Alien Angel and Alpha
New Athens, Castleburg
Possible interaction: Blast@Hitman, Ardent? @ManyThings
________________

Alpha simply nodded at him then put his hand on Blasts wounded shoulder. It almost a manner of seconds, the wound and the blood around the area was healed and cleaned...as if by magic itself.

"...just a "concerned citizen" sir", he merely responded to Blasts question.

Alpha then said, "...I have a plan but it requires you to either distract or detain the target. I...no, I have a partner who's good with technology...if you see what looks like another citizen in your t-shirt merch but in pink trying to secure one of the robots, it's friendly. She's trying to trace it back to the one controlling them."

He then heard an annoyed sigh on his earpiece but nothing more. Alpha wasn't about to lie anymore to an official Hero One operative like Blast and he felt Angelia knew it too.

But then, he heard a voice followed by shots from the target Holliday.

"...heh...Ardent...well sir. Looks like I got that distraction...A.A. I'm going to stand by here in case Blast or Ardent are wounded again or if any civilians get hurt", he then said into his ear piece.

"That's fine. I have a hunch our scientist isn't expecting trouble wherever he's hiding since all this chaos is most likely making every hero and law enforcer focus on this area. Hopefully, I can catch him off guard before he can spring whatever traps slash defense the idiot may have. And yeah, I just saw Ardent too. Ever the "crime fighter" that he is."

"Affirmative."

Alpha then looked at Blast.

"...you can try to arrest me if you wish but know this sir. I'm here to help. Even if it's just to treat injuries. Decide quick though. Ardent may need assistance sir."

---

The cookie didn't have much to tell her at all. Crane stared at the tiny little object between her fingers. "Hello?"

She realized she hadn't been paying attention to Ms. Duff's instructions. Or rather, she had forgotten them. Or perhaps, she wasn't sure how to translate what she had done for her normal sized fingers to Crane's fingers, which were six times bigger. The little cookie wasn't speaking to her, or telling her any humorous facts.

How did she...was she supposed to...like this, or..? Oh, she didn't want to drop it! This was no good at all.

Crane glanced over her shoulder. She was currently in the shade of the mega building, almost on the opposite side of where she was before, and she was mostly by herself, at least out here in the water. Not wanting to drop the little cookie, she cupped it in her hands and walked over to shore. She was going to find Emily and ask her how it worked: she really wanted to hear the fun fact. And despite being so big, it's not like she had anywhere to store it on her person. Not without risk of losing it.

So when Crane walked past the side of the tower she was on and saw Emily Duff laying on the ground, she was alarmed. Carefully, she walked over at the speed most people run at. There were two individuals she didn't recognize standing nearby. One was very pale, and one looked like the mushroom man but instead of a mushroom they were a jellyfish. Crane assumed they must work here: there were many heroes she didn't recognize, in all shapes and sizes.

"Assistant Director!" She called out. She squatted down a short distance away, keeping her hands on her knees. At that point she dropped the pyramid onto the grass, no longer caring about it.

"What happened? Did she faint?" She asked the two people nearby. Crane wasn't sure what to do. She was too big to apply any first aid herself. The most she could do was carry her inside, but she didn't know if that was the best decision. There weren't any marks on her, at least from what Crane could see. "Is there anything I can do?" She asked.

---

---

Riley tuned out much of what was said after the assistant director’s explanation, keeping an eye on the mushroom man’s reaction to everyone’s words. It made its thoughts on the activity they were meant to do, and humans in general, quite clear. They weren’t very positive things, considering how it said they treated it, though it decided to take part regardless of its hang-ups. He couldn’t blame it, really. Humans could be quite terrible to each other, let alone things that weren’t like them. And despite some differences, heroes were human too.

The leftover’s disappearing act caught his interest and also gave him a bit of an idea. He would have to put it into action later, but he didn’t mind a little waiting.

His thoughts were interrupted by Rupa waltzing up to Stray and laying out the terms of a bet over.... twelve dollars, eighty-seven cents and a loyalty card? And the man took her up on it. He was watching a hyperactive teenage weirdo about to compete with a hobo for twelve dollars.

.... That was just sad.

Most of the gathered people left in short order after the declaration, including Ms. Duff, though Riley lingered around the area for a few moments longer. It was a good thing too, as he noticed something near the shore where the AD had just headed towards.

What was going on over there?

Riley’s question was answered in short order, but not in the way he expected. First, he watched as she conversed with a pale man he couldn’t quite see. His hands were covered with something Riley immediately recognised as a product of the woman’s power. A fact that didn’t bode well. His eyes widened as he watched something jump out of the water and attack Emily, dropping her to the ground with a touch of its tendrils.

The bag in his hand crumpled.

Ho? About time something happened. Maybe he’d–

Just then, the giant woman from before walked by with steps that covered more ground than an elephant's—at least, he thought she was walking. She was moving faster than he was in any case.

She got to the shore quite quickly, being ten metres tall and all, and proceeded to do.... absolutely nothing. Instead, she, rather obviously, asked the obvious strangers what had happened to the unconscious lady that they clearly didn’t care about.

Riley paused, his brows furrowing.

.... was she stupid?

“Are you stu–ugh, never mind,” Riley interrupted himself, sighing and dragging his eyes away from the oblivious giant. He fixed his gaze upon the two intruders, crunching the crystal ball in his mouth.

“So....” Riley dragged the word out nonchalantly, his eyes flickering between the two, noting the stark differences in their appearances. Still, dissimilitude or not, they both looked nefarious enough that they probably couldn’t make it any more obvious that they were the bad guys if they tried. It was almost humorous, if not for the implications. For a brief moment, the energy within Riley’s body spilt out, the air around him warping from the sheer heat.

“What are you two up to?”

---

Location: The Convention Center, outside
Interactions: @Hitman Blast @shylarah Oracle

Bastion did not like to assume things. He hadn't heard back from his previous request asking where he would be needed so he started acting on instinct and observing the situation around him. The crowd was scattering and there are fights breaking out in several directions. Sure he could go join the fray and help his fellow heroes, but the priority now is to evacuate the crowd and minimizing potential damage.

