[IC] Power Corrupts

[TheUnknowable]

"And WHY do we need to pull over at a GameStop?" asked Derrin. He and his cousin had been hanging out all day and Kyle had insisted on going there.

"Because, if I bought a GamerGlove, it could project a holograpic controller for me to play retro games with."

"Or," Derrin interjected, "you could just buy a normal holo-interface for your phone and have it project a keyboard and mouse like mine does."

"But you can't play old console games properly with a key--" Kyle started, when several cop cars drove by them with lights and sirens on. "Ok, I guess we'll follow them instead."

With that, Derrin followed them a few blocks, but pulled over when he heard an explosion and saw a flash of light. "This is as close as I'm getting my car." he said.

"That's fine." said Kyle, getting out of the car. "Let's go be heroes." He closed the car door and ran around the corner in time to see a man throw a fireball at a police car. The windows shattered as it exploded inside the car, but the car didn't catch on fire. "Officer, how can I help?" he said, running and crouching beside the officer.

"Get out of here, kid." The cop said, annoyed at their interference. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Don't worry, I've got powers too." said Kyle as Derrin ran up and crouched beside him. "So does he, so we'll be fine. Is the pyrokinesis all he's got?"

"Pyro?... Look kid," the officer responded. "You're interfering in a crime scene. Get out of here or..." Another fireball hit the car, exploding on the other side and rocking it. "Damn it." said the cop.

"Don't worry, officer, we'll take it from here."

With that they ran around the front of the car, only to be hit by fireballs and thrown backwards into a wall, hitting the ground beside each other. Kyle's clothes were a bit singed, but otherwise he was fine. Derrin, on the other hand had burns on his chest. "Don't worry, I'll take him," said Kyle.

[Letter Bee]

Mab Javert

The network of spy cameras and human agents that had been placed in the city had caught wind of a Pyrokinetic wreaking havoc in a commercial district just before the cops did. Little details were known about the Pyro, whether he was an adult or a teen or even a child, as well as why he was wreaking havoc in the first place. Was he a robber? Or a terrorist? Or someone who had just lost control of their powers? Or maybe even someone threatened by a Mugger?

A smile from Mab; it wasn't her job to answer those questions, her job was to make sure that the Powered Humans in this city revealed themselves, and this was the occassion to do just that. As an official of the CIA, which was now suffering internal turmoil as news of Powers and Aliens shook up the establishment, Mab had...resources to make sure that her goal of baiting the Powered to come to her was won.

Mab was in an operations room, a large circular chamber where she and her subordinates were fed information from all corners of the city they were in through viewscreens, speakers, and text messages. It was a hectic affair, but Mab wouldn't have it any other way. Sitting in her sythethic leather chair, the superpowered woman asked one of her subordinates to patch her through to the local Chief of Police. Should she make successful contact, she would use her Compulsion power in order to tell the man - it was always a man - heading the local police to:

"There will be some Vigilantes with strange powers helping your officers defeat the criminal who's causing a disturbance in 34th Street. You are to command your officers not to interfere with their business, before or after the 'Heroes' deal with the threat. This is unless they pose a clear and present danger to civilians, but until proof of that is found, do not interfere in Superpowered Vigilantism at all." Mab's voice would be layered with mesmerizing energy, one made more potent by the fact that it came as a surprise to those who heard it.

She would then sit back, and wait for further developments...

Alexander Sky

Why did trouble have to find me?! Alexander asked himself this question. He had been going to a Star Wars Convention dressed as a Rebel Alliance Pilot, and now he was in the middle of a literal conflagration with a Pyro rampaging all across the place! Well, he wasn't the hope in the grim darkness for nothing.

First thing was to put on his cosplay helmet so that most of his body was protected, as well as hide his identity. Then, he would use his ability to make matter more durable in order to make sure that his costume withstood the heat and flames. After that, he would tackle-rush the Pyrokinetic who was setting things on fire, hopefully bearing him down to the ground. After that, he would keep him - or her - down on said ground until he grew quiet, while using Revelation to make sure that he didn't miss other powers.

Well, this is a surprise, said Alexander, detecting the presence of several other powered beings in range. Now, he thought as the Pyro presumably struggled under him, I hope that the other people with powers nearby would help me!

[Ceta de Cloyes]

Vin

Vin sighed frustratedly, brushing her hair from her face again. How did girls manage having their hair so long all the time? She was all but napping in the tiny little diner on the corner, barely moving at all, and yet her hair seemed to be pulled by a magnetic force into her mouth. It was maddening.

She wanted to be a boy again, but that would require finding a quiet place with no onlookers where she could strip, change form, and then redress in boy clothes. Her hair was aggravating, but the hassle of finding the energy to pull off that kind of transformation was more so.

So Vin would continue to be a girl. For now.

She scraped another loose strand of hair from her mouth and sat up, doing the best she could to straighten her bed head. She'd gotten here in the early morning, paying for breakfast and a mug of coffee, and then promptly put her head down to rest her eyes for a minute. She'd been dozing ever since, and the diner staff had apparently been distracted enough to let her.

