[IC] 《 H. E. R. O. 》

[Zoey Boey]

Pandora was sat in the living room of the second floor of Pandora's Potts when Seraph, leader of the Wings of Law, announced his coup. That's what it was, of course. She had seen this kind of thing before, but never this bold. Not in this modern age of information. Pandora was barefoot as she always was, wearing orange shirts and an orange crop top. The rose was still tucked into her perfect auburn hair that was tied up into a bun. Her glittering eyes were emitting high concentration rays of disapproval at the screen.

"Christ's sake. One bloody week. One bloody week!" Pandora was chastising herself now for not joining earlier. "I probably would have had this all sorted out already. Bloody coup d'e fucking tat. Unbelievable." Pandora stood up from her lazy couch position and stormed over to the window, leaning up against it and glaring outside.

It was all the more infuriating because Powers had been right. She didn't really like any of the HEROes she had met. The only one she had taken a liking too was Powers, because he actually showed her some respect. He may have just been playing nice, but to be honest, Pandora didn't really care. The other kids were 'nice' enough but they were just that- kids. The lot of them. And now one of them, who was apparently the daughter of a super villain, had been framed with a metric boatload of nasty murder.

Well, she assumed she was framed. She didn't really know her all that well. This was all based on a preliminary judgement of Seraph's character. Evil, rich bastards like Seraph stunk with the stench of greed. Pandora had seen his type too many times before to not know when she spotted one. Pandora huffed, clenched her fists and strode into the middle of her living room, straight backed. She reached up and touched the rose tucked behind her ear and weaved into her hair.

"I...don't know what to do. Shit. I don't know any of these people. Will they come to me? I gave them my phone number." Pandora talked to the rose, or more accurately, herself. "Did they, what was it, google me? Do they know my address?" Pandora asked, her eyes flitting back and forth. After a moment she rushed into her bedroom and pulled out an IDD device. "Can EAGLES see me through this?" She sunk through the floor and landed downstairs in the middle of two aisles of flowers.

"Swear to God, if the pigs burst in here and ruin my shop I'm going to be bloody livid." Pandora opened the door and stepped outside onto the sidewalk. If she got involved, she would probably lose control of her shop. If EAGLES had done their research they may already know who she is. If she did nothing, she could probably just keep on living. Lose her chance once and for all to work at HERO, instead being transferred over to work with EAGLES. Which would be unbearable for obvious reasons. The only reason she would do such a thing would be to get close enough to Seraph and rip his prissy head off. "Wouldn't accomplish much," She muttered. They'd just find some other figure head.

They were probably listening into IDD chatter. They might even be able to track her through it. With a sigh she squeezed the device in her hand and turned it into half of a golden-interiored geode lock. Thoroughly disabled for now. "Prettier, too." She had no idea where the other HEROes could be. If they wanted her help, they would have to come to her. No way she was running around the city like some lunatic, that would get her nowhere. Pandora backed up against the outside of her shop and leaned up against the wooden wall, watching the streets for anybody she recognized.

[Hitman]

_{Hawthorn Residential Center
Elmore Island
Kingsdale (Off-Shore), Castleburg}

Elmore Island is an island located northeast off the coast of Kingsdale, far enough from the coast to be hard to see on a foggy day but close enough to be definitively located within city bounds. The island is one of many teeny islands like Savior Island that dot the two main islands that make up Castleburg. The island was discovered by wealthy explorer and New World conqueror John J. Elmore, who very heroically enslaved and conquered the small indigenous tribe that was living there before building his massive estate on the island. Karma would end up striking John J. Elmore, who was killed in an Inkanyamba attack only days after the manor was finished. The island remained mostly untouched for years until Seraph purchased the entirety of the island and built up the manor into a large "residential center." The Hawthorn Residential Center is a private prison owned by Seraph's WINGS Corporation™. The detention facility is small and suited for moderate-level superpowered inmates that do not meet the level of atrocity that denotes a Coldwater sentence, or is used as a temporary holding facility until a cell can be prepared at Coldwater. Hawthorn abruptly closed for business the day after Seraph's retirement from HERO, and the inmates were transferred elsewhere. This was not an activity viewed with great suspicion- after all, if Seraph was really retiring, he would probably want to distance himself from hero work to enjoy his retirement! This assumption, along with the facility's relatively small size, led to the event not being covered at all on the news, and as of yet no potential buyers have approached Seraph for the real estate. This left Seraph with an abandoned, unwanted, unscrutinized, empty fortified prison to use at his discretion. Perfect.

The building looks similar to a medieval castle or fort. John Elmore's original building was just a large stone manor in a Romanesque style, both comforting but also threatening from a distance. Seraph decided to capitalize on the latter feature, expanding outwards to cover the entire island in three floors of hard stone and metal. The facility resembles an island fort, with walls lined with barbed wire enclosing the entire facility. Elmore Island was rather small, so Seraph had decided that the best plan was to build upwards, adding in two thick, tall towers of stone rising from the bulk of the building, with a metal helipad attached to one of the large towers. The towers were reserved for more dangerous inmates, while the ground floors were reserved for longer-term, lower-threat prisoners. Despite its almost archaic appearance, Hawthorn Residential Center is anything but archaic in its security. The one entrance to the facility that isn't electrified and surrounded by turrets is the main gate, a hulking steel door that had not opened in the last week. The only other way into the facility was to fly in and land on the helipad.

Blake would unknowingly awaken inside one of the towers in this facility, inside a cold, sterile room. He moaned as he clutched his head, feeling a sensation that Blake did not often feel- coldness. Blake's power normally kept him heated up, well above that of an average human, a very useful side perk that allowed Blake to withstand the cold much longer than your average Joe. Now, however, Blake felt the chill of the room grasping his body, which meant that either Blake had gotten sick (for whatever reason, even the least threatening of diseases shut his powers down pretty hard) or that something else was blocking his powers. Blake found the answer moments later in the form of a thick steel bangle clamped around his wrists. The bracelets were sturdy and tough, and had a ring of blue light pulsing from its core- isolene. Blake groaned as he scratched at his wrists. Whatever these cuffs were, they were clamped on tight, which meant no luck on just man-handling them off. Blake would need some sort of gadget to remove them, and he did not have access to any sort of gadget in this room. He didn't have any access to much of anything. Three thick stone walls surrounded him, a tattered mattress and equally tattered pillow sitting in the corner of the room. A fluorescent bulb that was attracting a couple moths hung above. The remaining wall was covered in what appeared to be black glass, a heavy-duty metal door next to it. Blake ran over and pounded on the glass, but his thuds did not so much as scratch the glass. Clearly, the Wings had prepared for this.

Blake's attack on the window did seem to stir some attention, and the glass suddenly turned translucent like normal glass, revealing three figures. One of them, Blake recognized all too well. Seraph, standing there in his stupid cream-colored suit, an eagle pin on his lapel, a smug grin on his face. Next to Seraph was a taller man, with tanned almond skin and an Indian look. Blake recognized this fellow as Mystiko, a longtime Wing of Law and a master telekinetic. He was one of the few Wings of Law that Blake had not come to hate, though the fact that he was allying with Seraph now, working with these EAGLES bastards, that instantly put him on his shit list. The last figure was the tallest of the three (which was saying something). The man's large body was covered in a thick black cloak that was tattered at the edges, and his head and face was covered by a black hood and a glittering platinum mask, respectively. The only thing visible on this man was his eyes, which were glowing with a sickly red color. Blake was not familiar with this fellow, and was glad that this was the case- he gave him bad vibes.

Seraph clasped his hand together with a triumphant grin. "Ah, Firebird, I see you've finally come to. Welcome to your new home! Isn't it lovely?”

Blake elected not to answer that question, instead electing to press both his hands against the glass angrily, baring his teeth. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Seraph? I knew you were a prick, sure, but this...this is ridiculous!" Blake shouted, which sprouted a good-natured laugh from Seraph, while the other two stood by, almost emotionless. "Ridiculous is a word you could use, though I will take it as a compliment, an expression of admiration for the new empire I'm building.” Before Blake could speak again, Seraph quickly continued. "Now, as much as I would love a chat with you, Mr. von Brandt, we have business to get to. I'm sure you're thinking that I'm going to ask about Ms. Donnelly, but you would be incorrect. I have no need for any of that information. You'll be happy to learn that Aria will soon be joining you here. No, I have a different question.” He paused, before staring at Blake through the mirror, his whimsical nature of speech being suddenly replaced by a cold and calculating manner. "I know that during your escapades at the mafia manor, Hugo Powers told you about the organization known as Zero. Hugo Powers, however, is now dead. I killed him myself. I watched him fall from the top of HERO One. He is gone." Ignoring Blake's mortified look, Seraph continued emotionlessly. "However, his secrets have died with him, and Division X has mysteriously vanished. You, however, may have the answers I need. Tell me everything you know about Zero, or everything that HERO knows about him. Be forewarned that if you do not cooperate and give me the answer I want, I will extract it from you, and it will not be pleasant.”

Blake stared up at Seraph defiantly, trying to ignore the blossoming sadness in his chest. "Never," he said firmly. "I'll never tell you, you evil bastard...and you'll never get it out of me! There's nothing you can do to me that'll make me give in! Nothing!" he spat.

"My dear Firebird, I'm sorry you chose that option, and I must disagree." Seraph turned to the hulking Grim Reaper man. "Nemesis, you may go ahead."

"If is necessary," the reaper man said, raising a gloved hand, as what appeared to be actual darkness danced around his hand. He then snapped his fingers crisply. "Rabbit hole."

For a few seconds, nothing happened, Blake just stared forwards at Nemesis, wondering what was going on. A few seconds later, still nothing. Blake, realizing nothing was going to happen, began to chuckle. All this build-up, for nothing. Blake laughed a few seconds more before he heard somebody call his name. Blake wheeled around to see a teenage girl, with pale skin and white-blonde hair, talking to high-school age Blake, wearing a Letterman jacket, backpack swung over his shoulder, a cocky but measured grin on his face. The smile fell as the girl spoke. "Blake, you're a really nice guy, and I'm going to miss you, but...I'm leaving," she said bluntly, looking up at the younger Blake, who quickly became crestfallen. "I'm going back home."

Blake remembered this scene of his younger years. His first break-up. Not his last. It wasn't exactly a memory he remembered fondly. As Blake watched the memory play out in his little cell, though, he was caught off-guard as the girl suddenly shouted, "It's because you're worthless! You're a terrible person and a terrible boyfriend! I'm going back to Norway and I hope I never see you again!" the girl hissed. Blake jumped back in shock. This was definitely not the memory that he had once had.

Suddenly, he was flying forwards in time, as he saw visions of girls he had once dated and broke up with fly past, flickering through his memories like a dated movie. He saw Rosa walk off, Jade board her flight, and then he saw Angie walk away, giving him the cold shoulder as she brushed past him. Blake tried to run after her, tried to talk, but it was clear he wasn't in control here. He looked around, confused and dazed, as he heard another voice chime in behind him. The honeyed, slightly Southern tone of his mother, Karen. "Why haven't you been able to hold onto a girlfriend, Blakey?" Blake could hear her voice echo throughout the cell, before her voice, just like all the others, turned cold. "I think I know why. It's because you're worthless. Worthless as a son, worthless as a boyfriend, worthless as a hero. You've never saved anybody. You've only hurt people. You might as well quit while you're ahead," his mother scolded. Blake wheeled around, feeling the pain sink into his chest like a knife, as he looked around. Standing in a circle around him now was all the people he had known. Tom, Will, Joseph, Brie, Jamie, Patricia, Eliza, her parents, Angie, his exes, even his own parents, all standing around him, repeating the same word like some sort of chant- "worthless." The word burrowed into his skull, each letter searing into his brain, as the sound only increased in his head. "Worthless." "Worthless." "Worthless."

