Outside Fixeon Municipal Recycling Plant, Brookside

---

While some of the heroes seemed to be bothered that the situation was slipping out of their control, or that they didn't have the rapport to execute seamless teamwork, Ardent was doing better than ever. Unexpected changes mid-battle, and having to play things by ear... it was more his style than making a plan and sticking to it from start to finish. Since they didn't know each other that well, that meant they all knew themselves better than anyone else here, so he was content to just assume that his fellow heroes were finding roles in the fight that suited them. Building walls, melting things with acid, or whatever.

The original handful of Terrazards that had tried to outflank the heroes on the left had been dealt with, sliced up and smashed by Ardent's makeshift polearm. However, as he hovered and waited for another group of lizards to come towards his edge of the perimeter, he observed just how many more were on the way. With those sorts of numbers, the Terrazards were more than just a half-assed security system. Someone had clearly put real work into gathering up an absolutely massive crowd of the creepy things.

He imagined some smug bastard sitting inside, thinking they could dump all their problems onto their lizard army and call it a day. It awakened an itch in his head that had been dormant since the encounter with the Five. Someone in the recycling plant needed to get hit, badly.

Ardent broke from his original position and rocketed towards Freakshow before she had even finished calling out to the team. With a thunderous crack, he shattered two Terrazards with a midair golf-swing from his parking sign before landing alongside her and setting to work. Here, he was able to take out the things much more efficiently. It wasn't because he was ramping up his power at all, but rather because they were approaching the hole from which the dense mass of enemies was emerging. When they didn't have time to spread out, he was able to clear two or three with each swing, even as the metal sign grew battered and the concrete base began to chip.

"Morons inside have lost their minds, and splitting up for interceptin' these things won't do squat to help unless we stop the source of em' comin' out from the inside!"

"You're right, but--" He thrust the signpost into another lizard's chest as he spoke, repelling enemies from Freakshow's left flank while she spearheaded the charge, "--We can't just leave the lizards out here, either. Rushing to the heart of the plant all together is the strongest play, but it's not the right play."

Looking at the bone-spurred scorpion-centaur form Freakshow had taken, he was starting to understand her hero name. To his eye, it was a goddamn badass transformation. However, he couldn't agree with what she was saying. He appreciated her prime experience as a leftover hunter, but he was beginning to feel that her extreme caution around these leftovers, making her deeply resistant to the idea of splitting up, was going to put them in a bad position. With this many lizards going berserk, they couldn't just pierce through their formation and leave the remaining beasts alone on the plant's front lawn. Not when they didn't know how the creatures would behave afterwards.

He looked to Luna, his face lightly splattered with scales and reptile blood. He grinned.

"You're worried about what these things can do. Fine. But it's time to show some trust. These things are dangerous, but so are we!"

With himself, Freakshow, and Terraformer mowing down Terrazards in a bee-line for the breach, it wouldn't take long before they could reach it. But when they charged forwards like this, it meant they couldn't really prevent enemies from passing alongside them and getting at the rest of the group. He looked over his shoulder.

"We're going in, but a few should stay here!" He called out to the team, "We can't let them run wild behind us, and we definitely can't let them spill out into Brookside!"

Ardent didn't have any particular training in regards to protecting civilians, but he had plenty of rough experience with it. Enough to know that leaving monsters unattended outdoors was bad. Which heroes were best at eliminating large numbers of lizards? He didn't really have a precise plan of who should go inside and who should take on the 'zard mob, but there was one person here who he knew would do their best work in the yard with the mass of creatures.

"Mire! If that was so easy for you, then do it again! But bigger! Wipe out everything that gets past us! If I can breathe through my nose without choking on the smell, you haven't melted enough!"

Moving quickly and tearing apart any lizard in their way, the charging group of heroes wouldn't have to wait long before they were through the hole in the wall. It was up to the remaining heroes outside to choose whether they would join the charge or focus on culling the horde.

---

Not long after the previous occupant left Randolph’s room with some sour comments about the situation, Randolph himself surfaced, leaning in the doorway to the appropriated office space as he looked across the waiting room. ”Stray, correct? A word, please,” the British man said as he beckoned the hero forth.

Joseph looked up at Randolph, nodding and getting up out of the couch.

"And I’d just gotten comfy too…" He sighed exaggeratedly, though he was grinning as he did. "Alright, let’s get started, probably pretty overdue for some sorta therapy anyway, right?"

Despite his eager act, on the inside he was tense, more than he’d been in a hell of a long time. In just a few words of direct acknowledgement from the other mage, he’d already brought up something that set Joseph on edge. Odds were that it was an intentional move, meant to intimidate him by showing they knew all about the secrets he’d hoped to keep buried, all the things he’d wanted to leave behind. Magician probably figured it’d make him more willing to cooperate.

In reality, it only made Joseph want to do what he did best, and disappoint him.

”Not exactly therapy; I’m no licensed psychologist. But you might find this…therapeutic,” the ICOSA operative said ominously as he guided the hero into the barebones office, taking a seat once again in his chair and reclining back to a comfortable position.

”You have a very barebones file here,” Magician noted casually as he picked up and opened a manila folder on his little stack. ”Small village, all paper records, blah blah blah. Very nice little story. And a magus, too. Very few of us actually end up working on this side of the law, so kudos to you.” Magician chuckled to himself.

”But there is something that is bugging me, because as it happens, your face is…well, it’s familiar,” Magician mused as he expertly played with a deck of cards that Joseph should have been able to tell, based on their similar metahuman capabilities, were all inscribed with runes. He casually removed one card, the Queen of Hearts, twirling it a few times in his fingers as he put the rest of his cards away. ”So, of course, here’s my question, which I expect a truthful response out of you for.”

”What happened at Granborough, exactly?”

Joseph raised a brow behind his sunglasses.

"Jeez, bit of a heavy topic to start out with, don’tcha think?" He asked, casually leaning back into the chair. "Don’t you know you’re supposed to go at least a few arcs only making subtle references to that sorta thing before really getting into it? Can’t just jump into a guys dark, tragic backstory right from the get go, it ruins all the tension."

”Enough games.” Magician slowly stood from behind his seat, resting both of his hands on the desk. ”I know, and your superiors certainly know, that the story about your regular life is bollocks. I also know, from firsthand accounts, that you’re involved in some way, and that whatever happened turned you into the drunken, lazy bum you are today.” Magician looked directly into the shady lenses of Joseph’s sunglasses. ”So let’s get into it. I’m sure it will be cathartic for you, at any rate. Who wants to sit on all those secrets for so long?”

"Oh? I thought you liked games! Isn’t that why you’re always prepared for ‘em?" Joseph asked, his grin only growing wider as he reclined further back in the seat, legs crossed and arms behind his head. The more Magician talked, the less nervous he felt, realising he didn’t actually know a damn thing about the situation. By the time the ICOSA-aligned magus had finished his spiel, Joseph didn’t even have to pretend he wasn’t having fun anymore.

"Alright, so in order, yeah?" He asked. "Ok, so first, you might think ya know, but really, you’re making a random assumption, with no real evidence other than your own hunch, which is a bad look, gotta say. Second, pretty sure ‘firsthand accounts’ aren’t the most effective evidence, ‘specially not in what’s pretty much a warzone. Smoke, ash, all sortsa debris floatin’ around in the air, trauma and stress and panic all whirlin’ together in your gut, in your head. You could see pretty much anything and be convinced you knew what it was, when it was actually just your brain playin’ tricks on ya. Third, little harsh, isn’t it? I’ll have you know I’m up before dawn most days, in bed by eight, and I haven’t been drunk in months."

Technically all true, as he was consistently still up at about five in the morning, turning in around sevenish usually. The drunk bit wasn’t, but he had been finding himself taking more and more drinks to actually get drunk in recent years, so who knows how long it’d stay a lie.

"Now all those mistakes already make you look pretty silly, but there’s an even dumber mistake you made on top of all that. Because, see, you asked me who wants to keep sittin’ on secrets all this time, but apparently forgot that you’re talking to someone who considers sitting around for extended periods one of their specialties."

Magician sighed, clenching his face in his hand in frustration and allowing his fingers to slide along the side of his face until they released their grip. When he looked back up at Joseph, though, he hardly seemed peeved. In fact, he was…smiling? Unusual. ”Clever. Listen, Mr. Moore, or whoever you are. I’ve tried a similar bargain with Ms. Jennings, albeit for different reasons. Now, well, I’m going to have to dip into my bag of tricks a little bit.”

Magician held up the card that he had still had between his two fingers: the Queen of Hearts. A card that he flipped over to reveal a particularly intricate runic array. An array so complex, that it would seem impossible- or perhaps impossibly dangerous, or perhaps both- to have been drawn so compactly onto the back of what appeared to be a playing card, of all things. On top of that, the etchings of the rune were not made in blood, but in some type of powdery, teal-colored, chalk-like dust, and it seemed to be ever-so-faintly emitting a soft glow.

”You can save the questions for another visit. Perhaps we’ll even find a bigger office to operate out of,” Magician joked. ”But let’s not dilly-dally. This array, much like the Queen of Hearts herself, symbolizes emotion. Connectivity. So let’s look at what it can see.”

Magician flipped the card over to reveal the face side of the card, the part of the card that usually showed the symmetrical image of the Queen’s stoic face and rose-holding hand, yet instead, the card was brightly shining blue light. And in the midst of this blue light, images began to form, almost like holograms, but real and not science-y. Images of some of the other people that Joseph had met at HERO, except in real time. The wine cellar, the upstairs study, the recycling plant, images of all of them shimmered before Joseph’s eyes like a bad reel of film.

”I’ll explain how this array works.” Magician said with an arrogant smirk, as if he had just revealed to a caveman the concept of ‘the wheel.’ ”Though perhaps some modern fancy-pants scientists would disagree, thoughts and emotions are real. Perhaps not tangible, but they certainly weave into the fabric of reality that makes up what us Magi have called ‘the Code.’ Ooh, what’s this?” Randolph asked (rhetorically) as the vague, misty images of the other HERO agents were now being overrun by what appeared to be dark, shadowy monsters, as the entire ‘projection’ disappeared. ”Looks like trouble for them! What a pity. Quite the tool, though, hmm? Naturally, I’ve crafted this card to register events as they happen right now. But with a few changes, I could easily engineer it to look into the past.”

Randolph now stood, resting both hands on the table. ”You see what us Magi are capable of. I’ve crafted sigils beyond your comprehension, my unfortunate American friend.” Magician folded his arms. ”Poor, stupid Ms. Jennings didn’t believe that I am far more powerful than I let on to many. I hope that you aren’t short-sighted enough to think the same. So here’s my ultimatum. Either you tell me your past, and we can sit here and perhaps establish a mutually-beneficial partnership of sorts- well, more of a mentor/mentee relationship, but I digress- or, you run off with your tail between your legs, and I do some divination on my own.” Randolph smirked. ”I give you an option because, frankly, there aren’t many Magi out there. To see one, in the flesh, perhaps with some budding potential- it does fascinate me a little bit. And it has earned an inkling of my respect.”
”So, what’ll it be? Note that it’s getting late.” Randolph looked at his watch. ”Wouldn’t want you to miss any important evening events, at any rate.”

Joseph’s smile faded as he saw the array on the back of the card, not enough for it to disappear entirely, but definitely enough to show he was taking it seriously again. The images of his colleagues projected from the runes further strained it, and he looked up to Magician, all the amusement gone from his body language.

"Well, I’ve gotta say, that is a neat trick…" He said, his voice low. "I’ll give you credit, most magi would’ve erased themselves far earlier on in the experimental phase of an array like that. The way you’ve laid a lot of the runes out in celtic knots to draw on the symbolism, so you can use the connections between people and the concept of the endless cycle to strengthen the divination, it’s pretty damn clever."

He sighed.

"It really is too bad you’re so goddamn unpleasant…"

Joseph shrugged, shaking his head with an almost pitying smile.

"Afraid I’m gonna have to turn you down, Randolph. See, while I’m flattered you think so highly of me, I actually already have a mentee, so I feel like it’d be a bit rough on me to try to take on another one. Not to mention that outside of your magic ability, you just don’t seem all that bright… I mean, your plan to get me to sit around and tell you my life story was to show me my dearest colleagues were in danger and imply I might not have much time to save them? All that shows me is that you don’t know how to not get in your own way, and I’d rather not try to teach a student who doesn’t know how to think ahead more than a few minutes."

He stood up, nodding down at his fellow mage.

"Anyway, like you said, it’s getting late, and I only got fifteen hours of sleep last night, so I reckon it’s probably about time to call it here..." He said with a yawn. "Thanks for showing me your cool array by the way, I’ll absolutely be stealing the design."

Magician chuckled. ”First, I never said I think highly of you, just that I think you are slightly more intriguing than your boorish counterparts, which frankly is saying very little. Second, I’ve already acknowledged the fact that tonight’s session will not be productive. All I ask is you hold on to one of these.” Magician removed a card from his coat, flicking it over to Joseph. It was another 4 of Clubs with a slightly less impressive (but still complex) design than before. ”Communication rune. You accept this, and we set up a meeting over some tea and crumpets, perhaps. That’s all I’m asking if you want to leave. If you try and throw it out, of course, I’ll know, and if you try and run away without accepting it…well, actually, I encourage you to try either option. My patience has already been taxed enough by this organization. Your disobedience may prove the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”

"Ah, I see, so it’s HERO in general you’ve got an issue with, huh?" Joseph asked, raising a brow in amusement. "Well, in that case, even if I can’t actually accept the role of being your mentor, I’ll at least give you a little bit of friendly advice, and say maybe, you know, don’t? You might have a really, really terrible personality, but I’d still hate to see a young mage with as much potential as you get messed up like that…"

Still, he picked up the card, giving it a quick once over to make sure it really was a communication array and not some sort of trick, before nodding and slipping it into his pocket.

"Well, funny you should mention that, because I also put together a little communication array when I heard we’d be talking tonight, made it especially for you!"

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a card of his own.

It was a Yu-Gi-Oh card.

"Anyway, yeah, just keep practicing. You’ll get to my level eventually man, I’m sure of it!" He said, passing the card to Magician. The fact that the card in question was Dark Magician had no deeper meaning, definitely. "Oh, and if you do happen to see the dead guy you’re looking for when you inevitably go looking at my past anyway, try to remember all the things we talked about today, and consider whether or not you really wouldn’t rather just let him stay dead."

And then he turned to leave, yawning again.

"Anyway, it’s been a long couple of minutes, so I think it’s about time for me to get back home and turn in for the night! See ya next time, Card Trick."

Magician chuckled as he waved Joseph away. ”Yes, go ahead and…turn in for the night,” he added sarcastically, quickly making his way over to the door and holding it open for him, before swinging it shut on the way out.

After the fellow Magus exited, Magician casually removed his cell phone from his breast pocket- a very dated-looking flip phone- dialed in the number, and pressed it to his ear. He paced around the tiny office as it rang. ”No luck with any of the people you requested, Commander…I’m sorry for the delay…right. You don’t think that they’ll…of course. I’ll speak with Perez immediately…yes. Roger.”

With that, Magician removed the phone from his ear, a devilish grin growing on his face. ”Oh, Hugo. How the mighty will soon fall.” He glanced up at the flickering light in his isolated little chamber. ”Finish off the rest of your loyal little lapdogs, and then, I’m coming for you.”

_{October 10th, 2029.
Peterson Estates
Passenger Island, Castleburg
On a mission with: Alchemist @Duoya, Blast @Hitman, Gematria @Scarifar, Bastion @Infinite Cosmos, Dahlia @baraquiel}

---

A paso doble. They really weren't going to let Madison ease back into ballroom dancing, were they? This wasn't so much being thrown into the deep end of the pool as being thrown into the ocean. Toreador was, however, an even better dancing partner than advertised. His own dancing was flawless and he still had time and focus to spare telegraphing his movements so that Madison knew in advance which way to step or turn next. ALISA was giving Madison directions through her earpiece, but they were just distracting more than anything, so she mentally tuned them out and let the flow of the dance, and Toreador's lead, guide her movements. She was about to turn her earpiece off but thankfully didn't get a chance to before she heard Alchemist report that Peterson had invited her to his study. He surely wouldn't pass on hosting the big event of his own party just to go and talk movies with a waiter. That could be a trap, but to a Hero, walking into traps is sometimes the only available way to get the cheese.

This little train of thought troubled Madison, and though she didn't feel her dancing was being affected, she did know that she'd stopped smiling. Eventually the two of them were eliminated, and Wireframe's cheeks flushes slightly in embarassment. She though she'd had it in the bag there. She looked over to see that Blast and Eva had won the competition. Unfortunate but not that surprising. Whether or not they'd lost because of her, Madison wasn't sure they'd have been able to beat Blast anyway. She applauded them and the smile was back on her face. She turned to Toreador after the competion was truly finished and the background drone of post-dance chatter resumed.

"Sorry that we lost. I was not expecting a paso doble!" She chuckled apologetically, all smiles once again, as she then listened to the Junker. The smile slowly shrank as her eyes grew in amazement. Her? A Junker? Was she being scouted right now? Madison didn't know how to react. She didn't know what to say, so she kept listening. Every word felt like it had a double meaning unique to her. When he said that who you were growing up remains with you, she knew that he wasn't only talking about Eva. Maybe he had a point. Maybe Madison's past shouldn't be looked at like a big ugly drawback to run away from, but a valuable use of time that could be another tool in her arsenal. Ending his pitch with the words 'hard work' was no accident either. Perhaps working hard and utilising her status didn't have to be opposing values but could work together hand in hand. He was certainly making becoming a Junker sound appealing in the moment.

Before there was enough time to sort out her thoughts, Toreador began speaking more quietly. What he told her next was so alarming that all thoughts of becoming a Junker left her head. Could Toreador be covering for Peterson? No. As she'd already told herself, the Junkers would not still be around if they were outright crooks. Even if he was, this was not how you'd do it. Surely he'd already have tried to stop them in other, easier and faster ways. Perhaps pointing out that HERO members were attending the party in earshot of Peterson himself. His talk of somebody being in danger above made her remember that Alchemist was likely walking into a trap. And if Peterson wasn't the mastermind, then he was the bait. Blast and Eva were capable and could handle a little danger. Alchemist on the other hand, hadn't even been able to handle talking to a crowd earlier. She gave Toreador another polite bow.

"You have already given me a lot of help. Thank you. If you'll excuse me, I shall go check on my friends now. And don't worry. I'll be careful."

Wireframe turned and calmly headed out the ballroom and towards the staircase. She talked very quietly into her watch the moment she was alone and away from other guests.

"According to Toreador, Peterson is not the mastermind. He's the fall guy. If anyone's looking for clues right now, please keep that in mind."

---

---

_{October 10th, 2029.
Fixeon Municipal Recycling Plant
Brookside, Castleburg
On a mission with: Mire @Blizz, Crane @Zoey Boey, Blur Rabbit @DClassified, Ardent @manythings, Terraformer @shylarah, Freakshow @Crusader Lord}

---

It did not take Lab Rat long to realise something was wrong. This wasn't just a nest. This wasn't just several. There was nothing natural about this. Flora knew of no documented cases where terrazards acted like this short of mind control. Building an army would be a lot of work, and she was having trouble thinking up a motive for why they'd be let out here and not covertly transported to their real destination. Unless...this group itself was the target.

Lab Rat pressed the buttons on the side of her goggles and began recording and broadcasting her POV to ALISA. At the same time, she began talking into her watch while effortlessly dodging attacks and dispatching terrazards one by one. She was clearly quite skilled with supernatural strength and reflexes to be able to duck a bite without even looking and then break one of their skulls with a single punch.

"ALISA. I'm sending the video from my POV. Please be advised terrazards are displaying ususual behaviour and are in far greater quantities than we thought. We do not have the manpower to fully secure a perimeter. Please alert any unassigned and available Heroes for backup."

Lab Rat agreed with the observations of both Freakshow and Ardent as they pushed forward. The source of the terrazards was inside the plant. They'd have to stop them at the source before the swarm got too out of hand. Staying outside and trying to contain them would slowly become a losing battle with the speed at which their numbers were growing.

Ardent and Freakshow were both going to enter the plant. Lab Rat would have stayed out, but it was quickly becoming apparent that dispatching them one by one at the rate she was capable of was not going to help, and she'd be put to much better use iside the plant. In contrast, Crane would be much less effective inside and enclosed space, and Terraformer's power would also greatly benefit from wide open space and immediate access to the bare ground.

"Terraformer, Crane. Please do you best to keep as few from leaving the area as you can. I've already alerted ALISA. I'll head inside and hopefully be able to help stop any more from coming," she spoke in a loud, harsh voice that betrayed her own fear and anxiety. She turned and followed Freakshow and Ardent into the hole.

---

---

Hero Three

Austin's words of reassurance helped a lot, and Amuné gave him a smile in return. "Thanks, Austin." Unfortunately for her, his words did little to help with the sense of impending danger that she had for Jareth. She wanted to go help, but her powers weren't exactly ideal for fighting. She was more of an information gatherer than a frontliner. So she sat in anxious silence.

After a while Joseph returned to the room -- and almost at the same time Amuné received Alisa's alert that Lab Rat was asking for help at the Fixeon plant. That decided the young hero. "I'm going to back up the others at the plant," she said, getting to her feet. "It seems like they're dealing with a lot more terrazards than anticipated. Joseph...you coming? I can drive you, if you don't have a ride." She frowned when the older hero turned her down, but let it go.

"Lab Rat, Oracle here. I'm on my way to the plant, but it's going to be a hot minute before I get there."

---

---

After Amune had been dismissed, the psychologist appeared in the doorway, looking out at the waiting room. She glanced down at her clipboard. “Riley? Is that right? I know you’re.... probably upset about this whole arrangement. But I promise that it’s very necessary and, most importantly, it won’t be as painful as you think.”

The woman was negotiating with the nuclear-powered hero like he was a toddler being forced to go to the dentist by his parents. Truth be told, though, the psychologist wasn’t really equipped to deal with unwilling patients. Most of the time, she spoke with or investigated people who wanted to be picked apart. This go-around, she was dealing with people who not only were not volunteers but actively had tried to get out of this situation to the best of their ability. This particular hero frightened Dr. Reininger the most. His powers were terrifying, even more so than many of the terrifyingly superpowered people she had interacted with over the years.

Still, she had no choice but to cross her fingers and do this job. Hopefully, her job wouldn’t cost her the rest of her life.

For his part, Riley studied the doctor silently, his vision scattering from the norm as he did. He supposed it was his turn now to be dissected, as much as he wanted to avoid it. The doctor’s assurances didn’t ease him as much as she probably hoped they would. Not as painful as he’d think? As if it was pain he was worried about. Pain he could deal with. Sharing his thoughts, he could not. It was particularly rich coming from her, though, considering how afraid she was.

Not that she was wrong to be scared of him.

Riley blinked his vision back to normal and ignored the tightening in his chest, eyes rolling downwards. It was nothing. Heaving a soft sigh, he stood from his chair and stretched, hearing his joints crack with a crisp snap. He popped another chocolate truffle through his lips and enjoyed the satisfying crunch between his teeth.

His eyes flickered back to Dr. Reininger, but his response lacked his earlier bite.

“That’s what they kept telling me.”

The doctor very tepidly entered her little office space, taking a seat in her chair and beckoning the one known as Fallout to do the same. She then analyzed her clipboard again, finding it to be disturbingly barren. This job only continued to get harder and harder, right?

“How about we skip all the silly direct questions on your psyche and instead talk about some more pleasant things,” the psychologist said with a weak smile. “You know, I come from Germany, and this is my first time visiting Castleburg, believe it or not. I understand that you’re also not from the States originally. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about how that came to be? Why come to America?”

Riley followed the doctor into her office with some measure of trepidation, though he didn’t show it. He never liked confined spaces. Too little room, too much that could go wrong with him in there. The memories certainly didn’t help. He rolled a truffle over his tongue, savouring its sweetness for a moment.

The chair he took looked noticeably less comfortable than the doctor’s. It didn’t bother him much; he was used to worse. He lounged in the chair without complaint, watching Dr. Reininger lazily as she checked her clipboard. And then came the questions. His origins, his objectives. Was he being a bit paranoid? Maybe, maybe not. At the very least, she wasn’t inquiring into his mental state. However long that would last.

“The name I–”

Riley stopped himself with a sigh, rolling his eyes at his misstep. He didn’t like the name—it made him seem like something he wasn’t—but it was there for a reason. That was something he should keep to himself. Lying came easily to him, but this was a situation where a little honesty might help a lot more in the long run.

“Why I came here, huh....” Riley paused to consider his next words before continuing, “Well, to put it simply, it was the most convenient place for me. Less chances of incidents. Trusy.”

“Oh, and H.E.R.O.'s here, too,” he added as an afterthought.

“I see,” the psychologist said, making some corresponding jots. “I do want to talk about ‘incidents’ and their associations with the United States. I see here on your file that you had, well, a bit of what you could call an ‘incident’ on your first trip to this city. Could you explain what happened there? HERO didn’t take very extensive notes on you, for whatever reason,” the psychologist asked.

Riley’s lips twitched slightly at the doctor’s question. He’d almost forgotten about that whole fiasco. It had been such an absurd coincidence too. Who would have ever predicted that a man’s “perfect murder” would be ruined simply because he ran into a moody teenager with more frustration than restraint at the time? Meeting Riley was probably the worst day of his life for that guy. But for him, it was just Tuesday.

Thinking back, it was quite funny. Getting arrested after the fact wasn’t.

“You could say I was just at the right place at the right time,” he said with a faint air of amusement. Then he mulled over the question again, his expression entirely placid. It was no wonder H.E.R.O. didn’t have much information about him, though he didn’t voice that particular thought.

“Depends on your perspective, though. Mr. Graham certainly didn’t think so,” Riley shifted in his chair and leaned forward slightly, an unnerving grin forming on his face, “Did they ever get him a replacement for that hand?”

Leaving the question to sit, he leaned back in his chair and let his bored expression fall into place yet again. That was as much as he was going to say on the subject.

“I... have no way of knowing the answer to that,” the psychologist said, a disturbed expression clear on her face. She flipped through a few pages on her clipboards, analyzing the information on there as she occasionally looked up and glanced at Riley’s face as if to make sure that this older adolescent boy was real and not the result of a nightmare she was suffering from.

“How about one more question related to your past? This group, LeNSec. Some type of mysterious vigilante hacking organization. What is your relationship with them, precisely? And why do you think HERO permits that relationship? Do you believe that HERO has accepted you into its fold because of, or despite, your affiliation with them? Or somewhere in the middle?”

Dr. Reininger adjusted her glasses. “Keep in mind, of course, that this is all completely confidential. I’m a professional, not a spy. You have my word that none of this leaves this office.”

That wasn’t quite the reaction Riley had wanted from the doctor, but he was satisfied with it nonetheless. He relished her look of disquiet for a moment before his expression flatlined and a frown settled on his lips from her next words. Ah, and here came the line of questioning he was somewhat dreading. He’d expected it of course, but if she thought he would trust her based on words alone, then she wasn’t nearly as smart as he’d originally credited her with being. Words were the cheapest form of currency in the world. They were empty and worthless, just like people.

His jaw clenched and unclenched in quick succession.

“That’s not one question, doctor,” Riley said lightly, lazily resting his chin on a palm, “I don’t really care, though.”

“My relationship with LeNSec is.... well, I guess you could call them a family of sorts?” The word felt foreign on his tongue, but he continued without pause, “.... something along those lines, I guess. My experience is a bit limited in that regard.”

Riley rolled another truffle between his teeth before answering the next question with a question of his own, “Why would I need anyone else’s permission to maintain my personal connections?”

A sigh escaped his lips as he mulled over the last questions, “Maybe they did take me in because of LeNSec or in spite of them, or some combination of both, or whatever. Doesn’t really matter. More likely, though, they just wanted to keep an eye on the walking disaster. Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Shifting in his seat again, Riley locked eyes with the doctor, the temperature in the room rising a few degrees, “Are you afraid of me too, Dr. Reininger?”

It was a rhetorical question, but there was a hint of vulnerability in his tone.

The good doctor tugged at her collar a little bit. Maybe the temperature control in this building was faulty. “Afraid is a.... well, it’s a strong word. I’ve worked with many heroes before, many of them who have very… volatile and potentially dangerous powers. I would say I take the appropriate amount of caution when working with such individuals.”

Of course, Reininger knew when she had an opening, and so she plunged right in. “Something you said there intrigued me greatly, though. You don’t need HERO’s permission to operate and choose who you associate with. You have, as you’ve alluded to, a very dangerous set of powers. And reading your files and some past incident reports suggests that you seem to have.... well, issues taking orders. You dislike HERO because they tell you what to do, you dislike ICOSA because we tell HERO what to do, to some extent. And yet, here you are. You could’ve told HERO ‘no’ to come sit here and melted anybody that tried to force you to do otherwise, and you could’ve turned me into a pile of radioactive carbon by now.” Reininger shivered a little bit at the thought.

“Yet here you are. You don’t need to take orders from HERO, and you still put yourself in a position to receive their orders. Why? Would you say it’s out of convenience, or obligation, or....?” Dr. Reininger trailed off before she adjusted her glasses once more as she examined the walking nuclear reactor.

Riley’s expression shifted back into neutrality as he leaned back in his chair, crunching another truffle between his teeth. He was quiet for a long moment as he considered the psychologist’s words with a thoughtful furrow to his brows. “Fear isn’t something to be ashamed of, doctor. It just means you aren’t a complete idiot. I.... don’t have that luxury.”

The next line of questioning didn’t bother him as much as it would have just a few years ago. It was an obvious next step to get an idea of where his loyalties lay if it wasn’t with H.E.R.O. or even with I.C.O.S.A.

“You’re not wrong about that,” he admitted easily, shrugging nonchalantly, “I don’t like HERO—or ICOSA for that matter. I might even go so far as to say I dislike them. And, yes, I could have done all of that to avoid sitting here and being questioned by you. Still could, actually, and it wouldn’t be particularly difficult either. There isn’t much here that could stop me if I decided to really get going. You certainly couldn’t.”

After a brief pause to let his words sink in, Riley continued.

“But I didn’t, and I won’t,” his tone hadn’t changed much, and his words remained light, but as far as the good doctor could tell, he wasn’t being deceitful.

Her final questions made him breathe a sigh.

“If I cared about convenience, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place. I’m not exactly doing this out of any particular sense of duty either.” Even as Riley said those words, the sound of screaming filled his ears; an echo of a memory. He could almost feel the heat, too.

Riley’s jaw clenched momentarily before untensing to let him speak, “.... “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”. That’s a pretty famous quote, right? It kinda fits.”

“To put it more simply; I may not like H.E.R.O., but I dislike bullies more. In fact, I abhor them. That’s my reason.”

The psychologist gave a slow nod as she rapidly scribbled her pen on her clipboard, taking notes. “I see. Well, this has been very insightful, Riley. Thank you for your cooperation. You’re.... free to leave.”

The psychologist rested her clipboard down on the table. “I hope this type of conversation was fruitful.” She thought for a moment. “Well, I shouldn’t kid myself. I hope it wasn’t too painful, rather. But if you thought you gained something at all from that.... maybe speaking with a professional wouldn’t be the worst.” She shrugged to nobody in particular, knowing her efforts likely wouldn’t bear fruit.

“Can you tell Wiseman to come in on your way out? If I’m not mistaken, he’s the last person I need to see.”

Riley nodded at the doctor absentmindedly, “I’ll be sure to pass that along.”

Standing from his chair with a sigh, the teenager gave the doctor a final once over before turning to leave, “Well, this conversation has been.... interesting, and not entirely unpleasant. Under different circumstances, maybe your advice–”

He stopped himself mid-sentence, shaking his head with a sigh, “.... Never mind.”

Pausing briefly with one hand on the door, Riley raised his last truffle to eye level and considered it momentarily. His brows furrowed in contemplation as the one between his teeth dissolved in his mouth. Then, he closed his palm around it and squeezed gently, poking at its structure until it settled on the one he wanted. When next he opened his palm, a perfect sphere of pure white lay within it and he turned to face Dr. Reininger once more.

Gently, he placed the sphere on her desk, his eyes glinting with a measure of pride as he spoke, “Platinum-190. It’s the purest you’ll ever see.”

He inclined his head slightly, “Beregi sebya, doctor.”

With that said Riley finally exited the office space to re-enter the staff room where the others sat.

“You’re up,” he said laconically as he passed by Wiseman.

He dropped heavily into the seat the furthest away from everyone else and buried his face in his forearms. In times like this, Riley wished he could still feel something other than static.

He sighed.

What a drag....

---

First, came the lizards.

Then, came the mushroom person, who dealt with those lizards.

Then...came even more lizards. A lot of lizards.

The third part, the bit with the even more lizards, was where Crane really started to get involved. The sheer number of them was staggering. It was enough to make Crane nervous. She was tough, sure, but without support, she could imagine a future where she made one too many mistakes and let herself get overwhelmed. Fortunately, she had her first time allies with her. She had to prove herself a worthy asset. "Here I go!" She said, taking up a position that left her back towards a part of the city. Crane would be the living wall that kept the Terrazards from spilling into the civilian populace.

Crane leaned over slightly, taking a wide stance with one foot forward, her weight on her back foot. When the Terrazards approached, she clapped her hands together, creating a dizzying shockwave that kicked up dust and rung ears the ears. "Clap! Clap! Clap!" Crane called out, doing this several times. This was the advantage of having super strength and super durability to go along with her super size. it Even if Crane was shrunk down to normal size, she would still be much stronger than the average person. These gifts were special, and unique, and it was all that Crane had to offer to the world.

Well, Crane thought in the back of her head. That, and she liked to think, her sunny personality! She didn't want her inner monologue to think that her self-worth was tied up in her strength or usefulness or anything like that. Crane just liked to be helpful! And helpful she was, as the stunned mutant lizards failed to overcome her powerful shockwaves. Crane had developed many techniques like this before becoming a hero. It was a good AoE attack that affected many enemies at once, while being mostly non-lethal. At least, that's how she imagined it in her head. So it was good to see her hypothesis pay off.

Crane slammed her fist into the ground, creating an explosion that launched several back at lethal speeds, or just flat out squished them beneath her knuckles. "Yah!" She yelled. Then she swept her hand back and forth in a slapping motion, sending lizards flying away.

Everything was going well, until the GIANT MONKEY appeared. "Giant monkey?!" Crane called out in alarm. She was still taller than this thing, but it was the biggest thing Crane had ever seen in her life that wasn't a building. The Terrazards would have free reign over Crane's territory as she took a step back, eyes wide as the Menace charged towards her. Crane's thoughts raced. Was this thing stronger than her, in the same way a monkey was stronger than a human? It was entirely possible. On the other hand, she could be stronger than it. The only way to find out was to act with caution and restraint.

Crane widened her stance again, her strange, large heart pounding in her chest. One hand was forward, the other one was up, like a scorpion's tail. Her first idea was to redirect all of its energy and send it spilling onto the floor. Or dodge the creature. But she realized that was too risky! What if it kept running? What if it went into the city? Or what if her teammates ran by and got squished by a giant monkey? She couldn't rely on Menace's anger to cause it to be entirely directed at her exclusively. If she dodged it, anyone could get involved.

There was nothing for it, then. Crane would meet the beast head on, and hold it here. Keep its attention entirely on her.

Her stance shifted, from one of evasive strategy, to one of solid, defensive strategy. It was obvious to anyone with martial arts experience what the thoughts were in Crane's head. First, she was ready to dodge, then she glanced over her shoulder at the city, and her priorities changed. And now... Crane lowered both her hands hand wide, palms out, like a wrestler. Her lips pressed together and she winced, bracing for impact. There was a mighty collision as she slammed her hands into the shoulders of the beast and tried to grab it to prevent it from tackling her.

_{Current Location: Peterson Estates, Passenger Island, Castleburg
Current Teammates: Blast @Hitman, Wireframe @Silver Carrot, Gematria @Scarifar, Alchemist @Duoya, Bastion @Infinite Cosmos}

---

---

"Let's see about that." Eva teased back at Jake, hiding the contempt and anxiousness she's been feeling ever since he offered her to dance. She was hoping to any god out there that her teammate must have even an ounce of sense of movement and rhythm. Judging with how things were going on in her life so far, Jake would either be a really good dancer or a really bad one. Eva's hoping for the first.

The wife of Peterson, Ada, stood on the stage to announce the start of the competition as the musicians prepared their instruments as well. A quick look around her and Eva managed to spot Madison pairing up with Toreador, with who she believed to be the Junker Society's chairman. What he's doing at an event like this was any of their guesses as they weren't brief about his presence here. On the other hand, it would make sense for him to be in an extravagant and decadent place like this, but did he know it was hosted by a shady businessman?

Eva's thoughts were brought back to reality when the musicians played their music, signalling the start of the competition. The music was surprisingly fast and thank goodness for ALISA guiding her throughout the competition that she managed to pull through. It's probably also the same directions Jake was getting but on his end though... Wow.

The next time people tell Eva they're good on their feet, she'll genuinely believe them. It's already a huge advantage for Jake to have superspeed for a superpower, this fast-paced tune must be a slow-burner jam for him. She did have [*]some[/*] dancing lessons courtesy of her mother to help entice their targets, but she was still much thankful for Jake and ALISA.

Eventually, the other pairs got picked off from the competition, leaving only Eva with Jake and Madison with Toreador. What's she even doing with him anyway? It's none of Eva's business to know whatever they're talking about, but this was a high-stakes mission. They couldn't afford to get distracted especially when they're in the enemy's homecourt.

Eventually, the win was given to Jake and Eva. "Yeah. Sure." She replied to him in a bit of an unenthusiastic tone. As she tried her best to keep her beating heart and panting breath still, she swore she'll never dance with another speedster again.

Ada approached and congratulated them, mentioning that they could now go down to the wine cellar to claim their price. Eva simply smiled and curtsied, still a bit tired to reply properly as the pair made their way to the cellar. Eva managed to steal one last glance back at Madison who # still with the chairman of the Junker Society, before they're fully gone from her view.

Once they're alone, Eva simply smiled at Jake when he said his objectives before Alisa had to tell the truth to him. The expression on Eva's face turned serious and even unimpressed as Jake processed the truth. "Work on your people-deducting skills, Blast. There are some things that not even your superspeed could handle." She replied to him as she's now starting to look over the area.

Of course the cellar was spacious. Every rack was filled with bottles and bottles of wine, one more expensive than the rest. "Just start looking for clues." She replied to him again. While Jake's going around, Eva's doing her own thing too. She picked up some of the bottles she could reach, each one having foreign brands she couldn't pronounce. She'd even touch the walls at the back of the wine racks to see if it could work but no such luck.

Eva thought about melting some of them, perhaps it could trigger something? She decided to go to the very back and try one more time, then noticed one of the bottles looked like everything else yet it was heavy as stone. She pulled it towards her and it made a click sound.

"Found something!" Eva called out to Jake. Seconds later, the wall of wine racks to her left opened up, making that classic sound whenever a secret wall was discovered in those TV shows."Team, we found a secret door here in the cellar. We don't know where it leads yet. Me and- Oh crud." Eva sighed in annoyance, not realizing the cellar had CCTV and one of them was conveniently facing her and Jake's direction.

Knowing the jig was up, Eva smiled at the camera and blew a kiss, blowing a mist of green acid that melted the camera in seconds. "Blast, we're about to get some company soon. Let's go and find out where this passageway leads before we get pelted with bullets." She said before going to the main door of the cellar to close it, melting the hinges and edges to hopefully buy themselves time before the guards come closing in on them. Eva then returned to her partner and looked at the darkness before them.

"Ready?"

---

If he had to be honest, Joseph wasn't really fully paying attention as he left HERO Three, his mind focused on trying to figure out just what to do next. He knew he was going to the party, that much was certain. Not only was it the one he'd been prepared for already, having initially been assigned to the mission before they'd learnt he couldn't get out of his assessment, but he also knew that the recycling plant team was actually sort of stacked when it came to heavy hitters. He was almost certain that they'd be able to beat down whatever threats they might be faced with. Meanwhile, the party team was made up more of people whose powers were suited for infiltration, which was the logical choice, considering what they were there to do.

At least, it had been until whatever Spencer had shown him had occurred.

True, there was a more than significant possibility that it'd been a trick by the other mage, but even on the off chance it hadn't been, he had to get over there, and fast. As he reached the parking lot, he paused, looking down at his left arm. If he wanted to get there fast...

No. No, that would be stupid. Odds were he'd just get himself killed trying that. Wouldn't be much help to anyone if he died on the way there. Instead, he got into the large, grey van he'd driven to HERO Three in the first place. Technically, it was the Hag's van, and he'd been promised a fairly miserable fate if he brought it back damaged, but he was sure she'd understand if it was, given the situation. Besides, he'd known the grumpy old woman long enough that he was at least, oh, sixty percent sure it had just been a joke anyway...

He decided not to think about that any longer, instead focusing purely on the task at hand, and sped away from the building. Thankfully, it wasn't actually that far of a drive to Passenger Island, and it only took about fifteen or so minutes to reach a good spot to park. Not at Peterson's estate, because if he drove a van like this one in there he'd probably be shot, but close enough that he could get out and run to the building in about a minute. However, first, he had to check whether he was gonna be going in through the front or not.



As he mumbled the incantation, he threw a number of rectangular strips of paper out of the van window, about eight in total, before going to the back of the vehicle and beginning to get changed into his disguise. Before the paper hit the ground, they froze in the air, a blue pattern of runes briefly glowing, before they started gliding towards the mansion. Upon reaching the building, they spread out, hanging silently in the night sky. And through them, Joseph looked down, the vision in his right eye syncing up with the arrays.

From what he saw, it didn't look like going in through the front was going to be as possible as he'd hoped, the security guards seeming more than a little tense. Guests weren't running out of the building or anything, so at least things hadn't really gone off the rails or anything in there, but it looked like there was at least something going on.

However, luckily enough, shifting the arrays around to the side of the building showed that there was one spot that didn't seem to be in any of the guards direct line of sight. Likely because the only possible 'entrance' in that spot was what appeared to be a third story window, with almost no reason for anyone with half a brain to try and sneak in through there rather than just risking being spotted by the guards in one of the easier spots.

Which meant it was perfect for him.

Finally, he finished getting dressed, stepping out of the van in an honestly uncomfortably nice, formal suit, a blonde wig, and a pair of particularly dark round sunglasses and a white cane, because if someone found him somewhere he shouldn't be, being legally blind seemed like a pretty damn good excuse for it. Sneaking into the estate, he kept a wide birth from the mansion until he reached the angle nobody had been looking at, and then quickly dashed towards it, all while trying to keep as low as he possibly could. Once he reached the wall, he pulled up the sleeve of his right arm, revealing the bandages he kept woven around it, and lifted his arm up towards the window.



With his incantation, just like with the paper tags, a series of runes briefly glowed on the bandage, and-

"Hey, who the hell are you?!"

And alerted security to his presence, apparently, because it'd been a while since he'd had to be particularly stealthy, and he'd somehow forgotten to keep the glowing runes covered up while hiding in the darkness... On the plus side though, he didn't need to waste any time awkwardly stalling, as the bandage had already uncoiled from his arm, shooting up towards the window and looping around something above it, before just as quickly retracting and pulling him up to it. While he'd originally been planning a more careful, stealthy entrance, it looked like this was gonna have to do, and he covered his face with his free arm as he threw himself right through the window, landing with a pained grunt on the inside.

He barely took the time to brush the glass from the smashed window off himself before he was already up and running. He recalled the observation arrays as he ran, stashing them back in his pockets and trying to figure out his next move, the sounds of the security guard shouting to his colleagues down below. From what he'd seen in Spencer's divination array, he knew that Rupa was... somewhere in here, being threatened by someone with a gun.

Which meant she was almost definitely fine, because it was a ferrokinetic being threatened with a metal gun. He just hoped she'd be able to hold herself back, and not beat the guy up too badly. Unfortunately, while he still would've liked to go and back her up just in case, he had no way of really finding where they were, not having anything similar enough to what he saw in the divination for him to use his seeker runes on. What he did know, however, was where Jake and Eva were.

It had still been hard to tell, but Joseph knew a wine cellar when he was one. And that meant he just had to keep going down.

More than aware of how little time he had, he dashed through the halls, finding the stairs within a minute, and all but throwing himself down them in his rush. Once he was on the ground floor, he threw his observation arrays out again, sending them to the ceilings and directing them from room to room, until he eventually caught sight of another stairwell going downwards, and quickly snuck his way over to it, withdrawing them back to his pocket again in the process. As he descended, he slowed down a little, holding the cane out and generally doing his best to act blind, deciding now was as good a time as any to put the disguise to use. Especially since he could hear voices down there, but couldn't determine just who they were yet, and with how jumpy security had already been combined with what Spencer had shown him, he wasn't feeling especially optimistic about who he'd run into.

"E-Excuse me..." He said, putting on a vaguely Irish accent as he stepped down, acting nervous and apologetic. "I'm sorry if this is somewhere I'm not s-supposed to be, I'm afraid I've gotten a little bi-oh wait, it's actually still just you guys?" He blinked, genuinely surprised to see that it was still just Jake and Eva down there, and not an army of security personnel. "Well... gonna be honest, wasn't really expecting that, but great! You guys alright? Looked like things weren't going super great in here from what I saw."

---

Rupa's eyes widened as she gazed around the study. It was exactly what you'd expect from a guy this rich, every surface polished dark mahogany or some other wood. The carpet was soft enough that Rupa could feel herself sink into it even through her dress shoes, and she had no doubt that it would have better back support than her mattress. She could barely hear the music from the ballroom despite the relatively close proximity - the room was probably soundproofed in some way.

The desk was equally lavish, barring the scattered paperwork covering it and the multiple picture frames. She nearly cried out when she saw the Gematria doll sitting next to Mr. Peterson's laptop, but she feigned it as a cough and quickly turned away. Thankfully, Mr. Peterson didn't really seem too paranoid about Gematria, assuming it to be some IT device. Thank god, because Rupa didn't have anything to explain that away.

"I need to take this call, but look at some of these posters while you're at it! Some very exclusive ones. There's me as a young man with Sir Alec Guinness...there's me on the set of The Crow- the original, not the travesty of a remake, though what happened to poor Brandon was awful...oh, and there's me at Cannes! I was actually a feature film juror one year. Anyway, look at some of those memories! Oh, and leave those burgers on my desk."

Rupa was staring in complete awe at the wall, barely managing to put the tray down as her mouth hung open. She was always more of a fan of props from the films, but the stories that must have been behind these pictures was more than enough to make up for it.

"Y-you got your picture with Ian McKellen? Did you have to go to New Zealand for that, or was it when he was in the X-Men movies? A-a-and that's Ryan Gosling on the set of Drive! He's literally me- well, actually, I think I'm more of a Stallone personally... Hey, how much do you think the jacket from Drive costs? Not like the original, but a rep-"

Rupa quickly shut up when she noticed he seemed a bit more invested in the phone call than she realized, and continued staring at the posters and photos that adorned the wall. She fully decided it then - this guy couldn't be evil! Everybody in the film industry was squeaky clean when it came to morals. This was just a series of really unfortunate business investments. He even offered Rupa a job!

Director Powers would probably be pretty upset that the mission was a bust, but at least they didn't ruin Mr. Peterson's big night yet.

Eventually, Mr. Peterson put down the phone and began to speak, drawing Rupa's attention away from the wall. He had made a bit of a mess of himself from inhaling those sliders, but Rupa hardly noticed. She didn't have very good table manners either.

"Sorry about that. I run a big company, and I have to deal with a lot of unwanted business at unwanted hours. The truth is, business hasn't been that great recently. Expanding out of just doing news and telecommunications and branching into entertainment cost a lot of money that I haven't recouped. There's a lot of trolls out there, too. They really drag business down."

Rupa quickly moved closer to the desk, muttering as she noticed Mr. Peterson's change in mood.

"S-sorry to hear sir! I might know some of those trolls - StallonePwn84 once banned me for-"

Thankfully, Mr. Peterson didn't seem to register that she was even talking to him, and continued on. Sparing him from a completely pointless tirade.

"But that's what leads me to you! Here's my proposition. The guys I have working in Cinepedia and Spoiled Cucumbers and whatnot...they don't take film that seriously, and they're also like me. They're old. I need young people in this business. But not just any young people. Young people that know the industry, and who love movies. Not that 'I see a movie on a date once a month or some nonsense.' People that really, truly, love the cinema and the hard work that goes behind the silver screen. I think you have a chance to be that person. And truth be told, well, you remind me a bit of my daughter."

Rupa, for once, didn't talk. This was one of the first times someone had ever told her that something she cared about was actually... worthwhile. She was used to it by now - she'd talk about movies that she loved, and after a minute or two of ranting, they'd say something like 'that's nice' and quickly change topics. Or they'd roll their eyes and make some snide comment. Some of them even lashed out - hell, a guest at this party told her to shut the hell up and paid her to leave him alone. It was probably one of the reasons her mother's visits dwindled as she got older.

But Mr. Peterson thought that she had something worth saying. Literally - he was offering to pay her for it. For Rupa's whole life, her powers were what made her special. It was the reason she was born, why she was kept locked in a room her whole life. Why she was nearly married to someone she never met. Hell, it was the only reason she was at HERO. If she didn't have them, she'd be some fucking loser shitposting in a basement about movies that were made before she was born. But now, she had the chance to do something completely on her own - turning shit into gold didn't help her into this.

It was all her.

Rupa wiped the tears from her eyes as Mr. Peterson looked at the photo of his daughter, doing her best to mute the quiet sobs. She killed a sibling in her sleep before. She had turned into a pool of mercury and snuck past the guards, and tried to strangle Rupa in her sleep. By the time the girl had woken up, her sister was a solid statue of bismuth.

She didn't shed a single tear.

So why was she crying now? It was embarrassing...

"T-thank you... I-I promise I-"

"KILLING!"