She rubbed her eyes, feeling them water as they were assaulted with sudden sunlight. A great yawn stretched her lips, and she stretched tiredly. She subtley checked how she smelled, deciding that while it wasn't anything nice it also wasn't bad. Yet. She'd need a shower soon. Looking in the reflective napkin holder, she also decided she needed to wash her face. The make up, which had been terribly hard to pull off with any sort of skill, had smudged, and to be honest she didn't feel like reapplying it.

With another put upon sigh she stood and made her way to the bathroom, at the last second spinning on her heel to go through the women's door opposite the men's one. No one was in, and she quickly washed her face and hands, deciding to skip the hair for now, as she wanted to take a shower soon and could wash it then. She'd relieved her bladder before her impromptu nap, but apparently girls were justified when complaining about going to the bathroom all the time, because despite not having consumed anything since the last time, she had to go again.

She felt cleaner after washer her hands and face a second time, more refreshed and awake. She plopped down in her old seat and made a motion to one of the waitresses, ordering lunch. Just a burger and fries was fine with her, a can of cola to date her thirst and a milkshake for later.

Afterwards, she washed her hands and face again. Just because.

She might have turned into a bit of a neat freak recently, constantly washing her hands and face and taking a shower at every available opportunity. It made her feel better when she picked up greasy food or sat on dirty stairways that she would be clean later. It was perhaps a coping mechanism to her sudden homelessness.

Just as she left the diner she became aware of a commotion occurring down the street. Something was burning, and the police were showing up. Confident she wouldn't be recognized as a girl, and if she was quick the fire wouldn't hurt her, Vin decided to hang around and see what was happening.

She darted across the street and ducked into an alley. She began climbing a fire escape and hurriedly reached the top, climbing onto the roof and jogging quickly to the other side so she could look down on the scene. She was behind the man, someone like herself with powers, and he was slinging fireballs at the police that were crowding him.

She noticed one of his blast strike a duo that weren't in uniform, the two boys falling back at the onslaught. Or one of them did, the other shrugged it off and made to move after the pyro.

Distracted by the burned guy and the other one leaving him behind, Vin hadn't noticed a new person appear until they tackled the fire-slinger. "What an idiot," she muttered aloud, shocked at the display. The guy was going to get his face burnt off. And that's my cue, now that things were on the verge of getting ugly, Vin decided now was a good as time as any to make a hasty retreat.

Or that was her decision until she saw the boy who got left behind by his friend. He was kinda hot, and burn scars weren't attractive... choice made, she went back down the fire escape and circled the building to make it to the blond's side. She frowned down at him, unable to believe she'd decided to get involved- and because of such shallow reasoning as he was hot!

Up close now, she decided she'd been right about that at least, he was a looker.

But was he worth it?

"You alright?" She asked after a second of staring down at him indecisively. Maybe she wouldn't need to use her powers? The other one had brushed off the fire like it was nothing, maybe this one could heal too? But what if it scarred? Her vanity suddenly reared its head and she was not happy about dirtying a pretty thing, even by inaction.

She'd give him a chance, if he was nice and couldn't heal himself, then she'd heal him and that'd be that. If he was rude and couldn't heal himself... well that was expected, so she'd probably still heal him. If he could heal himself though, well she was out of there. She'd spent too long in these parts anyway, she'd left on a mission to go to Canada, yet what should have been a rather short trip had turned into a slow meander around the States.

[Mr_pink]

Song Kate is listening to.

---

Kate's eyes were as tired and fed up as they always were. Nothing fun ever went on in this town. Of course, her 'hobby' as a superhero kept things somewhat interesting, but she had hardly dealt with anything that wasn't some weak mugger or cowardly thief. Heck, she hadn't even had to use her electricity for a few weeks now, she'd just been storing it up exponentially while charging her phone and using her computer.

Kate stared over the sea of vinyls, all placed neatly into boxes and organized according to artist name. This was her grandfather's new job/post midlife crisis. He had always loved music, and had used a large sum of what little money they had left in their savings to open up a new vinyl shop. Kate was pretty happy about the whole thing, her grandmother not so much. She had wanted to use the money to go on one last cruise, but her husband had assured her that they'd be able to go on many more cruises with the money they'd 'inevitably' make from the store.

She looked over to her grandfather, sitting behind the counter and drifting off to sleep. Bringing all the vinyls in was supposed to be a team effort, but Kate had by far done most of the work. It didn't really matter all that much to her, there was only one box left anyway, and at least she had her music blaring into her ear. She left the store to pick it up from the back of the large open-back truck her grandfather had rented for the day. As she reached for the box, however, the smell of smoke filled her nostrils and the crackling of fire resonated in her ears. She took out an earphone and looked up to see a literal firefight taking place just over the street. It seems a few superhuman had already reached the scene, and what looked to be a star-trek character? Maybe a Battlestargate Galactica character? Kate wasn't too good with her nerd knowledge to say the least. She looked back to her grandfather, sound asleep and looked back to the situation. The costumed dweeb was now lying on top of Pyro, presumably trying to hold him down, although he could have been doing any number of other things, and Kate wasn't one to judge.

