DClassified

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲: 𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕥 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 ℍ𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕖𝕤

@ThisIsFine
Yall down for an alt Iron Fist droppin in? Not Rand himself but either an iron fist in his place?

I could also do a former Kun’Lun resident.

Young Justice

_{Interaction | Professor Bingly
Mirage AKA @Mistress Dizzy
Location | The Submarine}

---

Leading up to this moment, the young lion had been quite calm and collected. Despite having never been under the ocean, always flying over through planes, he didn’t feel all that intimidated. If anything, he found himself in quiet awe of this world he never knew. Thus, he was situated at a window for most of the trip. Every so often, his glance would switch over to Kassy when he could see her. It felt much different to see her in her element. Her ease and clear sense of comfort out in the blue brought a small smile to his face. In a rather literal sense, a fish out of water, she was no longer.

That said, the rest of them were in uncharted territory as far as team experience went. Which, eventually led him to Viktor’s comments relating to her question. Although only musings, it was clear that he had never been around or under a king before. While some of his thoughts were valid guesses, Kila didn’t believe them to be true. It felt like an oversimplification of the situation.

Unlike the ‘King’ that Kila had served under, from what he had learned, Atlantean citizens seemed to have a positive view of Aquaman. Even if they didn’t all, the King could just send an announcement through the kingdom about the handful of outsiders and that would be it. Moreover, even if all the mystery was about ‘Smuggling in’ this professor, why not send a covert contingent from his own army for the escort?

Aquaman instead chose this team, as Kila noted to Kass earlier, which was composed of mostly ‘outsiders’. Otherwise, it would be a way to alienate his own people, and would certainly create a disconnect between king and people. In which case, that would be only worse in the long run, the boy knew firsthand and believed Aquaman to be wise enough to know already. For these reasons, Kila was more of the impression that this particular mission was more than it seemed, and as such, they should be ever more alert.

Before he could state his counter-argument though, he was met with the Professor himself. There were many questions in a short time span that the excitable man had asked. Many questions that, Kila himself had no answer to currently. It made the conversation somewhat confusing for both parties. He tried to answer Bingly’s questions as best he could, basing his answer around the abilities of his amai. She told him that his power of the Red was much like hers.

Though, even thinking about that led him back to what Kassy had explained to him before he left. How he was different from a few weeks ago when he had been actively using his abilities in the circus. It was apparent enough that the others could tell that he was using them. It led him back to the same line of thinking before they left, about figuring out a way to remember through the blurs in his memory. All the while, a sense of tension rose within him. Kila wasn’t quite sure why though…the feeling felt external in the most backwards way possible. A tingling in his spine, not unlike a feeling of being watched.

Danger… In an instant, he heard his body’s warning internally and the same sinking feeling that he got from Casper in the past washed through him. Something dangerous was close, but it came from no one inside the vessel. The water grew darker. Just as Talon had mentioned such, Kila’s thoughts went outside; Kassy was out there. Without missing a beat, his left hand went up to his comms.

Before words could leave him to try and get Mirage’s status, the submarine was struck by something strong enough to make the ship wobble. They clearly weren’t alone. Eyeing his teammates briefly, he got up and started walking towards the head of the submarine. Although it would be easy to overreact, Kila kept his cool and continued on with his message.

”Mirage, we just got hit. What do you see?”

Young Justice

&

_{Interaction | