[IC] Supers: A Superpower RP

[Voidself]

Delta smiled at him after he introduced himself as Theodore to the new recruits, Delta's greeting to him was friendly in turn.

"Good evening Theodore! I see a restful night's sleep has eluded your grasp yet again. This here's Justin and Carson. Epsilon nabbed Carson from Phi and I carried Justin off before he made the mistake of brushing shoulders with him."

"Sounds like Carrot Top had a hell'uv'a day. I wouldn't wanna hang round Phi if'ya paid me."

He didn't say anything else on the matter because he didn't have the time to. His words were snipped off by the familiar sound of snapping flooding the room from the hallway. That could only mean that one person was making her grand entrance with vigor. The door swung open and nearly rattled against the wall as Kana strolled in, her enthusiasm was infectious, naturally infectious. Kana was powerful in the way that she held herself, an undeniable charisma seemed to cling to every word that left her. Her first words were along the lines of beating Phi down and he nearly wanted to laugh at the obscurity of it. Her super charged attitude was a lot more than anyone gave her credit for, she genuinely wanted to take a stand. He kind of wanted to see her take a stand. It would definitely be interesting.

"How about you, Mr. D? Wanna go track this guy down and give him the good ol' one-two?"

He leaned forward on his elbows to watch her more closely as she punched at the air. She was sparking like a firework and it was making light bounce off the walls. His amusement surfaced on his face when he watched Delta zip behind her in less than a few seconds. Delta's fingers pressed against her head and Theodore nearly started laughing. It was always fun to watch their superiors prove just how superior they actually were. He knew that it could very well be him getting told off but he hadn't been taught humility at a young age. He wasn't about to learn it now, he'd made that pretty clear a long time ago. Silent and watchful, often times it was hard to tell his emotions but right now his amusement was blatantly clear in the tight-lipped smile and his dancing eyes.

The next girl entered very soon after Delta's small speech, as warm as her name and just as bright. She was smart and she had her own deal of enthusiasm, though it wasn't quite the fiery explosion that Kana's was. He tended to listen when she spoke, there was just something about her that didn't bother him quite how the rest did. Sometimes he thought it had to do with her kindness.

”I’m sure we’ll be able to beat Phi with patience and hard-work,” Sunny said with her natural optimism and she took her seat beside him. ”It’s nice to meet you guys. I’m Sunny. ”

Sayuri chimed in next, his gaze turned to her sharply as he noticed her presence for the first time. "I for one, would not underestimate Kana."

Tired, he'd been so tired he hadn't noticed that she'd been sitting there nearly the whole time. He couldn't believe it, what an idiot he was sometimes. He wondered if he should offer her a wave but realized he was clutching an apple in his primary waving hand and glanced at it sadly. Tossing the half-eaten apple into his left hand, he twiddled his fingers at her and tossed it back over as Danny entered the room. A jagged demeanor and a quick temper, he'd never really been too fond of the boy. Just as Ol' Red finished talking, Danny spoke up.

“You’re scared as hell. I can see it in your face. But thinking about it too much isn’t going to change a damn thing and crying about it sure as hell won’t help either…getting stronger might. If we can take out that damn Phi guy, maybe we’ll get our lives back…or what’s left of them."

He heard the redhead start to defend himself just as Epsilon pulled into the room, his form melded with shade and completely intimidating. He wouldn't ever want to mess with Epsilon, even Epsilon who had been wounded, it was just too risky.

"Matell. Cruz. If you feel so strongly about fighting Phi right now, then I'll allow you two to take as many people as you want to fight him, right now. No doubt he's still haunting Pavar. Probably finishing off any loose ends as quickly as possible, so time's off the essence." Epsilon moved toward Kana. "If a fight is what you two want so badly, then fight Delta or I. Kill one of us and you'll have our permission to go fight Phi." he turned, looking toward Danny. "Even with blood I've lost today, I doubt the whole lot of you could even do me in, but by all means if fighting with your fledgling powers is so exciting be my guest and make your move."

He cocked his head as he watched Kana, she still seemed ready for a fight and she eagerly spoke her wishes to fight an Omega and he couldn't keep the grimace off of his face. Danny even seemed to get a little worked up, he was practically going blue in the face. He didn't speak his own peace, he didn't really care all that much but the redhead sure did.

"I'm sorry to butt in, I don't know the struggle of being cooped up in a big metal bunker and I'm new so this could come off as unbelievably idiotic." His voice started to remind Theodore of his father in a sickly bittersweet way. "First off. Epsilon, can I please request that you sit down? You recently sewed up a pretty severe wound and if that busts open then you might have more blood on the floor than what you started with. Even if it doesn't bust open, you suffered blood loss and you are going to end up in a very bad way if you don't rest at all. I know a little about wounds and stuff but I'm not exactly the E.R. doctor that my father was. I just- I've got anxiety and it won't leave my mind so please, sit down. You don't have to but I'd like it if you did."

Redhead furrowed his eyebrows worriedly. "Second off. I watched Phi kill two boys today, right in front of me. I didn't even really know them and I wish I hadn't even gone to that coffee house. It was a sight that my panic riddled mind will never manage to get over, I'm never going to forget that and I'm a coward to boot so I'm never going to stop freaking out about it either. It's not an easy thing- I can only imagine what kind of training it would take to take this guy down. I do however understand that it's got to be grueling because if you mess up, even a little, then you're as good as dead. I don't know about you but I don't want to die. I don't know the two of you either but I don't want you to end up dead. You both seem alright, your battles will come to you in time, I'm sure. I'm sure that you'll get to throw down with Phi some time and I'm sure you'll get to move things back on track. I don't know when, but just- Don't be so rash, eh? Sometimes taking a coward's point of view is good. Caution is key with me, just don't try to fight a battle before you've judged it."

Jesus, that was a speech if I've ever heard one.

[22ice22]

Justin couldn't help but inwardly cringe when Carson, mentioned going to see his family. From the moment he had been told leaving was death, Justin had realized that the same could probably be said for anyone they tried to contact, or at leas that was the way it always was in books and shows. In fact he had personally avoided such a question for fear of such answer as the one that Delta replied with.

It was official Justin didn't know what to do at this point. Sure he had never had an extremely close relationship with his parents, but still the possibility that they were dead, just all of sudden, was more than heart wrenching, it crushed him. He could feel as his mind gave way, sure his walls remained, the mask upon his face didn't falter, it sat rigid and cold. Normally at such a point he would drown himself with music, cease to breath air and instead replace the oxygen in his blood with the beat of the music, yet now he had nothing. Absolutely, nothing. Here he sat in a room with strangers floating nearby, and all his ties to his normal life were severed, all because he had some dinky little power. God, what was he going to do now?

Luckily he was spared somewhat from his thoughts as his eyes finally caught attention of the newcomer stretching in the corner of his vision. Justin let his eyes drift over the guy, he took note of his tired appearance but gave no effort to the name. Frankly Justin was returning to his previous theory, that these people were possibly the ones to be wary of, perhaps they would be the ones to deal with his family if he even thought about leaving. In fact, it was possible his cooperation would be the only thing to keep his family alive, so for now he would sit back and just watch for weaknesses, no matter how things panned out they wouldn't be bad things to know. Unfortunately, he couldn't attempt to analyze the new guy, before a newer person burst in.

She burst in with an exuberant amount of energy, or at least more than he could take at the moment. Her voice was too loud and her actions too eager for his taste. Though he did agree with her welcoming. Rejects, try they were all at the very least rejects, maybe social pariah fit better though, after all from what he had come to realize so far through this day was that the presence of powers did little more than cause problems, for them, for everyone, even if the people didn't realize. It did appear though that Justin would not have to deal with her energy for long. In an instant Delta was behind her his fingers in the shape of gun, clearly showing how easily she would fall to the enemy should she be allowed to fight like she wished.

Delta immediately began to talk. It was clear he was intent on conveying just how dangerous truly was. He appeared to hold on to no false illusions about their abilities, Delta was quite aware of their inability and was quite apparently going to let them no of their lack of sufficient power, even his own. As the letter dubbed man talked of Phi's handiwork with Epsilon and displayed his own wound, Justin couldn't help but wonder what powers this other meta possessed. It was however apparently quite deadly. It was about this time another girl slipped into the room.

There were many more of this guys than Justin originally assumed. This one was optimistic sounding, but not nearly as exuberant, and het words made her seem at the very least consider to this other girl, the one with the short colored hair, much smarter, or at least much less brash. When she spoke again to introduce herself Justin acknowledged with a small head nod. He still wasn't completely settled, nor did he trust them, yet, and was quite sure for now it would probably be best to keep quiet. He definitely believed that the majority of them probably had a power far greater than his, from he had noticed his was almost completely useless.

The first meta girl he met spoke, Sayuri if he was correct. When she spoke Justin wasn't sure whether her words were meant to be a joke or not, and now he had a name for all the people in the room, even if he was a tad hazy on them. In reality he didn't truly care, but it would make interacting easier. As they all conversed Justin took note of a new guy along the wall. Seriously!? How many were there? Justin just watched on as all the others talked, the newer guy was rather straightforward, maybe a little brutish or critical, with Carson as they spoke. It was an attribute he made sure to document, for the most part it was a good thing, the guy didn't beat around the bush.

As he was letting his eyes rove over all the individuals in the room, he noticed the shadows shift unnaturally. Before he could really allow it to register though a figure enshrouded in the very same shadows materialized. Then, some of the shadows wrapped themselves around the one who had previously been victim to Delta's demonstration. This figure, most assuredly Epsilon, had just managed to sequester Justin's full attention in such small actions. Again he opted to watch as the powerful meta before him began his speech. He watched on somewhat amused as Epsilon invited them to try to defeat him and Delta, even more so when not a single of those who had so boldly being talking of fighting another meta, supposedly even more powerful than these two.

When Carson got to his point on Phi Justin made sure to pay close attention. Carson had after all just had a recent altercation with him, and as far as Justin knew all the others, except Delta and Epsilon, had never even encountered the man of who they spoke. At the end of the speech, he couldn't help feel a rather sentiment to the one expressed. Sighing slightly Justin decided now may be the right time to speak. "Personally I agree with Delta, Epsilon, and this guy. If what I have heard in the short time I've been here is to be believed none of you stand a chance. Clearly on some level you have to agree otherwise you'd trust in yourselves to at least attempt to take on one of these two, but yet no one is. As far as all things go, I'm a rather confident person, but I'm also no fool. I know a smart bet when I see one, and I would not bet on you lot at the moment no matter what the payout odds would be. I don't do failed bets."

[BuriedComic7]

Delta sat in silence as all of the young ones gauged their reactions to his display towards Kana, and of his large scar. Overall the kids were optimistic, willing to get shove back. Delta truly admired this aspect of them, however the brave were always the first to die. He was about to continue explaining just how deadly their foe was when a familiar presence suddenly drew near. Epsilon materialized at the entrance to the mess hall, completely drenched in the very shadows that he could manipulate. A few of the tendrils of shadow that constantly accompanied him reached out and held Kana in place. Meanwhile Epsilon had acknowledged Delta and turned the group.
"I'm glad you're all getting acquainted," Epsilon said, twisting to look across the room at everyone in the room, "Though it appears we're missing one. Nevertheless, it appears that something needs to be made abundantly clear. Matell. Cruz. If you feel so strongly about fighting Phi right now, then I'll allow you two to take as many people as you want to fight him, right now. No doubt he's still haunting Pavar. Probably finishing off any loose ends as quickly as possible, so time's off the essence."
Delta almost stood up to object to Epsilon even mentioning them going after Phi, but Epsilon looked back at Delta. With the addition of a small wave in his direction Delta understood that there was more to Epsilon's proposition.
"If a fight is what you two want so badly, then fight Delta or I. Kill one of us and you'll have our permission to go fight Phi." Epsilon twisted once more, looking toward Danny. "Even with blood I've lost today, I doubt the whole lot of you could even do me in, but by all means if fighting with your fledgling powers is so exciting be my guest and make your move."

Delta looked hard at the crowd gathered before him. None of them seemed too eager to take up the offer. Delta couldn't really blame them though. Delta was ranked one stage higher than Epsilon, however Delta wasn't completely convinced he could take Epsilon in a fight. With none of the others moving towards the two elders Epsilon re-materialized in front of the fridge. He quickly drank one of the strawberry sodas that Sayuri had mentioned earlier before facing the group once more.

Kana was the first to speak up after Epsilon had finished, just like Delta expected her to. Delta really did admire her self confidence, however at the same time Delta felt that it was the exact same trait that would lead to her downfall if left unchecked. Danny quickly followed with his own remark. Danny had a but more logical approach to the situation, lamenting about how he wanted his life back and how Phi needed to pay. Delta was about to speak up when Carson beat him to it. The pale young man spoke of the need for caution. He had seen Phi first hand earlier that day, saw him kill without the tiniest shred of remorse. Delta agree with his standpoint the most. Even Justin spoke up to add to Carson's point, going as far to say that them fighting Phi would be a "failed bet".

Delta allowed the room to sit in silence for a few moments before he spoke. "Listen, Kana and Danny, I hear what you're saying, okay? If you guys feel like you need to be pushed a little harder then I'm sure we can all work something out to let that happen. However I'm going to make one thing abundantly clear, the fact of the matter is that this whole thing is going to take time. My powers woke up when I was fourteen, and I've been working at them every day of my life since then. Rome wasn't built in a day, and what we're doing here is a lot harder than building some goddamn city. But I swear to each and every one of you that after Epsilon and I are through with all of you that you'll be able to hold your own, no matter what."
Delta turned his attention to Carson and Justin before continuing to speak. "I know all of this might be hard to take in, but I swear it will be easier. I really respect the amount of caution that you two are showing, you're both wise beyond your years. That being said one day the world is going to shove you, I fully expect you two to shove back harder."
Delta rose from his seat and looked back at Epsilon before addressing the crowd of young supers one last time. "If you all would be so kind please show Justin and Carson where they can sleep. I need to talk to Epsilon privately, so we'll be needing the mess hall."

[Winter05]

She ran.

She ran as fast as her feet could take her.

Images flashed through her head, making her feel sick to her stomach. She clenched her fist, her nails digging through her palm.

Crystal had no idea where she was going, but she was desperate for fresh air. Frustration filled her when she couldn't find the exit. The walls were thick and there were no windows anywhere. They must have been hiding underground.

She fell to her knees, taking deep breaths as sweat broke out from the sides of her face. Her lips were pale and her eyes looked empty as she stared at the floor beneath her. This all must have been a dream. Moments from now, she'd wake up in her bedroom and realize that this was all just a dream. A nightmare.

The thought comforted her for a split second before darkness and hopelessness seemed to drown her. It felt like she was drowning and sinking slowly to the depths of the ocean. There was only darkness and silence. She felt trapped.

Crystal slowly leaned against the wall, her eyes staring blankly at nothing in particular. She felt too weak to even raise a finger. Her mind wandered back to the events that took place, all too fast and all too surprising. There was no time to register everything.

For the first time in years, she discovered that she wasn't the only one who was gifted. That was supposed to be exciting. Who knew it would end so tragically? Two of them were murdered and now they were in hiding. What was life going to be like after this? Is she going to spend the rest of her life hiding in an underground basement? Crystal hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face in the dark hallow.

A drop of tear escaped from the corner of her eye, but she didn't know what caused it. She didn't feel sad. She just felt.. empty.

Maybe it was the regret that was slowly creeping up on her. She didn't do anything. She could have done something to save them. Anything. She could have stalled things until help arrived. But she didn't do anything. She only stared with wide eyes and horror, her feet completely glued to the ground.

Her failure to react caused two lives. Lives that mattered. A fiery-tempered man that could engulf himself in bright and spectacular flames. He manipulated fire like it was is his toy. She could still remember his glowing brown eyes, looking captivating and deadly. And his brother, a good-hearted man who could command earth. Two special people -- gone in a matter of seconds.

Before she could even register what happened, she was engulfed in darkness and brought to safety, but that was nothing to celebrate about. The lifeless bodies and the faces of her dead acquaintances continued to plague her mind.

[Apollo]

Sayuri's attention was on Epsilon as he appeared in the room. Even wounded, he displayed an aura of power that she could not match, yet. He stole the attention of the room. She, of course, mentally rejected his offer to let them try to kill one of them in order to gain permission to fight Phi. There was no hope of beating Delta or Epsilon. However, it wasn't just that. She had grown to care about these two. In that instant, she realized she would rather give her life to protect them - whatever that was worth - and that she would never try to take their lives.

Her eyes narrowed when Epsilon took one of her Strawberry Soda cans and she very slightly reconsidered her position on refraining from violence. But she let it go. There wasn't much she could do about it anyway without just looking like a girl who's having a tantrum.

She was beginning to feel distracted by the tension in the room. The air was thickening. She could feel the frustration and anger and fear filtering through the air. She wasn't an empath, but somehow the air felt thicker as tense people took in air and released it with their worries laced within it. The situation was dire. Most of what she was feeling was her own emotion. Kana was right, they needed real-world practice.

Sayuri looked at Danny, concerned. His skin had hardened and the sight of his white eyes and blue skin was unsettling. She looked away when Carson gave his speech. She noticed Theodore's wave, which was done in tradition Theodore style. Her arms were crossed and she moved her hand up and back down in a short wave and she actually allowed a slight smile, containing within it the frustration and tension that she was feeling.

Her eyes narrowed at Justin when he mentioned "failed bets." There was a muffled sound of thunder in the distance, but she didn't care if that meant she was going to get a lecture from Delta or Epsilon about her "thunder problem." She shared a look with Theodore, communicating her annoyance with the comment.

"Looks like it's time for us to make our exit," Sayuri said - not a command, but more of a statement since the two bosses in the room were taking over it. "Come on you two," Sayuri motioned to Carson and Justin, "let's show you where to park." Her eyes narrowed at Justin for a moment, "though I'm not sure if I can lead you properly considering I'm a 'failed bet." She placed an emphasis on the words, "failed bet," without hiding how she felt about being called that. "On second thought, how about Theodore shows you the way." She turned to Theodore, but then feigned realization, "oh, but of course you're a failed bet too, Theodore. Hm..." She glared at Justin one last time and turned and stopped for a moment near Danny.

"Danny can probably show you," she smiled at Danny hoping that he knew she wasn't insulting him or anything, but she hid the smile from most of the room, "he's got thick skin." She strode out of the room all the while trying to keep herself from feeling embarrassed at the display she had just put on in the mess hall. She hadn't meant to be so rude, but the statement had kindled something inside her. She didn't like being called a failed bet at all. She would have to ask Theodore how he had felt about it and how she had looked going off like that. She knew that she should not have spoken the way she had. Justin was absolutely right and he had a point. The statement had bothered her, but more because she knew that it was the truth. In their current state, they were failed bets. She clenched her fist as she strolled down the hall and thought, but we're going to change that.

[corrosive]

It had been encouraging to know that Justin wasn't a particularly reckless individual and the weight of worry lifted a little with that knowledge. He was often enthralled by reckless, enthusiastic people though it was never in an envious fashion. He didn't wish to have that boldness or that arrogance, he didn't wish to be anything special at all when it came down to it. The most special thing about him had always been his imagination and his penchant for tales but that wasn't a quality that won wars. He was the guy they sent to write ballads for the battles that waged, he wasn't the knight that engaged in them. Honestly that was what confused him the most when Delta closed the conversation. Could he shove back at all? He wasn't so sure. He wasn't a fighter and he tried to make that crystal clear, he didn't want any person to get the wrong idea about him.

There wasn't a fire in his chest somewhere that was just waiting to be fed and there wasn't any anger hidden behind his eyes, he was genuinely more miserable than angry about this. The world could shove him all it wanted to but he wasn't going to try to stop it, if anything he was going to fall over and let the world kick him in the ribs a few times. He was pretty sure the world already had kicked him in the ribs a few times and he had just took it.

He had no self preservation-Jesus, this was pitiful.

He had never fought anyone, the only fights that had ever found him had ended with him being floored and dazed with confusion about being floored. He remembered one very bad one where he'd been clocked in the nose and he'd almost started crying when he'd found blood on his hand after touching it. He was kind of a horrible wimp and he wasn't sure if any training could lift that.

His father had often told him that if he just let things happen then they would keep happening, he'd been sort of right. This had followed Carson throughout his life and it had followed him right to this point, he just didn't want to bite back. He wasn't sure that he was the right person to bite back and he didn't want to create himself a delusion that he was. He couldn't get past the pressure of being expected to push life back and suddenly that was churning in his head. It was definitely not as troubling as the situation as a whole and he felt he could push past it, he just needed to find some peace with it. If they expected him to toughen up then they would have a problem on their hands but he would try as best he could.

It was strange to make any sort of commitment with himself and he felt a little disgruntled by it, he wasn't going to procrastinate anything here, he was actually going to try. It was a buzzing thought and he barely heard Sayuri when she started to lead the pack out of the cafeteria. He stumbled to his feet and hurried after them without glancing back to Delta or Epsilon. Honestly, he hoped Epsilon took a seat as he'd suggested, he didn't want his wound to bust open. Shaking free of his thoughts, he realized Sayuri seemed to be pretty pissed at Justin's choice of words and he raised his eyebrows as she stalked off. He couldn't even think to get a word out before she was gone and he was left staring in appall.

Glancing towards the remaining individuals, he swallowed slightly, "So, where to? Like, I could try to navigate this myself but there's a good fifty fifty chance of me finding a good lot of nothing. I was always kind of hopeless with finding things."

[Whoami]

Kana groaned when she got the same treatment as always, she was being downplayed and it always got to her. The fiery young woman was about to speak in protest but decided to just bite her tongue. Kana crossed her arms and listened to everybody else, this wasn't how she planned on spending her day. That day was supposed to be a great day for Kana, she had made plans and everything after she had read an article that NASA had managed to predict a solar flare! And to Kana, solar flares meant more than doubling her power with fire for the day. She knew it had happened, she woke up feeling warmer, bolder and more energetic than usual; it was a feeling that Kana was very familiar with but got to experience it rarely.

That's it! Kana wasn't going to stand around and debate about something that was supposedly already settled. She waved her hand dismissively and turned to leave before they were even asked by Delta to leave for a while. Kana passed through the doorway without the enthusiasm she had when she entered. She stuffed her hands in her hoodie pockets and strolled down the corridor of the base quietly. As she got further and further from the mess hall, Kana put her earphones back in and started to listen to music. It wasn't long before she began to sing along, it wasn't the electronic music that Kana was known to love. Kana was singing in perfect synchronization, whether she just knew the lyrics or she actually knew Japanese was a mystery.

It took Kana a short while to get to her destination, a large stock room with plenty of open space in the middle. The room's edge was stocked with foods and supplies that always told Kana that Delta, Epsilon and the other alphas that she had become acquainted with over the months had this place set up for long term use. The room was dimly lit, of all the things Epsilon and Delta had done to make the base operable, they didn't seem it was that important to improve on the lighting in their warehouses. Kana didn't know if they cared or even thought about it, but nevertheless, the lighting made the large stockroom ominous in its own way.

Kana looked around, checking to see if anybody was around before she started to throw super heated fireballs around and experiment with something she had always wanted to do. Kana sat on her knees and placed her hands on her legs as if to meditate. She took in a deep breath, her power was a dangerous one if not controlled properly, she needed focus, especially when handling fire that was only strengthened by a solar flare. After relaxing, Kana raised a hand, "Step one: Create fire."

On cue, the air in her hand rippled and ignited. The brilliant orange flame danced in her grip, not burning the gloves she was wearing or bothering her in the slightest. "Step two: Intensify heat."

Kana closed her grip on the flame, the size of the fireball shrank as she did, but it allowed her to focus the heat into a smaller point. The flame turned from orange to blue. This was a trick she had learned two months prior, when she had a magnifying glass and was creating flame from the heat it made on a single point. The blue flames weren't the product of the solar flare, though it definitely made it easier to create. What Kana wanted was to see if she could intensify the heat even more. Kana closed her grip a bit more, and surely enough, the solar flare had allowed for her intensify the flame to stark white. Even she was starting to feel the fire burn her, her gloves were beginning to burn too. The white flame was small, only about the size of her thumb, but it was a heat source, she could make more fire from it.

"Step three: Expand fire." Now Kana had an incredibly intense heat source, so when she created fire from it, the flames were a fantastic blue-white, not as hot as the flame she had in her hand, but still really damn hot. She continued to expand her flames, the more she made, the hotter it got and soon enough, she had created a large white fireball. The ball was about the size of a soccer ball, to Kana, it felt like she was holding onto a star. The heat was getting uncomfortable and her glove had a good hole burnt through it now. She'd need to buy some new ones whenever she got out of the base.

"Step four: Throw fire." Kana didn't want to throw the flame at any of the supplies, when she had first used her fire on her ex-boyfriend's car, the flame had spread faster than it would have naturally. If she threw white flames at supplies, especially if things were flammable or explosive, she'd have a problem on her hands. Kana took a step back and overhand pitched the fireball into the floor. The fireball dispersed and the concrete floor was glowing red hot where it had hit.

Kana raised an eyebrow, "I wonder..." she focused on the heat of the glowing floor and managed to make more fire. She turned the glowing hotspot into a small puddle of blue flames and watched as she intensified the heat. The glowing floor got brighter. Kana formed a huge grin and started blasting a constant stream of fire at the glowing spot. She had stood there simply spewing blue fire at that one spot for ten minutes until she could've sworn she saw the floor bubble.

"Holy shit!" she said aloud and started to laugh uncontrollably, "I just made fucking magma! This is -sick-!"

Kana killed the flames dancing on top of the four foot by four foot pool of lava in the warehouse. She couldn't stop grinning, her fire, with the help of the solar flare, had succeeded in melting solid stone. Kana wondered how deep the pool was, but she wasn't about to find out. She started taking the heat that magma generated to create more fire. "Oh man! Epsilon and Delta are going to be in a surprise when I spar with them today! Ha! The look on their faces will be priceless! Shit, I can't wait!" she started jumping with joy at the prospect of catching those two with their pants down.

Kana had plenty of daylight left, which meant plenty of time with the power the solar flare had granted her. She needed to make sure she sparred with them before eight o'clock, when her element shifted to ice, and she needed to see if she could speed up the process of intensifying the heat of her flames. If she could do that, then she could speed up the creation of lava. Kana started thinking on how she could give herself an edge against the two in a spar.

She might be able to slow Delta down if she created a bubble of blue flames around herself, tight enough so another person couldn't fit in there without touching the fire, but large enough so Kana could still pivot and have full access to maneuvering. She could intensify the heat along the bottom of the dome to start melting down the concrete in a ring. With time and luck, Kana could have a ring of lava to create more, hotter, flames from. She'd need to figure out how to create enough light from her flames to make Epsilon's shadows easier to spot and hopefully defuse, but that sort of light would only from from her white fire.

Kana needed to practice, she was getting pretty confident with her ability to prove herself to those two, to be able to leave the base with them on their little missions. She worked on creating a bubble of fire around herself, worked on making more pools of lava. If only she could control the magma, she'd be in business, but one step at a time.

[BuriedComic7]

Delta watched as the young metas filed out of the mess hall, as they made their exit Delta turned to Epsilon. "There's no way Justin and Carson are being shown the sleeping quarters, is there?" He let out a small chuckle at the thought. "They're both smart kids, I'm sure they'll find them on their own." Delta chuckled once more before letting the smile fade from his face. The time for joking around was over. "What the hell are we going to do with them? Kana and Danny are out for blood, and I'm afraid they're going to end up hurt. Maybe they're right. Maybe we aren't letting them get enough action, but I don't want to see anyone else die. Our numbers are getting low enough without us leading our lambs directly to slaughter." Delta looked at Epsilon after making his lambs comment, waiting to gauge his reaction before continuing.
Epsilon stared at the door, his brow furrowed and his fingers collapsed together forming a pyramid. He let Delta speak first. He usually did. Delta always had more to say. Epsilon shook his head softly, his mohawk shifting which way it leaned with each minor motion. "They're not ready for combat. They'd drop before they put a dent in Phi." Epsilon's voice remained flat, neutral, and calm. Beneath him was a rumbling fury ready to be released on the bloodthirsty metas, but that could remain contained for now, if only for a few moments. "Phi's given both of us enough trouble and none of these kids are even on our radars. How could we throw them to the Omegas and expect to get more than carnage in return? It'd be easier for us to kill them now."
Delta listened to what Epsilon said in silence, but as soon as Epsilon had finished Delta immediateyl began to speak. "I'm glad we're on the same page as far as the kiddos being turned into ground beef, but maybe they had a slight point. We should be pushing them. Perhaps tomorrow you could take Kana and Danny topside. Some fresh air could do them some good, and they could manuver around a bit. Besides-" a small smile spread across Delta's face "-I have a feeling that you wouldn't mind a chance to rought them up a little. Hell, I'd even let you pretend it was just sparring!" Delta's smile wided at his own little joke. He knew that Epsilon as beyond pissed, but that never stopped him from making comments in the past.
"Yes, let's... uh," Epsilon chewed his lip, "Let's just call it sparring or training and have them be none the wiser." He nearly smiled, the idea of throwing the little brats around a bit lessening his building frustrations. He'd learn to accept them and it'd be easier after getting a chance to slap the stupid out of them. "What should we do with the more... cerebral ones? I could train them, but I'll have my hands full with the ones itching for a fight. You willing to handle the worry wart and the other new guy?"
For a split second Delta could have sworn he saw the beginnings of a smile on Epsilon's face but he spoke before the smile had chance to take root. "I don't mind handling all of our noobs, they haven't done anything yet to deserve *sparring*. Besides that I think it would be best to start them off slow. They've had no formal training and we honestly don't know the full extent of their abilities." Delta allowed the room to grow quiet for a moment before continuing. "There's something else I wish to speak with you about. You've been distant lately, I mean more distant than usual. Whats got you so ate up?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Delta. If it gets in the way of the war then you have my permision to worry, but until then allow my business to be my own." Epsilon dismissed Delta's attempt at having a heart to heart with hm, wanting nothing to do with it. "I've found something that you may be interested in, by the way," Epsilon segued onto one of the matters he had on his mental checklist. "There's been some activity on the Omegas' part that I've been picking up on. There's a handful of metas moving toward the northwest. I've caught wind of a few passing through the state on the way to wherever it is they're going. So far I've noticed about six others. There's something big that either indepedents or Omegas are after, but I haven't figured out what."
Delta wasn't hurt by Epsilon brushing off his concerns, he had become quite used to Epsilon's secretive nature. However what he said after brushing off Delta caused legitimate concern. Delta's brow furrowed and he crossed his arms upon hearing of this migration of metahumans. "What the hell could they want up there? Northwest of bumfuck nowhere is still bumfuck nowhere. If it's indepdents then I think we should just wait to see what develops. If they're acually Omegas-" Delta let his voice trail off for a bit, he knew what he was about to say would open a whole other can of worms. "-then I feel like other members of The Order should be notified, maybe Zeta, she'd be willing to help. If not her then perhaps...perhaps we should contact Gamma."
"Unacceptable," Epsilon nearly spat out, he planted his hands onto the table, drumming his fingers and holding back his desire to walk away from the conversation. "You know I'd never so much as talk to Gamma, let alone risk working with him on anything. We might as well offer Phi our fucking throats." Epsilon's shoulders were raised and his spine arched, like a man deliberating to fight or flight. He stood up, kicking the chair back and leaned on the table, looking dead into the eyes of Delta. "If anyone outside of this facility gets word of this, we could have some collossal fucking shit to deal with. Bigger than either of us put together. Play things smart and keep your mouth fucking shut. I don't need Gamma's help. We don't need Gamma's help. Am I clear?"
"Listen, E..." Delta let his voice trail off as he searched for the right words. "...I know as much as the next guy how....insufferable Gamma can be, but that doesn't make leaving the other Alphas out the right thing to do." Delta pulled the collar of his shirt down once more, revealing his tattoo yet again. "Obviously Alpha approves of what we're doing here, and don't try to say that he doesn't know. You could crunch all the cell phones in the world and Pops would still know exactly where you are and what you're doing. Hell! He could probably tell you what you'll do in the next few weeks." Delta released his collar and stuck his hands in his pockets. "I promise I won't breathe a word of any of this to Gamma. That being said if this whole migration ends up being a massive clusterfuck then I'll appreciate all the help we can get. We can still look on the bright side though." Delta let a smile spread across his face. "If these metas keep heading in the direction they're going then Gamma probably won't show up. Heaven forbid he gets one of his suits dirty."
Epsilon sighed and shook his head, "Just do whatever makes you happy, D. I'm going to keep track of what's going on and I'll let you know if I see anything else weird. Otherwise, just let me handle this. If it really looks bad, I can get us all over there before things get too out of control. Until then, let me handle it." Epsilon backed up and clasped his hands together, biting the inside of his cheek and he contemplated shifting out of the room. It'd be nice to get back to the room. Maybe even have Sayuri stitch him back up. It wouldn't be the first time and it'd be a nice change from his own handiwork. He never had steady hands. Even now, clasped together, they were still shaking. In part from fury and in part from something more distant and ominous that weighed heavily on his mind.
Delta looked towards Epsilon and let out a sigh of his own. "I've let you handle things up to this point, and honestly its gone really well. I feel like we're actually doing something here. Instead of reacting to what the Omegas did, we're working ahead." He felt Epsilon's hands shaking before he focused his attention towards them, one of the many side effects of Delta's abilities. "Its been a long day, and you did a helluva lot more than me. How about we take the evening off? Let the new kids get acclimated and let you take a breather and stitch yourself up a bit more. Then tomorrow we get back to the grindstone. Sound good?"
"Sounds swell, D." Epsilon half smiled, dropping into the shadow beneath him and vanishing from the room.
Delta watched as Epsilon's form sank into the ground beneath his feet. Sometimes Delta envied Epsilon's ability to do stuff like that, it looked cool as hell. He stood in the mess hall for a few more moments and allowed the silence to envelop him. With all the noise around him most of the time (a large portion of which he created himself) it was little moments like this that kept him sane. His moment of peace behind him Delta stepped out of the mess hall. All of the young metas were no longer in sight, but Delta assumed they hadn't gotten too far. He began walking down the hall towards one of the sleeping quarters. After walking a short distance he arrived at his destination, which appeared to be abandoned. "Maybe I should tell the kiddos that training this eveing has been cancelled," Delta mused aloud, "Nah, they're smart kids. I'm sure they'll figure it out." He threw himself onto his cot with gusto, eager to get off his feet. He reached under his bed and pulled out a worn-out copy of Frankenstein, one of his favorites. Delta lost count of the number of times he read the thing, but it always helped him unwind and find his center. Soon the room was quiet except for the occansional turn of a page.

[Marx]

It was open. Again. Epsilon hissed, grabbing as his oozing wound, the stitching having sagged open near the center. Right at the point where he had gotten lazy. "I'm going to need Sayuri to take care of this," he spat, stumbling through his cluttered and near black room, tripping over a chair and nearly ending up opening his wound all the way when the loose stitching snagged on the edge of metal cabinet. "Christ. Shit fucking Christ." Epsilon only paused to grab a plastic cup on the table which would be the subject of his new rage. The cup sailed through the air, clattering against one of the metal shelves that lined the opposite side of his room, knocking something else down with it as it fell to the floor.

Epsilon stopped before an open box of medical supplies, is fists balled up at the sight before him. Out of gauze. Out of whisky. Our of bandages. Even out of fucking rags. He threw the box from the desk, the metallic box clattering on the floor and slamming into the wall. Epsilon dropped into the floor, spilling out of a dark corner by the supply room. He would have jumped directly into the supply room, but in his current state he didn't have the energy to see precisely why there were no particularly large shadows in the typically blacked out room. Someone must have left the light on. He'd deal with them later. When he was able to lay down more of a verbal smack down. Epsilon paused outside of the door, noticing the warmth. "Huh," He mumbled, putting the back of his hand on the door. The solid iron door was warm to the touch, usually it was cold like ice. This could be bad.

He opened the door and before him stood a certain girl with raven black hair streaked with sanguine. A girl standing before a puddle of magma. A puddle of magma in the center of the fucking supplies room. "Oh, you," Epsilon snarled, the edges of his lips peeling back as his pupils seemed to expand until the whites of his eyes were as black as obsidian. His skin crawled in shade and his body twisted and writhed in a wretched form, black as a moonless night, an emaciated body covered in wicked spines and tendrils that took shape faster than either of them could snap a finger. "You're dead."

[Whoami]

Kana was laughing from the amount of fun she was having. She had turned the center of the storage room into a scorched, ash covered mess. In the center of that mess, was a pool of molten hot magma. She danced around with her flames, turning a practical skill into a work of art. Fire weaved around her in all of its colors, shifting from broad strokes of orange to sharp lines of white. Kana's eagerness over the months had paid off, and she wanted to show it all to Epsilon and Delta!

"Oh, you..." Kana heard the familiar voice and turned to Epsilon.

She had a wide smile on her face, "Check it out!" she pointed at the pool of lava.

"You're dead." she heard him say.

Kana bit her lip, realizing that he might not have been happy about the fact that she chose the supply room of all places to make lava. Then she remembered that Epsilon wasn't in much of a joking mood that day, and that death threat wasn't just a bluff. 'Shit...' is all she thought. "Hey now, Epsilon, come on. This is all your training showing itself!" her voice was nervous.

He staggered forward, his face a blank slate, twisted and deformed with shadow, a gaping maw of crooked fangs where his mouth normally was, his eyes indistinguishable from the rest of his face. Tendrils fell to the ground and wormed forward like pythons, intent on their prey.

'Well... No going back now...' Kana thought to herself and adopted a defensive stance, one that Delta had showed her. "A spar then." she nodded, trying to get him to -not- follow through with his death threat.

"No spar," a strained voice spilled out from him, his mouth not moving to form the words, the sound seeming to come from the entirety of the darkness which was now spreading across the room. The walls were beginning to lose their shape and color and the only door out was only a recent memory, replaced by a wall of utter darkness. "I don't intend to spar."

As confident as Kana was, taking on Epsilon with fire was always difficult, no matter how enhancing a solar flare was. She knew she would stand more of a chance with ice so she could make physical barriers to protect herself. But that wasn't an option, and this moment was now or never if she was going to be taken more seriously by the two Alphas. Kana needed a plan, and she needed one fast. The instant Epsilon moved, Kana would be at a disadvantage.

What Kana didn't see coming was the lack of movement from Epsilon, rather the room turning into a pitch black hell and coming straight for her. She thought back to her initial plan -before- Epsilon had come around. Maintain light, his shadows can't exist in bright light. Kan stepped back to the edge of the pool of magma and took a deep breath. She closed her glowing orange eyes and focused on the area around her.

The air around Kana rippled in the form of a bubble. The space grew wider until her and the pool of magma was inside of it. When she opened her eyes, the rippling air ignited into a spectacular orange flame. The fire circled around as if it were a tornado. "Hotter..." she mumbled to herself and the flames changed quickly into blue fire. It became a bit more difficult to breathe as the fire took in more oxygen to maintain itself.

Kana looked around and saw the darkness looking closer, the fire wasn't bright enough. "Hotter!" she yelled and focused intensely. There was a howl as more oxygen was taken in to the flames. The twister of fire bursts again and became a blinding white tube of flames that reached to the roof. Kana's clothes were burning at hems. She could feel the soles of her shoes sticking to the concrete floor.

The shadow began to peel back like aged paint, the tendrils fighting to move forward against the surge of light flooding the room. They began to gain ground again, moving slowly against her torrents of flame and surged forth a moment later, bathing the ground and with it the rest of the room in shade. In that moment, like a faint pop in Kana's ears, she would feel something shift and then remain all the same. Epsilon had warped them through is shadows and spilled them into the washroom to minimize damage. And from that the shadows began to lose ground, revealing the ground beneath her. Linoleum tiles began to be scorched black by the flames, though two meters out from her the shadows ceased their withdraw.

"Go ahead," Epsilon dragged out, making a step toward her, and then another, his body shifting constantly as if he were covered in thousands of living organisms. As if he were made of them. "Burn as long as you might. Burn yourself out. Become nothing more than an empty husk," He went on, his words low and hardly audible over the roaring flames, though still seemingly present as if they were in her own head. He extended an arm into the light, it breaking apart as it drew closer to the sphere of burning blue, the arm quite literally disintegrating. "This will be you soon enough. A flame needs kindling. This kindling just so happens to have a name."

He stepped fully into the flames that surrounded her, his body ripping apart like ashes in the wind.

Shit! Kana had hoped the energy provided by the solar flare would work! She needed a new plan, and it didn't take long for her to come up with it! She'd just need to go hotter... Was that even possible?! She took in a struggled breath, the fire was taking in so much oxygen that she was heaving for the same amount of air a casual breath anywhere else would take. After this she'd have to buy some new red clothing.

Kana shrank the bubble a bit, allowing her to focus on a different space, the floor. The air just above the floor started rippling and it ignited as well. She gritted her teeth, thinking that she was either going to die by lack of oxygen or by Epsilon. She didn't talk, any breath would exhaust precious oxygen. She held what she could and took in another long heave only when she absolutely had to. The fire on the floor turned white, Kana's shoes were black and may as well have not existed. The floor began to glow save for a small circle around Kana where she was standing.

White flame wasn't enough to quickly melt concrete. But she knew that the solar flare unlocked powerful potential in her. With one last deep breath, she intensified the flame further. Beyond white, there was nothing, the fire burned so hot it practically became invisible, returning to wild ripples in the air. The air was distorting from the heat so much that looking into it would leave the image on the other side broken and indistinguishable. The light that the white flame had provided was gone, but the glowing floor was enough that the shadows couldn't extend across the ground. Then as it began to bubble, she knew she was close.

Her sweater had burned away, leaving her in her black tank top and shorts. She graced the thought of losing her MP3 player for just a moment and then went back to thinking about the disaster in front of her. The floor became liquid, and Kana was standing in the middle of a large pool of magma. It was large enough that one couldn't cross with a leap. It'd give her momentary protection. Kana dropped the bubble of invisible flames, the moment they dissipated, the air whooshed back in with such force that it made another howl and the gust nearly blew Kana backward into the lava.

Everywhere else was dark, she could only see the orange glow of the magma around. She was taking in deep breaths, gathering what she could so she was able to come to and deal with Epsilon. There had to be a way to deal with him.

In the pool of magma Kana floated, surrounded by her only lifeline in the battle of life or death between herself and one of the Alphas. And in the magma the intense heat and glow she should have been safe. Though from the depths of the pool formed a blackened mass that writhed and wretched as if pained by the intense heat of the pool. Despite its pain though, it reached out, writhing tentacles that split into further and further tentacles, spreading out like brambles.

Above the pool of lava a dome began to build, trapping in the air which was heavily being depleted of oxygen. And deep in the brambles a figure appeared, floating in the scorching liquid, watching, unmoving, waiting.

Kana saw the dark spot rising in the magma, then the dome beginning to build. "What the fuck, Epsilon!" she yelled, "You're like a goddam cockroach!"

She used the heat from the magma to create a spout of flames, engulfing the brambles as well as the figure in flames. She then sent three blue fireballs in rapid succession toward the continuous spout of fire just to be sure. 'Wow he really wants to kill me...' she thought.

The bramble and figure disappeared in the spout of flame, leaving the pool empty once more and following in suit the dome of shadows above disappeared in its entirety. What was left beyond the bubbling of magma and the hissing of steam, was a loud silence. The shadows seemed to be gone.

Now Epsilon sat across the room, beneath a dripping shower of ice cold water. His clothes were torn and burnt and where the holes showed his skin there were burns, some more severe than others. His mohawk was noticeably shorter and the areas around his piercings were bright red and raw from the heated metals in his face. The wound on his gut was seared shut, the threat of bleeding out now replaced with that of second degree burns across his body.

And he sat in silence. His eyes closed. His every breath slow and raspy. His legs folded beneath him and his hands resting on his knees. If he was still fighting, he was doing a poor job of it.

Kana kept her hands up in fists as if she were in a boxing match. Blue flames wrapped around her hands while she looked at Epsilon, "Are we done?" she called out.

"You tell me." He said, once again moving his mouth. "Are we?"

Kana lowered her hands and the fire sparked away. She nodded to him, "I am." she looked down at herself, clad in just scraps of her clothes. What had color was just black from ash. "Any more fighting and this 'spar' would turn into a scene from Beowulf. Look at you." she gestures at his burnt and messed up figure.

He motioned with his right hand for her to approach him. His eyes still shut tightly as the chilling water washed over him, soothing the burns across his body.

Kana looked at the lava surrounding her and smothered the heat out. It took only moments before it all solidified into a large space of dark stone. The once flat, tiled floor was now bumpy and lacked any pattern. The water from the shower made steam rise up around Epsilon. Kana took a step forward in bare foot. To anybody else, it would have been like walking on embers, but it was just like walking on a warm beach for her. She looked at the cauterized wound and crossed her arms, "You're welcome, by the way." a small grin gave was a reminder of her witty attitude.

He looked up at her, half raising an eyebrow at her stomach. "Oh, I am?" He asked slowly, patiently even as he opened his eyes. His eyes appeared glassy, the pupils and irises barely visible from the whites of the eyes which were discolored. "I suppose it's what I deserve for trying to scare you a bit. Or for making a half hearted effort to kill you." He said slowly, his voice rougher than it was once before, sounding nothing like the voice that spoke into her ear only minutes earlier.

Kana nodded at first, pointing at his cauterized wound, "Now you don't have to worry about infection... Mostly." she paused and couldn't help but smile wide at his words. "Well you put half of your heart into killing me, and I won, then that should mean I'm better than half of you. And since most omegas don't measure up to you by any margin, then I'd say I'm ready." she crosses her arms.

He place a hand on the ground and closed his eyes once more, letting out a long breath. "You're ready?" He drummed his fingers onto the tiles and at the very same moment a pair of spines came out from her own shadow, piercing into her calves and cutting through until they were visible from the front of her. "Sit down." He instructed, the spines ripping themselves out of her legs.

Kana had a triumphant smile on her face. She nodded again when Epsilon repeated her. Then, she felt that sharp pain in her legs that made her scream out. The sudden pain was blinding and it had her on her knees. He forehead was against the hot brimstone and she yelled curse words in many languages in a constant flow for minutes. "Shit! What the fucking fuck! Gah this hurts!" clamped her jaw shut and continued to swear through her teeth. Fire bloomed in her hands and she brought them to the new puncture wounds, hoping to seal the holes like Epsilon's wounds. But Kana wasn't affected but heat, so it did nothing. "Fffffuuuuuck!" she yells.

When she moved to grab her wounds, Epsilon leaned forward, his arm darting out and grabbing a fistful of hair, with which he jerked her toward him. He waited until his felt her against him and moved his lips to wear he felt was the side of her head. "What do you feel right now, Kana?" He whispered into her ear, his breathing ragged and short. Another spine rose from his own shadow and shot toward the jugular notch of her neck, pausing only once the tip of the point felt her skin. "You could die right here. In the arms of your killer. Do you want that?"

Kana spewed out another string of curses as she was pulled by the hair and up to Epsilon. She gritted her teeth again, "What do I feel? Anger is probably the most prominent one of them all!" her eyes shut and a tear streaked down her ash covered face. She then froze when she felt the other point at her throat. She could simply just ignite the man using his own body heat and get the hell out of there, but she wasn't an omega and she wasn't about to kill her mentor. "Hell no! I don't I want that!" she cursed some more, "You happy now?"

"No, Kana. I'm not." He released her and dismissed all unnatural shadows from the room. "I'm as happy as you are." He opened his eyes and blinked slowly, looking straight ahead with a dead stare. He had to rely on seeing the world through his shadows now, though it was still off-putting to not be able to simply see from his eyes. He could feel a hint of panic build within him and immediately squashed it down. He'd deal with his problems once he was in his room and out of sight from the recruits and Delta.

The hot headed girl rolled over onto the floor next to him, getting pelted by the freezing water that the shower was spewing out. She panted and groaned as her adrenaline subsided and her body became more aware of the sensations around her. Pain was one of those sensations, and the injuries her legs had endured flared up even more. "God fucking-! Arrgh!" she rolled over on the floor some more, her back facing Epsilon. She went silent. It was a long three or four minutes before she made another noise. This time it was laughter.