Nevertheless, she saw the threat in the situation and sighed. As hypocritical as it was, even though she had been craving excitement right now she could just really not be bothered with this right now. A scowl grew upon her face as she watched the car next to the two slowly begin to smoke before catching fire. Pyro had realized the pickle he was in and now seemed to be heating up the car in its entirety through his head. Jesus, not only was this guy powerful, he was also rather hot headed to boot.

Kate had to act, electricity began to crackle and spark over her body before she broke into a sprint faster than that of any car. She was headed straight towards, Alexander and when she got close enough quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him off of Pyro just as the car blue up into a cacophony of flame.
"What were you doing you fucking, duck embryo one more second and you'd have been red paste!" She yelled, her insults as creative as ever. She turned to Pyro, sending a meager blast of electricity towards him, merely giving him a slight shock for a moment. It seems that, Kate's strategy of taking the electricity from her household objects had just resulted in a very low voltage being absorbed. She sighed, her eyes darting around the immediate area until she saw something that caught her eye. A lamppost, one connected the entire grid of the city. She sprinted over, before tearing the small panel open with sheer speed force and gripping the wires inside. She turned back to the battle as she charged up, hoping to god someone would step up and whoop this guy some more.

[TheUnknowable]

@Ceta de Cloyes"Oh, hi there," Derrin replied when the woman asked him if he was okay. "Yeah, I..." he winched as he sat up. "I can keep going. I've been sunburnt worse than this before." He stood up, trying not to show that he was in pain. "Unless you've got powers, I'd suggest you leave. This guy's pretty dangerous." He saw another woman, the one that pulled the Cosplayer off of the villain, shoot the man with electricity. "So, electricity works, good to know." Derrin flicked his wrist and arcs of lightning started jumping around his hands.

"Comeon, ma'am," said the cop from before, motioning for her to come with him. "I've been order to not interfere with the vigilantes, so I'm clearing civilians from the area." He then addressed those that were fighting the pryomaniac. "Hey, he just set that apartment on fire." he said, motioning to a block of condos down the street. "Fire trucks and ambulances are on the way. If you want to play hero, saving people from a burning building is a classic." He motioned to the woman again and started ordering onlookers to back up. As the only cop on the scene he couldn't properly block of the area, but he should be able to keep them from getting caught in the middle.

His mind now on the enemy, Derrin called to Kyle. "Hey, distract him while I move in."

Kyle nodded and began lifting up random pieces of debris with his mind, throwing them at the man. Unconcerned, however, the man held up his left hand and a force field about three feet in diameter appeared, blocking the debris. This bought Derrin enough time to run at him and swing at the man with an electric punch. The man managed do block the punch, however the field was now less than a foot in diameter and he was being push back by the series of electric blows Derrin was landing.

[Letter Bee]

Mab Javert

Mab Javert smiled as more Powered Humans revealed themselves; all of them with interesting powers. A few were even unmasked. Bringing up several profiles from the local surveillance database, she looked up Derrin, Kyle, Alexander (she had seen him before he put on his helmet) and Kat, while finding no records of Vin/Vini. A smile from her as she continued reading.

Perfectly ordinary people with a desire to be heroes. Problem is, even heroes needed to eat. Calling up Kyle's mother's employer, Mab would then say, using her Compulsion power again:

"You will fire [Kyle's Mother's Name]; find any excuse you can, just fire her." What was the purpose of that? Well, let's just say that 1.) it would be a shock to Kyle and make him more pliable, and 2.) she can offer him or his mother a job in one of her front businesses, allowing her a hold over the Powered.

Alexander Sky

"Understood!" said Alex, rushing towards the burning buildings, his powers making his clothes flame-resistant! Of course, he didn't have an axe to break down obstructions, but he can make matter softer, soft enough to pull apart. Turning a door into the consistency of bubblegum and silly putty, Alex pulled said door off and broke into a room, and spoke to anyone trapped within:

"Get out of here right now! I just opened an exit!" And with that, Alex would keep trying to save people, either opening pathways to them - he can use his power on walls, as well, or healing burn victims or victims of asphyxiation (the latter with somewhat less success than the former), or waiting for whatever partner he had to break apart burning debris or quenching fires, so that he didn't get burned or asphyxiated.

@TheUnknowable, @Mr_pink@Ceta de Cloyes

[Ceta de Cloyes]

Vin

Vin glared at the guy at being brushed off, crossing her arms and trying not to scowl as she pondered what to say. Then a burst of electricity caught her attention. A new face appeared on the scene, shooting a blast of electricity. Vin raised an eyebrow in intrigue, curious about the girl's power- but then the guy beside her was suddenly electrified as well. It seemed energy manipulators weren't as rare as she thought they were. The guy ran off without giving her a chance to offer her help- or rather, not the help she was willing to offer. She refused to get involved in the battle, but she'd have healed his wounds. They hadn't seemed bad, directing his cells to repair the damage wouldn't be too costly, and she could always tap into the city's power to replenish herself.