Thus. He would work himself into the crowd, assisting in whatever law enforcement efforts were present in getting the gathered crowd away from the fight scene while occasionally shielding those that may have fallen until they can get back up and avoid being trampled.

Hearing the message from Oracle, Bastion took a quick moment to respond "Roger that. Assisting heroes outside the Convention Center with Doc Holliday." Bastion said. Knowing that the villain he is now going after uses and is very adept with firearms, he put up a small, near translucent, shield around his body to at least deter any would be gunman from firing on him. Hearing gunshots ring out, Bastion determined that that would be the direction he would head towards. "Ardent, Blast, this is Bastion, en route to assist, I think I can see you." Spotting Blast taking cover behind a bench, he made his way there first and as soon as he was in range, he put up a shield directly in front of the bench. "Blast, you good!?"

_{Johnstone Convention Center.
New Athens, Castleburg.}

---

Madison was stationed at the entrance to the convention in plain clothes, taking note of everybody coming in or out of the convention center. Nobody fit the profile of those five pictures she saw. She heard the gunshot. Despite the distance from the entrance to the back of the parade, she could still hear the shot, which was quickly followed by the sounds of screaming. She took a look over at the stage. Powers seemed calm, so there was no reason to panic yet. But then she saw them. Robots, and a lot of them. Some were crawling along the ground like spiders. Others were flying. But they all had guns. Madison raised her watch to her mouth, and set the frequency to the 'Proximity-All' setting, which should allow it to get through to any Heroes inside the convention hall who were actually wearing watches.

"Attention, any Heroes inside the Johnstone Convention center. Robots incoming. Front doors. They're armed. Prepare to defend civilians and evacuate them to the fire escape."

Her safety net hopefully assured, Madison stretched out her arm, creating a steel wire barrier across the doors. This was unfortunately poorly planned out, as the flying robots flew over it and the spiders crawled lower under it, and bust through the doors. Damn it. This situation was too chaotic and changing too fast for Madison. She was used to saving single civilians, or search and rescue. She was usually on the scene after the bedlam was all over. Was this what the famous Heroes had to deal with all the time?! This stress and pressure?

She grit her teeth, and wrapped her steel wire around one of the flying robots, swinging it into another one. Both crumpled and went down. Huh? That felt a little too easy. Robots sent to attack a building fullof Heroes should surely be more advanced and armored than that, right? Suddenly her watch beeped to life again, and she heard Oracle's voice come through.

“Attention heroes, The primary target is not Hero Day events! It’s Hero One!”

So that's why the robots were so flimsy! This was a timewasting diversion designed to keep all the Heroes away from Hero One! Madison shot out her arm to grab a spider robot by one of its wierd legs, but suddenly the turreted gun on this back swivelled to her and open fire. She turned the front of her body into coiled wire as the bullets bounced off, but it still stung. wireframe let go and was being pushed backwards.

---

---

"Um... Me?" Eva said in confusion as Rupa went off and challenged Stray and the others on a race to find the most number of pyramids first. This was supposed to be just a simple, easy icebreaker activity but contests between people were inevitable, especially if said people had superhuman abilities. Perhaps, in more ways than one, they could really gauge out each other's capabilities here. Eva's not a fan of competitions but if it meant getting along with everyone, so be it.

As Rupa asked her what her name was, Eva looked at her with warmth. "My name is Evangeline, you may call me Eva. My chosen hero name is Dahlia." She introduced herself to the group, focusing more on Rupa as she gave the girl a little bow as showmanship of respect. "I admire your bravery, Alchemist. I shall help you win this so we can get pizza. The best food there is."

She then listened to the Mire's reply, picking up on the Leftover's clear disdain on what was done to them prior to coming to Savior Island. Eva sympathised with the Mire. While she's no Leftover, she knew what it was like having most of your life taken away from you, making you look out to the world in a glass box so you had the illusion of freedom. As the Mire melted down to the ground and melding with the earth, she could only hope their time here at Hero One would be fruitful for them.

As for Stray, he wasted no time putting his powers into action. He already created a charmed coin that quickly flew away, no doubt blessed by his runic magic to find those pyramids. Crane then proclaimed she saw one already and was moving towards it, and Eva was really impressed.

"Well, we don't want to lose them now, do we?" Eva turned to Rupa as she took off her gloves and put them back in her coat. "Let's see if there's anything we can find here first. Come on, everyone. This is a team effort." She announced to those that remained in behalf of Miss Duff who went away for a bit.

After a bit of looking, Eva still hadn't found any pyramids. Others already found them as quickly as Miss Duff announced it, perhaps she just sucked at finding stuff. Either way, that mood plant thing seemed interesting enough to-

Wait. Eva turned her attention to where Crane was, her voice full of worry. It's hard not to hear a large girl like her so Eva quickly made her way to where she was looking. Even Fallout was there too.

"What's going on... Eva's voice trailed off as she finally saw what the newbie heroes were looking at. Miss Duff laid unconscious between two men: a man with pale white skin and another man with weird jelly-like skin and tendrils coming from his back. They did seemed familiar and indeed, Eva remembered seeing them in the villains glossary.

Eva quickly stepped in front of Fallout and stuck her right hand out to the pair. "Step away from her! Crane, Fallout, alert the others! We're under attack by the Fiendish Five!" Eva shouted at the top of her lungs as she blasted a gloop of bright green toxin from her hand, aiming at the villain closest to her.

Wiseman dove away from the exploding knife, seeing the bits of electronics strapped to it. He was safe behind Terraformer's reactive defenses, and quickly popped out to give Lady Blade one more stasis shot to the chest just for good measure. He looked over at Oracle's wound. "Two minutes and thirty seconds, then it will arrive," He answered, mentally counting down how long it usually took for Angel-5 to get from his lab to this part of Castleburg. "You'll be fine. If HERO One is under attack, then this is just a red herring. They may need backup over there once we've finished here, keep that in mind when we rejoin the fight."

Wiseman pulled up a map of the convention center on his Lexicon, looking for vantage points. "If we get to higher ground, we stand a better chance against Albino. That will help us stay out of the fight long enough for Angel-5 to meet us, without the risk of Lady Blade's partners from finding us here. Once Oracle is tended to, we can decide our next course of action. Terraformer, can you restrain her before she wakes up?"