Rupa jumped at the sudden exclamation, eyes wide and shaking. She noticed his eyes and how his body language was almost like a rabid animal, but could barely ground herself in the rush of tension and emotions.

"W...wha?"

When Mr.Peterson pulled a gun on her, Rupa reflexively fell into a defensive fighting posture and narrowed her eyes. She broke it immediately, quickly holding her hands up to cover her face and doing her best to keep her voice from quivering.

"W-what are you doing!? P-please put that down, it's dangerous!"

Rupa wasn't afraid of the gun. Back in India, 'pulling a gun on a Paksha' was a dark expression used to refer to an incredibly foolish and dangerous act. The bullet wouldn't be able to scratch her, and even if it was a tranq gun, the needle wouldn't penetrate skin. It would be easy to solve the situation. He couldn't be more than 2 meters at most - she could vault the desk, clear that distance and have her knuckles buried in his neck within a second. Another second and she would have transmuted and ripped through the carotid artery. He probably wouldn't even get a shot off, she could grab the gun an-

No. That wasn't an option. She liked Mr. Peterson. He was a good person... well, other than the gun being pulled on her, but considering the change in behavior, he probably wasn't thinking straight. He didn't deserve to die.

Rupa thought of Albino - Luna and Joseph told her that he was lying about being willing to surrender, but they tried really hard to make him despite that. And if Rupa didn't rush to attack him, Eva wouldn't have gotten hurt.

"I-is this a Fight Club situation? D-durden was a bit nicer... Or is it more Freaky Friday and some weird villain is possessing you? I... I don't think this is funny if it's a joke... Y-you should put the gun down before someone gets hurt, sir! The recoil might mess with your arthritis hands, or whatever old people got going on... I-I promise I won't tell anyone about the whole gun thing! Scouts honor!"

She slowly approached, hands still 'shielding' her face. He might not surrender - he didn't sound fully in control of his actions, and jumped to pulling a gun on what he thought was a superhero very fast. But if she could get closer, she could restrain him and cover his mouth before he could call for reinforcements.

Her eyes darted to the desk. Quite a few options there - the picture frame was too small-no, it was too personal. Don't ruin his daughter's photo. The tray was better, it was already made of silver and was big enough she could rip it apart and bind his wrists and ankles. Turn it to Tungsten and he might not even be able to lift his arms, let alone break the restraints. She'd figure out what to bind his mouth with later. Couldn't be too small, he was inhaling those sliders without issue and she didn't want him to choke on-

'Please surrender. I don't want to do that... Please...'

Her eyes landed on Gematria and hovered for a few seconds, pleading. She tore them away just as quick, hoping Mr. Peterson didn't notice. That was an out! If she shocked Mr. Peterson, she might be able to knock him out without a fight! Worked with Jellyfish! But Mr. Peterson was old as shit, what if this broke his pacemaker or something? It'd be like that scene in Jurassic Park, except Rupa didn't know CPR-

The earpiece in Rupa's ear buzzed a message. "According to Toreador, Peterson is not the mastermind. He's the fall guy. If anyone's looking for clues right now, please keep that in mind."

Thank god. Rupa visibly relaxed as she heard Wireframe's words, which was pretty jarring considering she was at the other end of a gun barrel. He was being brainwashed or something. Now all they needed to do was restrain Mr. Peterson without injury, find the real mastermind, incarcerate him, and do all of that before the others have their cover blown.

This was a shitshow. James Bond wasn't discovered until, like, near the climax of his movies.

"You're right, but--" He thrust the signpost into another lizard's chest as he spoke, repelling enemies from Freakshow's left flank while she spearheaded the charge, "--We can't just leave the lizards out here, either. Rushing to the heart of the plant all together is the strongest play, but it's not the right play."

"....You're right."

One of her heads looked to him and spoke in Luna's normal voice, though her tone was a little more audibly subdued than it had been prior. But as much as she wanted to just charge in and get this over with-....she....ah hell. It was hard enough to admit, but she'd admit it rather than deny anything and fumble about trying to justify something stupid 'again' in her life. At least if she could help it. But how couldn't she be a bit worried about all of this, hmm? They had total newbies who likely didn't know squat about the danger of Zards and how it could still be rather bad even if you were some 'super badass' or something, and damn it all she'd held a man's severed head before just trying to get someone out of a stupid ass situation they'd all gone into without getting the blasted clue beforehand. Did she want that again? Did she want to see any of those other things happen again to people, teammates or otherwise?

Hell. F******. No.

It ate away at her just to know the possibility, but in the end she couldn't just make it all simply go as she wished no matter how hard she wishes she could. In. Out. Done. Everyone comes home in one piece or something. All just to keep her own mind at ease about the state of her own little personal world here at the very least. Just to feel like she could say something and bring anything useful to this blasted team. She'd shed enough blood. She'd seen enough blood shed too. Why couldn't she just make it all work out so everyone went home and no one ever had to deal with crap this like this ever again, hmm?!

...Ah. Breathe. In and out. Just breathe.

If they let these things get out into Brookside proper and set up actual nests once they weren't being controlled or something (she felt that was the case here)? It'd be just as bad as if they'd run away and not solved the problem at all before letting it balloon even more out of control. So yes, they'd need to have people screening these things and keeping them out of Brookside as much as possible. Even if that's what the morons inside of the building wanted, as she personally suspected, for them to do. They were heroes, so they had to try to actually save people for pity's sake! What was the point otherwise?

He looked to Luna, his face lightly splattered with scales and reptile blood. He grinned.

"You're worried about what these things can do. Fine. But it's time to show some trust. These things are dangerous, but so are we!"

The head looking back at Ardent as the trio of heroes moved along toward the building would crack, even if for a moment, a grin of some sort. A grin, in the middle of all of this situation as the rest of herself was mulching Zards and the ilk. It all just felt so, so stupid to her in some part....but to hell with that. Trust was a hard thing to come by, but you had to give a little to get a little, right? Had to prove you were trustworthy and give others the chance to trust you too.

Ok. It was decided then.

"Heh. Alright, alright, trusting you guys it is then. It's just I don't want to be brigin' people home in bags or pieces....never ever again if I can damn well help it."

A rare moment of vulnerability to admit that crap, but they had little time before they'd be inside the building proper. And then? Well, she had no idea what 'surprises' awaited them in there. What idiots were doing all of this. What crap was going on with all of these gangers, and who was fueling the fire they were trying to start by imitating the Blue Skulls of all things. And that brought up once last point as 'Freakshow' took note of who had joined them to go into the building and what they had coming into this new situation. Not a bad setup, certainly still not the best scenario. It's whaat they had to work with in the end regardless, though, so it'd have to make do.

"Alright, Ardent, Lab Rat, I ran years ago with the original gang the morons inside are tryin' to imitate the very worst of. I know how the Skulls were goin' with things as well before they....died off. Won't sugar coat it, that probably means someone in there knows me, that this will be personal, and that all means things will get a loot worse for us inside here."

It was all she'd communicate to the two otherwise before they got inside. Had she done some really bad crap before? Yeah, because how would someone ever get the moniker 'Cadaver' otherwise? They took a kid with a strong power and threw her into crap usually only the older ones did because she was 'good firepower' and crap like that or something. Etc. But might as well get that tidbit of information out to the two allies she was 'charging into the breach' with before some lug tried to ramble it out for her like it was some big dramatic theater-kid-esque reveal.

"Welcome, heroes," he said, his voice oozing the type of overconfidence that was endemic amongst villains. He turned to face Freakshow, staring at her behind the mask. "Welcome home, Cadaver. I'm glad you were able to make it inside our humble abode."

But once they got inside, some idiot in a mask began to talk to them as his 'friends' seemed to be standing or hanging around as they wished.

"No sh**, really? And here I forgot to bring a present for you."

Her tone was half-assed and intentionally a bit mocking, but still.

What was most notable about thhe scene, though, was the giant blasted hole in the ground that seemed to be 'leaking' Zards, which likely meant more than what it looked like at face value, and yet as the masked man began to speak it took the ninteen year old a few seconds before the manner of speaking made it finally 'click' in her head who he was. Sure he was spilling as many beans on things as he could too, it seemed, and Luna woujld quietly going to turn on her HERO watch and had one of her many new grotesquely-warped heads whisper to ALISA to record what the mook was saying to boot for potential information and get a picture or so of the scene at large as things went down. Then the arm with the watch on it would withdraw with one of the additional heads inside of her grotesque form to try something else.

Outside of that, though, part of her didn't honestly fully know how to respond as she let the man go on with his rambling spiel and used her many heads to eye the situation as one of them looked right back at the masked man in turn.

Of course, it also didn't help when the Menace got injected with something strange and hulked the hell out like he was on drugs-...actually, yeah, that'd make sense too. Didn't look the same as she'd read or seen about him in the past though. Inject him with some enhancement stuff, make him go giant monster, and then-? Eh, seemed he decided to leave the building at least. Wait....oh hell Crane was out there still too. But that was not something they had the luxury to think about for the moment.

Torch chuckled madly. "Now, where were we? Oh, right. Killing you all." The fireball that was flickering in his hand now grew even larger and hotter. "Go forth, Terrazards! Go forth, Menace! Kill these heroes! Just leave Cadaver to me."

Well, at least this particular asshole was someone she'd known about before. Hell, met even before the Bridge at some point or another. Already she'd been pushing her durability and some attempts at a more fire-retardant mucus being emitted across her exterior 'skin' and parts too while the guy had taken his sweet time to speak once she'd recognized the voice and seen the fireball in his hand. How could she forget this guy, though, even if his cousin Carl had been a bit more memorable than him to most of the gang. Couldn't forget him, totally, not at all, never in a million years...but as he chucked the intense fireball at her-

"You got to be f***ing kidding me. 'Lutz the Klutz', here, in front of me, in real flesh and bone? Was fraid' you'd gone the way of good ol' Carl back there on the bridge, though I didn't have time to check."

Of course it'd be this dingus that someone would manage to manipulate. Backers? Financing? Logistics? Lutz wasn't some Napoleon, but he wasn't a nobody either. At the same time, he soundedd more unhinged than she could ever remember him being like for what it was worth. Not that the bridge hadn't had its own effects on her and the others too back then. Well, the incredibly few others who'd managed to scrape by alive at least. Guy knew how to fight well enough, though, so it was worth it to acknowledge that this fireball and any other fire was going to hurt like hell at least.