Then there was a useless cop herding her off, and she turned her glare on him, totally unimpressed. She stalked off, retreating around the corner of a building and out of sight. She went slightly down the street away from anyone still watching and circled around to the apartment that was on fire. She ducked into alley halfway there, shedding her pants and jacket to pull on a new set of clothes. The girl who walked out of the adjacent building's front door didn't look anything like the one who had ducked into the alley.

New Appearance

She slipped into the building on fire and started pulling in energy from the heat, effectively snuffing out any flames that got near. Then she started perusing anything worth liberating for herself. Mostly clothes, not even bothering to look for money or something equally as hard to find. Boy clothes, girl clothes, kid clothes, adult clothes... she collected three whole outfits from the first room and stuffed them into her bag. Her simple presence had extinguished the fire in the room around her, as well as lessening the amount of heat in the lower building. Then she left, snatching a pair of vans from by the door as she did, and the heat began building up again.

If anyone looked too hard at her, her skin almost seemed to glow. If they could see behind her sunglasses there wouldn't be an almost about it. She hastily vanished down another alley and into the bathroom of a restaurant who were all outside staring at the commotion. There was a slight problem in that taking so much heat energy into herself was too much for her, and the energy was causing the glow as it hummed excitedly in her cells. She needed to discharge the excess, but she struggled with a moment on how... With little option, she simply vented it in it's previous form, the temperature in the bathroom rising rapidly. She then changed clothes into what she'd been wearing before reverted back to 'Vin', taking the opportunity to sneak into the kitchen and steal a plate of food that had yet to be taken out to the patrons.

She exited the back of the restaurant with a fancy plate in hand, using a fork to stab the cheesy pasta and looking around the corner to watch the fight with the pyro, filling her stomach as she did. This disaster had been rather lucky for her, she'd needed a change of clothes, it was actually why she was currently Vin and not Vini, she hadn't had the chance to wash her boy clothes in a while. She didn't even feel bad about it, the people she'd stolen from probably deserved a bit of karma, and her presence had likely spared their stuff from the flames assuming the fire department was quick about it. They'd have lost much more if she hadn't decided to steal from them!

All in all she was rather satisfied, now she just had to wait and see what the result was here. She was curious what happened to criminals with powers, and she wanted a better look at those shock-y people, the girl and the guy. The girl had good range, and the guy hadn't seemed to need a refuel, there was a lot she wanted to know about them.

[TheUnknowable]

Though Derrin could push him back, he couldn't get a blow past the man's shield. Derrin wondered if the fact that he couldn't actually throw lightning might actually cost him the battle. No, that wasn't it. The man's shield was just too strong. He'd have to try and get around it.

When they got close to a newspaper dispenser Derrin kicked it at the man, distracting him long enough for the man to move his shield. Derrin used the opening to take a swing at the man's face, but the pyro was already covering himself with a ball of fire that was forming in his left hand. Unable to react in time, Derrin was hit in the chest with a fireball for the second time, though this one was significantly less powerful, and only knocked him off of his feet.

[Letter Bee]

Alexander Sky

Somehow, several flames in his way had been quenched, but were building up again. Choosing not to question a gift horse, Alexander kept rescuing and healing more people, as well as using a fire extinguisher he found to quench some more flames. He then heard more screaming, and softened a wall, finding a room holding a terrified family of four; two parents, two kids.

"Go, go, go!" Alexander said as the fire continued to rage, and the family moved out of the room as fast as possible. But before Alexander can move out himself -

The ceiling crashed on top of him, and it was only his ability to harden his own costume that saved him from more than a few large bruises.

Nevertheless, he was unable to move, and the fires were inching towards him.

"Help!" he screamed, "help!"

@TheUnknowable

[Ceta de Cloyes]

Vin

Vin frowned, the shock guy seemed to be losing his battle, his opponent was just too quick, and seemed to have a counter for everything. She pondered going to help for a moment, but really, there were plenty of others who'd already involved themselves, did she really need to risk it?

Her eyes fell on the burning building.

No. She didn't.

But she wanted to.

Sighing in exasperation at herself, she shoved another two fork-fulls of pasta into her mouth and shoved the plate into a trash can. This is going to end in tears. Then she was shoving her way past the policeman- and really, why don't they just shoot someone already! and approaching the pyro from behind.

She used the shocky man's attack as a distraction and reached out to grip the man by the back of his neck. She simultaneously launched two separate attacks; beginning to suck in every bit of energy the man's body was producing and storing, and forcing his skin to rip itself apart, which would result in long cuts all over his body. It was a vicious attack, but she wasn't too concerned. He would probably survive.

Probably.

[TheUnknowable]

@Letter BeeKyle heard someone screaming inside the burning building and ran inside, dodging around several people who were escaping. "Where *cough* are you?" he thought he heard something and moved direction. There he saw the same person who had helped them earlier, a cosplayer in a Star Wars costume? "Don't worry, Po, I'll get you out of here." he said as he looked around for some way to lift the beam that had the man pinned. Soon he found a metal standing lamp. He kicked a piece of scorched wood toward where the beam touched the ground used the lamp to leverage it up by about an inch. "*Cough, cough* Can you move *cough* now." He laid over the lamp to put his maximum weight on it and continued to cough.