Blake was a fairly resilient person, but he keeled over quickly, falling to his knees as he felt his mind betray him. He was worthless, wasn't he? Useless. That was why he never could hang onto a relationship, because he was just worthless. As these negative thoughts began to fester in his brain, the pounding and voices only increased, causing Blake to grab onto his head as he tried to fight it off. "I...no..." Blake managed as the voices increased. He looked around to see swarms of what appeared to be bats fly around him, though these "bats" were blue and red in color and were strange, one-eyed monsters, Leftovers of some kind. They fluttered around him in a swarm, circling him as the noise in his brain only got louder, and louder, and then they dove in, mouths wide open, rows of razor-sharp teeth ready to bite as they flew towards Blake, and the noise was only getting louder...

"Stop! Stop! I'll tell you everything! Just stop!" Blake yelled, resting on his hands and knees, panting and shaking his head like he had just run a few marathons consecutively. He then did something he never thought he could've done- he blabbed. He told Seraph and Nemesis everything Powers had told them a few months earlier. About what they knew about Zero, about how Zero liked to use puppets, and their cutthroat ways...it wasn't much, but it was still information that Powers had trusted them, and information he had just spilled to Seraph. As soon as he finished talking. Blake looked away, ashamed. "I am worthless," he whispered, mortified at himself, as Seraph and Nemesis faced each other. "Less than I thought, but still useful," Nemesis surmised. "I'll be off now." The cloaked figure turned on heel and walked away, disappearing into the shadows, as Seraph turned to face Mystiko. "Man the cameras and keep an eye on him. I have something to take care of," Seraph said, before walking off to the elevator, leaving Blake alone with his own "worthless" thoughts.

---

---

As soon as Tom gave affirmation, Priestess gave a wide smile and girlish shriek (of approval), before she quickly wrapped Tom in a hug. "I knew you would come around! Seraph said you wouldn't, but I knew you would!" she said, giving Tom a dazzling smile. The second part of the question seemed to lower the smile's brightness a few clicks, but she still kept a wide grin as she responded. "If you join us, I will make him," she said confidently, grabbing Tom's arm and pulling him to the edge of the rooftop. "We have to go, we're already late...let's fly together! Oh, we haven't done this in forever, I missed this..." she said, standing at the rooftop's edge and looking out across Kingsdale. She then, swift as a hawk finding its prey, leaned in, planting a full kiss on Tom's left cheek, and leaving a fresh lipstick mark like a bullseye in the center, before pulling Tom off the roof and beginning to fly.

Priestess may not have been the strongest superheroine, but she was an excellent flyer, and she guided Tom through the afternoon sky effortlessly, her wings flapping gracefully as she soared through the air, guiding Tom across Kingsdale to the bay. "This way!" she chirped, not unlike a bird, as she soared over the water, giving a couple midair twists as she flew towards Elmore Island, the fortress and tall towers becoming visible as the two zoomed towards it. Priestess guided Tom towards the helipad, soaring in and landing effortlessly on it with grace (not Grace). Standing on the pad, hands in his pockets, was Seraph, who had a very annoying sneer on his face. Priestess gestured towards Tom elaborately. "Tommy said he would love to join us, on the conditions you agreed to," she said, giving Seraph a puppy dog eyes look. Seraph gave a nod, looking at Tom with a cool, suspicious look. "If that's the case, follow me. And don't try anything. Emily, wait her," he commanded, guiding Tom towards the tower, to the elevator. Priestess waved good-bye and blew Tom a kiss as the elevator doors closed.

Seraph rode the lift down a few floors in silence, before the doors parted on a level that was labelled not with a number, but with a red triangle. Seraph stepped out, walking down the empty hallway. "I'm glad you've discovered your logic," Seraph said, stopping in front of the cell area. The glass was returned to black again, leaving the contents of the cell obscured. "I'll level with you now- I don't fully trust you. Yet. Your talents are admirable, no doubt, but your loyalty may lie elsewhere. So I'll offer you a deal," Seraph said, pressing a long finger against the black glass. The glass, as if by magic, glowed for a second before turning transparent again, revealing the cell's contents, including Blake, who was currently curled up on his mattress. "If you do exactly what I say, and don't attempt to undermine or double-cross me, I will release your friend. If you do so, I will force the poor fool to undergo some more...personalized therapy," Seraph said cruelly, looking over at Blake, who was almost quivering. It was a sorry sight. "Understood? Good. I'll give you two a moment, but be warned- I am watching, and any attempt to escape or do anything will be recorded and dealt with. Severely." With that, Seraph turned and walked over to the elevator, vanishing into the lift with a ding.

---

---

Meanwhile, across the city, near Rumi's lab, a strange vehicle pulled up behind the crowd. "Strange" was the only word that could describe the vehicle, which literally looked like an alligator. The hood of the car was stylized like an alligator's jaw, a long tail hung from the trunk, posing a severe traffic hazard, and the car was painted with an elaborate scale pattern. Stepping out of the car was a man dressed in a thick green suit, with purple highlights, and some gadgetry strapped to the suit. He was Caucasian, probably in his mid-40s, and bald, with green reptile eyes (or more likely, fancy contacts) and light stubble. The man, who those who were well-versed with crime would recognize as Snake Pit, a reptile-themed villain that had been arrested just over a week ago for trying to rob a bank with an acid gun, rushed through the crowd, pushing his way through, before popping out the front like a Jack-in-the-box.

Not wasting a second, he pulled a device from his back and activated it, releasing a wave of blue energy through the area, and disabling any pesky nanobots that were within a 50-meter radius. He then pulled a large blaster from his back, aiming it at Rumi. "Agent Snake Pit from EAGLES. New recruit. You are hereby under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, or else..." He thought for a moment, having forgotten the line. "You have the right to remain silent, or else get melted by an acid blast. Now put your hands up now or you get vaporized, nerd!"

He pumped his gun. This hero thing was actually pretty fun.

[Jumbus]

---

Merely hours after Seraph's address, Starbright held a live stream toward his fans. 'Tears of sadness' ran down his face as he address the matter of Eagles. "So *sniffle* by now you all have heard about Eagles. *sniffle* I am sorry to say but I, Starbright, was not invited to join. Seraph has ended my hero career, I will keep producing my music but it will *sniffle* be tough with this weight on my heart. All I wanted to do was *more intensive crying*, save... people. But that isn't even the worst part."

Starbright had to try his absolute hardest not to smile at this next part. Although it was his duty to help keep Patty safe, he couldn't lie and say he wasn't about to enjoy what he was about to say. "A good friend... no, one of my dearest friends in HERO, Patty Donnelly, is being hunted down by Seraph. *sniffle* She couldn't be capable of murder she is only a teen and that isn't even all of it. She was my... biggest fan. Now, thinking about her on the run, all I can think about is that it could have been any one of my fans *sniffle* in her situation. So yeah, thats the main reason I am in tears. Please don't let this go unnoticed, I started a hashtag, #savestarbrightsbiggestfan, it up to all of you to be the heroes now." Well there you go Patty, Starbright thought. Until you start putting yourself in the spotlight, everyone will think you're my biggest fan.

---

Later on mainstream Castleburg news, a much more composed and serious Starbright made his address to those who aren't teenage girls.

"I think Seraph and Eagles are going in the right direction, Castleburg certainly needs change and has needed it for a long time." Starbright cringed at how vague the term 'change' was. He knew better than anybody that is was merely a buzz word people like himself and Seraph use to get blind support on an empty promise of progress. "However, the dispanding of HERO has gone under the notice of every employee there until Seraph's address. I think everyone would like a few things cleared up first, which is why I, Starbright, will be looking to produce an exclusive interview with retired legend, Hugo Powers. The problem is he has gone dark for the past week, so if anyone has any clue on his whereabouts let me know immediately. Not that I want to throw any accusations of course. Now where were we, ah, my new albu..."

The interview continues with non-hero matters for the entirety of the broadcast. Starbright added in that line about accusations, this should spark some conspiracy wack jobs to start speaking about a potential Powers kidnapping. Whether Seraph had been responsible for that or not was irrelevant, right now Eagles just needed as much doubt on them as possible without directly confronting them.

---

[Scarifar]

Rumi was calmly arguing with a particularly confrontational hero about the lack of evidence between him and Patricia's mass murder case, and was soon able to get the hero to back off, having succeeded in convincing her. Almost immediately after, a peculiar-looking fellow barged into the lobby, shoving his way through the crowd, and emitted an EMP. It made contact with Rumi's energy shield, which flashed blue and disappeared as its power supply was depleted, rendering it inactive. Rumi knelt down, as if hurt by the sudden burst of energy. He wasn't, of course, but the pose would be helpful to him in the near future.

"Damage report," Rumi muttered under his breath. His suit's systems ran a quick diagnostic and displayed the information onto Rumi's glasses, confirming Rumi's devices had not failed him yet. The shield was down for the time being, but it had done its job absorbing and deflecting the EMP's energy, protecting Rumi's electrical equipment, including the hidden nanosuit within Rumi's three-piece. Rumi had thought it to be a good idea to Faraday cage the important areas of the Polamor Inc HQ, such as the labs and workshops, so those were also left unharmed. The same could not be said for the rest of the lobby, however. Much of the news reporters' equipment and any electrical gadgets the other heroes had were down, as well as many of the gadgets on display in the lobby. Rumi grimaced, thinking of just how much was being wasted due to this fool.

Rumi raised his hands up to appear as if he was surrendering, which seemed to do the trick as Snake Pitt walked forward, clearly confident about his current position. When he got close enough, Rumi muttered, "Suit up," activating his nanobots to form his suit. As they began to form around his body, Rumi went for Snake Pitt's gun arm, grabbing it as he twisted himself so Rumi's back was against him. Rumi then proceeded to pull Snake Pitt over his shoulder, flipping him over and smashing him onto the ground. While he was still disoriented, Rumi kicked away Pitt's gun and planted his knee on Pitt's chest to keep him from getting back up. Rumi also constructed a taser-like device over his right hand, stabbing it into a glowing portion of Pitt's suit in an attempt to overload any power supplies the suit contained.

"Emitting an EMP? In the middle of Polamor Inc. HQ? Idiot," Rumi scoffed. He switched to a grave, serious tone of voice and added, "Now, no more games, you slithering simpleton. Tell me everything you know about EAGLES' plans."

[canaryrose]

Jamie’s brows took on a furrowed tilt as she browsed through the racks of shirts. It was 8 days until her and Brie’s birthdays, but she was determined to find the perfect gift for her roommate. No lame gifters here! If Brie was going to get her a gift, then she might as well return the favor. But… she had no idea what Brie actually wanted, despite having lived with her for almost two months. So, naturally, Jamie had decided to head to their local Target. They had everything, after all- perfect for an indecisive gifter. In the weekday afternoon, the Target wasn’t nearly as crowded as it usually was. Most people were at work on a Tuesday afternoon. Even Jamie had planned on working today but, strangely, the mission database had gone down 2 hours ago and had not come back up. She had attributed it to technical difficulties and then, when it hadn’t come back up for a half hour, had decided to just go shopping instead.

She wasn’t finding too much, unfortunately. She had found a funny birthday card which now sat in her cart, but she had quickly gotten distracted by the clothes section. Maybe Brie would want some clothes? But Jamie couldn’t help but keep thinking of herself as she browsed through all the adorable maxi dresses and tank tops. After all, that dress with the embroidered floral hem would be so cute on her! And her last maxi dress had been kind of ruined by the combination of jumping into a pool and fighting ogres. No amount of detergent would ever get that smell out. Convincing herself against her better wishes, Jamie grabbed a gauzy embroidered floral dress off the rack and plopped it into her cart alongside the card.

Now that she had indulged herself, Jamie turned her cart towards the decorations section. Seeing a relatively clear aisle, a smile quirked on her face. Perfect. With a gleeful grin, Jamie kicked at the ground and put both of her feet on the cart, careening carelessly down the aisle. “Weeeeee!” she shouted, childlike, before seeing the decorations aisle and slamming her foot back onto the ground, stopping the cart in its track. She twirled it around into the aisle, beginning to browse through the decorations with a giddy smile still on her face. Hmmm… something bold, maybe? Bold, fun colors for Brie. Ooooh, this would be nice for Jamie’s wall…

When she was about halfway through the aisle, pawing through decorations, Jamie’s phone buzzed. And then buzzed again. And again and again and again… who was texting her so much?! Jamie snatched her phone out of her purse, opening it and swiping through her texts, stomping her foot. She was busy, damnit! She had five texts, all from different people. Her brow furrowed as she read them, her foot slowing its stomping. Four of them were from acquaintances, but one was from… Melissa? Her eldest sister, who she hadn’t spoken to in at least a year. “She never texts me,” Jamie muttered under her breath, shell-shocked. She opened the text quickly, worry starting to build up in her chest. Why would Melissa text her?

jamie wtf did you do???

ccn.com/former-heroes-wanted-for-mass…

Mel

Alarmed, Jamie opened up the article. She skimmed through it quickly, expression becoming more horrified by the second. HERO gone? Seraph taken over? Patricia accused of murder? Jamie scrolled through the article, jaw hanging open. She had to put her hand against the shelves to stabilize herself. Her heart began to pump with terror as she saw the photos of herself plastered across the article, alongside those of all her other friends. “FUCK!” she yelled out, an uncommon occurrence for Jamie. She needed to call someone. Brie, maybe? Blake? Tom? But first… well, she had to get out of here. She could leave the birthday shopping for later. Hands shaking on the cart, Jamie rolled it over to the checkout counter. She smiled numbly at the cashier, loading her items onto the belt (chocolate ice cream, a card, the dress, and a scented candle). Evidently, the cashier hadn’t seen the news yet, because she didn’t even blink at Jamie, only smiling and starting to scan her items. Jamie pulled out her phone, navigating to the group chat.

wtf is going on??? where r u guys we need to meet up, i’m in the target on 12th

Jamie

@Hitman

[Duoya]

@Zoey Boey

---

As it turned out, running around the city wasn't the smartest idea. Chad had combed through most of Watervale before deciding that running around the perimeter of each borough would be faster, and even then he barely found anyone! He stopped briefly in Brookside when he felt the IDD vibrate, but when he couldn't find anyone from a cursory glance, Chad simply kept moving. By the time he finished circling East Flank, Chad was getting very annoyed.

Isn't Castleburg supposed to be crawling in Supers? Seriously, where the hell does Mr.Powers even live?

The thought of stopping and heading home crossed Chad's mind - he was a member of several HERO Fanclubs, and if he asked around with the people he was friendly with (or, at least the people who didn't think he was a dweeb) he might have been able to find a stalker who knew something useful. He dismissed the idea, however. Powers wasn't very popular in most of the Fanclubs that Chad was a member of - Starbright and Christina Lavender were the real fan favorites that people knew creepy amounts of information about.

Chad sighed as he entered Passenger Island. It was likely that Chad wouldn't really find anyone - he was searching the perimeter of each borough, and outside of Brookside and certain portions of East Flank, most residential areas would be more internal rather than on the fringes of their borough. Combing through areas from the start would have been much more effective, rather than running around aimlessly.

When Chad finally received a notification again from his IDD. The buzzing caused Chad to nearly squeal in excitement - he had spent nearly 45 minutes running without anything to break the monotony of blurring buildings. And even with Super Speed, 45 Minutes felt pretty long when you were stressed about accidentally running into someone. Chad felt the device stop buzzing as he passed the person causing it, and he quickly turned around, slowing to a light jog as the IDD began to ring again.

"Oh thank god, I've been looking forever for someon-"

Chad finally noticed the source that tripped the IDD. He recognized the person instantly, with her being Chad's first true interaction in the world of heroics.

Pandora.

Their initial interaction had left Chad discouraged, but over the last week, he had time to think it from her point of view. She had obviously been right in their disagreement - heck, he could even forgive her for getting his super cool Hero name wrong, considering most people online did. Maybe it was easier than Chad thought.

Despite that, he was a little nervous meeting her again as his first person on his (self-appointed) secret mission. Chad was already feeling terrible today, and he really didn't feel up to being talked down to. James Bond was never talked down to on his secret missions. And James Bond didn't even have Super Speed, so Chad felt he should have a bit of an advantage in the coolness factor.

Chad shook his head - Pandora could really help the search, and finding Powers was the most important thing, not feeling good. With Powers, Chad might be able to get his job back! Noticing that he paused mid-sentence and hadn't spoken in a solid 5 seconds, Chad began to speak again.

"Oh, uh, hi there Pandora. I didn't know you worked at a flower shop... Are there any, uh, Hyacinths still blooming?"

Chad mentally cursed himself for trying to make small talk. He was supposed to be on a super cool secret mission, so running around the issue was wasting time!

"And hey, if you're not working right now and it's no biggie... Could you please help me look for Mr.Powers? I have no idea where he lives, and he seemed like he knew you when he introduced you."

Chad felt tempted to ask her why Powers decided to retire so suddenly, but considering she hadn't agreed to help yet, it could probably be saved for later. Besides, she might be just as surprised as Chad was on Powers sudden retirement.

Chad moved the IDD from under his arm to just being held by one of his gloved hands, the device in full view for anyone nearby.

[KaijuBaragon]

Tom grimaced as Priestess wrapped him in a tight hug, looking down at the back of her head. He was already feeling the guilt washing over him extremely strongly. That became even more so when he was walked to the edge of the roof and kissed him firmly on the cheek. He really hoped that they weren't being recorded right now, or he was about to look like the world's guiltiest man until he could find a way to send out a signal that he was just going undercover and not really betraying all his friends just because Priestess appeared and briefly flirted with him on a rooftop. He had a quick glance around - well, he couldn't see any cameras visibly, but in Castleburg you never knew who could be watching.

And then the pair were off, flying up nice and high into the air above the bustling city below. He kept a (he hoped) charming smile on his face as Priestess gripped his hand and lead him into a few fairly impressive aerial stunts, before they changed course and started to head towards a place he had never flown to in his life - Elmore Island. From a distance away, Tom could see that there was someone standing on the roof's helipad. As they got closer, Tom saw a pair of wings first and realised who it was. He could already feel the rage building up inside him as Seraph's smug form got closer and closer. At this point, Tom was seriously considering just letting go of Priestess and flying away as fast as he could. But he had already gone this far - and his undercover mission could be vital, and plus, he needed to get Blake released first.

Tom nodded curtly back at Seraph as they landed, trying to give off a calm demeanour. He looked back at Priestess as Seraph took him down inside the building, not smiling at her this time. There was definitely an awkwardness hanging in the air as Tom took the lift down a couple of floors with Seraph. When they reached their destination and the winged "hero" began talking about how he didn't fully trust Tom yet, Tom simply looked back, not entirely sure what he should say. He didn't want to openly profess his loyalty or anything. He went slightly pale, and then his eyes widened, as the wall next to them turned transparent to reveal Tom's best friend, a helpless prisoner. He went even more pale as Seraph mentioned personalised therapy, Tom having a fairly strong inkling that what he was talking about wasn't anything resembling conventional therapy.

All he could say to Seraph was "Alright." Before he was gifted a moment alone to talk to Blake. Tom immediately slipped into the room, as his mind raced on what he could say to Blake that would make him realise that Tom was undercover, but would not tip Seraph off. He reached Blake's quivering form and looked over it, still deathly pale. "Hi Blake..." Tom said awkwardly, at a loss for words for a few seconds. "I'm sorry... This is probably, like, really shocking for you, but I'm here now. I'm here with Seraph. He was right, so... I've joined EAGLES." He felt a deep weight in his stomach as he said that. "But they're gonna let you go, okay? Don't do anything stupid, just stop doing hero stuff..."

Tom paused. "It'll all be alright, Blake. Remember the mafia mission, it's just like that. EAGLES has the right idea about stuff, dude. It's a good thing they replaced HERO. I'll see you later." Tom quickly turned and walked out, not having the stomach to look at his best friend anymore. He just hoped that Blake had understood his hint regarding the mafia mission - where Tom had gone undercover.

Blake was smart enough to understand, right?

@Hitman

[canaryrose]

It was a perfect day to be out and about. The sun was shining, the brilliant blue sky void of any clouds. The city, as always, was bustling. Everybody, everywhere seemed to be in a good mood, bolstered by the good weather. It was the middle of summer vacation in Castleburg, so the city’s students had the freedom to run amok. In the borough of East Flank, where Patricia lived, summer was especially hopping. Farmers’ markets were open, selling all sorts of summer produce; the smells of street food wafted in the air, accompanied by all the rest of the typical city scent. It was hot out, the sun bearing down on passersby. It was a truly perfect day to be outside.

Unless your names were Patricia and Eliza.

Patricia was in an uncharacteristically good mood. A week ago, the Wings of Law (some of her least favorite people on the planet) had finally gotten their comeuppance. For what they had done to her and her friends, they had been fired from H.E.R.O. This week, Patricia hadn’t had to worry about any of those elitist snobs showing up to take her job or insult her- because they were all gone! Vengeance felt amazing.

What made her mood even better, though, was the presence of her girlfriend, Eliza. She had been so worried about her when they had been kidnapped, but Eliza had turned out alright, if a bit traumatized. Today, they were hanging out at Patricia’s apartment. Usually, they would hang out at Eliza’s place (it being much larger than Patricia’s two-bedroom, one-bath apartment), but Eliza had wanted a change of pace. So here they were, in Patricia’s apartment. It was pretty small. On the fourth floor of an apartment complex in East Flank, there was a great view of the street and alleyway outside of the apartment from the windows- but they had to be careful not to jump or run around so as to not disturb the people living on the lower floors.

They had neglected to tell Eliza’s parents, but Patricia’s mother had had to go to work that day, leaving the two of them alone in the apartment. In Patricia’s bedroom, with the door closed. Being alone with Eliza, no supervision, made Patricia’s heart light up with elation. Finally, they could have some fun! They were recording a song cover in Patricia’s bedroom for Eliza’s YouTube channel, Inviolisible. The music had been flowing for a good hour, the two of them doing take after take of the song, making sure that the product was perfect for the Internet. Noise-blocking headphones were clamped tight around Eliza’s ears as her fingers and her bow flew across the violin, and Patricia’s hypnotizing voice rang above it. She sang directly into a microphone, while Eliza played into another.

The gear was set up in the tight space of Patricia’s bedroom. Unable to squeeze a chair into the space with the tripod set up and the fancy mics, too, they had both resolved to sit on Patricia’s bed and record the song. Sheet music sat in front of the both of them, on stands under the mics. Patricia had a full bed, with a purple quilted comforter. There was a small wooden desk in the corner, set up with Patricia’s laptop. It currently looked rather abandoned- Patricia had not done any schoolwork since summer had started, so the desk hadn’t been used much. There was a sliding door along one wall. If opened, it would slide open to reveal Patricia’s dresser, some clothes, and a whole shitton of old stuff (backpacks, stuffed animals, dirty clothes, etc.) crammed in there. Fairy lights hung along the walls of Patricia’s room, and, above her desk, there was a row of clothesline clips. Pictures of her and her friends (Brie, Eliza, Tom, Grace, etc) hung from them, crowded onto the clips, along with a picture or two of her and her mother together. The window, which was to the right of the bed, had lacy white curtains hanging from it, currently open to reveal the alleyway below, and a fire escape directly below her window.

After an hour or so of recording, the two girls finished up, turning off their mics and chatting for a bit. Not wanting to go through the ordeal of taking it down, they left the camera and mics up in their spots. After they finished (mostly) cleaning up, they had intended to review the takes and see which one was best, and maybe refilm if needed. But then Eliza started talking about this new show she had heard was coming out on Netflix earlier that day, and, well… plans change. The two headed into the living room, leaving the equipment and Eliza’s violin in the room.

Patricia’s living room was a nice, homey affair. The floors were sturdy light-brown hardwood, but there was a blue area rug directly in front of the couch and a welcome mat in front of the door. There was a dark brown sofa along one of the walls, under a large window looking out onto the street below. There was also a matching armchair angled towards the television. They were both decorated with varying types of throw pillows. The sofa was dark brown and worn, looking comfortable and deep. Patricia knew that, if she sat in it while she was tired, its comfortableness would almost immediately lull her to sleep. The front door was only a couple feet away from the couch, along the same wall. The couch faced a television on a table, and the remote sat on a coffee table directly in front of the couch. Patricia and Eliza sat there and snuggled up under a soft quilt, turning on the television and navigating to Netflix, turning on the new show.