Many heroes quickly descended on the scene, stopping Albino and Jellyfish from getting out easily with the Vice Director. Eva started attacking, Fallout was ready to annihilate them both. Crane was being Crane about this. But little did the two members of the Fiendish Five know that there was still one more surprise in store for them. Mire had already dissolved into the earth minutes ago, but their body could approximate a sense of touch. Many species of fungi could retract or release a cloud of spores in response to physical contact with something, often to ward off something that would eat them. But for Mire, this meant that they knew exactly what was happening above ground. Many pairs of footsteps running to one location, one of the humans hitting the ground. It was vaguely possible to distinguish them based on the way they walked. Crane's footsteps were, unsurprisingly, absurdly heavy against the ground.

So when people started moving, Mire could just tell, in their unraveled state, that Albino and Jellyfish weren't supposed to be here. In response to this, the ground next to Albino split open. Dirt and rocks flew up and outwards as a long and gaunt arm shot out like zombie. It grabbed his leg with a grip that threatened to break it, while dripping wet with some strange, murky fluid that spilled to the ground as if it were leaking from a sieve. That would be the enzymes of countless fungal species, mixed together into a ghastly substance that had no trouble dissolving metals, much less Albino's flesh.

Veins of pale hyphae curled up out of the hole opened by the arm. Mire's voice came through the ground as if the very soil that Albino stood on was a mouthpiece for the Leftover.

"I'm having a bad day, so I think I'll take it out on you."

---

---

Amuné listened to Austin's assessment. Two and a half minutes was an awfully long time in a fight, but it would probably take at least that to get up to the roof from where they were. She watched quietly as Jareth wrapped her forearm with bandages, then shooed him away so she could pack up and stow her first aid kit.

Jareth went over to Lady Blade where she lay on the ground shivering. Wiseman had suggested restraining her, but he didn't have any zip ties. He'd have to bring some, next time. For now, he'd have to make do. He took one of the woman's hands -- yikes it was cold! -- and focused his powers, moving the concrete beneath her arm a bit at a time until he'd made a form-fitting restraint. He repeated the process for her other three limbs, then called to the metal in her knives and disarmed Lady Blade completely. Just in case.

"Oracle, you want a knife as a souvenir? First job as a hero, and all."

"I'm good, thanks. But I will take them so she doesn't have them."

"Actually, come to think of it, is she going to be good?" Jareth asked, meaning Lady Blade. He was in the process of putting the floor roughly back where it belonged, but the thought had hit him like a truck. "Hypothermia can be fatal, can't it?"

"I don't think it causes full hypothermia, Terra. She can be left." Amuné looked to Austin for confirmation, and he replied with a nod. She finished putting the numerous knives in her backpack and swung it over her good shoulder. "Let's go."

5th Avenue, New Athens, Castleburg

---

Ardent had originally chosen his angle of attack to draw Holliday's sight away from Blast. Now, from what he could see from his high position, the situation at the Bench was looking a little different. Someone in plainclothes had seemingly healed Blast's wound, and now they had Bastion covering them from stray hits.

Maybe it was time for Ardent to try some of the "teamwork" stuff that organized heroes were always raving about. Or maybe he just felt like giving the other heroes a wakeup call to get them off the defensive. Either way...

By the time Holliday had cleared Ardent's blood from his vision, the flying hero was nowhere in sight. No matter where those superpowered eyes looked--ahead, up, left, right, behind--there was no sign of him. Because he was below. While Holliday still stood on the remains of his Western-themed parade float, Ardent was flying prone, his chest hardly an inch off the ground as the ledge of the float blocked line of sight between the two of them. He was a loud guy, no doubt, but his flight was absolutely silent. At least, it was silent until the impact.

Since the parade floats had stopped moving, standing on the float must have felt basically the same as standing on solid ground for Holliday, but that was about to change. As Ardent made impact and lifted the side of the float with one hand, he tipped it over. The entire surface very rapidly tilted nearly ninety degrees, and the cowboy's footing went from a completely flat platform to a completely smooth cliff. Metal and wood snapped and creaked as barrels, tumbleweeds, and likely the Doc himself were scattered off of the float and deposited unkindly on the curb.

Since Ardent had been approaching Holliday from the side of the road opposite to Blast, tipping the float sent the villain roughly towards the trio who had now gathered at the bench. It was no coincidence.

The structure of the float groaned under the strain as it slowed for a moment before beginning to tip back the way it had come. Ardent hadn't quite gotten it fully vertical. The lifted end would crash down onto the road at any moment, but in the meantime it acted as a broad wall that stood between him and everyone else.

"For a guy who can outrun a Bugatti, you sure like to take your time!" Ardent was speaking to Blast, but his voice came through both the speedster's and Bastion's watches. His tone wasn't accusing in the least. In fact, he sounded like he was in better spirits than he had been during the backstage meeting. "Ready to make a fuckin' move?!"

The plasma wound on Ardent's arm still hurt like hell. He probably wouldn't have been able to move the limb much normally, but his power let him stop any more blood from flowing out and maintain his full strength. He had called on the others for support, but that didn't mean he was going to wait for them to get it together.

Before a moment had passed, before the overturned float had even crashed back down, he was launching his next attack. The flimsy and damaged floorboards of the float snapped and shattered as the green-haired hero burst through the "wall", aiming to surprise Holliday with his assault before the Five's leader had regained his footing. Since Holliday should have been dumped right next to the float, Ardent would have cover from his view until the moment he broke through that cover and appeared in close range. One shoulder was down, and that left one to go. Lunging through the barrier, he immediately spun into a sweeping kick that came for Holliday's offhand-side, fast and forceful enough to turn the man into a wreck that would never pull another trigger in his life.

It was a risky move that involved breaking line of sight to launch a surprise attack. Or at least it would have been. Except that for Ardent, there was no uncertainty about exactly where Holliday had landed. Whether he had tumbled, or landed on his feet, or leapt some distance off the float, or even managed to hang onto the platform when it was turned nearly-vertical, Ardent was going to come directly for him. Without looking, he knew where the villain was, and even which way he was looking and aiming his gun. It was because the blood he had splashed at the cowboy a moment ago, which was now wiped on the villain's face and hand, was still subject to Ardent's power. Like any part of his body, he could psychokinetically move it at will. And as a side effect of that, he could feel its position and movement, which meant that even without being able to see Holliday through the flooring of the float, he could track him down and disarm him for good.

