarled their hellish fangs and started running in the direction of the museum. Hungry for some bad guys to tear up and drag straight into the abyss.

One way or another, the sinister six will be missing a member after this is done.

Kaede was surprised to see himself get interrupted from his assault, by the somewhat famous Dynamo no doubt.

"Hey fasttrack! No time for poses! They're taking the chance to skedaddle!" Kaede exclaimed.

Kaede backed away from the fight range when he was interrupted.

"You gonna transform yet?" Trinity asks.

"Mmmmmm... I think I'll keep fighting as myself," Kaede scrstches his head.

"Kaede, you have to become a magical girl now!"

"No I don't, and I would rather handle it myself!"

"They are six fully grown men who are giving superheroes a hard time," Trinity sighs.

Kaede rubbed his temples. "Why couldn't you have given me a power suit?"

"You're getting off topic."

Kaede decided to ignore that last part as he proceeded to slam a headbutt at another assorted Sinister Six member.

"Dude, which part of six fully-grown men do you not underAAAAAAAAA-"

As for his next move, he pulled the plushie-like Trinity and began swinging him at the target's face.

Despite appearing to be a plushie made of soft fabrics and bolstered by cotton, Trinity was pretty durable, and if swung like that, could easily feel like a dozen rocks being slammed in your face.

"JUST- OOF- TRANSFORM- OFF- ALREADYGGYYYYAAAAAHHHH!!!!"

@Crimson Flame

Arthur was about slice off another piece of venison for himself to show the wolf before him it was safe to eat, when a loud boom echoed through the night proceeded by a vibrant blue flash of light off to the west. He knew he should never turn his back to a wolf, but somehow, he felt the beast would not strike at him. Staring in the distance he knew it came from the stone village. Could one of the lightning bottles have burst? Or was this the work of sorcery? Either way people would most certainly be in trouble. It was his duty to answer the call to duty. Standing tall Felt something wet running down his side. Looking down at his injury he sighed. He must have reopened his wound, as a fresh stream of blood was trickling down into the waistline of his pants. He would need to take care of this first lest he injure himself further. Stepping up to his little fire, he pulled out one of the partially engulfed sticks. Giving it a good swing to extinguish the flame at the end, leaving a red smoldering ember at the tip. Taking a deep breath he pressed the glowing end against his wound, gritting his teeth and letting out a groan as he did so, and counting to ten before discarding the stick back into the fire.

Grabbing his shirt off the ground he tore it into several long strips of cloth, using them to wrap his abdomen, before collecting his sword and sheathing it. Turning to look back at the wolf he smiled brightly saying "Enjoy the feast, noble creature. May you remember, that not all of man is thine enemy." With that he placed his right hand over the glowing handprint over his heart, a glow beginning to emanate from it, before waving his hand in front of him causing his body to be engulfed in an ethereal blue glow. As the light faded, it revealed an old suit of plate male armor, perfectly fitted to his frame. As he took off into the forest, following the signs of conflict he scooped his bow and quiver off the ground, clipping the quiver to his belt and slinging the bow over his shoulder.

Even with his injury, Arthur made better time than he had expected. By the time he made it to the village chaos had broken out. At first glance Arthur wasn't sure who to fight first until he saw a man in yellow throwing, was that sand, in people's faces as he made a desperate attempt to slip away. Knocking two arrows as he ran, he raised his bow and bellowed "You there! Ruffian! Cease this madness lest I bring you rampage to a bloody end!" The sandman simply scoffed and lifted his fist at him, save for one of his fingers, in what he could only assume was supposed to be an obscene gesture. That was all he needed to see, and in an instant, he loosed the first arrow severing his finger from his fist. The man barely had time to realize the loss of his digit as the second arrow loosed, soaring through the air finding its mark. As the arrow inserted itself into the man's left knee, sending him tumbling to the cobblestone beneath him, a torrent of obscenities spilled from the man's mouth as he tried to decide which wound to grab, his hand or his knee. Dropping his bow to the ground he slowly approached the man in yellow, drawing his sword as he approached.

As he reached the man, he desperately tried to scramble away Arthur brough his foot down on his left ankle drawing a scream from his mouth again. "Jesus Christ kid! I thought you were supposed to be a fucking hero! What kind of fucking hero cuts a man's finger off! Like what the fuck kid!" Kneeling down to match the man's eye level before tightly gripping the mans injured fist in his hand drawing another scream from him. He hated wasting his energy on filth like this, but he couldn't just leave the man to bleed like this. Focusing on his heartbeat, Arthur channeled his energy through his heart, down his arm and into the man's fist. It wasn't enough to fully heal the wound, but it was enough to stop the bleeding. The man's face went from anger to confusion as he realized what Arthur had done, and as he stood and began to analyze the battlefield, he could faintly hear the man behind him say.

What so you can't grow back my finger? Come on asshole that was my favorite one!"

Arthur scoffed before spitting back "Does thine petulance know no bounds. Scum such as thee deserve no pity for the outcome of thine deeds. Thee reaps what thee sows" As Arthur tried to turn his attention back to the battle however a sudden wave of dizziness washed over him, and against his wishes, his armor dematerialized into the ether. 'Dammit' Arthur thought to himself. 'I knew I should have eaten more.' Without sufficient energy he was unable to maintain his armor, nor use his magic. Now he was simply a man with a sword, and he had abandoned his bow to boot. What foolishness. He still had much to learn if he was going to survive this. Nevertheless, there were still civilians in danger. The best Arthur could do now was make himself the target. Taking a deep breath Arthur belted out his challenge.

"Come at me you ruffians! I, Arthur Pendragon, shall not stand idly by as you have your way with these people! Any who wish to take advantage of the weak and helpless, shall answer to me!" Even without his armor, or his shirt for that matter, Arthur was still confident enough in his sword skills to at least by the people of this village time to escape to safety. "Have at thee!"

---

Fiadh took in the city as she glided through the air, her senses picking up many sights, sounds, and smells. The honks of cars in traffic, people walking and conversating, hotdog vendors….hmm. hotdogs. Wait, I hunger not only for treasure but also has the normal hunger. Hunger for sustenance. And here I am without my purse… or… i could steal a hotdog. I mean, I need to eat. Right? That’s justifiable, isn’t it? Or maybe there are some animals walking around that will satisfy, like another cat. Or dog. But those give me indigestion and sometimes hairballs. Maybe i could…

Fiadh was distracted from an explosion coming from the direction of the museum, just on the other side of this building. Fiadh quickly climbed to the top to take stock of the situation. She sees… A kid, no two kids beating up some power ranger knock-offs. A medieval LARPer taking out a yellow power ranger knock-off. And…

"...I’ll give you a gold star…”

Fiadh’s attention was instantly transfixed with the mention of gold, she shifted to identify the source from her perch.

A man tending to a wounded kid on the streets. And something in his pockets, for a fraction of a second, she saw a familiar glint. Gold star, apparently. At least that is what the man mentioned. And at that moment, nothing else mattered. The surrounding disappeared from sight, the gnawing hunger in her stomach went away, all that she felt, all that she thought about, was the gold. Nothing else existed to her, as she prepared for her descent.

Though Fiadh was not so good at flying, landing was something she has gotten good at on account of she has fallen a lot until she got the hang of gliding. Fiadh landed a bit rough, sliding a few feet and shaking the ground a little from the impact, before coming to a stop. She walked over to the man on all fours as people seem to be less intimidated when she does not tower over them, and she did not want to scare this human, at least not yet... Truth be told she has not actually talked in this form before, so she was a little shocked at the slight boom her voice seemed to have, as she settled on the words to express her singular desire. Simple, Straight to the point. She knows what she wants.

”I want this ‘gold star’ too.” she announced with envy.

The hairs on the back of Danny's neck began standing on end. He was being watched. His eyes darted around, taking in his surroundings. He couldn't see, smell or hear anything, but his instincts told him that he was being watched by someone... or something. It couldn't be Them, could it?

There were drones in the area, but they weren't anywhere close to him. They focused on another, flashier, hero who joined just before the situation devolved into chaos. Others joined the fray but none of them seemed to notice him. Perhaps, then, there was some kind of invisible observer somewhere, waiting to pull the strings... The blond-haired boy shook his head in an attempt to refocus. There was no reason for that organisation to be here, not for this level of crime and not around this many people. Perhaps it was nothing, just a random feeling of his. But he decided to play it safe.