Epsilon looked toward her as she began to laugh and shook his head. She was too fresh for this. He had a seven year head start on her. By her age he had already broken ribs, arms, legs, flat-lined once, and a host of other beatings that he had lost count of. She didn't deserve what he was giving her, but if she was so eager to die, he was going to make sure she lasted as long as she could. He fell backwards into his own shadow and emerged a moment later, now standing against the wall and cranked the nozzle down, cutting the shower. She was still laughing. He threw a blanket on her, aiming as best he could. "Cover yourself up, you'll get sick."

She rolled onto her back and stared at the roof of the shower room, laughing some more. "We just tore apart the men's bathroom. Imagine the look Delta is going to have on his face when he goes to take a piss!" she laughs some more, using the humor to forget about the pain in her legs. She feels the blanket land mostly on top of her, she doesn't adjust it. "What a fuckin' day."

"How do you think I feel, kiddo? These eyes are some kind of fucked." He asked, looking in her direction, cocking an eyebrow. "I'm sorry if I hurt you too much. I wanted to make a point. And I got a little pissed after I got hurt for not paying attention." He folded his arms, and leaned his head back, feeling the now cool tiles against the crown of his head.

Kana's laughter died down once Epsilon started talking more like a person and not some mindless demon. She kept her eyes on the roof and shrugged, "I imagine you feel like shit. You walked through white fire like you were going to be fine." she paused and took in a breath, "Nothing some stitches and a lot of painkillers can't handle."

"And I was. It was the last bit that mostly got me. If you can be as powerful as you were today, everyday then you might have a chance further down the road. Not yet, but you're getting there." He shrugged and patted his torso, feeling a hole where he usually kept cigarettes. "You don't smoke, do you?"

Kana shook her head, "Not anymore. Stopped when I was half-way across Canada and needed the money to keep my car on the road." she felt a jolt of pain pulse out from the injuries in her legs. She then went on to reply about his comment on her power, "If you can cause a solar flare every day and a full moon every night, then I'll be unstoppable." she grins a toothy grin and gasps from her injuries again.

Epsilon pushed off the wall and stumbled over to her, leaning down and sliding his arms under her shoulders and knees and lifted her up, shadows consuming them and spilling them out into a near pitch black room, the only source of light from a dully glowing green terminal across the room. He leaned down and dropped her onto the bare mattress that sat on the floor and disappeared for a moment, returning with another med-kit in hand which he cracked open and placed next to her.

"Find what you need and set it next to you," He said softly, gliding through the room once more, kicking a box out of his way before reaching a desk and grabbed a couple of derelict cigarettes before returning to the injured girl. He held the two out. "You destroyed my only lighter, so step up for a moment."

Kana let out another sharp gasp as Epsilon approached her and picked her up. Before she knew it, she was in the dark room. She had never liked being teleported, then again she had only had been moved in such a way once before when two omegas had made their attempt at kidnapping her just after a race. Kana was able to see just silhouettes, and was able to make out the small container that was easily identifiable as a first aid kit. She rolled onto her side and propped herself up on an elbow. She used her fire to make some light, just a small ball hovering above the kit, while she picked through it all. Morphine, sutures, needles, disinfectant, gauze, and scissors.

When Epsilon told her to light his cigarette, she rolled her eyes and ignited the tip of the smoke with white fire, turning the tip to ash and left with nothing to smoke. "You can ask me, thank you very much." she then used a much gentler flame to light the new tip.

"I can." He acknowledged, without bothering to do so or thank her. He pressed the tip to the other cigarette and spun in on his fingers, before offering it to the girl. His way of thanking her. He removed the blanket from her legs and reached over her to grab the sutures, a needle, disinfectant, and gauze. "Smoke. It'll take the edge off." He poured the disinfectant over her leg, paying no mind to the now disinfectant and blood soaked mattress. It already had enough blood soaked into it anyway.

"If that hurt, then..." He paused, looping the suture through the needle, "You're not going to like this much." He held down her leg with one had and slid the needle into her skin, moving slowly and fluidly. It was easier to stitch up someone else than it was yourself.

She grinned, "I don't much is going to hurt after having both of my legs impaled and standing in an oven." When the needle pierced through her skin, she clenched her teeth and sucked in a breath. Moments later, she let the breath out and took the cigarette he offered her. She took a long drag from it and started to think about other things while he went on to suture the wounds.

"Smart girl," He muttered, moving onto the next leg. When that was done, he gave her little warning before grabbing her under the knee and flipping her. He grimaced, pausing before sinking the needle in, wondering if he should mention how much this side would hurt. "Go ahead and bite down on the mattress if you have to." He instructed, moments before sliding the needle into the still oozing wound.

Kana shook her head, "Like hell am I biting down on that bloody th- ah shit!" she faceplants into the mattress and clenches her teeth hard. She only raises her head to take another drag from the cigarette, then goes to muffling her groans of pain in the mattress.

He wrapped up stitching up both of her legs and drew out the gauze, biting a strand off which he wrapped around one leg, and the repeated for the other. "There. It's not much, but it's better than the alternative."He reached past her and grabbed the box, bringing it over to him to start shoving things into. "Not too bad for a blind man," he mumbled, pausing and grabbing the antiseptic, which he splashed liberally over his whole body before sealing the bottle up and closing the box. The box clattered against the concrete floor after he tossed it toward the nearest wall and went for the cigarette dangling from his lips, shaking off the ashes before returning it to his lips.

He said nothing then. He had already said enough and he was exhausted. Rightfully so, he thought.

Kana kept her face planted in the mattress, "During that entire operation I thought you were going to pierce an artery..." her voice was still muffled out, "Not bad at all... Now, I don't mind staying here for a few hours. Deal with it."

"Count your blessings you can't see what the mattress your laying on looks like," he muttered, sliding off of it until only his head was propped up by the mattress and folded his arms, closing his eyes for what he hoped would be the last time that day.

[corrosive]

"Yeah, alright, thanks." he mumbled sarcastically to himself, it wasn't like he cared if they showed him the way or not. It was just a matter of his navigational skills and the fact that they were somewhat in the lacking department.

He was good with mazes but large metal bunkers hadn't been on his list of things to learn to work through. He wasn't even entirely sure that he'd ever been in a metal bunker, let alone in the position of trying to navigate one. Honestly, he was very bad in these situations and would certainly end up just south of hell if he didn't end up stumbling into a mutilated bathroom first. He was tired, a sort of exhaustion that made his bones feel heavy when he moved and he couldn't seem to shake it but seeing people die had that effect on him. It was a heaviness behind his eyes and he pulled himself forward without another word. It was weird to feel so tired and to not be able to just flop down on his good old bed, he might not have spent all his days at home but he had taken that bed for granted. He could just about kill to be home again and listening to Diamond Dogs on the boombox that he kept next to his bed. He could just about kill to have his open window and to hear the faint rustling of the rose bushes with each gust of wind. He could just about kill to be home and yet he didn't even want to think about it.

If something had happened to his mother, as it had been suggested, then he wasn't sure he'd ever forgive himself. The power hadn't been her fault and it was such a useless power to begin with. He wasn't even sure why he'd been given such an idiotic power if all it was going to do was get his parents murdered and nearly get him murdered. It was stupid, he hated it, he hated every single bit of it. It wasn't even a good power! He could have understood if it was a power that could turn seas and make people tremble in it's wake but it was honestly just an extension to his internal narcissism. He could make another Carson, probably a stupider Carson, appear at will. Another Carson that was probably just as confused an upset as him. Another Carson to throw a fit with. Honestly, it would be hilarious to fill a room with sobbing, screaming Carsons but he didn't even know if he could do that. He kind of wanted to apologize to his saviors and tell them that his only good power was the power of irony and the ability to cry very loud when he became disgruntled. He was going to make a great super hero one day, he was sure of it.

Walking carefully, he ignored the urge to try to comfort himself with one of his stories. It was mostly out of hesitance because the last time he'd remembered one, a four year old version of him had nearly given him a heart attack. He didn't want to face any other unfortunate versions of himself because any version was a bad version and he wasn't in the mood to deal with them. After a few bad turns, he finally found what looked to be a sleeping quarter, complete with cots and everything and he nearly tripped over himself to get to one. It was weird to feel so grateful just to lie down on something, especially something as viciously uncomfortable as a cot. He really hoped that he hadn't just planted himself onto someone's bed but he could barely bring himself to care right now. He could have lied comfortably on the floor right now but this was so much better than a floor. He nearly found himself crying with joy but instead he found himself staring at the ceiling as he tried to breathe in deeply. It was easier to breathe like this and he could pretend he was back home if he tried hard enough. He could pretend he could hear the wailing cat that lived next door and he could relax his shoulders.