---

Joseph jumped at the sudden voice, letting out a yelp that was definitely fake, and totally not the result of him genuinely getting so distracted by following his coin that he hadn't noticed the twelve-inch-tall action figure until it was right next to him. Still, it was only a momentary shock, and he quickly regained his composure, staring down at it in confusion, because holy crap, one of them actually decided to follow him.

"Oh... I mean hey! Gematria, right? Good to meetcha, good to meetcha!" He said cheerfully. From the sounds of it, this was the one who seemed to have some level of respect for him for some reason. He actually felt kinda that he was about to let her down. "So, look, just gonna cut to the chase, I was actually sorta planning to just find somewhere quiet and hide there til the hunt was over. That way, I'd have a valid, irrefutable excuse to give Powers' number to someone I know is gonna prank the living hell out of him with it."

Truly, it was the perfect plan, one Joseph expected would in no way be immediately called out by the perpetually grumpy director.

However, it appeared that even if he would have been able to convince Gematria to go along with, a fifty fifty prospect even with her unusually favourable attitude towards him, luck just wasn't on his side. Down on the beach, a little way from where they'd all first gathered, something was happening. A couple of figures standing around one who had collapsed. At first, he thought something must've happened to one of the newbies, which would be both concerning and a little depressing, considering it was only one minute into a non-violent exercise. However, upon making his way a bit closer and hiding behind a rock, he tensed up, realising that the body on the ground was Emily.

"Takaki, hop up on my shoulder and stay as quiet as you can." He whispered to his current companion. "I'm gonna see if we can't sneak a little clo-"

However, before he could even finish his sentence, he watched as everyone else converged around the three figures, including his more experienced colleagues. Honestly, he was pretty relieved, because it looked like there was going to be literally zero need for him to step in. Still, he wanted to keep an eye on the situation just in case.

At first, it seemed to go well, with his fellow heroes quickly recognising the situation at hand jumping into action.

And then everything promptly went to hell.

"Ah, crap..." He sighed, as he realised he'd fallen for the same trick with Jellyfish's electricity as everyone else had, because now Albino was behind Eva, a knife to her throat. "Alright, change of plans. If the jellyfish one tries to attack me, I'm gonna need you to take him on, yeah? He uses electricity to attack, so I figure you're our best bet. Wait til he attacks first though. There's something I wanna try first."

And then he stepped out from behind the rock, slowly walking towards the group.

"Ok, so first of all, sorry to steal your thunder, but you won't be breaking any records today. The lady you have there is in fact an experienced hero with a good few missions under her belt." He said to Albino, before turning to Jellyfish. "And you, afraid you've got things a little mixed around. Ya see, Mire here may be more like you than like us. That's true. But what Mire wants, the only thing they want, is freedom. And what you're tryin' to offer right now isn't freedom. All you're offering is a chance to run away, and never stop running. Just like you two."

He grinned at the pair, stopping close enough that he wouldn't need to shout, but not so close that they'd feel especially threatened.

"But instead, why don't I turn that offer around and throw it back at ya?" He asked. "Because, well, I feel like you might have a better shot turning yourselves in instead."

Joseph held up a hand, his fingers out.

"Ya see, Holiday is someone who decided to quit heroing because he liked hurting people, quit vigilantism because it didn't give him the fame or glory he wanted, and decided to become a murderer to get all three. Blade is an assassin, a hired killer who's been taking lives longer than most of us on this beach have been alive, and doesn't seem to have plans to stop anytime soon. Gholem wanted to make murderbots for the police, and when everyone else said 'no that idea sucks,' he threw a tantrum and made them anyway, putting untold numbers of lives in danger because of his own pride."

He lowered a finger for each member of the five he listed off, before pausing, giving the pair a moment for what he'd said to hopefully sink in a little. After a few seconds, he continued, turning to Albino first, and Jellyfish second.

"Dirk. You grew up miserable, bullied mercilessly all because of a skin condition. In the end, you lashed out, because who wouldn't? You got backed into a corner, with nowhere else to turn, so you defended yourself, and in turn you were preconditioned to think hurting people was the only option that would get you anywhere, because it worked. People didn't bully you anymore, and hey, maybe if you kept it up, people would never think about trying to bully you ever again. Kevin, you had it even worse. With the transformation caused by your powers, you didn't even get the chance to live a life like everyone else's. Like Mire, people are afraid of you, and yeah, a good chunk of it is probably because you're a villain now, but you weren't at the start, were you? They were scared because they thought you looked scary, and you were backed into a corner."

He looked between the two of them.

"Now, I'm pretty sure you both know what I'm getting at by now, right? While Holiday and Gholem were villains for stupid, petty, selfish reasons, and Blade's reasons are about as unknown as everything else about her, I'm pretty sure you two never really had any other option. And maybe you actually did, in reality, but you couldn't see any other options, and now you can't see a way out. And I get that. It sucks, but it happens a lot. But we can help you. We can help you find a way out of this whole mess, and give you guys a shot at living a life that doesn't leave you either constantly fighting or constantly running."

He paused again, his smile turning a little more devious.

"And sure, you could try to fight us now, in which case it will not be a fair fight for you, and you'll probably just end up getting either stabbed, shot, poisoned, paralysed, melted, burnt, electrocuted, thrown into the stratosphere, devoured by a mushroom, devoured by a human, turned to metal, torn apart at an atomic level, or getting some really nasty paper cuts in the little bits of skin webbing between your fingers, all without actually managing to do anything to my beloved colleague there.

OR, or, you could let her go on your own, agree to turn yourselves in peacefully, and instead of fighting against you, you can let us fight to help you. Half the idiots here've been on your side of this conversation before, after all. We'll help you live a life you can be proud of again, you just need to give us a chance. To give yourselves a chance."

---

So, a few things happened. Crane was very confused by Albino's statement. "W- wind exhaustion? Oh, my. I have never heard of such a thing." She wracked her brain. "Do you mean heat exhaustion?" She asked, since the man seemed friendly enough and might have just mispoke.