An hour later, Patricia found herself drifting off, unable to keep her eyes open for very long. Nestled under the warm blanket, it was difficult to stay awake. But she wanted to stay awake, so she crept out of the blanket carefully, making sure not to rip it off of Eliza. She glanced down at the other girl, planning on suggesting that they do something else, before noticing that she was peacefully asleep. Her heart melted. She looked so cute sleeping there, so Patricia resolved to leave her alone until she woke up. But what to do until then… hm…

Just then, Patricia suddenly remembered something that was sitting in her pantry. Yes! That was such an awesome idea! That weekend, her mom and her had bought a box of angel food cake mix, ingredients to make whipped cream, and strawberries. Her mom hadn’t ended up having enough time to bake it that weekend, so the strawberries would spoil unless Patricia ate them. She had been planning to eat them as snacks, but this was a much better idea! She could make strawberry shortcake!
It would be such an awesome surprise for Eliza. Patricia tip-toed into the kitchen. The kitchen was right off the living room, so it wasn’t much of a trek. She pulled out the ingredients she needed and got to work.

For the next hour, she baked as quietly as possible. After all, this needed to stay a surprise. She had turned off the television but ended up putting on some soft classical music from Spotify while she baked. The instructions on the box were simple enough, and she had everything she needed. Every so often, she’d glance into the living room, checking to see if Eliza was still napping. Once the cake was done, she took it out of the oven and smeared whipped cream all over it. It had three layers, and she put small-cut strawberries in between each, along the sides, and on top. She couldn’t help herself, though- she had ended up eating a quarter of the strawberries that were in the container, and did lick both bowls clean.

Finally, around 3:00, she was finishing up. Mozart played quietly in the background as she put the finishing touches on the cake. It didn’t look professional, but it looked… nice. Especially considering Patricia was not awesome at cooking. She didn’t have one of those spout thingies, so she had just used the spatula (and, admittedly, her fingers) to smear the whipped cream around. The only thing left at this point was to make plates and then wake Eliza up. She leaned back and smiled, satisfied with herself.

Then, when she least expected it, there was a sound of sudden feet on the floorboards. Patricia blinked, confused, and then sort of sad. Had Eliza woken up already?! Damn, she’d wanted to set up a romantic table and everything too…

"Patricia?" A voice yelled out from the living room. Patricia raised her brows. That wasn’t Eliza. "We need to go. Soon. And by soon, I mean right now."

Oh! Grace! Patricia scowled. Just like Grace to come in here and ruin her day with some stupid mission… she raced to the living room as soon as she heard her, putting two fingers on Grace’s lips and pulling her into the kitchen, shushing her. She had whipped cream smeared across her cheek, which she was unaware of, and flour dusting her dress.

“Grace!” Patricia hissed, gesturing for Grace to keep her voice down. “You couldn’t have knocked?! Eliza’s sleeping.” She glanced at Eliza, who had somehow remained asleep through all that. “Good, you didn’t wake her up. Can whatever mission this is wait? I made a surprise cake for her, and we’re going to eat it and then, like…” Patricia almost said kiss, but caught herself and blushed scarlet. “Pleaseee? I’ll let you have some with us!” She looked up at Grace with puppy eyes, clasping her hands together and puffing out her lip.

@Hitman@Amethyst

[Zoey Boey]

Pandora crossed her arms and frowned as somehow, the first person she met was Chad Connors, otherwise known as The Bullet.

"Just my luck," She complained to herself under her breathe. Pandora hadn't realised she had developed a habit of talking to herself over the last few decades.

He zoomed past her store, took a moment to slow down, and then jogged back up to her. He seemed to be taken aback and he just kind of stood there for five seconds. Truth be told, Pandora had often done the same thing, so she couldn't exactly blame him. She waited surprisingly patiently for him to collect his thoughts.

Unfortunately, he used the time to come up with small talk, which earned him an incredulous and condescending look. "No." She answered simply. Though she was surprised he even knew what Hyacinths were.

The next thing out of his mouth was no better. He proved he had no idea what was going on. He also had one of those IDD thingies on him. "Give me that." She reached out and snatched the device from his hands, promptly turning it into another fancy rock, disabling it temporarily. She glanced around. Bullet wasn't exactly the most subtle "Superhero" around.

"C- gah, come in, come inside. Don't touch anything." She ordered harshly, opening the door and letting Chad inside.

Once the two were inside, Pandora took a moment to collect her thoughts. "Right. Listen to me, Bullet; you know Seraph, from the Wings of Law? He's done a little thing called a coup d'état. Hugo Powers is probably dead. If he's not dead, he's not around to help you. So I don't think there's much point looking for him, at least not until everyone has got themselves sorted. If the people at HERO are as smart as they hope, one or two of them may show up at my flower shop. That's what I'm waiting on." As she talked, she went behind the cashier's counter and leaned on it, staring at the two geodes that used to be IDD's.

"It's important that we disable these devices. I'm fairly certain EAGLES can track us using them." She explained. Truth be told, Pandora felt a bit like a fish out of water. If she was in charge of HERO, she would already begin making plans to assassinate Seraph and take back control. But she wasn't in charge. And she didn't even know if Seraph was that bad. She didn't know where the priorities of the now fugitives would lay. She would be taking up a support role, which wasn't something she was used too.

"My plan right now is to wait for someone in charge to show up." She looked the Bullet up and down, considering him. "Maybe you should just go home. Sit this one out." She offered. Someone like Chad would probably do okay under EAGLES. "You don't owe anything to HERO." Pandora added. Her tone was muted, but there were undercurrents of a cynical protectiveness.

[Hitman]

_{Hawthorn Residential Center
Elmore Island
Kingsdale (Off-Shore), Castleburg}

Blake drifted in between consciousness and sleep as he sat, hunched over, on the mattress, his eyes staring plainly at a particularly large hole on its side. He snapped out of it, however, as he heard the door open. Blake wasn't the type to be easily scared (alright, he could get a little scared sometimes, but not my opening doors, usually), and under normal circumstances Blake would be unphased, but he nearly jumped through the ceiling as he heard the door open, his head whipping around in a split second as he looked over to see who had walked in, hoping like all hell that whoever it was didn't have on any sort of cloak and hood. He quickly settled down as he saw Tom- oh, he had never been happier to see his face!- walk in, before the realization hit him. If Tom was here, they had surely gotten him too, right? That couldn't be good. Still, Blake was, in a selfish way, glad that Tom was there. At least they were stuck together.

"Hi Blake..." Tom said awkwardly, seemingly at a loss of words for a moment, before continuing. "I'm sorry... This is probably, like, really shocking for you, but I'm here now. I'm here with Seraph. He was right, so... I've joined EAGLES. But they're gonna let you go, okay? Don't do anything stupid, just stop doing hero stuff..."

The words hit Blake like a punch to the gut. Never in a million years had he ever thought that Tom would take Seraph's side, the side of his captors. Tom had ripped up plenty of Wings of Law invitations in the past, hadn't he? Why would he now decide to switch sides? It didn't make any sense in Blake's mind, not a bit, as he leafed through years worth of friendship. Lost in thought, he distractedly listened to Tom continue. "It'll all be alright, Blake. Remember the mafia mission, it's just like that. EAGLES has the right idea about stuff, dude. It's a good thing they replaced HERO. I'll see you later."

Blake wasn't sure if it was the way that he had worded the sentence, or just his own faith pulling through, but he understood. Tom wasn't joining the Wings because of them, he was joining because of him! Seraph must've cut him a deal or something, and Tom figured that he could help Blake out by going along with it. The moment of joy at Blake's understanding was cut short, however, by a sudden realization. He had fucked up again. Blake's own stupidity, his own failure, his own worthlessness had screwed up not only himself, but his friend as well. Blake put his head in his hands, groaning, as Tom left. The headache had been gone for a hot second, but it was back now at full force, tearing into his brain like a sharp dagger. "FUCK!" he declared loudly as Tom had gotten to the door, tugging at his scarlet hair as the migraine only continued to press into his head.

As Tom exited, Seraph walked down the hallway, looking as smug as ever. He adjusted his tie as he looked at Tom. "Talk as we walk?” he proposed, striding down the corridor, wings folded neatly behind him. "He's not exactly in good shape, is he? Didn't seem to handle everything very well...don't worry, you have my word that he will be safe if you comply. He'll be back to normal so long as you don't try anything,” Seraph said as they entered the elevator, riding it down into the facility. It dinged a few floors later, and Seraph walked out into the elaborate room. The room was almost like a medieval version of the HERO Common Room, with gray stone walls, golden chandeliers, velvety coaches, and oak tables. A fireplace crackled in the corner, and a large TV screen was mounted on the wall, a bunch of green dots with the gang's names- Joseph, Grace, Patricia, Eliza, Jamie, Rumi, and Tom himself. "This tracks cell phones. We're using it to hunt down these degenerates," Seraph explained, gesturing to the screen. "It seems that Static is in Utica, attending some sort of electrician's convention. We don't have the time or resources yet to deal with her; we'll just take her down once she gets back to the city. That leaves 5 remaining. Sea Serpent, status?”

Sea Serpent floated over on a platform of water, sitting lazily on top. ”The two new agents are en route to apprehend Quake. Odds are, they're going to get demolished, but hopefully we can wear her down enough to the point where we can swoop in and take her out without much difficulty.” Her finger moved from Jamie's dot lazily over to Rumi. ”Across the city and IQ scale, Snake Pit is currently in conflict with Sir E. Brum. I'll check in on him in a second. I don't anticipate any problems from the nerd, but best to keep an eye on him. Phil is heading after the drunk one, should be an easy wrap there. Why did we include him on the list again?”

Seraph clenched his teeth. "Personal reasons. What about the last three?”

”Right, the Three Musketeers of 'bleargh.' Squinty seemed to have the brains to dump her phone, which Blister learned the hard way after digging through pounds of frozen fish. He's heading up to Kingsdale to her apartment now, thought I doubt the ugly beaver is heading there. She's probably out of town by now, but can't hurt to check.”

Seraph smiled at this. "Our new ally may be able to help hunt her down. But she isn't top-priority at the moment. The other two?”

”Wimpy and Grouchy are actually both at Grouchy's apartment. Billy is heading there now, along with two other new EAGLES recruits.”

Seraph nodded. "Excellent. I have big plans for the girl...anyway, Tom, as you can see, our plans are all coming together nicely. You picked the right side, that much I'll tell you.” Seraph put an arm around Tom's shoulders, like he was suddenly Tom's long-lost father and not nemesis up until this point. Seraph smiled at this. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a quick job for you to do. This Starbright fellow, he's been a real pain in our ass, recently. Not like you and your crew have been, mind, but he's been peddling conspiracy theories about the mysterious retirement of Hugo Powers...he's a nuisance, and I want him taken care of. Take him out. Lethally, non-lethally, doesn't matter. It would go a long way to helping your friend get a better home, if you catch my drift.” He paused. "Take Cynthia with you. Cosmetica, get over here!"

A young woman that looked roughly Tom's age sauntered over. Her face was covered with comical amounts of makeup, that made her look almost like a clown, and she had long, extremely shiny blonde hair that was tied up in a titanic up ponytail. She was wearing a jean jacket and jeans, a pink t-shirt with a rainbow peace sign underneath, and she had on extremely tall heels. That being said, she had a good build and, if she hadn't chosen to dress like a buffoon, could've been quite good-looking. Cynthia grabbed Tom's hand and shook it enthusiastically. "Nice to meetcha, nice to meetcha."

"The two of you, head to Starbright's penthouse and take him off the map," Seraph commanded. "I have a nice helicopter on top; you can use that to reach him. Good luck," Seraph said, before walking off to talk to the other heroes, leaving Tom and Cynthia alone. Cynthia shrugged and walked down to the elevator, beckoning Tom to come along. She texted all the way on her glittery pink phone as the elevator chugged up to the helipad at a stupidly slow rate, dinging as it reached the top floor. Cynthia stepped out towards the white-and-gold luxury helicopter parked on the pad. "I call flying this bad boy!" Cynthia said eagerly, running around to the other side and hopping into the pilot's seat. "Get in!"