---

@Ceta de CloyesThe Pyromaniac dropped his shield and fell onto the ground as his energy was drained from him. Soon he slacked onto the ground and his heartbeat started to slow as he lost consciousness.

"He's not dead, is he?" asked the woman who had defeated the man as he stood up. Even he knew that heroes weren't supposed to kill villains without a really good reason.

[Letter Bee]

((Collab between TheUnknowable and Letter Bee))

In response to Kyle's question, Alexander would say:

"Yeah, I can move now," he then began to crawl from the collapsed ceiling beams. Once he was able to stand again, he spoke:

"My fault, I softened the walls trying to rescue people; got the ceiling to collapse on me."

"Yeah, that'll do it." responded Kyle, coughing violently. "The building's not exactly *cough* stable right now. *cough, cough* The wall strength is prob *cough* ably the only thing *cough* holding it up." He coughed several more times. Kyle would need to get out soon if he didn't want to rely on his powers to save his life.

"Let's go," Alexander said as he rushed out through the hole he made in the wall, gesturing for Kyle to follow him. "I've covered most of the lower and mid-levels, but the upper floors might still have a few civilians in danger."

"But to be honest, I don't know how long my powers can keep this up." He still made for the stairs to a higher floor anyway.

Kyle followed after the cosplayer covering his mouth and nose with his shirt. "Name? Powers?" he asked the man. "Kyle, self healing, T.K., and durability."

"Alexander Sky, I can heal and repair people and objects, harden and soften nonliving matter, and instantly find out what others' powers are," Alexander then confirmed that Kyle was telling the truth about his abilities.

Suddenly, once they reached the floor, they can hear a child scream!

Kyle ran ahead, passing Alexander as he jumped into the door at the top, breaking it down and relying on him powers to not get hurt by the fire on it. Thankfully it had a metal frame. He quickly stood up and ran towards the sound. Just before the door, though, a ceiling beam fell, hitting him and knocking him through the floor. Kyle heard his ribs break as the heavy beam pinned him to the floor after a ten foot drop. He screamed in pain.

"Damnit!" Alexanser said as he, not being strong enough to lift the beam outright, softened it into the conistency of silly putty and began to pull out chunks of the beam, all the while as the child's screams, which can be heard as coming from a nearby room, grew weaker.

"Kyle, can you use your TK?" Alex said, "I can't keep pulling chunks of the beam forever!"

Kyle started pulling away chunks of softened wood a few pounds at a time, coughing up blood occasionally from a punctured lung. Their combined efforts soon had enough of it moved for Kyle to push the rest of the beam off of him. "It would take me at least a few days to heal from this, even with treatment." he told Alex. "You said something about healing?"

"Yeah," Alex said as he held Kyle's shoulders, willing the other kid's body to heal. The wound would close, blood replenished, cells knitting themselves again. Soon, Kyle's body would be reverted to its previous state. But it was clear that Alexander was getting more and more exhausted.

"Let's go," said the young man, going to the room where he heard the scream. Softening, then tearing apart the door, Alexander would go to the source of the screaming, the bathroom of the apartment room.

There, he would find a small boy, about 10, his clothing soaked in water from a filled tub, on the verge of falling unconcious and drowning.

Alexander made to lift him up...but found himself struck with vertigo; he's pushed himself beyond the limit!

Kyle pulled himself up by a floor beam, quickly getting off of it when it started to crack, and entered the room. He saw Alex start to fall and caught him. "Woah," he said, "burnout?"

Once the guy was back on his feet he picked up the child. "Come on." He started out the door but the beam beside the one that had impaled him fell down, blocking the door with a wall of fire. "Well we could always jump out the window. As long as I hit the ground first, with you guy's landing on me, you'll will be safe."

"Burnout, and, I'm sure that this building has a fire escape," Alexander said, breathing hard, looking for, and finding, an emergency exit. "Now, I think we can go."

He then rushed to said exit.

When they got there, Kyle waited for Alex to step through the window, and handed him the drenched boy. He then stepped through himself, picking up the boy again. Thankfully the escape was bolted to a brick facade over a concrete block wall, so the fire had little effect on it other than heating it up. "come on" he said, heading down the steps.

Alex walked down, finally giving silent thanks to God when he reached the ground. Then, he fainted.

[Ceta de Cloyes]

((Collaborative Post w/ TheUnknowable and Letter Bee))

Vin, Derrin, Kyle, and Alex

Vin glanced at the guy uncertainly, surprised that he cared whether the psycho attempting to kill him and everyone nearby lived or died. She knelt briefly and laid her hand on the downed man's forehead, checking his energy levels. They were faint, but still there, if a bit more sluggish than normal. She stood and shook her hands, the excess energy she absorbed was currently shocking the muscles in her arms, but she was a bit too close to others to safely get rid of all that energy at the moment. "He'll live," she finally reported. She hovered a moment, unsure if she should leave or not. Would the police go after her as well? This wasn't a comic book, and the difference between fiction and real-life didn't give her much hope for their fair treatment.

"Good." said Derrin. "I'll go to jail for being a vigilante if I have to, but not a murder."

"You won't have to worry about the vigilante thing either." said a cop that walked up, a different one that before. Derrin could see that ambulances and fire trucks had started to show up. "We were ordered to cooperate with you. My guess is that the Captain doesn't want to risk our lives going after freaks if he doesn't have to. In case you were wondering, though, the guy was a Veteran. Honorably discharged about a month ago with PTSD. That's why he could stand up to you so well. I wouldn't be surprised if that, mixed with the Mars virus is what got him his powers.

"Great, let's bounce." Vin said, looking around for the best escape route with the least amount of traffic. She frowned at a camera above a nearby shop, Fantastic, now I can never use this face again, she groaned internally. She was rather fond of this face, it was largely based off his mother's face, not that she'd ever seen it- or not that she could remember, but there were plenty of pictures.

Her eyes landed on the other guy then, the one with the electric fist, and a small grin pulled across her face as an idea came to her. "Give me a ride?" She asked, the slightest bit of flirtation entering her voice. She'd become much more confident in using her sex appeal to get what she wanted since obtaining her shapeshifting powers.

"Let me get my cousin first." he said, "at least let him know where I'm going. HEY KY..." he started to shout before seeing him round the corner carrying a kid. "Hey, where'd the kid come from?"

"The burning building." Kyle said, handing the kid to a nearby paramedic. "So, what now?"

Alexander began to stir, getting up groggily.

"Guess I missed my cosplay convention. Anyway, what are we talking about?"

Vin forced herself not to frown uncomfortably at the two newcomers, so much for disappearing with the hot guy. Then she mentally shrugged and started thinking, these two had powers as well, and she was rather curious about what they could do and what they knew about powers in general. It wouldn't be so bad to group up. Mind made, she allowed a small smile at the group. "Getting out of here," she answered, [color=f7941b]"I don't think we should hang around the crowds."[i] Or the cameras,[i][/color] she mentally finished, glancing at the one she'd noticed earlier.

"Convention? What kind?" asked Kyle as they walked back to the car. Then he noticed the way his cousin was looking at the woman that had helped them. "You know what, we're not that late. Maybe I can go with Alex, here," he motioned to Alex, " and you can pick me up later. How about eight, down the road at McDonalds?"

"Star Wars Convention," spoke Alexander, "and thanks! Oh, and I also run an auto shop with my mom and dad; so if you guys need a base or anything or a source of support for hero work..." he trailed off.

Vin did frown then, glancing at each of the boys to guage their reaction to the suggestion. She had zero interest in becoming Batman, so she did not need a Batcave or any variation thereof.

"Great," Kyle said, "I love Star Wars, especially their RPGs. See you later, Derrin." Derrin nodded and gave him a thmbs up before Kyle walked off with the other super.

"So," said Derrin to the woman beside him, "You hungry? We could go have an after-action meal, celebrate our victory. I'm Derrin by the way." He held out his hand.

Vin took his hand with a mischievious smile. An idea had come to her, perhaps a bit of harmless manipulation was in order? As their hands touched she forced out the smallest hint of energy, sending tiny shocks skittering across their palms. It was no electrifying first kiss, but it would do. "Call me Vin." She introduced, pretending she hadn't noticed the sensation.

She glanced back to the restaurant she'd lifted a plate of pasta from, it wasn't exactly a fulfilling meal, but she had eaten earlier as well... but she was still pretty hungry. She blamed it on her powers, they didn't work by magic (not that she knew at least), which meant they were using up all her energy to do what she did. Another meal was just what she needed.

Besides, it's been a while since she went on a date... "I'm starving," she agreed. "Where to?"

"You pick," said Derrin, "I've never been good at picking a place to eat."

Vin took a moment to think it over, what was she in the mood for... smoothies! But that wasn't a meal, not really, but there was this one place she'd stopped at when first coming to towm. "I know a place, a little diner on the south side of town. Nothing too fancy, cheap too, but they have the best corndogs." She grinned at the thought, it'd be just like going tot he state fair back home.

"Sure", Derrin said, then lead her to his car. "It's not much, but at least it runs well," he said as they got in. A few minutes later they arrived at the resturant. "So, corn dogs?" he said, trying to think of something to say. "You like them plain or.." Well at least I didn't resort to inuendo this time. he thought.

---

(Timeskip to the ticket booth)
Kyle approached the ticket booth. "Uh, how much?" he asked.

"One hundred." said the woman behind the counter.

"Seriously?" he asked, swiping his card. "Is it usually that much?" He looked to Alex for an answer before downloading his ticket.

"Yeah, it's that much," Alex said to Kyle, putting down his own funds. "Anyway, it'll be fun; there'll be music, dancing, and rare merchandise, as well as food!"

"I hope so," said Kyle. "I don't really have money to waste." With that he headed to the front door.

"I can pay," said Alexander, "assuming we're going to be part of the same team." Entering the convention center, they would find an immense roaring of song and music, as people in various Star Wars costumes met, talked, and partied, while numerous booths sold the rare merchandise Alexander spoke about, including, of course, a holographic fake lightsaber.