Then Riley appeared, and did some things Crane found nonsensical. It was only when Eva surmised the situation quickly. "They are bad?" Her eyes widened in alarm. As Eva fired her first round of goop, Crane's first instinct was to cover up Emily Duff's body with one of her large hands. Fortunately, Eva's goop blast was not so callously aimed, so neither Crane nor Emily were hit. That was where Crane stayed as Mire grabbed Albino from below and Jellyfish activated his lightning power. Then, he teleported and took Eva hostage!

Crane stayed knelt by the director, trying to think of what to do next. "Oh, my! W-wait, um, just wait." She said, trying to placate the situation. That was when the scruffy coin man appeared, to try and de-escalate with words. Crane nodded along, still kneeling.

"Yes." She nodded, and nodded some more. She bent her hand to point at the man with the pale skin. "When you pretended to be the doctor, I thought: what a handsome smile!" She said, and it was true. "You seemed very nice. You can be nice, if you want."

And then she looked at the man called Jellyfish. "And your lightning powers? Very pretty!" She explained, eagerly. "Dazzling! You don't have to fight. There can be peace." She looked down at Emily under her hand.

"It was unkind of you to hurt her. And unkind of you to take my coworker hostage. That does not mean there is no chance for you. It is like the Mister with the coin says. Release her, please, and the strife today will end. Nobody else has to get hurt." She pleaded. She had no idea what they wanted, but Crane knew she couldn't give it to them. Personally, she valued the life of this poison lady over whatever object they needed to steal. But if they asked her for it, she wouldn't be able to get it. From a practical, tactical point of view, even with Eva hostage she doubted they would be able to succeed. They were outnumbered, and each hero here had versatile abilities. But Crane, nonetheless, didn't want to see any bloodshed. And if there was a chance to lower the temperature, she would take it.

The giant lady's big face was easy to read, emotionally speaking. She was nervous, and anxiously optimistic. She was going to take a defensive role, focusing on protecting the assistant director and her fellow heroes. She looked at Eva, and offered her a hopeful smile. "You won't die." She assured her. Given her ability to produce toxic goo out of her body, she might already have an escape plan. Crane hoped so.

Cresting over the edge of view and almost slithering into the area the duo of villains and the ever-growing posse of involved heroes it came. Its chitin-covered bony legs of innumerable count chittered and clattered in irregular manners as the first thing to hit the ears of those there, potentially, even as its disguistingly abnormal centipede-like and rather super-elongated body of supersized proportions emerged rapidly into view and onto the scene. Muscle-controlled bony spikes lined the sides of its shamble of a form, these being intermingled with a myriad of human arms that seemed to flex and move as if ready to grab onto something with inhuman might and strength, though this was not all.

Its body was made of exposed muscle, hanging bits of flesh, intermingled grabbing tendrils of many-fingered 'arms', and dripping meat that screamed 'not right' to the naked eye were attached to it as if it was some horrific project gone wrong in a lab experiment. All of this, though, even as one could notice the far too numerous random eyes and mouths that were grown on its back and underside and even on its sides as well seemed to keep an 'eye' on all directions around the hulking thing and kept rows and rows of sharp, inhuman teeth at the ready. Even enhanced chitonous and bone-incorporated plates were seemingly randomly grafted to its thick and dense fleshy form like a sort of ad-hoc armor to boot. The multiple warped human heads on the front of this hulking something with sharp pointy teeth and inhuman grins only served to push things along to boot.

It skittered along with frighteningly fast speed, albeit timing its arribal to the last part of Stray's speech, though as it entered the scene it spoke only after the older super had managed to finish his piece. Yet even then, its many mouths spoke in a cacophony, semi-united and semi-uncoordinated on-purpose as the echoing of the horror's voice ran through the waterside air like nothing else had ever quite sounded that particular day. The chorus spoke almost sweetly, in a sing-song manner even, and yet its varied tones and textures of voice were nothing if not a potentially jarring combination in its own right. A proper show of intimidation, one meant to push home the message Stray had been giving about surrendering and the potentiual price of not doing so.

"I'd listen to this guy's offer of peace and surrender if I were youuu~"

Luna had taken the words of Ms Duff to a bit of concern on her part, though this didn't come from anything about ALISA's tendencies. No, those felt....much more human. Normal. But to suddenly not have contact like this for a bit out of the blue? It was still suspicious to the heroine's gut instincts, and she'd stuck around as requested to try to 'make sure nothing went horribly off the rails' at the very least. Enhanced her own eyes, ears, and even smell to try to keep a vigil, even, though it hadn't taken long before she'd heard something happen from afar. The crackle of electricity. The sound of a fall on the sandy shore. Two people talking about something. Ah.

Yet before she'd the chance to react much the younger woman would hear the voice and form of Crane moving over as Luna herself had tried to crouch and creep closer to get a better peek. Darn it! Seemed to have a heart of gold, but had not the social awareness of someone who'd lived in a bad part of town and worked in the bad part for too long in turn. Even then, Fallout and then Eva seemed to make their way over in turn. Then the angry mushrooms went in for an attack anyways. Then Stray snuck over and did his thing, and Eva was now of course a hostage because why not.

It was like magnetically everyone's attention had turned to the right place at the right blasted time, even, which in part felt convenient but at the same time felt oddly vexing in part as well. Not because she wished for trouble or to be theo nly one helping, hell she was glad others were getting in on it before it went too far, but because going all too fast could lead to actions of desperation on the part of the enemies who might be feeling a bit 'trapped' right now to say the least? Some idiots could even kill and run just to try to distract, but at least it seemed the two who had taken out Ms Duff were at least not total murderous assholes.

...Well, hopefully they weren't.

But she'd taken the time to warp and change herself into something, and as Stray gave his speech Luna had felt the timing was perfect to emphasize his points near the end of it all by skittering in with just one of the horrific uses she'd thought up for her power. A bit of intimidation, as it were, taking on a huge and super elongated monster form in the background while others were distracted so she could help push the point of these two being surrounded and potentially in a less-than-winnable situation. Besides, she didn't have to say it to imply that 'attacked by a horrific monstrosity that can swim and skitter along on land alike just fine' would be included on the list of 'bad things to happen' to them if they didn't surrender or did try something stupid here and now.

Such was the mind of one Luna Bianco. Scaring the hell out of your enemy was better than killing, she hoped, as otherwise she planned to try to capture the duo in the case they did try something instead of killing them or such otherwise.

---

---

Riley ignored Dahlia's words in favour of scrutinising the people before him. Of course, he knew who they were as well. It would be unreasonably ignorant not to. Albino and Jellyfish, members of the Fiendish Five—stupid name, by the way—with the ability to teleport and induce electric shocks respectively. Jellyfish wasn't that big of a deal, but teleporters were always annoying to deal with.

If nothing else, Riley was impressed by Dahlia's decisiveness, even if her actions weren't particularly effective. The mushroom man too, was quick to launch its own attack from underground, latching onto Albino's leg with purpose. How it knew what was happening above ground, Riley had no idea. Vibrations? Or maybe it was something else entirely. He never thought that he'd bemoan his lack of knowledge of fungi, but here he was. He had to rectify that soon.

What happened next was embarrassing in more ways than one. Sparks danced between Jellyfish's tendrils and for a moment, his eyes were instinctively drawn to them. By the time he realised what was happening, Albino had already left his previous position. Now, he was holding a knife to Dahlia's neck and threatening them.

Riley couldn't believe he just fell for that. His fingers twitched and another crystal crunched in his mouth.

Then that homeless guy showed up and tried reasoning with them as if that would work. And the giant lady apparently agreed with him. Riley was of a different mind. Sad backstories were an all too common excuse for turning to a life of crime. No one would ever catch him trying to justify his actions that way. Life sucked sometimes, but that didn't give anyone the right to take their frustrations out on innocent people. Everything they did was a choice, no one forced them into it. Riley understood that better than most.

"Negotiating with them is pointless," he said nonchalantly, "In my experience, the only language their kind understands is violence."

After letting his thoughts be known, Riley raised a finger and stepped closer to the hostage-carrying mercenary. He was curious to see if he could alter something from this distance at his current level of power, and there was no time but the present to learn. Fortunately, he was already pretty familiar with all sorts of knives, so it was easy enough to accomplish. There weren't a great many metals they were likely to be made from in his experience. Regardless, it would be child's play to simply cause the knife to decay in Albino's hand and restrict the aftermath to him alone. It would be a terrible look if he killed a teammate this early in his career, after all. All that would be left after that was to–

What the heck?

Before Riley could even decide on his next course of action, something that could only be called an abomination emerged into his range of vision. It was an impossible, bulbous, misshapen amalgamation of flesh warped beyond all logic. Its body was covered in twisted mockeries of teeth, limbs and chitin. When it spoke, its voice was a cacophony of sounds. It was horrifying. It was wrong. It was.... so. freaking. cool!

Riley shivered and his eyes widened, but it wasn't fear that had his heart pounding.

He wanted to take it apart.

Alien Angel and Alpha
New Athens, Castleburg
Possible interaction: Blast@Hitman, Ardent @ManyThings, Wireframe @Silver Carrot, Bastion @Infinite Cosmos
_______________

Alpha had nodded to Blast about his request. As much as he wanted to help, he also knew when to leave the fighting to "official heroes". It wouldn't look good if word spread that Vigilantes did most of the work. Even Angelia had told him the beef the I.C.O.S.A. had on some hero organizations out there...Hero One being one of the few or more.

So when two other heroes showed up (Ardent and Bastion) quickly got together to make a move, Alpha merely let them do so. He did watch how they effectively dealt with Holliday.

Then he was right next to Blast after things were settled. He heard his request to Ardent if he needed medical attention. Even before that when he thought Holliday may need some too.

"...standing by Blast. All due respect though sir, the man under your foot don't need medicine when he's a known hero killer", Alpha said in a monotone voice.

He then put his finger to his earbud on his right ear.

"Your clear", he merely said.

* * * * * * * * * *

Just above the tipped over float, Alien Angel flew over, quickly making her way to the Convention Center. She needed to act fast. She was sure Mr. Scientist was watching all this and probably felt he needed to step up his robot army attack if he saw Doc Boy down and out.

Then, she saw someone actually fighting one of the spider robots near the front...also noted how she changed part of her body to wire. She didn't bother "scanning" her and immediately dived at the robot when it tried to open fire on her.

"OY! I got it!"

She then grabbed the thing from above and immediately tried to "Meta Hack" it...but then sparks flew from it as it suddenly broke.

"QUE?!?!"

Then, several of the flying drone landed with several smacks near her. Looking around, she then noted the entire robot army wasn't either moving or just dropped out of the sky like flies.

Quickly picking up a nearly air drone, she then put her ear to it...and heard something burning.

"Son of a-ACID?!"

Dropping it on the ground before it could possibly burn her, she then called Alpha.

"Bad news. The robot army just dropped dead. Mr. Scientist put acid in his bots it seems. No way for me to track...guessing he dipped."

She then looked at the hero (Wireframe).

"...I know...pink leftover but I'm chill. Actually, your team just took care of Cow Poke señora. Heading back to that cowboy float to find my amigo then help wrap this all up with a pretty bow if at all possible. Care to join me?"

* * * * * * * * * *

Alpha then heard Angelia's report then said to Blast, "Sir. My partner reports that the robot army stopped. Said something about acid in them. Based on that report, I think your scientist target may have just cut his losses and sadly, lost a way for her to track the target's location."

---

"My name is Evangeline, you may call me Eva. My chosen hero name is Dahlia. I admire your bravery, Alchemist. I shall help you win this so we can get pizza. The best food there is."

Rupa blushed as she was complimented, clearly unused to people thinking highly of her. She didn't consider herself brave - she had nightmares almost every day, and was constantly looking up her family's movements online. The last time she was called brave was after turning a dude's stomach into cesium and watching him explode, and that was probably just because the guards cleaning the mess were thankful she didn't cry about it.

"Well, we don't want to lose them now, do we? Let's see if there's anything we can find here first. Come on, everyone. This is a team effort."

Rupa clenched her fists and pumped them in the air, jumping around like a small dog about to go for a walk.

"HELL YEAH!!! Eva and Rupa, we're like Apollo Creed and Rocky!!! But we skip the hating each other part, hopefully! We are so gonna crush this bitch! What kind of pizza are you gonna get when we win? I was gonna get mushrooms, but if we invite the mushroom guy that'd probably be rude... Maybe bell peppers? What do you think, is it-"

Rupa continued to ramble as the pair walked away, more focused on the fact that she had someone to talk to rather than whatever she was actually saying. Stray was already racing away, following after the coin he animated. Rupa thought that was cheating, but that was probably just because her powers weren't geared towards reconnaissance. If powers were allowed, maybe she could just turn his pyramids into mercury when he gets back? Then she wins by default!

Genius plan. God, she's so smart. It was unfortunate that she'd have to settle for Mr. Powers phone number, but Rupa already had a few pranks in mind - asking if his refrigerator was running, for example, or pretending she was an ICOSA member waiting for him in a meeting. The hacker girl followed after him by possessing some kind of robot doll, flying in the same direction as the coin.

Plus, maybe Eva would want to go to Surfshack Tito's and help her finish off the loyalty card!

Rupa considered just following them and trying to take any Pyramids they found, but they'd probably come up with a counter to that pretty quick... Better to just be a sore loser if they win and destroy their pyramids, that wasn't petty or anything.

"Damn, I'm not finding anything... How the hell are the others so good at this!?"

Barely a few minutes passed before Rupa grew frustrated. Turns out, someone with her personality was not very detail-oriented or perceptive. Who knew? Before she could complain too much, Eva noticed something and quickly went to the nearby commotion, Rupa following shortly behind her.

Two men were carrying an unconscious Ms. Duff - one was unnaturally pale, like that one guy from The Davinci Code. He wore a long coat with an upturned collar (not as cool as it looks in The Matrix...), and Rupa could see the knife sheathed at his side. The other man didn't even look human, more resembling mushroom guy than anyone here. He stood tall, with purplish skin that would have resembled a giant bruise if it wasn't nearly translucent. Tendrils spread from his back, and Rupa could almost see how his skin sopped with moisture, as if he just climbed out of the water or something.

They were bad guys! And that wasn't an assumption thing cause they were weird-looking, it's a fact! No other reason Ms. Duff would be unconscious-

Ms. Duff. Rupa didn't know why these guys were here, but her first thought was kidnapping. The Paksha had ransomed DHARMA heroes before, so it wouldn't be her first time seeing this. That shit wasn't gonna fly here. Ms. Duff was nice! Nicer than most people.

Rupa unslung her bag and started rummaging around as the other heroes talked to the villains, thankful for the distraction. She was quickly strapping on boxing gloves, a light metallic squeak coming from them as her power refined them into solid steel. She measured them at around 15 kg each in previous experiments, but to her, they were light as a feather. Punching through a brick wall was easy with these things, and neither of these guys looked like brick walls.

Aim for the limbs, incapacitate, retrieve captive. Just wait for an opening.

...

...Why was everyone still talking? The heroes seemed to be trying to intimidate the villains into surrendering, though Rupa doubted it would work. If someone saw the difference in numbers that was at play here and still wanted to pick a fight, they were either incredibly strong, incredibly stupid, or incredibly desperate - and in any of those cases, talking wouldn't change anything. Back in India, at least two people would be disemboweled or bleeding out by now.

It's probably a good thing, then. Killing people is wrong! Maiming them, however, that was fair game.

Finally, there was action - a greyish-green arm shot from the ground, latching onto the albino man's leg with an intense grip. The Mushroom Man came in for the win, fuck yeah!

Rupa got ready to dash forward - a strike to the jellyfish man and he'd probably rupture, then she could bash in the Albino's skull- no, bad, no killing, break his legs, break his legs instead...

She hesitated for a brief second, but that was enough. The Jellyfish man released a burst of crackling electricity, blinding Rupa and the others long enough for the Albino to escape Mushroom Man's grip. Teleportation of some kind? Couldn't have been super speed.

He stood behind Eva, a switchblade to her throat as he made his demands. He wanted to take her as insurance while he did whatever he was sent here to do.

Couldn't be trusted. Paksha have done the same thing in the past - the heroes are always killed, no matter what. Better to take the risk, he's so close, Rupa could bat away the arm restraining Eva, he's not stopping Rupa's fist. Or skip that and just cave his skull in with a good straight, put that fucker on the mat like Drago.

They were still arguing for surrender. This guy could teleport, why would he surrender instead of just running? Rupa shook her head. She wasn't that smart, she didn't get how things work around here - it's not her place to question the professionals. But she didn't buy for a second that these guys would go along quietly.

Rupa grew impatient in the couple dozen seconds of conversation. Her power was already soaking the area around her feet, leaving metallic footprints in the dirt as she paced in a small circle. Gold, Copper, Magnesium, Titanium, Steel, Bismuth - like an art exhibit, the different colors intersected and overlapped with each pass she made. Small objects on the ground nearby were overtaken by the slowly encroaching metal, until everything within 2-3 feet of Rupa was coated in a metallic sheen.

Maybe 10 minutes at most since the orientation started. She had gone from an excited puppy to a hungry wolf in less than 10 minutes. If Rupa wasn't so focused on the upcoming fight, she'd be questioning the personality change. Or rather, why it happened so much faster than usual.

Another monster crashed on the scene - a massive centipede, with chitinous plates and bony legs sprouting from every angle. Exposed muscle and hanging bits of flesh and viscera tense with each movement, as if it was straining to hold itself still rather than leap to kill. Eyes and mouths were haphazardly opening and closing across its monstrous form, and it seemed to screech out in a monstrous voice. Again, calling for peace. Surrender.

Fuck that.

Everyone was shocked and looking straight at the monster. Of course they were, it was terrifying. But this was as good an opportunity as any. Rupa dashed towards Albino, closing the distance in a heartbeat - thank god she and Eva were partnered up and were already close. Going for Jellyfish instead could have risked the hostage's life.

"Shininglikeashootingstar,theRocky4 -fuck it, EAT SHIT, CRIME!!!"