Danny shook his head to relax the muscles a little, beginning the morph as he did. His hair as his skin became roughened and browned. His jaw lengthened, pulling his cheeks forward, his chin forward, his teeth, sharpening as his jaw grew. His eyes stayed right where they were, but now they sunk into pits and shone like baleful green stars. A predatory sheen had taken them over, and his transformation was complete. He had transformed almost fully into a velociraptor now, save for the tail and his torso. It was a littls surreal, seeing the head of a dinosaur peeking out from a school uniform. As long as it hid his identity, it would be fine. Some heroes fought for glory and recognition, but Danny wasn't one of them. It was probably too late for him to fool the hidden observer, and plenty of people could identify the school he went to, but this would do for now.

With that covered, the teenage velociraptor looked down at the situation. Things were getting increasingly out of hand, and while there was a quite an encirclement of heroes, the disorganisation meant that holes would form sooner or later. It was time for a decisive strike, and Danny knew where to do it. Bounding across the rooftops, he paused for a moment above his quarry. In such a messy situation it was difficult to time his moment to strike. But an opportunity soon arose as a young woman appeared, blocking the path of the crate bearers. Danny sprung down, claws slicing out in a sudden flash of violence, carving shallow wounds into the thieves' arms and spraying fresh blood into the air. The crate dropped out of their wounded arms.

The crate fell towards the ground, about to make contact with the pavement, but Danny was faster, launching himself towards it as soon as his foot touched the ground. He tackled it away from the would be thieves, skidding to a stop between the young woman and the group of villains. He put himself in front of the crate as if to protect it.
"This crate... does not belong to you. I will return it." The young velociraptor hissed.
His voice had become rough and raspy, and his head's shape made it difficult to enunciate. But he had practised speaking in his dinosaur form for just an occassion. Unfortunately, while he had wanted to spout a witty one-liner, the saurian instincts that came with his transformed head made that difficult (he had never been one for one-liners anyway). In lieu of that, he hoped that his claws and teeth made a sharp enough argument to the thieves.

(@Vega7285 sort of)

@Lurking Shadow @Unkown58

---

Darkness. It had returned, a cradling void of nothingness, a sense of comfort found in the passing of hardship. Where it was all discarded for eternal bliss, that great beyond where nothing existed, where souls faded into memory. ’I’m sorry, Cosmos..,’ a quiet voice echoed, ’be a good boy, alright?’ There was only one regret, one friend Skylar was afraid of leaving behind. A furry companion he had come to know as family, a beast rescued from the same hell he had known.

Slowly, eyes opened with glow brightly returned, and they met the night sky. Stars shone above as they did below, the boy’s attention though hazy, softened into narrow focus. With teeth clenched, groggy sleep shaken from place, a layer of Starlight reflexively washed over to the lad, pebbles and dust rising before eventually faltering, falling back to the ground. Taking stock of the situation, be it a frightening one, Skylar’s sapphire orbs narrowed into a frown. What stood above him was a man, and next to this mundane sight he saw a reptilian beast.

With hand rising, the lad cradled his forehead. He had seen mutants like these, before, those who took on a beastly appearance. Was this another Hero? She wasn’t attacking him, and neither was the other. Again, Skylar attempted to center himself, Starlight fading as stability returned. ”The hell did you do?” Came a question as the boy looked towards his savior. Did he offer a gold star? The notion lingered where Skylar attempted to wrap his head around the concept. Gold star? ”Why the fuck.., would I want a sticker..?” He finally managed before pushing himself off the ground. Eyes shifted from right to left, eventually noting Ember’s restraints.

’I nearly killed him,’ a thought struck at the young Hero’s senses, a chill running down his spine. No, Skylar had never killed anyone, not yet. Despite his past as an experimental weapon, he had never actually killed anyone. The program was halted and he was exhumed before that stage was reached, before that line was crossed. ’I wanted to kill him. I wanted to destroy.., everything,’ Skylar shuddered, hands rising to embrace his scrawny self. It was an addiction. The more Starlight he used, the more he wanted to unleash. An infinite battery of energy desiring an endless expanse and engulfing everything in sight and beyond.

Ripples of azure blue cut through the air, licking past the boy in repeated sequence before a deep breath, followed by another, and a third brought him back. He couldn’t lose himself, not here, and not now. Turning back to the pair, Skylar, or Star Scourge, noted the man’s wounds. He was not unfamiliar with healing abilities, having come across similar powers in the research facility. However, to so thoroughly wash away the lad’s strife was an impressive feat. Another look in James’ direction furthered the truth, Skylar’s frown deepening. Why was a healer bleeding? Why was the starlit Hero cured? ”You took my wound?” He turned towards the dragon, as if to note confirmation. Shaking his head, Star Scourge sighed. Why did people risk themselves for him? Why did they put themselves in danger for his sake? An ironic question to present a Hero, but one the boy entertained all the same. Lowering his gaze to the blood soaked clothes he was now donning, Skylar flinched. Now, he was forced to buy more, and he was certainly aware of his current financial situation. Glowing brightly, one would be forgiven for mistaking the boy’s sanguine nectar for a liquid galaxy drying into fabric.

”Whatever, thanks..,” came a quiet utterance, ”you can give your Gold Star to the dragon,” a motion was made towards Fiadh, Skylar’s position on her still finding itself. Was she a mutant? There were so many creatures scattered across the world, he had learned, that knowing their nature was impossible. His time in the facility had robbed the boy of this knowledge, but it would be a lie to deny curiosity. ”..why are you a fucking dragon?” Finally, that curiosity manifested as a question trickling past the boy’s lips.

Mr. Yellow
This absolute bastard really just turned his back on you like you're some two-bit no-named goon! You're down a finger but he's just expecting you to give up and go home! You're not even in handcuffs! You've never felt so insulted in your life. You're Mr. Yellow! A member of the sinister six! The five other Yellows are readying to meet the sword-wielding lunatic, the last clones you'll ever make with full-fingered hands. You'd probably be too busy lamenting your loss, but the guy even went so far as to heal you. The disrespect of it all!

You spot the Bow he carelessly dropped and stealthily drag yourself to it, grabbing the loose arrow you were shot with. You're filled with anger as you realize you have to knock the arrow with your index and ring finger now and let loose the arrow at the shirtless jackass without any hesitation.

It manages to find its mark, and the catharsis of it is so satisfying that you grit your teeth and rip the other arrow out of your knee. You let out a bit of a scream, but it's worth the pain. You use both hands to lift yourself up to your feet, albeit putting all your weight on your good leg, and ready the second arrow, still dripping with your blood, as poetic a vengeance as could be.

Arkin
Your mouth begins to water as you are offered cooked meat for the first time in what feels like forever. You've been eating nothing but leaves and raw meat for a while now, so when you get over your hesitation and sink your teeth into that juicy venison, you feel like you could cry. Your tear ducts don't seem to work that way, but you nonetheless eat the entire thing right off the ground. You really have gone feral.

You have to hold yourself back from going straight for the rest of the deer as a blue flash of light appears from the west. This seems to be worth the strange man's attention, because he decides now is when he needs to cauterize that wound. It looks excruciating, and you once more wish you could do something to help the man. You'd march out there and do it yourself, no matter how strange it'd seem, if you at least had opposable thumbs. When he tosses the smoldering stick back into the fire and wraps his wound, he invites you to the rest of the deer before placing his hand on his chest, which you only now notice has been glowing this whole time.

You were a bit distracted by the smells, okay? Don't judge.

It sparks your curiosity deeply. You've heard of the weird powers of certain vigilantes before, but only in passing or on the news. You've never actually seen one in real life, and the materializing plate mail armor proves to you that you're not barking up the wrong tree.

The man gathers his things before taking off into the tree line, towards the blue light. In accordance with your original plan, you follow after him, staying at a distance so as to not alarm him. The way back takes a while, and it is during this transit that you suddenly begin glowing again. You have to swerve back behind a tree to keep him from noticing, but to your luck he doesn't seem to suspect anything.

You seem to be a different kind of caterpillar now. A rather fluffy one at that, since you are now covered from head to tail end in pristine white hair.

You don't have the slightest inkling how this happened, but now's not the time to mess around with it. Looking back, it seems you've lost the strange man, but it shouldn't matter if that light came from civilization. You decide now is as good a time as any to try out flight again, so you return to your moth form, take wing-assisted jumps up above the treeline, and begin practicing over the canopy where there are no trees to crash into face-first.

It's uneasy and you feel like you have to rely on gliding half the time, but the teetering, exhaustive flapping you call flying is working. It's rather exhilarating, and you finally see the buildings of human construction ahead of you for the first time since your ordeal began. Things are just starting to look up when you look down to see the strange man take an arrow to the back by some dude dressed in all yellow. The man's armor is gone for some reason, rendering him shirtless again, and you see five other yellow men laughing as they close in on him.

You could just stay out of it, and indeed, it makes sense to do so, but you can't help but feel indebted to the strange man who has now come under fire. You didn't ask for his venison, but he gave it to you anyway, so no matter how you look at it, you should repay the favor now that you finally can.

As the bow-wielding man nocks another arrow, you come falling out of the sky in wolf form, air-dropping directly on top of him, knocking him to the ground where he takes a heavy blow to the head. Immediately, you get the bright light again, and you start to think that getting new forms has been much easier than you thought.

You don't have time to get a detailed assessment of whatever you are now, but you seem to still be a wolf, just a much bigger one. You step inside the bow with one leg before grabbing it between your teeth and tossing it over your head, wearing it in as close of a way to how a human would that you can before charging at the other 5 men in yellow. You bare your teeth and snarl like the deranged beast you are as you charge into the group, hitting them like a runaway pickup truck with its breaks cut. You're practically the size of a horse now, and you end up knocking most of them onto their asses. You back off before someone whips out a gun and run back to the strange man.

You realize you're probably scaring the shit out of him, but you still ignore him and crouch down next to him, gesturing with your head that he should get on your back. You need to get this guy out of here now. He's probably a criminal, so the hospitals won't help, but maybe you can rob a pharmacy for actual supplies and go from there?

Or is he a vigilante? Both would explain the bullet wound, actually. Doesn't explain why he was cauterizing his wound with a burning stick in the middle of the woods though. Whatever, you'll have time to sort this out when you're not near... the yellow guys... who just look scared shitless.

I mean, you are a giant wolf, you guess... who fell from the sky, from their perspective, and exploded in a bright light on landing. Maybe you could help the shirtless guy arrest them? You look back at him, trying to figure out what he wants via mind reading because you can't ask directly.

James Harris

James was just in the process of rewetting the scarf to continue his attempts to revive the kid when he was interrupted by a new arrival from the sky. They landed nearby and approached on four feet and in a booming voice announced that “I want this ‘gold star’ too.” Momentarily stunned, it was all James could do to lift his helmet’s visor, give a few blinks before closing it again. So there’s apparently a gold-star loving dragon (hero?) in town, he’s seen weider. Quickly shaking the absurdity that was becoming his night off, he got back down to business “Okay, that’s cool. We can negotiate about the star, first things first -” before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted yet again, only this time it was by movement coming from the kid as they shone with an ethereal light - not unlike starlight - before they opened their eyes. “Hey, welcome back. Take your time now, wasn’t too long ago you were on death’s doorstep.”

Headless of his warning, the kid was already in the process of trying to sit up. The youth these days…they never listen. “The hell did you do?” Which was admittedly a fair question. Opening his mouth to answer, James didn’t get the chance as another, much more important question left the (boy? Yeah, a boy) boy. “Why the fuck.., would I want a sticker..?” a small laugh left him as he stood up as well, his arms hovering whiting catching distance of the kid, ready to offer aid if it looks like he’ll fall. “Well, it got you to wake up, didn’t it?” Noticing the direction the kid’s eyes took, James gave a quick update about the villain’s condition. “I checked him over myself, before getting some people to volunteer their services in restraining him. The worst he’s got is a concussion and what’ll be some rather painful bruises later. Sturdy bugger, aint he?”

His words seemed to land on deaf ears, the boy obviously distressed as he gave of ripples of light. James really didn’t know what the best move in this situation would be - he doesn’t know this boy, or his triggers, he doesn’t want to risk making anything worse. Exchanging a look with their dragon companion, James felt rather helpless at the moment… Thankfully, whatever it was didn’t last long as the boy seemed to gain control once more before he turned back to them. “”You took my wound?” Somewhat surprised that the kid noticed, James glanced down at his previously dark green shirt, where the blood underneath was getting all the more noticeable and grimaced slightly behind his helmet. So far this kid was officially the first person to ever find him out...which is something that he’s not going to deal with right now, instead he tried to sound as chipper and carefree as possible before addressing the kid again. “I’ll be fine, this barely qualifies as a scratch compared to some other wounds I had to heal, the only real loss is the shirt, but my special baking soda combination should get the stain out easy enough.”