Once Tom was in and strapped up, the helicopter took off, fluttering off of Elmore Island slowly. The helicopter was extremely luxurious, with comfortable leather chairs and seat warmers, gorgeous interior design and a magnificent loading bay, and a television mounted above the passenger seat, right where Tom was sitting. The TV was currently featured Jack Roberts on CCN Headline, and several pictures of Tom on the rooftop earlier, including one with Priestess' lips planted on Tom's cheek, was currently on-screen. Though there was no sound at the moment, the headline read "SPACEWALKER X PRIESTESS- GRAVITY HERO NEWEST ANNOUNCED MEMBER OF FRESHLY-FORMED EAGLES SQUAD."

Cosmetica, one hand on the steering yoke and the other hand pulling at her blonde hair, shook her head. "Poor Grace. She's going to be crushed," she mused as she pulled the messy wig of blonde hair right off, revealing a head of shorter, hibiscus-red hair. She grabbed a wipe from her pocket, patting at the makeup on her face, before tossing it aside, looking over at Tom with a wide smile. "So, how did you end up in this mess?" Christina Lavender asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement and daring as she grinned at Tom.

@KaijuBaragon@Jumbus

---

---

_{Polamor Inc. Headquarters
Castleburg}

Meanwhile, Snake Pit was on the ground, looking rather sorry for himself as Rumi planted his knee into his chest. He struggled to wiggle himself free, but found himself totally pinned to the ground. This Rumi fellow looked like a simple breeze would send him to the ground, but his wiry frame actually packed quite a punch. Furthermore, the bastard had used some sort of mini-EMP stick or something to turn off all his armor and his acid gun. This was turning out to be much more of a pain in the ass than Sea Serpent had told him it would be. Still, Snake Pit was not a villain just because of fancy gadgets. He had his own powers too, and this Sir E. Brum loser was about to get a taste of that.

"EAGLES? Up to?" Snake Pit said innocently, before activating his powers. A plume of green gas rose from Snake Pit's body and, as if acting on its own, flew towards Rumi's face like a moth moving after a light. The green gas, toxic if inhaled, continued to attack Rumi, though the hero would find that the gas was light enough to simply be blown away by a simple exhalation. However, Snake Pit was using this opportunity to jump to his feet and find a weapon. His power armor had been disabled, as had his acid blaster and acid pistol, but he had still had one more trick up his sleeve. Literally, up his sleeve.

Snake Pit removed a stiletto knife from a hidden cache in his sleeve, twirling it in his fingers, before yelling a war cry and charging at Rumi, knife in stabbing position, as he tried to lethally take out Rumi. Of course, this was a horrible idea, but Snake Pit wasn't paid to make good ideas, he was paid to kill people, and right now, so long as Rumi stood still and didn't attempt to dodge or fight back, Snake Pit would be collecting his check. Of course, it never worked like that in real life, but it couldn't hurt to give it a try, right? Right?

@Scarifar

---

---

_{Target™
Castleburg}

Meanwhile, Target was having a regular business day when a thing burst through the wall. "Thing" was the only word to describe the...thing that had blasted through the wall of the Target so suddenly. He (or perhaps more accurately, it) was tall, very tall, at a similar size to a bull ogre, and had dark, forest green skin. He (or it) had dreadlocks of knotty black hair falling in front of his brown, bloodshot eyes, and he was wearing a tank-top for giants and tattered pants. He looked like if Bob Marley had said goodbye to THC and hello to "troll," which was what it (or he) looked like- an actual troll.

Dungeon Troll, a former villain and newly-hired EAGLE, pushed past some screaming women and stalking towards the checkout aisles. As cashiers fled, passed out, or both in his wake, Dungeon Troll stalked his way over towards Jamie, staring at her and raising his massive muscular arms above his dreadlocked head. He then released a guttural roar, so loud and obnoxious that it echoed throughout the entire department store, before slamming the ground, sending a shockwave towards Jamie that was more than enough to knock her off her feet, if she hadn't gotten out of the way already.

Meanwhile, from the other side of the department store, a man in Roman garb walked over. Nero strutted over with confidence clear in his steps, holding a large frying pan in his hand. With a snap of his fingers, the pan part began to morph and distort itself, stretching into a long metal club, which Nero spun in his hand. "It's time for a clobbering, wouldn't you say?" he jested, raising his makeshift club over his head. "For the glory of Rome!"

@canaryrose

---

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_{The Streets of Castleburg}

Joseph, not too long after sending his call, found his phone practically erupting with static, so much so that anything Brie could possibly say was overrun by crackling. One moment later, a wiry figure jumped out from an alleyway directly in front of Joseph's scooter. "Wiry" was a word that is much more literal in this instance than in normal use. The figure was not thin and lithe, he was actually composed of wires. His body was made of knotted-together black wires, running up and down like skin and roping into hands and feet, copper tips forming a sort of fingernail. His head was also just a knot of wires as well, albeit a knot that was shaped eerily similarly to a human head. What appeared to be two pieces of reddish glass made up his eyes, and some slack around the mandible area gave him a mouth. This was Wire-Man, one of the Wings of Laws' most loyal enforcers.

Wire-Man, standing a few feet fearlessly in front of Joseph's scooter, raised his arm, and his arm began to lengthen like a yo-yo, unraveling and shooting towards Joseph's scooter. His coppery fingers wrapped around the handlebars, and then Joseph's scooter, right there in the middle of the road, died. Sparks flew from the tips of Wire-Man's copper fingers as he drained the scooter dry of every spark of electricity it had. Wire-Man stared at Joseph, dead in the eyes, quiet as ever.

He then lifted his wiry arms and began to slap Joseph, over and over. The slaps weren't devastating, sure, but considering this was a man made out of actual wires, it definitely hurt more than it should. There, in the middle of the road, Wire-Man attempted to slap Joseph to death. Fun. It was a slow and ineffective way to kill somebody, but Wire-Man didn't seem to care. Perhaps he thought that Joseph was a pushover, one that he could toy with a little on this assignment. After all, that was what his file said.

@Rabidporcupine

---

---

Grace felt like a knife had been twisted through her heart as Patti walked over to her with an irritated scowl on her face, covered in whipped cream and flour, trying to shush her to prevent her from waking up Eliza, who was asleep on the couch. Grace had a pained expression on her face as she shook her head. "This isn't a mission, Patricia, agi," Grace said softly, trying to deliver the news in a way that would traumatize the girl the least. Considering the gravity of the situation, Grace decided that trying to sugarcoat it was a plan that was doomed to fail, so she took a deep breath and delivered the news. "The Wings of Law staged a coup. They did something to Powers- killed him, maybe, the thought is so awful...- and they've made a new hero company to replace HERO called EAGLES, a bunch of handpicked goons and other traitors. And they've framed you for murdering a bunch of people and they've plastered your face- and all of ours- everywhere on the city. Mr. Impressive and his gang of cronies are going to be here in any second, and if we don't hurry, the rest of your cake date is going to be in a Coldwater cell, so you'd better hurry." Grace said, before she paused and quickly added, "I didn't mean that last part! You're going to be fine, I'm going to get you out of here, OK? Go pack a bag, get some stuff that you need if you're going to stay away for a while, and we'll go and we'll fix this whole mess. Now seoduleuda. Go. I'm going to set something up for those jabjong shits..." she said ominously, giving Patricia a quick hug before walking out of the kitchen. As she moved briskly through the apartment, she grabbed the TV remote, flicking it onto the news channel, causing Patricia's face (an unflattering picture for sure) to suddenly blink onto the TV screen, as a newscaster's voice projected through the apartment, "-if anybody has seen this elusive murderer, please inform EAGLES at the number 212..." As the newslady continued on, Grace walked to the apartment's doorway. She had work to do.

Grace flipped over the area rug by the doorway and, after a moment of concentration, opened a large rectangular portal underneath the carpet, just smaller than the carpet itself in area, before laying it back down. She moved out into the hallway, doing the same for every place that had an available carpet. She then carefully retreated into the apartment, admiring her handiwork. With luck, her traps would be able to slow Mr. Impressive down a good bit, help buy the girls some time to plan a course of action. Nodding, she carefully crept over to the living room, opening an ovular portal in the middle of the room. "Patti, let's go, wake up Eliza if she's not already-" Grace began, before she saw a disturbing image on the screen. Tom's picture was square in the middle of the screen, and Jack Roberts was speaking words that Grace did not want to hear. "Spacewalker, a well-known and popular hero in his own right, is going to be joining Castleburg's newest hero company, EAGLES. Seen here, it seems as though the hero is picking up with old flame Emily Morgan, better known as Priestess..." Jack Roberts continued to talk about EAGLES, but Grace didn't register it at all, her eyes instead staring blankly at the picture on the screen, Tom at the edge of the rooftop, Priestess leaning in, her ruby-red lips planted squarely in the middle of Tom's cheek...Grace's hand gravitated up to her chest, her fingers clutching at the flesh right above her heart, as she just stared, feeling some water come to her eyes.

"No," she muttered, shaking her head fervently, as if denying the photo's existence would somehow cause it to magically vanish. "No, no, it can't be..." she said, her voice whispery and alarmed, her heart still trying to convince her brain an obvious lie. Unfortunately, her heart didn't stand a chance, and Grace's voice quickly rose, louder than she had ever known it to go as she yelled, "Baesinja! Traitor!" Her stare hardening into a glare, she clenched her fists tightly. "He...they...I...no...I am going to KILL them BOTH," she finally managed to
splutter out, her violet eyes flushed with anger and hurt. If Patricia's appearance, naive and carefree, had put the knife in, this scene on the news had sent it all the way through.

Grace was not one to dwell in the past, though, and she quickly returned to business as soon as her brain said she could. She turned to Patricia and Eliza, who certainly could not have slept through her outburst unless she was really tired. "Let's go. We're going to head to the new hero, Pandora's, place. A flower shop. She's new, so they won't list her as a potential conspirator, they won't be checking...hopefully she'll be willing to help us. I'll go through first, make sure the portal is safe, considering I only know the address and haven't been to the store yet. Once I'm through, follow me quickly. Make sure you leave your phones here. HERO could track them, so I can only assume EAGLES have inherited that capability. We'll...we'll figure this out together. OK?" With that (attempted) motivational speech, one that was probably not very strong considering it was coming from a crying girl, Grace carefully stepped through the portal.

The Korean girl materialized inside of Pandora's Potts, almost knocking down a nearby pot of plants in the process. After landing safely on the ground, Grace reached a hand through the portal, waved for the two to come through, before turning to look at Pandora. Grace, despite being an awarded hero, felt a strange sense of inferiority before this woman, who hardly looked much older than herself. Grace took a deep breath. "Ms...Pandora?" Grace said, not remembering whether or not she had a last name. She should've had one, but Grace seemed to be drawing a blank, unusual for someone of her caliber memory. "I'm sorry for the intrusion, I hope I'm not bothering you...I'm Grace Mok, or Bypass...Patti and Eliza, I mean, Murmur and Aria, are coming through in a moment. I'm not sure if you've seen the news, but we're in some trouble and if we could just hold out here for a bit, it would be greatly appreciated." Grace spoke with as much politeness as she could muster. To be frank, she didn't know where else to turn at this point, so this flower shop may be their best bet at escaping the Wings of Law. "Again, sorry for barging in, but teleporting onto the street would've been suspicious, and the Wings might've picked it up," she explained, looking at Pandora meekly. The fact that her eyes were teary probably weren't helping her case.

@Duoya @Zoey Boey @canaryrose @Amethyst

---

---

[Duoya]

@Zoey Boey@Hitman

---

"Give me that."

Chad paused and looked around, before remembering the IDD he held in his hand. Beneath his mask he raised an eyebrow, gently handing off the device to the woman in front of him. Did Pandora lose her IDD and needed to borrow Chad's for some reason? The younger hero had spent the last few days playing around with the device, attempting to familiarize himself with something he expected to be of vital importance for his future hero caree-

With only a few seconds of touching the device, Pandora had swiftly turned it into a rock. Chad's face paled as he saw this, recalling how Powers had described the dozens of functions the device performed, and how expensive that it had all sounded. And even if the rock it was turned into looked very pretty, Chad couldn't care less about Geology.