"Actually," spoke the boy, "there's a Star Wars Triva contest, where the price is twenty-four million dollars. Even accounting for inflation, that might be a good sum. How's your Star Wars knowledge?"

[Ceta de Cloyes]

Vin

"I like them with fuzzy blonde tops." She said, grinning flirtatiously as her eyes met his and then glanced up at his blonde hair before returning to his blue eyes. She had no reservations about pulling out the innuendoes herself.

She wasn't even subtle about it, snagging a handful of red ketchup packets and ignoring the yellow mustard ones completely. She winked.

Then she sat herself in a booth and used the electric menu set in the table to order a corn dog, fries, and a vanilla milkshake. "What about you?" She asked with a teasing smile, scooting over so he could sit beside her instead of across. "What is it you like?"

[TheUnknowable]

Vin

"I like them with fuzzy blonde tops." She said, grinning flirtatiously as her eyes met his and then glanced up at his blonde hair before returning to his blue eyes. She had no reservations about pulling out the innuendoes herself.

She wasn't even subtle about it, snagging a handful of red ketchup packets and ignoring the yellow mustard ones completely. She winked.

Then she sat herself in a booth and used the electric menu set in the table to order a corn dog, fries, and a vanilla milkshake. "What about you?" She asked with a teasing smile, scooting over so he could sit beside her instead of across. "What is it you like?"

@Ceta de Cloyes

"Ti.. Uh, I mean personality," he said, catching himself. Derrin typed in his order and continued. "I like a girl that's funny and witty, and, well, being able to handle herself in a fight definitely doesn't hurt."

"Actually," spoke the boy, "there's a Star Wars Triva contest, where the price is twenty-four million dollars. Even accounting for inflation, that might be a good sum. How's your Star Wars knowledge?"

@Ceta de Cloyes

"Not that good. Too bad I didn't pick up a level in Super genius when I got my powers. Then I might be able to at least place well." He walked inside and bought two bottles of soda. "Coke or Mt. Dew?" he said, holding them out to Alex. He looked over at a nearby booth where they were selling "real" lightsabers, self-deploying hard plastic swords with a holographic projector that made them look like they were from the movies. A sign in front said that they were sponsoring a lightsaber dueling contest, and giving ten thousand to the winner. "If you want to earn some money, that might work." Kyle said, pointing to the sign.

[Letter Bee]

Alexander Sky

Alexander smiled as he took the Mountain Dew.

"Let's just say that there's no one who can beat me in actual fencing in my locale, and Lightsaber Combat is even more unrealistic than that." And with that, he hopped to the booth, and said:

"Hey, is this where I sign up for that lightsaber combat contest? If so, what's the entrance fee?" After the reply, Alexander paid the fee, then after being told the rules (no punching, no kicking, no low blows, no headbutts), went to the arena, where, a few hours later...

A Few Hours Later

"I won!" the 18-year old boy said to Kyle as he walked forward with the suitcase full of cash, a wide grin on his face. "See, I told you that there was no one who can beat me at fencing." He then remembered something.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, but the girl with your cousin...she's a shapeshifter, along with two other powers, mind reading and energy manipulation. She's probably the strongest of us all." Alexander had been able to tell all this because, well, Vin/Vini had been in range when he used Revelation on the Pyro...

[Ceta de Cloyes]

@TheUnknowable

Vin

Well, I'm capable one of those things, she thought with amusement. She wasn't convinced she had a funny bone in her body, her life had become too...

Anyways.

She mentally shook off the doubts and plunged right in. Her leg was against his and she looped her arm around his, her boob just barely brushing against his bicep as she leaned close. If she'd had the right bits, she'd be having trouble hiding how into him she was, but as things were, she chanced a glance at his lap to gauge his interest instead.

"I can take anyone in a fight," she assured him with a grin. She took a second to subtley check who was paying attention to them, and after assuring no one was listening closely she elaborated; "Just like you," she said with a grin, "I can shock a man's socks off."

[TheUnknowable]

Alexander Sky

Alexander smiled as he took the Mountain Dew.

"Let's just say that there's no one who can beat me in actual fencing in my locale, and Lightsaber Combat is even more unrealistic than that." And with that, he hopped to the booth, and said:

"Hey, is this where I sign up for that lightsaber combat contest? If so, what's the entrance fee?" After the reply, Alexander paid the fee, then after being told the rules (no punching, no kicking, no low blows, no headbutts), went to the arena, where, a few hours later...

A Few Hours Later

"I won!" the 18-year old boy said to Kyle as he walked forward with the suitcase full of cash, a wide grin on his face. "See, I told you that there was no one who can beat me at fencing." He then remembered something.

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, but the girl with your cousin...she's a shapeshifter, along with two other powers, mind reading and energy manipulation. She's probably the strongest of us all." Alexander had been able to tell all this because, well, Vin/Vini had been in range when he used Revelation on the Pyro...