”Whatever, thanks..,” the boy uttered quietly and motioned towards the dragon ”you can give your Gold Star to the dragon,” after that the boy’s curiosity took over and he and the dragon started to interact. ”..why are you a fucking dragon?” Stepping back, James gave them a moment to discuss among themselves while he rooted around in his sidecar before finally pulling out a roll of duct-tape. His back turned to the other two, he lifted his shirt to expose the wound and tore off a strip of tape, slapping it over the hole in his chest. A small hiss left him as the action agitated the wound, sending a fresh wave of pain trough him. The paramedic in him is screaming at him about his stupidity, that that isn’t the best way to treat a wound, but his regeneration should keep any nasty side-effects at bay. Besides, he doesn’t have the time right now to properly look after this wound, and at least this should slow the blood loss enough for his regeneration to actually focus on treating the source of the bleeding instead of having to multitask by keeping him from passing out.

That done, it was time to get back to business. Quickly lowering his shirt again and stuffing the rest of the duct-tape in one of his pockets, he turned back towards the other two. Taking the packet of shiny star stickers out of his pocket and removing them from their plastic covering. James then tore the paper to separate the shiniest star from the rest of the packet and showed it to the dragon (…man his life got real weird real quick.) while saying “Alright you two, I hate to interrupt, but this is important. Miss Dragon, I need to know if there are anymore buddies of that guy-” points at villain “around as well as whether there are any serious injuries. If you can bring me that information, this star is all yours.” Once she took off, James turned a critical eye over the boy, looking for any sign of the blood loss getting to him. “Now I want you to take it easy for a day or so and drink plenty of fluids to help replenish some of the blood that you lost, alright? No pushing yourself to the brink or anything like that if it can be helped.” That said, James’ voice took on a lighter tone as he separated another star and pressed it into the boy’s hands “Now, I know that you said that you didn’t want a gold star, but you did a good job tonight. There were a lot of lives in your hands earlier,” at this point James gave a meaningful glance to where the villain was still out cold. “and, thanks to your actions those lives are still around right now. I think you deserve a memento for that.”

James saw the fight. He saw the villain completely helpless as he engulfed by blue, only too be knocked out. A lot of people might have gone for the kill, he still remembers a lot of news reports from when he was a kid detailing heroes doing exactly that. It’s harder to spare a life than to take it. But the poor guy already looks uncomfortable enough as it is, so James decided to just leave his words at that and hope that his double meaning came through alright and returned his attention to the remaining gawkers. A lot had left – probably having gotten bored – but there was still a good amount hanging about with their phones out. Hands on his hips, James tried to sound as authoritative as he could as he addressed them. “Alright people, there’s nothing to see here any more so move along. You already took your pictures so there’s no reason to hang around any longer. Get along, shoo, don’t make me arrest ya’ll for loitering.” Making shooing motions at them, he watched as the crowd mercifully dispersed, before he once again started digging in his side car before finally pulling out his emergency first aid bag from where it was lodged inside the lowest compartment. Hopefully their dragon friend comes back with the all clear and tonight can go back to being the peaceful start of his break that he had envisioned, but he wants to be ready just in case.

---

@Shard@Lurking Shadow

Fiadh

Fiadh stared intently at the strange helmeted man. Not moving a muscle, except her head as she tracked his movements as he tended to the kid. She waited patiently, her body not betraying her internal struggle. Want. Want. Take. Plunder. Need. Gold star. She thought, her mind racing to all the ways she could take what she wanted from the man. Then it raced to another thought, wasn’t she here to be a better…dragon(?). To get a fresh start and channel her obsession for good, somehow? Heroes get paid sometimes, it is plausible she will get rewarded for good deeds so she could be a hero and satisfy her greed!