"W-... Why the heck did you do that!? I only had one of those-"

Pandora looked around as she spoke again, cutting Chad off. "C- gah, come in, come inside. Don't touch anything."

Chad frowned as she opened the door to her shop. The younger Hero was used to being bossed around, but very rarely did people break his stuff before that! He followed her inside, being cautious to avoid any of the flowers on display. Marigolds, Hydrangea, Petunias, and a wide variety of other plants decorated the store space. Chad briefly considered purchasing something but decided against it almost immediately. Not only was he busy trying to find Powers, but Chad also had no green thumb whatsoever - In his youth, he had killed 13 Cacti because he had overwatered them.

Pandora paused, and Chad waited for her to speak. At first, he felt very conflicted - while it was disappointing that HERO Was disbanded, Chad hadn't been a part of the organization for very long. Hell, many people would say he was never part of it. On the other hand, a coup was badass! That was how Napoleon ended the French Revolution!

Things quickly became less cool as Pandora continued to speak, however. Powers was really the only person that Chad could say he knew in HERO, even if it was through the briefest of interactions. Chad tried to remove himself from the situation and think of things logically - Powers had been hit by a man weighing over 200 pounds who was moving a few hundred miles per hour, and he hadn't budged an inch. And even with that in mind, he had survived even more intense attacks during his Hero Career as the Invincible Warmonger. Seraph and Mr. Impressive would be lucky to break his arm, let alone kill him...

But Sea Serpent could just drown him. Even if he was bulletproof, Power's wasn't waterproof - he needed to breathe as much as anyone else. It wasn't just possible for Seraph and his Wings of Law to kill Powers, it was very easy for them. And while Chad could think of many reasons that they would benefit from killing him, the things that encouraged them to leave Powers alive seemed so few in number...

Nope! Chad didn't like to think that Powers was dead. Chad liked Powers, and didn't want to think about him dying.

So Chad just ignored the possibility. Powers wasn't dead. Things might change if Chad saw a body, but for right now, Powers was alive and healthy in the young hero's mind.

"W..." Chad was about to question why Pandora assumed HERO would send people to her shop in particular but decided against it. Powers seemed to know her and regarded her with respect. She might have connections to HERO that Chad just didn't know about. Besides, she might not want to explain something like that, especially to someone she hardly knows.

"It's important that we disable these devices. I'm fairly certain EAGLES can track us using them."

Chad followed Pandora's gaze, looking at his once beautiful IDD. It was upsetting to lose the only thing that really identified him as a Hero, but Chad could understand the reasoning. If EAGLES was after everyone who used to work for HERO, then anyone who had one of those devices was at risk. Thinking back to the various interviews he had participated in during his application process, Chad pulled his phone out of his pocket and held it up to show Pandora.

"They have my number - do you need to brick my phone too?"

Now that Chad thought about it... How could someone with the Power to swim through the ground turn things to rocks? Maybe she could control earth or something? 'Pandora' didn't really relate to the ground at all though...

"Maybe you should just go home. Sit this one out. You don't owe anything to HERO."

Chad shook his head fast, tripping over his words as he spoke.

"I-I can't just go home, especially right now! If Seraph is as bad as everyone says he is, there's no way I cou- I can just let him go!"

Chad attempted to scratch the back of his head, but when his gloved hand touched his helmet, he moved his hand back awkwardly. He continued to speak, attempting to cover for this blunder.

"B-besides, Aria and the other Heroes are criminals right now, right? They're Heroes - good people. If I can help them, then I can't just sit around and do nothing, right?"

Chad thought about adopting a cool pose to accentuate his statement but decided against it when a portal appeared suddenly in the middle of the room. He physically jumped back before realizing the owner of the portal, the same woman he had talked to only a week ago. It seemed Pandora was right about HERO coming to her shop.

Chad considered offering his place at Percy's, but that wasn't really viable - the room he lived in was cramped for a single person, let alone everyone the Wings of Law was chasing after right now. And offering to house that many people without even asking Percy was just rude as heck. His Parent's house was big enough, but-

But that wasn't an option. Pandora was really the only person who could help these people. When Chad noticed that Grace was tearing up, he spoke out.

"A-are you okay?"

Chad mentally berated himself again - of course she wasn't alright, she was being chased by EAGLES and had only a single place to turn to for help. It's obvious she would be crying, Idiot!

[Scarifar]

At the sight of the green gas, Rumi leapt to his feet and away from Pit, holding his breath. Rumi had prepared for such a scenario, ever since the Wings of Law had gassed Blake's party, and he was not about to fall into the same trap twice. O2: On, Rumi thought, and the nanobots covering his head began to rearrange themselves, sealing in a pocket of air while leaving outside air inaccessible. A timer popped up on his hud, showing a "O2 1:30" that counted down by the second. The green gas continued to float around Rumi's head, but it was incapable of reaching him inside his suit. He was safe from it for the time being.

Meanwhile, Pit had recovered and was now charging at him with a small knife. Rumi began to Overclock, making his observations within his time-slowed perception. From what he could tell, Pit's knife was nothing more than a simple piece of sharp metal. It was unlikely to pierce Rumi's armor, but one could never be too careful. As for disabling Pit, it was a simple matter. Disabling Overclock, Rumi placed a hand on his chest as the nanomachines shifted and retrieved a few Tar Bombs from within a pocket in Rumi's three-piece suit. Rumi armed and threw them towards Pit, and they proceeded to to roll until they exploded, covering Pit in a tar-like substance that would proceed to harden within seconds. Most of his body would be immobilized, but his head would still be uncovered.

Rumi walked over to Pit, concentrating a mass of nanobots at his arm to construct a thick barrel with a hollow chamber. Pointing it at Pit's head, Rumi began to threaten, "One last chance while I'm still feeling merciful. Tell me everything you know about EAGLES' plans." Pit would see the inside of the barrel glow red and hear it hum deeply as it charged up its shot. The blaster itself was on its lowest setting, designed to incapacitate and not kill, but Pit didn't need to know that.

[DarkRecon]

Alpha / K Nine

Location: Pandora's Potts

Interactions: Anyone present at Pandora's Potts

Note: The passage with the italic font was done with Hitman on Discord.

A black sports motor cycle soon pulled up to the corner of the street just some distance away from Pandora's Potts. What made this odd was the rider himself. He was all dressed up in what appeared to be a black CPD SWAT uniform. Some weapons were even attached on his person. But when you consider the chaotic situation that was taking place in Castleburg right now, perhaps the sight itself wasn't that odd.

But for Alpha aka K Nine, it felt almost like he was in a war zone.

At the moment, he was just going off of what second commander Christina had told him but had a feeling he'd find one or more of the "targets" here at Pandora's Potts. After all, after what Christina told him about Pandora...her heroic exploits over multiple lifetimes...who she REALLY was of all thing among little info's on her. Considering Powers himself is M.I.A. and second commander Christina was conducting her own investigation into this matter, the only true "senior" that anyone could trust right now with leadership was Pandora.

As he parked the motorcycle in a nearby alley, he quickly reflected on information he had learned about...one of which a conversation he had with his comm's device.

* * * * * * * * * *

"...K Nine reporting Detective...", he said monotone.

A gruff, hardened tone rattled back through the comm, an older man's voice, perhaps in his 50s, a battle-weary tone weaving through his words. "Hear you loud and clear. What's the situation over there?" the voice barked.

"...put bluntly sir, not good...it seems the EAGLES found your s-...got to suspect Firebird first. He..."resisted arrest" by assaulting hero Rubber Man. Despite using some high tech weapon, he defeated him but was weakened enough for a second individual to incapacitate him. Witnesses state that they drove off with him in a plain black van. Unmarked and no license plates...", K Nine reported, correcting his earlier part of the statement.

Roger von Brandt was currently driving a Mr. Softee's Ice Cream truck through New Athens, looking for clues or anything that could help as he made his way through the area. As his vehicle stopped at a red light, he lifted his microphone, so to avoid burdening Alpha was unnecessary noise, before looking over his shoulder. "I don't know why the fuck I'm now an ambulance driver..." he grumbled, looking at the person in the back of the ice cream truck. Instead of ice cream, the truck was currently storing a tall, black, muscled man, covered in a light blue blanket, covered in bruises and gashes of rather large magnitude. Roger shook his head. "Well, no use in complaining now..." he added, before turning his eyes back to the road and lowering his mic. "Anything else of note in the area, K9?"

"...just one more thing...witnesses literally across this street I'm on said they saw...some monster...one thought it was some flying leftover but...that it looked beautiful...I'm sorry detective but...if I remember right...I remember police and criminals in another city make similar reports...which means...", K Nine said, trailing off.

"Left-whatever?" Roger asked, confused. He did not share his son's knowledge on HERO-related terminology (as limited as that knowledge is).

"...those weird monsters we sometimes deal with...though they said this one was pink...I know of one that matches that description...Alien Angel. She works for that vigilante group called "Infinite"...as if this situation isn't chaotic enough...", K Nine monotone.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was bad enough all of this was happening within the city but NOW the infamous "Infinite" vigilante group had sent their "Recon" member Alien Angel to check things out...as if EAGLES running around acting like THEY were the law was bad enough.

It really DID feel like a war zone right now...but the Castleburg Police Department or CPD weren't taking this lying down either.

For one, they had already sent a investigation and forensic science team to Club 27 to determine cause of death among other information vital to the case that Seraph was making against Patricia. Though if it did involve a super power, forensic's may not be able to prove anything but at the same time, that wouldn't help Seraph either. All Seraph was doing essentially was "finger pointing" and using his charisma with the general public to gain favor.

But his method's were his mistake. Hijacking every general media outlet, T.V.'s and radio's included, was no different than when super villain Caustic did when he publicly humiliate and execute then Wing's of Law member Rainbow Dancer. That was law breaking right there...hell, that was terrorism. As such, CPD were even looking for him and his whereabouts. Add to the fact that Sir E. Burm had hired lawyers to challenge the charges and even Starbright using his own charisma to support Patricia on social media further threw doubt into the wind on Seraph's actions or at least that's how he felt about it.

That didn't stop EAGLES members though. Reports even said that some were villains...and they were all hunting those on Seraph's hit list.

Then there was the I.C.O.S.A...last he heard, they were hesitating to take a side in this. Even more so if they heard that Seraph found a way to take down Hugo Powers. They felt that if they just sent every international hero into Castleburg to resolve this incident, Seraph would use whoever or whatever he used on Powers to defend himself. Collateral damage and possibly civilian casualties would be massive...deadly...worse than...well any damages that Hero One themselves ever did on any of their missions.

Which mean't that it was most likely up to them...the remaining members of "Hero One", to fix this whole mess. But first things first...he had to find Patricia and others before any EAGLES members did.

K Nine didn't bother with stealth here. Even in all uniform, he didn't want to provoke a fight even if anyone inside the store didn't trust him...still, if he was forced to make an arrest, he'd rather it be the CPD rather than the EAGLES. Even if they didn't know it, the CPD was no fan of Seraph right now but they couldn't just sit on their rears and do nothing either.

He then knocked.

"...Miss Pandora...this is Alpha aka K Nine...member of Hero One now officially with CPD SWAT...please let me in...we need to talk...", K Nine said monotone.

[canaryrose]

Something was wrong. As Grace looked at her, expression pained, alarm bells clanged in Patricia’s head. Had something happened? Had someone... no, she didn’t want to think about it. One of their friends couldn’t be... She drew herself up, stopping the puppy eyes to look Grace in the face, wide-eyed and confused. "This isn't a mission, Patricia, agi," Grace said, being uncharacteristically gentle. Patricia’s heart jumped at her soft tone, and she backed up a step. “I-if it’s not a mission, then… everything’s fine, right? Right?” she pressed Grace, but Grace just stood there, looking deep in thought. Patricia braced herself for bad news as soon as Grace took a breath, determined to take it like a champ.

But the news was worse than she could imagine. For a moment, all Patricia could do was stare, barely comprehending. Shock reverberated through her bones, eyes and mouth open wide. The Wings of Law… a coup? And they had framed her. But the Wings were gone, and she hadn’t done anything. “You’re… you’re kidding me. Right? You’re- you’re kidding. It isn’t funny, Grace, please, I-” Patricia cut herself off with a nervous laugh, desperate for it all to be an elaborate lie. In her mind, she tried to convince herself that it wasn’t true, that Grace was some horrible prankster. Maybe… maybe it was Korean April Fool’s Day? She accepted Grace’s hug numbly, and shuffled after Grace into the living room. She stared at the television, willing it all not to be true when Grace turned it on, and…

“No. Nononononono… this isn’t happening, I-I didn’t-” Patricia choked out, staring at her own face plastered across CCN. It was real. This was happening- her worst nightmare came to life. Panic swirled, her throat tightening and body shuddering. Tears welled in her eyes, but she didn’t want Grace or Eliza to see her sob like a baby, terrified. So she ran to her room, slamming the door shut.

Patricia sagged against the door, gasping for air. She didn’t have time to panic, didn’t have time before they got here to take her away, didn’t have time before she was carted off to prison for something she hadn’t done. But her body shuddered with terror, and she dug her fingers in her hair, unable to stop the tears from flowing. Why were they treating her like this? Why did Seraph have it out for her? He had worked on her father’s case, but that was no reason for this. Patricia sobbed into the collar of her dress, terrified. She didn’t want to go to prison, to be treated like her father. She had spent most of her life trying to build her own legacy, and, thanks to the Wings, all that had come crashing down on her in one fell swoop.

Patricia spent a horrible minute curled up like that. She was swathed in terror, overwhelming her mind and cowing her. But she knew she had to pull herself together, and, after that minute, stood up shakily and tried desperately to cast her attention somewhere else. Packing. Right. I need to pack. Patricia stumbled around her room, pulling out an old, tattered backpack. It was the one she usually used for sleepovers. This is just like a sleepover, she thought to herself. Tears still dripped down, and a horrible nausea was rising in her stomach, but Patricia dashed around her room in a panic, snatching clothes out of her drawers and shoving them into her backpack. She grabbed her laptop and its charger and shoved it into the bag. Luckily, she had saved a few burner phones from the mafia mission, so she dropped a couple of those into it too. Grabbing socks from her drawer, she wiggled them on and yanked her feet into a pair of tennis shoes by her door. Most importantly, she grabbed her stuffed unicorn, Veronica, and shoved her into the bag. It was a struggle to zip it, but she managed to after a bit of effort. Once done, she gasped for air and slung it across her shoulders. Seeing them in the corner, she also grabbed Eliza’s sleepover bag and her violin.

Patricia left her room, furiously trying to wipe her tears from her eyes. Before heading back into the living room, she popped into the bathroom to grab her toothbrush and some toothpaste. She didn’t stop to stare at herself in the mirror, instead charging straight back into the living room. Sniffling, she gave Eliza’s bag and violin to her and turned her gaze to the TV.

What she saw hit like a dull punch to the gut. “Tom?” she whispered, confused, as the newscaster… he couldn’t have. He wouldn’t have betrayed them. Patricia shook her head, in disbelief. But if all this could happen, then that could happen as well, couldn’t it? He was her friend. More than that, even, like something she imagined a brother would be. She was too upset to be angry, at this point- just numbly sad. In moments, her life had fallen apart.

She simply nodded at Grace’s little speech, just staring ahead. Tears trailed across her face. She stared at the portal for a moment and then glanced around her house. Would this be the last time she saw this place? If she was arrested… well, she couldn’t imagine being exonerated if Powers and Christina were dead and gone. Her eyes snagged on the cake she had finished mere minutes earlier and, for a reason unknown to her, walked into the kitchen. She grabbed it, balancing it in her hands, and walked back to the room. Why let all that effort go to waste?

Grace’s hand waved through the portal, and Patricia looked to Eliza. “It’ll…” she choked on her own words, unable to reassure her. “Come on. Let’s… let’s go.” Not waiting for Eliza, Patricia stepped through the portal, cake in hand.

She emerged in a florist’s shop, resplendent with summer flowers. Patricia took a breath, both trying to calm herself and smelling the flowers. It smelled nice. She glanced at Pandora and Chad, and then examined the room with her eyes. She vaguely recognized the two of them- especially Chad, who she had yelled at about a week ago. She cringed at the memory- hopefully it hadn’t left a sour taste in his mouth. She listened to Grace speak, and then took a breath in to say something herself.

“I’m- I’m Patricia. Aria. Whatever.” She stared Pandora in the eyes, trying her hardest not to cry even more. Against her will, another tear slipped out, but she couldn’t let go of the cake to wipe it from her eye. “I know what you probably saw on the news, and I-I promise, that wasn’t me.” Patricia sniffled. “I’m innocent. I didn’t kill all those people, Seraph made it up. I’m a good person, I swear. I don’t know why this is happening.” Patricia’s voice cracked on ‘I swear’, her mouth quivering. She moved past it quickly, though, and she awkwardly extended the cake, at a loss for what else to do. They were screwed if Pandora wouldn’t let them stay. She might even call the cops. “H-here. If you’re going to let us stay here, you might as well get something out of harboring fugitives. It’s homemade, and I don’t know how good it is, but…” Patricia smiled, hopeful, although weak.

"...Miss Pandora...this is Alpha aka K Nine...member of Hero One now officially with CPD SWAT...please let me in...we need to talk…” A voice sounded at the door, making Patricia jump into the air. The cops?! Fuck fuck fuck fuck… How had they found them already!

“Oh, shit! The cops! M-ma’am, do you have someplace I could hide? Like a closet or something… I really don’t want to go to prison,” Patricia whispered, glancing at the door. Her heart beat in her chest frantically, expression terrified.

@Hitman@Amethyst@Zoey Boey@Duoya

[KaijuBaragon]

Tom shuddered as he left poor Blake alone in that room again. He really hoped Blake had understood. It's not like he could go back and say something else to let him know - that would look far too suspicious. And besides, it was too late, as Tom turned his head to see a smug looking Seraph making his way confidently down the hallway towards him. Had Seraph understood what Tom had meant in his secret message to Blake, and was now coming to take Tom down. Probably not - after all, Seraph didn't look mad or anything, just smug, which Seraph always looked to be fair. He didn't really acknowledge what Seraph said to him as Tom was lead away from the room Blake was being kept in, down the hall to a set of doors.

And then they were suddenly there - the EAGLES control room! Seraph obviously did trust Tom then, he wouldn't have brought him to this medical looking hub of pseudo-heroics. Tom's brief period of relief was eradicated when he realised that he was staring at a screen that was tracking the location of all his best friends. "Oh, that's clever...." Tom muttered in general approval of the whole thing, but in reality he was stunned. How the hell did the Wings of Law pull this off... Unless... Something had been put into their phones when they were kidnapped by that Roman bastard. Sea Serpent arrived within a couple of seconds on an objectively quite impressive water platform. At least Brie was out of the picture for the time being.

But the rest weren't, and the Wings knew where they were. If only Tom had a way to send a message to Jamie, Rumi, Patty and Eliza. At least Grace had been her usual smart self and dumped her phone. He had an instinctual reaction to snap at Sea Serpent when she called Grace an "ugly beaver", but he simply clenched his fist inside his pocket and took a deep breath to calm himself down. He now knew exactly how the Wings were operating. Going undercover, so far, seemed to be a good idea. But without being able to get a message out to anyone he was more or less stuck here in this creepy medieval dungeon with these psychopaths.

Wait, no, he wasn't stuck here, because Seraph was sending him out on a mission - a mission to go and take down Starbright. And he wasn't going alone. He was going with someone he had never heard of before, Cynthia. As the heavily heavily heavily made up girl walked over, Tom had the unshakeable feeling that he knew this girl from somewhere. And, as he shook her hand and nodded at her greeting, that feeling only got stronger. He had definitely shaken this hand before at some point. Or maybe the stress was just getting to him and he was feeling deja vu for no reason. That was also a possibility.

So he followed Cynthia out to the helicopter. "Sure, you can fly it, I don't even know how." He said, trying to make himself seem enthusiastic about the mission they were about to do incase Cynthia decided to snitch on him to the Wings for being suspicious. He watched the TV absentmindedly as they took off, thinking about what he was going to do. He didn't like Starbright, but he also didn't want to kill him or anything, that was way too far. He was lost in his thoughts until he saw his face pop up on the TV. He almost yelled, but kept it contained, instead bouncing his knee up and down at a violent pace. Well, there was no going back now. Everyone would think he had betrayed them. Grace would think he had betrayed them. He felt sick.

And then, as if his thoughts had come to life, he heard Cynthia speak from the drivers seat. About Grace. Tom felt himself snap "How the fuck do you-" And then he nearly jumped out of his seat as Cynthia took off her wig, wiped her face and suddenly Christina was sitting there. "WHAT? How did you... What the fuck?" He couldn't help but smile a little and laugh before answering her question. "Priestess came to me and more or less said that they'd kill Blake if I didn't join... And I thought that going undercover was a good thing to do anyway, to get information and stuff. How the hell did you fool them with that disguise?"

@Hitman

[Jumbus]

---

Starbright took this night to relax, the bath was all ready. He had a new herbal bath bomb from Japan or something, it smelt like just what he needed to calm down. Hoping in to the clearly oversized tub, even he had to stretch to reach the remote. There was a specific tune he wanted to play tonight. In fact, it was something he felt the great desire to play every night he took a bath.

"Splish splash, I was takin' a bath."
"Long about a Saturday night."

Starbright couldn't fight the urge to sing along. The bath tub was almost a ritual to him and it really helped get his mind off all this EAGLES business. Being one of the only spokespeople against it was tiring work and in all honesty there were points where he considered just leaving it all alone. If he didn't know the gang as much as he did, he would certainly be taking that approach.

It all wasn't anything new to Starbright though, this sort of this happens in the music industry all the time. In fact, he himself had pulled the exact same move EAGLES did a couple years back. But it is so much worse when it happens in the world of heroes, there are lives on the line this time. Which is probably what bothered Starbright so much.

There he went again, delving too deep into things, during bath time no less. This would certainly harm his ability to sleep. Instead of 8 hours he would likely only be getting 6. Which is unacceptable. Back to the song, maybe that could get his mind of it again.

"A rub-a-dub, just relaxin' in the tub."
"Thinkin' everything was alright."

---

After the bath it was time to make up dinner. Sure, he had a personal chef to make meals for him. But Starbright gave him the night off. 'I'm 19 now' he thought, 'its about time I learnt to make some of my own meals'. It was all part of an initiative Starbright was taking to govern his own life more, be more independent. Tonight's menu was eggs on toast.

They sucked. Starbright had gone through 5 eggs to only make a couple that looked decent. Still, they didn't taste very good. It tasted like poverty, and Starbright was not suited for that. But he had to stick to it, he had to learn.

At least he could soak up the view of the city. His lounge where he ate had large glass panels that overlooked the bright lights of the city. Like something was shining back just for him. Sure he could easily leave this place and be well out of the way of EAGLES, but he couldn't imagine a life away from Castleburg. Starbright will never leave this place, even if he has to fight for it.

The news report played the Spacewalker EAGLES story, Starbright wasn't very shocked. Of course the social media star betrayed the gang to join EAGLES, he thought, those ankle biters will do anything for a chance at real fame. Starbright had assumed this very unfavorable opinion without knowing the full story or context.

---

[Zoey Boey]

"I-I can't just go home, especially right now! If Seraph is as bad as everyone says he is, there's no way I cou- I can just let him go!" Chad had said, typically.

Pandora rolled her eyes and made sure to squash whatever liking she had taken to that idiot. Stupid. Stupid, Pandora.

He doesn't even know what he's fighting for. But he's willing to die for it. How many times have I seen morons like him? Had he been born at the very end of the 19th century, he would have made great cannon fodder in the first World War. Nothing an NCO loves more than a brave idiot willing to take a bullet for a cause he doesn't understand. Pandora thought bitterly, tuning out whatever else The Bullet had to say.

"Whatever. Just don't come crying to me when-" Pandora began, her cynicism beginning to rise up inside her like a kettle of water over flame. However she was cut off when there was a strange noise, a flash of light, and a woman appearing in the middle of her flower shop.