A jab, aimed at his shoulder. The arm holding the blade. 15 kilograms of metal thrown at the same speed as a bare-knuckle punch. If this guy's power didn't enhance his durability, which Rupa doubted considering he teleported out of Mushroom Man's grasp, then it would easily shatter his entire arm. Possibly tear it off, even. He could either keep his grip on Eva and sacrifice the arm to kill her, dodge and fall prone where she could stomp on him, or teleport away again and let Eva go as the punch swings through open air. Hopefully, he would pick the latter.

The possibility he wouldn't was the only reason she didn't aim for the head.

Gematria

---

---

Gematria happily bounced in the air, overjoyed to finally meet her hero. Just as she was about to recount the events that led to her admiration of Stray, he was quick to tell Gematria about his plans to abandon the scavenger hunt entirely. "O-oh..." Gematria said, slightly disappointed. She wanted to use this chance to learn more about the guy and study his magic. Then she thought of a way she could turn this into another opportunity. "Well, um, maybe we can take this to... get to know one another? I-I've always wanted to hear some advice from an experienced hero, like-like you," Gematria stuttered, silently cursing herself for her weak communication skills. But perhaps fortunately, it seemed Stray had stopped paying attention to her, having noticed some commotion going on at the beach they had first gathered for the orientation. Gematria nodded and leapt into the air, catching herself by grabbing onto Stray's shoulders and holding on for dear life.

When they got back to the original meeting spot, Gematria was shocked to see what was unfolding. A few others had also returned and were currently engaging with two unknown assailants. At first, Gematria thought, even hoped, that this was just another exercise prepared for the orientation. However, the sight of Emily unconscious on the ground cleared away any doubt that this was a real villain attack. Unfortunately for Gematria, she had neglected to install actual weapons into the figure. Gematria froze, unsure of what to do in order to fend off Jellyfish and Albino.

When Jellyfish began his electric lightshow, however, Gematria had an idea and responded to Stray, "Don't worry, Stray, I have an idea. Just distract them for a minute." Gematria dropped down to the ground and transformed her body, shrinking her figure to its minimum 4 inch size. Then she boosted along the ground in a wide curve, going around the area of conflict in an attempt to remain unnoticed. Fortunately, with the altercation now focusing on Eva and Albino, that didn't seem to be too hard. Once she was close enough, Gematria blasted herself into the air, reverting back into her original 12-inch size and attempting to land on Jellyfish's head or whatever it was. "Absorbing voltage," Gematria announced as she began to absorb the electricity that flowed out of Jellyfish's tendrils and into the G.E.M. figure and herself, attempting to take as much as she could to try to render Jellyfish helpless. If he attempted to resist, she would use the energy she stole and attempt to zap Jellyfish back with a discharge of his own power.

---

---

"Annoying?" Eva asked in confusion, feeling appalled as she was never called annoying before. A cold-hearted bitch, sure, but never annoying. She wanted to kick Albino in the balls for being rude if she weren't held hostage right now.

She could feel the sharp blade pressing on her neck as Albino grabbed her and slowly moved away from the forming group of newbie heroes. The Mire looked like they came straight out of a sci-fi movie with how they formed out of the ground and was absorbing the pale-skinned villain down to the earth with them. Stray let out a dialogue worthy of that of an experienced hero (if only that reflected through his work ethic) and while she assumed everyone was listening to him, Eva secreted a special acid through her neck that slowly corroded Albino's knife.

Eva gave Crane a reassuring smile, letting her know everything's going to be okay. At least she had Miss Duff in her hands, away from danger. That way, the heroes could go all out on the villains without harming the Assistant Director. Eva had to work fast though. This island will not survive knowing what these young heroes were capable of.

Another monster came into view. Another Leftover? It didn't seem like it. Eva did remember another white-haired girl approaching the group and she was the last to join their orientation. Eva hadn't fully caught up on reading everyone's bio. Was this monster her? She let out a little sigh of relief when she saw Freakshow didn't hurt anyone so that meant she's on the good side. Phew.

What Eva didn't like was what Fallout might do. At least Gematria managed to render Jellyfish useless with her powers. "Nobody do... anything drastic..." She slowly said to everyone while looking at him.

All that's left now was Albino who's chances of living were getting slimmer with each passing second. With so many people showcasing their powers, every single one convincing these villains by threatening the two of them, it's making her head hurt

As if things couldn't get anyworse, Eva was surprised when she was turned around forcefully and felt a sharp pain on her shoulder. Her bright green eyes widened as she saw Alchemist, then she looked down at the blade she made with her powers stab her arm. The red spot around the blade grew bigger on her white coat as blood seeped through her clothes.

Eva failed to blink away the tears from her eyes as she reached up to grab Albino's face, grunting through the intense sharp pain. The others could see how the paralyzing venom was spreading throughout his body by how his veins turned green like watching a lightning strike in slow motion. It'll render Albino unable to move a muscle of his body, his veins now turned into a network of green webs through his pale white skin.

_{Johnstone Convention Center.
New Athens, Castleburg.
Interacts With: Alien Angel @DarkRecon}

---

Despite the bullets bouncing harmlessly off the coils of steel wire protecting her front from gunfire, Wireframe was not at all used to being shot. Before she could recover her position, another Hero came to her rescue. Or...Wireframe thought she was a Hero. She'd never seen this women before at Hero One and it's the kind of appearence you'd remember. No sooner had Wireframe been rescued than, before she could even thank her saviour, all the robots around them suddenly collapsed. Acid thenbegan to leak out of them. Too gently to be booby traps. It must be a failsafe to melt the cirtuit boards so the tech couldn't be intercepted. That meant that the diversion had achieved its purpose and was no longer necesarry. Wireframe recalled Oracle's earlier message.

Wireframe's saviour reported the robot's deactivation to somebody else, then turned to her and invited her to the cowboy float. It sounded like the gunman had been neutralised. Unfortunately, Wireframe couldn't be sure that this indeed was wrapped in a pretty bow. She had to get to Hero One. If that was the Fiendish Five's main target, they may still need assistance. Where was her Motorbike?....that's right. It's in the the Mini-base Garage on the East Flank.

"Actually," Answered Wireframe with a steeled determination on her face that suggested she wasn't finished yet. "Could you give me a lift to Rawcliffe Street on the East Flank? There's something I need to do before I can breathe easy."