@Letter Bee

Things weren't so easy for Kyle. His first opponent was a ten year old kid. It looked like an easy fight, but soon the kid had gotten inside his defenses and knocked the lightsaber out of his hands. He managed to dodge the kid's next attack, but when he reached out his hand out to call his lightsaber back to his hand, the kid smiled. "So, you want to use powers, then?" the kid asked. Kyle moved to block an attack, but the kid jumped into the air just before getting inside Kyle's reach and flipped over Kyle's head, hitting him in the back of the head with his lightsaber. With that Kyle had lost the fight.

---

After the fight was over, Kyle listened to what Alex had to say. "Really?" he asked, "Shapeshifting, mind reading, and energy manipulation? That's some set of powers. Glad she's on our side."

@TheUnknowable

Vin

Well, I'm capable one of those things, she thought with amusement. She wasn't convinced she had a funny bone in her body, her life had become too...

Anyways.

She mentally shook off the doubts and plunged right in. Her leg was against his and she looped her arm around his, her boob just barely brushing against his bicep as she leaned close. If she'd had the right bits, she'd be having trouble hiding how into him she was, but as things were, she chanced a glance at his lap to gauge his interest instead.

"I can take anyone in a fight," she assured him with a grin. She took a second to subtley check who was paying attention to them, and after assuring no one was listening closely she elaborated; "Just like you," she said with a grin, "I can shock a man's socks off."

@Ceta de Cloyes

Derrin shifted in his seat, surprised by the woman's advances. "Uh, that's, that's good. Uh, so, is the energy thing all that you can do or..." He hadn't expected her to be this into him. Luckily the food showed up and he reached for it, thanking the waitress more for the distraction than the food. After she left he moved his arm to get Vin off of it. "So, the food's here, uh, Vin." he said, hoping she'd release him. Not that he wasn't interested in her, or didn't like where this was going, but things were going really fast and he had used a lot of energy in that fight, so he was pretty hungry.

[Letter Bee]

Alexander Sky

Are we really sure about that? thought Alexander, before saying:

"It appears that powers are being openly used here. Guess we're not having that cliched X-Men scenario...yet." God must be personally interfering to make sure that fears and predjudices didn't matter.

"Well, at least we still have some coin," Alexander changed the subject. "Anyway, Kyle," he began to ask, "what's your life like? How'd you get those powers? For me, well...my powers came from survivor's guilt." Many people had died from the Martian Virus, after all.

[Ceta de Cloyes]

Vin

There came a certain surety and confidence from knowing herself to be attractive, her body had been shaped by her own thoughts and opinions, but Vin wasn't dense, she could see she wasn't having the effect she'd wanted. So she relaxed, using the motion to reach for some napkins as an excuse to slide away from the man nonchalantly as she dropped all skin contact and pretended to be absorbed in preparing her food - which wasn't the best play now that she thought about it. All she could do was push some fries out of the way and squeeze some ketchup. Not exactly a distracting task.

She pondered a moment what to say, before deciding to both be vague and stick to the truth. "I can manipulate organic stuff," she admitted, holding out her hand for him to see. Her palm split right down the middle without anything cutting it, and blood welled up from the wound. Before it could spill from her hand however, the blood sucked itself right back into the cut, which sealed itself shut as if nothing had happened. "I'd make a fantastic Doctor," she grinned, hoping the demonstration wouldn't be related enough to shapeshifting for him to come to that conclusion. She wasn't sure she wanted anyone to know she could do that. She held back a grimace at the thought.

"And I can read minds." She said, grinning wider. "But don't worry, I'm really bad at it." It was actually a little amusing, mostly frustrating, but a little amusing too. She wasn't like Jean from X-Men, she didn't have trouble controlling the power and couldn't stop reading others' minds, more like the opposite; she had trouble reading anyone's mind, consciously or otherwise. "You'd totally know if I was reading your thoughts; my face'd be all scrunched up and I'd have this derpy look of concentration on." Even then there was no garuntee she'd succeed in getting anything other than a feeling of discomfort from them because of her intense stare.

She tossed a ketchup-covered fry into her mouth. "Last power is like yours," she started, "manipulate electricity, energy and stuff." She waved a hand at him, "Unkike you though, I tend to shock myself. And burn myself." She frowned at the memory of blackening her hands the first time she'd tried pulling in too much energy and had been forced to vent it as fire from her hands. She inspected her smooth palms critically, knowing they were fine, flawless and healed, but still the memory of pain rested on her mind. That had been a very unpleasant experience.

Shaking off the feeling, she refocused on the blond with a smile. "What do ya think?" She asked teasingly, "Can I handle myself in a fight?" Of course that wasn't the real question, the real question was: 'Do you still like me even though I've got freaky powers?' It was stupid, he was like her, he had freaky powers too, but it didn't change the fact she was nervous, maybe her's were extra creepy? Even without admitting to shapeshifting the mind-reading was probably a deal breaker.

And now that she thought about it her display of cutting and healing herself had been rather gruesome. Not that it had hurt, if she focused she could stop herself from feeling pain. Not something she'd be able to do in a fight or while under a lot of pressure, but for that moment she managed.