"Ms...Pandora?" The young woman said, tears in her eyes. So, this was what HERO had to offer her? Perhaps Grace's feeling of inferiority came from Pandora's orange, withering glare, like a terrible teacher glaring at a pupil they despise. She began to tap the wooden cashier counter, rhythmically with her fingers.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, I hope I'm not bothering you...I'm Grace Mok, or Bypass...Patti and Eliza, I mean, Murmur and Aria, are coming through in a moment. I'm not sure if you've seen the news, but blah blah blah we're terrible and bad at everything we need your help immediately. Pwetty pwease?" Grace asked with a stupid look on her face. Or something like that.

"Again, sorry for barging in, but teleporting onto the street would've been suspicious, and the Wings might've picked it up," Grace continued.

Pandora squinted at her and nodded along in a way that wasn't reassuring. Two more girls burst in, following shortly after Bypass. Patriciaa and Eliza were there names. “I’m- I’m Patricaria. Whatever.” One of them said. Strange name. The two girls that followed Grace in looked like literal children. Though even after all this time, unmalnourished children was still a sight the ex-child labourer had to get used too.

There was a knock at the door. "...Miss Pandora...this is Alpha aka K Nine...member of Hero One now officially with CPD SWAT...please let me in...we need to talk…” A strange, hesitant, monotone voice came from the door. A super cop. This terrified Patricia, who had been falsely accused of murder, apparently. Pandora believed she was a good judge of character. Patricia was probably capable of killing all of those people- by accident- and then promptly throwing herself guilt ridden off the nearest bridge. But on purpose, and then lying like this? Probably not. At the very least she had Bypass' approval.

Who cares? Who actually cares if she's innocent? You don't, Pandora. I know you don't. Pandora blinked. It had been a while since she had talked to herself in such a way. Such a long time in which she had forced herself to act in such direct conflict with her nature, that that nature manifested itself in her consciousness as a chastising voice she could hear in her head.

Pandora closed her eyes and bit on her lower lip, smiling. She laughed quietly. Shook her head. She opened her eyes and made steely eye contact with Grace. "Go upstairs. Now." She whispered harshly, the smile gone as fast as it had came. "You too." She pointed at Chad, without looking.

"Coming, officer!" She shouted to the door in a cheery voice. "I'll see what the nice police man wants." She said quietly, to everyone. She smiled with too many teeth at the people inside her flower shop.

The way to the upstairs could be seen behind the group at the back of the flower shop. There was a wooden door, slightly ajar. Using the lighting, one could infer the existence of a staircase. Upstairs was Pandora's home, full of warm carpets, rugs, odd antiquities and outdated technology. The TV was playing, the very same channel Grace, Patricia, and Eliza had watched not moments ago in Patricia's home. Pandora's living space was strange. The kitchen seemed entirely empty, the bathroom was dusty like it had never been used. Other than that, it looked like an old crazy grandma lived there. Which, of course, one did.

Pandora wondered if this officer knew who she was. Given that he had already shown up at her shop with no other reason too, she assumed he did. Given that the only ones who knew about her identity was HERO, she assumed one of them had told her. Given that Powers seemed to actually respect her and was dead or missing, that meant that fucking bitch Christina must have told this cop who she was.

Why are you going to the door? Just tell him they're in your home and be done with all this. This was over before it even began. And by 'this' I mean your life. Haha.

Pandora opened the door partially so that Alpha could only see her body and face. She leaned up against the doorframe and smiled. "Hello, officer. How may I help you?" After she said this, she considered redeploying her strategy. Playing dumb probably wouldn't work.

"I'm assuming you must be here about all this nasty EAGLES business I saw on the telly?" Pandora asked, the cheeriness leaving her voice. There were layers to her deception, both in lying to the officer and in lying to herself. Revealing one truth- that Pandora wasn't just an innocent, dumb florist- might gain Alpha's trust and allow her to keep the real secret. If he asked about the fugitives, she may be able to play it off as if they simply hadn't come here for her help, and that she would let him know when they did. This was Pandora's strategy. If she could keep him from entering her shop at all, that would be ideal.

The final, deepest, and most important lie was the one Pandora told herself: that she would be able to keep this heroic act up. One last time.

[canaryrose]

The cashier finished scanning and bagging Jamie’s items. “That’ll be… $40.27, miss. Cash, credit, or debit?”

“Uh, debit,” Jamie muttered. Her blue eyes glanced to the store doors warily as she put her card into the reader. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was taking the time to check out. It might’ve been a better idea to get out of there before someone found her, but she wanted to finish her shopping before being plunged into yet another disaster. Nobody in the store seemed to be aware of what had happened, which was good- no one was calling the cops. Since Jamie had only told her friends her location, she couldn’t imagine that the EAGLEs would know where she was- but they knew where she lived, so she had better find someplace else to go after she finished at Target. She drummed her fingers on the cashier’s table as the reader processed her purchase, senses on full alert.

Then, with a deafening blast, a thing burst through the walls. That was really the only way to describe it- tall and disgustingly green, with long, oily dreadlocks. Jamie curled her lip and readied herself for an attack. How had they already found her?! She knew for sure that there weren’t any Wings of Law on the group chat. That meant there must be a snitch. Jamie briefly wondered who it was before refocusing on this troll-looking dude. He yelled at her (which wasn’t very nice!) and then hit the ground, creating a rumbling shockwave.

Jamie, being intimately familiar with this move, didn’t even need to move away. She took the energy and turned it on its head. With a burst of her power, she redirected the shockwave right back at the villain with twice the power. The building shook, carts making clattering noises. A nearby window burst into shards of glass skittering across the floor. Troll dude was knocked off his feet and sent flying into a nearby wall, but wasn’t given a moment of rest before Jamie tried to crush him with a blast of concussive force.

"It's time for a clobbering, wouldn't you say?" a voice shouted out from behind her. Jamie turned, panting, and narrowed her eyes. "For the glory of Rome!"

Really?! They had sent two? And she half-recognized this one too. She did her best approximation of a glower in Nero’s direction, but really ended up looking like she was pouting. “I’ll clobber right back at you- ohhhh!” Jamie suddenly realized who she was, and then narrowed her eyes in a real glare. “You’re that dickhead who kidnapped us! I’ve been waiting for this…”

If they had been anywhere else, Jamie would’ve turned up her power to about an eight. But since they were in a Target, with innocents inside… she didn’t want to crush anyone. She wasn’t guilty of anything, and it probably wasn’t a good idea to become guilty of anything. So, Jamie extended her right arm and blasted Nero, only sending out a mild shockwave to get him off of his rhythm. Then, while he was unfocused, she used her left hand to blast his legs. “You’re gonna have to try harder than that to beat me!” Jamie jeered, grinning.

@Hitman

[DarkRecon]

Alpha / K Nine

As Alpha waited at Pandora's front door, he focused his Ki energy into his ears because he thought he heard something but then heard Pandora acknowledging his presence so immediately shut down the power...again, he "generally" knew what to expect from her.

"General" though wasn't exactly good intel though.

Then, she opened the door and K Nine stood at attention. Being in a military family, one thing he did learn was respecting not only superiors but his elders. And after what Christina generally said about her, she was well beyond being an elder. But he also knew that when you fight for so long...even more so, much MUCH longer than any normal person, it may have an effect on one's mind.

After all, he was only six years old when THAT incident happened...and he saw very early how dangerous the world can be...and how it changed him...

When she spoke, it was with the standard greeting but then she guessed that it had something to do with the EAGLES. In a way, that was correct but it wasn't the only reason.

Then K Nine did something rather out of character for a member of CPD SWAT team interviewing someone.

He briefly saluted her before returning to a normal posture.

"...yes ma'am...records had shown that you had been recently added to the HERO One roster...though rather recent, CPD feared that you'd be a target just because of a..."slight" chance that you'd have information on a group of suspects...I'll start there. Has there been anyone suspicious either asking questions or lurking around your store...or any general harassment situations by any such individuals...", K Nine asked monotone.

* * * * * * * * * *

Alien Angel

During the clash at the Target store where Quake was fighting with both Nero and his giant Ogre, someone...or someTHING, had seen the commotion as it was flying around outside. The people that were running to escape in a panic was the first clue...then, as the "pink" looking monster flew closer, the giant hole in the wall near the front entrance was the second.

Then, said pink monster flew into the giant hole with a sense of elegance as it slightly floated there an inch off the ground. It then looked around and saw the three individuals going at it.

"AAHHH! That damn villain has another monster with him!", a male target store clerk said.

"UUhh...no. Try again", the pink monster said, slightly annoyed.

The monster really did look alien...or perhaps some random "leftover" no one had ever seen. It did have some clothing on though. Just a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt but much like the monsters skin itself, both articles of clothing were pink just like her skin. She even had a tiny pink backpack to boot.

"Well...what did I miss?...ooohhh...I see the problem...ok first off. All civilians please leave the store if you value your safety!", the pink monster said as she floated slightly towards the giant Ogre but stopped just short.

Then, she seemed to call out to Nero.

"...to use an internet meme, why hello there!...is this your pet Ogre?", she then asked.

[Rabidporcupine]

Joseph

Joseph was an idiot. In his panic, he'd started asking his questions without even listening to what was coming out. It wasn't until he finished his barrage of questions that he caught the end of the automated voice, telling him to leave a message, and remembered she'd been going to some electrician expo or something.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, he stifled a string of curse words and pulled over to check his phone properly. He wasn't particularly good at it, but it didn't end up taking too long for him to find what he was looking for, the gangs group chat. Surprisingly, it turned out that his timing had been perfect, as Jamie had just sent a text through to the group asking what waas going on and telling them where she was.

"Target on 12th. That's not far from here." He said, nodding as he got ready to move again.

However, before he could even put his phone away, it practically erupted in static, something he was pretty sure wasn't meant to happen. No sooner had he finished that line of thought before a thin figure jumped out of the alley just a little ways ahead of him, using their whip-like appendages to drain the energy out of his scooter just as it was getting back into the middle of the road.

"Well, I was hoping I would be able to avoid something dumb like this, but I guess if you really want to fight, I can humor you for a few seco-"

And then Wireman slapped him.

Or, maybe it would've been more accurate to say he whipped him, considering the fact that he was still a decent distance away and made of electrical wires. Thankfully, it would probably take a while before the guy actually did any real damage to him, considering he was still wearing his helmet. Actually, if he thought about it, that might actually be the point, dragging his death out for a while instead of just jabbing a few wires into him and electrocuting him right then and there. If he'd been considered just a little more dangerous, it's possible Wireman wouldn't have taken the risk and just killed him properly.

And the others said it was silly to intentionally stay in D-tier...

"Uh, hey! Cord Kid!" Joseph shouted out, hoping to antagonize Wireman a little and focus his attention on Joseph's loveably targettable face, rather than the series of rune tags he had just 'accidentally dropped' from one particularly hard whip. "Seriously, can you stop with the whipping stuff? I've never even held hands with someone I like, so I don't really think I'm ready for anything like whips and stuff! From what I hear that's like, fifteenth date stuff, and even then odds are pretty low!"

His definitely hilarious joke was cut off by a particularly particularly strong smack from Wireman, sending him stumbling off to the side or a bit.

"Jesus, ok, not one for humour, right?" He grumbled loudly, before his eyes widened at the sight of the next slap flying towards him. However, when the whippy hand was just forty centimeters or so from his face, he let that expression be replace a toothy, almost feral grin, and activated the runes he had 'dropped.' Within seconds, the tags lifted from the ground, engulfing Wireman's arm and scattering to various spots around both it and Wiremans body as a whole. Coincidentally, these were essentially an updated version of the tags he'd used to fight against the woman in the power armour months back by short-circuiting parts of her armour.

Part of him was almost worried about how these tags could effect him, hoping that they wouldn't do anything too dangerous to him.

The other, much larger part, was more worried over the fact that Jamie was probably also in trouble, not to mention fairly close to where they both were right not. He was wasting time letting this go on as long as he was, so in the end he had no problem using these runes, shortcircuiting as many wires as they could without killing the poor bastard.

"Sorry man, but I really can't afford to keep wasting time here.".