When he finally shut his eyes, he wasn't so sure of how he'd manage to sleep after today.

[Whoami]

(Mood Music)

Kana woke up just a short thirty minutes after she had passed out. The pain from her legs had lifted her from her dream. She looked around the darkness, able to only make out silhouettes. Kana sparked a small fire in her hand for light, seeing Epsilon still asleep. What a rare opportunity! She had access to one of the most secure places in the facility. Kana got up on shaking legs and fumbled around quietly. Her feet were bare and the majority of her clothing was burnt away so her movements didn't make a whole lot of noise.

When Kana stepped up to the consoles and computers, she saw one of the screens was dimly lit and cycling through cameras. She raised a brow and started to manually cycle through them. When the screen came to a camera overlooking to the parkade, she saw her car. Kana caught her breath before she gasped so not to wake up Epsilon. Her car was exactly the way she left it and knowing that brought out a deep calm. Kana had survived in that car for years, it was her shelter, her income, and it was a part of her. She wanted to sit in it. She wanted to lower the driver seat and fall asleep in it like she had done so many times before. That car was more home than any cot bed or barracks ever would be.

Kana looked over her shoulder at the sleeping man. She wondered what he would do if she left for the night and just drove to only god knows where. Kana took in a deep breath and run her hand over the car on the screen. She then turned and looked around more of the room. She came up on a shelving unit. Books and maps and documents were scattered all over it, there was a thin film a dust covering it all. Kana took one of the papers and held her firelight close to it. Logistics, food, ammunition, supplies. She saw on the paper that this Alpha organization was far more than just some underground meta-human extremist group. The large number in US dollars at the end of the list of items was evidence enough. She set the paper back down and took another one.

The next paper was a list of all of the Alpha's and their current assignments. She saw Zeta and Gamma operating in other parts of North America. There was Rho, the woman she idolized when she first joined the Order, currently tracking Omega movement in the northwest. She went through the list and noticed that Alpha was nowhere on it, even his location and work was unknown to his most trusted comrades. Her eyes went back to Rho and she started to think back to the day she was recruited.

---

Kana was street racing some high school rich boy who's parents had bought him a viper. She was winning, wasn't winning because of her car, she was winning because the guy had no clue how to handle such a vehicle. They were sprint racing down a side road that the police never bothered to patrol. As she turned the final corner and saw the finish line, she saw a group of hooded figures lined up along it. The viper turned the corner not long after and one of the hooded figures fired a beam of energy straight through the driver. The expensive car slid on the gravel road and crashed into a cluster of trees. Kana span her car and bailed out, watching as it slid into a ditch and didn't take any real damage. Another beam of energy coursed right by her, whoever these psychos were, they weren't kidding around.

Kana worked up a fireball and threw it at the one firing off the beams, another figure stepped forward and lifted the earth to form a barricade. The metahuman that controlled the earth had chains dangling all around, it made him look like some sort of punk grim reaper. Another beam grazed by her, vaporizing the hood of off her turquoise hoodie. She threw another fireball as she dived for cover in the ditch opposite to the one her car was in. She was knee deep in water but at least that metahuman with the beams couldn't hit her without getting closer. Then she felt something wrapping around her legs. The long drenched grass beneath the water was grabbing a hold of her and not letting go. She started to panic, who were these people? Why are they doing this? What do they want?

That's when Kana heard one of the figures yell out, "Shit! It's Rho! Everybody run!"

Kana peaked her head over the ditch and saw a woman in full black combats controlling and twisting metal like it was paper. She ripped the door off of the wrecked viper with her mind and changed its texture. It became highly reflective and as the beam of red energy coursed down the gravel road toward her, it simply deflected off of the beam and scythed a tree in two. A set of throwing knives floated out from a harness on their own and punched straight through the metahuman who was firing the beams. He fell to the ground. The woman looked toward Kana, "Keep your head down."

The meta who was able to control earth launched a boulder half the size of Kana's car at Rho. She dodged it expertly and took control of the metal chains that were dangling from the man. One chain wrapped around his throat, another bound his arms together and the third took him by the ankle and lifted him upside down. Kana felt the grass weaken and left go of her, she scrambled out of the ditch despite Rho's demand. The meta who was controlling the grass in the water presented a pistol and shot at Rho. The bullet stopped in front of the woman in black and turned around. She shook her head, her emerald green eyes locked on the shooter. "Using a gun against somebody who can control metal. You must be the special one in the group." the bullet turned on point and resumed its speed.

It hit the man in the leg, he keeled over and screamed out in pain. Rho looked toward Kana and grinned at her, it was the very same grin that Kana: snarky, cynical, playful, proud. She looked over toward Kana's car and willed it out of the ditch, the door opened. Rho handed Kana a slip of paper, "Go there. You'll find Delta and Epsilon. I wont be far behind."

She looked back toward the omega and pointed turned his own gun against him. The trigger pulled and even though Kana didn't watch the man die, she knew that he was. Kana looked over to the man hanging midair from the chains, Rho did too. She walked over to him and ran a finger along his jawline, "Shame on you for attacking this poor girl." the chains tightened, the man groaned, "She doesn't deserve to be caught up in this mess. But... It's unavoidable now."

The chain tightened again and Rho could hear the man's ankle snap from the pressure. The metahuman screamed out in pain. Rho started tightening the chains around his wrists, "Who else is Omega targeting? Speak now and you will still have your hands afterward."

"Go to hell." the omega spat at her.

"Good answer." the chains tightened and the man's wrists suffered the same fate as his ankle.

His screams were blocked out by the sound of Kana's car revving and flying off down the road. Kana was breathing heavily, she kept switching her eyes from the road tot he piece of paper and back to the road. "Go there. Go there. Go there." she kept repeating to herself.

---

Kana's eyes shifted back to Epsilon as he slept. He shifted but didn't wake. She shook her head and set the paper back down on the shelf, reaching for the third. It was intel, detailed movements and activity reports on omega. Delta and Epsilon were keeping a close eye on omega's less conspicuous members it would seem. There seemed to be a gathering of them, it didn't take a lot to tell Kana that something big was going down. "Northwest..." she mumbled quietly to herself. She took the paper with the list of current Alpha operations and saw that Rho was also headed there.

Her eyes went back to the camera screen and to her car. She held the firelight over the control panel and searched for the buttons to open the parkade. It was a good thing that Epsilon decided to shack up in the control room. She found what she was looking for and hit the switch; her eyes kept bouncing between the control panel and the unconscious Epsilon.

She wanted to help Rho, no matter how skilled the woman might be, heading their alone was going to be dangerous. She wanted to figure out what the omegas were doing up there. Maybe if she worked together with Rho, she would help put an end to whatever she was supposed to be fighting for. Kana would deal with the consequences from Delta and Epsilon after, if there was going to even be an after... Kana hit another switch, it disabled the electronic lock on the door that lead to the parkade. She heard a click to her right, she didn't even realize she was in the room right next to the parkade. "Hm. Guess he thought he'd play guard dog." she chuckled to herself and looked back to Epsilon.

Kana took the intel with her as she headed out into the parkade. She was sure to be quiet, Kana knew that she had to make as much distance as possible before they realized she was gone. Kana closed the door carefully and made not to make any noise as she did. Once the door was closed, Kana hurried toward her car and reached under the driver side fender. Tucked neatly away and nearly invisible, was a spare key that Kana had placed. She pulled the tap off, it matched the color of the fender, and took the key. She unlocked her car door and got inside, taking a moment to relax in the leather bucket seat. She sighed in relief and then closed the door, putting the key in the ignition just after.

The car roared to life, she hoped that the sound of the engine starting didn't wake Epsilon. With no time to find out, Kana quickly backed out from the parking space and sped away toward the exit of the parkade. The sunlight was hard on Kana's eyes, she had been stuck in that facility for three months. Kana had to let go of the gas and slow down a bit give her eyes time too adjust. When they did, she picked up her speed and headed out to go and find Rho.

[Loki the Liar]

so how do i join? i have a superhero ready with powers and other ready characters if needed. I would really appreciate a character sheet if you guys have one.