Luna the monstrosity charged in against Pyro as he was throwing the fireball at her, though, her shuddering mass moving inhumanly fast toward the guy as it could and attempting to minimize the impact of the thrown fireball to her right side. The others would have to deal with the twins here and the Zards inside the place. Those outside would have to deal with the other crap. Sheer mass sought to crash into the freak of nature in the end, though, and do nothing short of cripple his ability to fight thouroughly but without killing him or ending his life whenever she finally got her tendrils and so forth on him. Even if it took a few tries or whatever in this fight, as it wasn't her first rodeo metaphorically speaking.

Because even if it took some trying, oh boy she was going to get her hands on him one way or another.

Ah, but now she was roaring in her assault in another literal cacophony of inhuman sounds and disturbing voices again at least. Was glad the creepy Fallout kid wasn't there to hear it and see her again, though, even if he was supposed to be some kind of ally and all. Kid was....yeah.

Gematria

---

---

Gematria continued snooping through the laptop, finding little incriminating evidence. It seemed the little computer wasn't the gold mine she was expecting. But before she could decide on another course of action, she picked up a voice through the laptop's inbuilt microphone. It was a man's, that much was certain. Based on the where she was, though, and the few context clue words she got, the man was Peterson. The very man they were investigating. Fortunately, he didn't take much interest in her G.E.M. figure on his desk. There was another voice, too, which she recognized as Rupa. While Gematria wasn't sure what Rupa was doing here, she decided it was time to stop being in the laptop. There wasn't anything she needed in there anyway.

Returning to her G.E.M. figure, Gematria saw that Peterson had indeed returned to his office with Rupa in tow, and he was currently on the landline phone. His cell phone, however, was on the desk right next to her. An idea immediately formed in her mind, and she got to work. Pushing herself up, she looked at Rupa and held a finger to where her mouth would be, signaling to keep silent, then plugged herself into Peterson's cell phone. Then she Eletrosurfed into his phone and began snooping through it. Unfortunately, there was little that wasn't already known to HERO. There were a few investments to some company called "Michaels & Co. Contracting Corp", but that wasn't anything incriminating either. Peterson's landline phone call itself also had little value. Disappointed, Gematria returned to her G.E.M. figure and did her best to reposition herself back to how she originally looked on Peterson's desk.

And not a moment too soon, as Peterson concluded his call and began talking to Rupa about the film industry and whatnot. Gematria didn't really get much of the conversation, but she could tell he was passionate about it. Just as Gematria was beginning to believe this mission was a fruitless endeavor, Peterson suddenly began acting crazy. Gone was the jovial demeanor, replaced with all the hissing and twitching. It was like he was possessed or something, which he probably was. Gematria briefly wondered how that was even possible, but quickly shoved that train of thought aside when he pulled a gun onto Rupa.

"No!" Gematria exclaimed as she blasted herself towards "Peterson", boosted by the impact boosters in her legs, and extended her arms towards him. One hand was quickly replaced with a new addition to her arsenal: a thick, short, pointed taser head that zapped and crackled with electricity, meant to tase the man should she reach him in time.

Inside Fixeon Municipal Recycling Plant, Brookside

---

After a bloody slog through the waves of Terrazards, the forerunners of the HERO team had made it through the breach. With Freakshow fully on board to try Ardent's style of approach, the former vigilante's mood was only improving. He wasn't exactly a genius, but the scene inside was basically just what he had been expecting: a bunch of villains laughing it up about how they controlled a Leftover army and how nobody could stop them. Typical.

Well, the mysterious gaping abyss beneath Brookside was sort of a surprise, but that was something to worry about later.

Apparently, the bad guys had two secret weapons. The first one was used to power-up a guy who immediately booked it outside. The backline team was going to have to handle it. The second secret weapon was the source of the problem they had been sent here to fix.

More immediately, two dorky villains were looking to face off. Ardent stuck his cam to the wall behind him. This was going to be good.

"I can take these guys." Ardent muttered to the hero by his side. Lab Rat. The ICOSA transfer. A moment ago, he had been talking big about how Freakshow needed to trust her team. He probably needed to do the same thing."You think you can snag it?"

He didn't want to be too obvious. He only inclined his head slightly and threw a glance across the room in Torch's direction. If Flora had paid attention to that villainous monologue just now, she would hopefully be able to guess what he had in mind. They needed to keep their eyes on the prize, and if any hero was going to be able to quickly work out the controls of that device, it would be her.

"Look, bro, we get the two lamest heroes. Lame Rat and...Lamedent. Sorry, didn't think of a name on time."

"Yeah, feeling's mutual, pal. I was looking forward to fighting somebody with half a brain in their skull." Ardent taunted the self-replicating villains as they began to form a small mob. "What's the point of having two guys with cloning powers, anyway? Did one of you just get hired as a package deal with the other? Out of pity?"

The enemy team's plan clearly centred around keeping the bulk of the heroes occupied while Torch settled his score in a one-on-one clash with Luna. However, it wasn't in the business of heroes to let villains have things the way they wanted. Ardent didn't feel like letting Torch dictate who fought who. These brothers had abilities that probably made them excellent nuisances, skilled in wasting time. Devoting multiple heroes to fighting them was stupid when there were more important things going on. Luna was making headway against Torch, but if the creep was so eager for an isolated battle with her, he probably had a strategy for winning against her transformations.

"Anyway, how many of you does it take to screw in a lightbulb?! Huh?!"

He taunted the twins again as he flew forwards to meet their charge. If he was gonna draw the full attention of these two, he was going to need to strike a nerve. That was something he was good at. Expert villains like Doc Holliday may have been able to see through him, but he had a feeling these two weren't quite so bright.

Cloning villains could be annoying. Left unchecked, Ardent imagined Thing One and Thing Two could go from eight, to sixteen, to thirty-two, to sixty-four. Big trouble. If he wanted to shut them down, he needed to work fast, faster than they could multiply. From eight, back to two, down to zero.

And if there was one downside to the Azure Skulls' Leftover security system, it was that the lizard army had already primed Ardent to fight against a crowd.

He swung the parking sign once again. The sheer length of the improvised weapon gave him a massive reach advantage, letting him hit the clones long before he was in range of their pipes or tasers. And with his strength, he could sweep through a whole group of them at once, crushing as many as he could catch in a single arc of the signpost. Compared to when he had fought against the lizards, he reduced his power a little, but it was still enough to inflict shattered ribcages and concussions. Maybe worse. Ardent was counting on these two having "original" bodies that would stay out of trouble, making it okay to deliver fatal wounds to all the replicas. If every clone was a full, living person... they were going to need a lot of coffins.

---

Crane was also much stronger than she seemed, which was saying something because she was 10 meters tall and built like a brick wall. That being said, this obviously wasn’t sustainable. Menace did seem entirely focused on her, though, which was good. At least she had confirmed that.

”Oaow!” She cried out with a grimace as her joints began to strain. Crane would have to do something. She pushed through the pain and planted her feet, forcing Menace backwards. When Menace adjusted his stance, she aimed to thrust her knee into his sternum. From a distance it was like the two were fighting in slow motion, but up close it became clear her knee was moving as fast as a car on a highway. These strikes would cost the city tens of thousands of dollars each.

There was a shockwave and a burst of air from her knee attack should it connect. ”Rah!” Crane had limited experience in battling creatures her own size. Let alone humanoid ones. She had tried to prepare for such an eventuality with reading and doing stances in her own time. But there was no way to practice or spar. That was the disadvantage of being big all the time, instead of being able to grow and shrink at will.

So if her knee connected, she would keep doing it, and even if it was blocked she would do it again. It was the easiest attack she could think of in the extreme heat of the moment. Hopefully Mire could handle the crowd control, and the others could handle that massive explosion, because the giant rabid gorilla monster was taking up all of her attention. Even as a few stray lizards crawled up on her legs and tried biting into her durable flesh, she had to ignore them.

Alpha and Alien Angel
Peterson Estates
Passenger Island, Castleburg
Status: "Plan B": Activated. Alpha (Outside estate from front entrance.) Alien Angel (Nearby. Exact location unknown.)
_______________

Alpha then opened his eyes...then got into a standing position...his "soldier instincts" suddenly kicking in.

"...Angelia..."

"qué pasa?"

"Check the cams. I heard gunshots."

Alpha knew she was going to ask how he could hear anything with the party going but he knew she wouldn't question his instincts. Not long after he had asked.

"...oy. Good call...Peterson is down but his wife's there with one of the guests...yeah probably a "Hero" guest...santo infierno!"

"...Sit rep."

"...Alpha...we got spiders in the attic. The wife is being flanked by four of them it looks like."

Alpha was immediately on his feet on that. Through their slight two year run as Vigilantes, they had heard tons of stories about criminal organizations that may or may NOT exist. But hearing that phrase from Angelia...this just suddenly went to hell.

They don't really have a proper name but they tend to use a variety of "spider" related names. What made this one stand out was that criminal organizations like this were one of the reasons why his old team was formed...to specialize in countering such organizations since the US government at the time were at odds with the ICOSA. Thus, they didn't trust them to handle the bigger threats lurking out there.

Heck, both her and Angelia didn't think they were even real. Only "story" they got about them were that they were a combination of "Hero Gene" active and "normal" human beings but coming from many backgrounds and "walks of life" from around the world itself but from some form of either Hero organization or general military. In other words, what he was posing as: disgruntled former hero's and service men and women. But that they were HIGHLY dangerous and VERY well-trained. They also dressed in a specific manner...

But despite that, Alpha was now going straight into that lion's den that is hell.

"...going around the back. Direct me to where they are. I want to avoid Roboto since he may get suspicious of me being back inside without-"

"Si. Correr. I'll get into position as well. I'll also hack the cams in the rear so security doesn't see you coming in from the back at least."

On that, Alpha suddenly felt "better" but went around the back...he glowed briefly...

Then he stopped glowing as he was back in the estate...