She will wait for now. Being a good noodle is not always easy. If she wants to be good, she must be willing to do things the harder way. And she can still get the gold star! So it is a win for everyone. Wait. Wait. Patience. Wait. Get instruction. Do thing. Get star. Profit. Get… her train of thought was interrupted when the kid directed a question at her.

”..why are you a fucking dragon?”

Fiadh craned her neck towards the buachaill, tilting her head slightly in curiosity as she took in his appearance for the first time. He was but a mere lad, barely an adult but she was not certain if he was even 18. He had some stuff about him that marked him different from humans, she wondered if he was cursed like she was, a rare moment where greed departs to make way for a different feeling, concern. He looked messed up, whatever happened, it took a lot out of him.

For a moment, she debated whether she should give a answer, or even a response. She did not much care for giving things away, but ultimately, she decided since information was immaterial and thus not hoard-able in a physical sense nor can she stare at it like she does with her stuff, it would not bother her.

”Because I have the mentality and spirit of a dragon, simple as that. I like to have things, to see the shine in trinkets, the touch of gold, the knowledge in tomes, to know that they are mine and mine alone. I…” Fiadh was saying, trying to support her message with gestures and body movements as best she could given her…different physiology. She noticed the helmeted man was wanting to ask something of her, for the gold star she presumes. ”… Well, despite what I do have, I still desire for more. I figure that with enough treasure, I will find satisfaction, hence I desire this…gold star. Maybe it will be enough, maybe I’ll require more.”

Fiadh turned back to the man, to listen to what he wanted to ask of her.

“Alright you two, I hate to interrupt, but this is important. Miss Dragon, I need to know if there are anymore buddies of that guy-” points at villain “around as well as whether there are any serious injuries. If you can bring me that information, this star is all yours.”

Fiadh was confused, how was she supposed to know if the metal man had any friends? Were the coordinating their outfits or something? But she can definitely be on the lookout for injuries, soon the gold star will be all hers! A thought that excites Fiadh. ”Keep that Gold Star ready, cause I’ll be right back!” Fiadh announced before taking off in a sprint. She has not got the hand of this flying thing, but she was pretty good at jumping, as she leaped over a few humans that were still around for some reason and onto the side of the museum. Getting a good grip, after breaking a few windows but she’ll just blame that on the villain(s?), she started her ascent the last few stories to the top of the museum.

Unfortunately, the museum did not have a spire or tower or anything of the sort so she had to pace around the roof to get a view on all sides, and the inside from the few sky viewing windows on the roof. To one side, she saw a few guys in yellow getting fucked up by a sword wielding man in rags and a really really big dog…or maybe it’s a wolf? Wait… on closer look, it seems the sword man is wounded, the helmet man must know of this! On the inside, Fiadh could see another group of similarly costumed figures fighting with a few kids and a woman, no visible injuries nor does she sense any blood …but… the figures are trying to escape with something in a crate! Even with the artifact stored in a container, she could tell whatever it was, it was very valuable. Those fiends, taking treasure for themselves. Only Fiadh should be able to take treasure for herself! Doing another quick loop, there was no one else. At least no one she could see…

Fiadh was pacing back and forth, frustrated. Must get gold star… but also whatever is in that crate with a value of $108,000, it would be a fine addition to my collection….but then again the helmet man should know about the sword man’s injuries. Fiadh did not know much about severity of wounds but she smelled blood and that is usually a bad thing. She quickly debated for a few moments on what to do before coming up with a solution. I’ll go tell helmet man about those costumed guys and the guy with the injury, then I go acquire treasure

She quickly leapt off the roof and landed near the man tending to the lad. With expedition she relayed the information, a sense of urgency in her voice. ”Man with the helmet, whatever your name is. I see two more groups of villains, one to the north and one inside the museum. There is also a man with a sword fighting the villains in the north with a wound, I do not know how bad but I sensed bleeding.” She turned to look at the boy for a moment. ”I hope you and the buachaill, are doing all right but I think it best we go help the others. Ní neart go cur le chéile. I don’t normally do this but if its urgent to get to the wounded man you can… get on me. I can take you there fast.” Fiadh paused for a moment, searching for the words to say that did not make her sound like she is a horse or something. Last thing she wants is for people to be asking her for rides, but the man might deem it urgent enough for expediency and maybe she can get two gold stars out of it.