Wiseman shut his screens off when both Fallout and Magician stepped out into the waiting room. The self-aggrandizing runecaster disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Wiseman stood up to walk into the office of the doctor. He had gone over answers to this roughly three hundred and seven times in his head during the last five minutes, calculated to give as much of a disarming impression as was possible. This was going to be an uneventful interview, the doctor would think nothing was up. She-

As the lights went out, Wiseman stopped moving towards the chair. These sorts of things were unusual for a building constructed with government funding. There were no routine maintenance checks for the day, he would've known about them beforehand. Nothing within the bounds of the ordinary. So it was no surprise that the doctor fell limp as she touched the door handle. His helmet snapped towards her, as he engaged the IR function of his helmet. No one was in the room with them, the voltage mode showed it was just the handle, another stupid security measure that someone failed to realize worked both ways. Oracle did not mention the possibility of this occurring, so she must not have realized it with her powers.

The TV off to the side began to act up, and Wiseman patiently listened to the unrecognizable voice on the other end. His gaze locked onto the programs and tabs shown on the screen, as if someone didn't take into account the fact that he had a perfect memory. He'd worry about those little glimpses later, when this wasn't the main problem.

"Apologies for the intrusion. I simply need to keep you contained in order to prevent you from interfering with my plans. And also from escaping the range of the signal blocker. Please remain seated. Hey, but at least I got you out of therapy, right? That should count for something."

Ah.

Wiseman flipped through the filters on his helmet and confirmed with his own eye that there was a heavy layer of radio waves flooding this room. Attempting to call for backup would have been useless, and someone clearly had the good sense to broadcast over the TV instead of the computer, lest he find a log and trace his way back. And he couldn't call for Angel-5 to check the doctor for electrical burns.

"...Have you come for me at long last?" He asked no one. Was this karma?

His helmet showed him that there was a strong electrical source several floors up, concentrated around one area, likely the roof. A power signal that strong likely meant the entire building had been blacked out. His best bet was to get out of this room quickly, and group with the others. But even with his Indra Blade, the insulating gloves he wore, the electronically locked door had no way to budge when the security measures were triggered. Someone had taken control of the building, but they could've done better.

"No, you would've killed me already."

He quickly scooped up the unconscious psychologist, and gently laid her behind the wide desk. If someone came in here with grenades or an itchy trigger finger, she'd be fine.

Wiseman walked up to the window, and drew his knife This was why he made a point of always being armed. Safety was an illusion for heroes. He jammed the blade into the window, electrocuted the security lock, and opened it. A helicopter had landed on the roof. By the sounds of things, anyway.

Wiseman jumped on the desk and pried a panel from the ceiling. It left a hole big enough for a person to climb into, but he didn't. He left it there as a red herring.

Whoever it was that was doing this job needed lessons in sabotage. Their work was rough around the edges, it was sloppy. There was still power flowing through the building in some fashion, even if it was just from an auxiliary source, and controlling that to lock Wiseman in here meant that someone had just given him a hint. HERO's digital security was compounded above the average hero company's by the existence of ALISA, who could detect intrusions faster than most personnel, and she hadn't detected this. And yet they transmitted an evil monologue, mentioning a key component of their strategy and the fact that they had further plans. All while they hadn't had the common sense to mask their screen.

Those little details painted a picture for him. They were less experienced, and likely less organized when it came to such things than he was. On a scale of one to ten, he arbitrarily gave them an eight. He was the ten.

Wiseman climbed out of the window, clinging to the outside like a spider. He reached up with one arm to grab it it, then dropped to grab the ledge of the one a floor down. The window was shut completely, and now Wiseman was free.

This was the part where things got tricky.



While most of the heroes had gone deeper into the plant to take out the heart of this, Mire had stayed outside in a fetid puddle of gore that was only growing deeper. They gradually drank up the liquified viscera, faster than the Terrazards could actually damage them, all while erupting in contant boils of enzymous fluid over and over again. The Terrazards that charged Mire on the ground got stuck in the sludge and dissolved into it, the ones that pounced from on high were dissolved more quickly. It was just and endless loop of Mire's body regenerating and exploding like the undying monstrosity they were.

That changed when a gigantic fuckoff monkey man burst out of the plant and started grappling with an even giganticer fuckoff human. Crane, they thought her name was. Someone that big should've had a hang of it, but Mire was in the middle of fighting, so what difference did it make?

They dissolved into hyphae, sinking low into the lake of rotting meat that they had created, giving an impression that they were just hiding from the terrazards.

fungus began to bloom beneath Crane and the Menace, culminating in a long and gaunt hand grabbing at the villain's leg as Mire exhumed their body through cracks in the ground. They could've soaked the Menace with enzymes, but that would've been a bad decision this close to Crane, so they crawled up his leg and to his chest to try and pull him free of the giantess. If Crane started swinging and happened to hit Mire, it wouldn't mean much, since they didn't feel pain.

"Are you the best there is against us, ugly human-thing?" Their four arms grasped at whatever they could to bind the villain's movements, making him an easy target for someone bigger than him.

---

---

Fixeon Municipal Recycling Plant

Jareth had thought they were all going inside, but Lab Rat asked him to stay outside. So he fell back to the earthworks, and worked on killing more terrazards. And there were plenty to kill, perhaps too many. He opened another sinkhole beneath a particularly dense cluster of 'zards, quickly closing it again, then went back to slinging pebbles. It seemed like there were fewer coming from the plant, which was a good thing. Maybe the fight was close to over.

A roar sounded from inside the plant, and then a few moments later the near wall was knocked down by...some sort of giant ape person. The terrazards also renewed their assault, so Jareth got back to work killing them. Crane was busy with the ape-man, so that left him and Mire.

Only then Mire vanished into the ground, leaving Jareth to fight the terrazards alone, as the plant burst into flames. Things were not looking good. "Blur! I could really use a hand here. There's too many terrazards for me to handle alone!" he called through the comm link, as he was forced backwards.

---

Backup was, and she didn't say this lightly, the best freerunner and parkour expert in the world. Nobody was better at it than she was. So as she cracked her knuckles and shoved her way out of the reception area, she turned her attention to the building she had just exited.
It had been a while since she had scaled HERO Three, she realized.

She hopped onto the overhang over the front door and pulled herself up. Then she hopped to the lowest window sill, climbed to the top of the frame, and used that to leap to the next window. While doing this, she noticed the power went off inside. That immediately set off alarm bells. Backup pulled herself higher and was just beneath the roof. She heard the distinctive chatter of mid-mischief henchmen. Somehow they had missed it- Hero 3 was under attack. Since the fuck when were they so unaware of their surroundings? Maybe they had come to be too over-reliant on that damn robot.

What to do? Whatever they were guarding, she had to turn it off. She thought about calling the British guy, but he was kind of a dick. Plus she wasn’t sure if she could tell him without alerting the people on the roof with her whispers. And what if he was in on it? From the sound of it, there was three, maybe four of them up there. Backup bounded, hand over hand, to the left. The goal was to have the sun at her back, so it would interfere with the vision of the bad guys.

She heard a noise, and looked down between her legs. Ah! It was Wiseman. Going from the conversation, he was the primary target of this little assassination attempt. She could probably kick all these guys asses before he climbed up here. Look at him. Little window crawling nerd. Haha.

Backup moved her hands up to the edge of the roof and unhooked a cylindrical stun grenade from her belt. She unhooked the safety pin, the little metal ring falling to bounce of Wiseman’s head. She bounced up, took a quick peak to survey the field, dropped, and then bounced up again to toss her stun grenade and follow with it. It would hit the middle of the group and rattle their skulls, ring their ears and dazzle their vision with a loud flash of light. Backup rolled onto the roof in hot pursuit, breaking out into a sprint. She moved past the helicopter and to the nearest goon, jumping onto his back and riding him knees first to the floor.

She rolled off of him and was back to standing. ”Surprise, bitch!” She called out with a grin, heart racing. This is what she lived for!

The next merc was too stunned to react to Backup’s approach, and with a quick flurry of strikes she sent him spinning away with a kick to the face. The next two, she would be to slow to reach before they recovered and started shooting. In fact, the one on the left was holding the trigger down and cutting a line across the pavement in her general direction already. She reached to her belt and flung out two metallic Bolas, or two heavy metallic, magnetic balls on the end of a string, aiming towards the guns. They wrapped up around the guns and knocked them out of their hands.

”C’mon, let’s fuckin’ party!” She said, getting into a bouncy fighting stance. She was more than confident in her fighting skills to take on two bad guys at once. She’s a superhero, after all. Taking down henchmen was like, her whole job.

The senior grunt was pissed at Rodriguez inwardly, like his questioning of the plan had somehow manifested this annoying monocolor girl into existence. “Get her!” He shouted, and they both attempted to rush her, drawing out lethal knives with broad blades.
Backup cleanly sidestepped and grabbed a wrist and pushed hard on the elbow, forcing Rodriguez to body block the other grunt for her as he fell to the ground. Before the leader could swipe she fired her boot out like a piston and smacked into his face. Backup cackled, ducked under a horizontal swipe, and broke into his armor with a painful kidney shot. She fired a straight punch towards the sky that cracked his jaw against the rest of his skull, and sent him defeated to the ground.

Rodriguez set upon her from the side, slamming the knife towards her. She caught it, the blade going right through her palm and out the back of her hand. Backup wrapped her hand around his and twisted, cracking the bones within. Dark red blood leaking from her hand, she let out a rotten giggle, peering into Rodriguez’s widened eyes. With her other hand she grabbed his collar and kicked out one of his knees. Then she headbutted him once, twice, three times, before retracting and letting Rodriguez have nightmares about her until he woke up. She pulled the knife from her hand and casually flicked some blood away. It would heal up within a half-minute.

Backup peered over the edge of the roof down at Wiseman. ”You comin’ or what?” She asked. She gestured with her hand, sending some more of her blood his way. She stepped away and peered at the helicopter. There didn’t seem to be anyone inside. And what was up with that symbol? She scratched her head, wondering if she could recognize it. To be honest there were so many goons and henchmen all over it was hard to keep them all sorted in her memory. Then she looked at the weird, stupid gadget they were protecting.

Casually, she kicked it over, and started stepping and stomping on it. Backup liked breaking things. Especially expensive things.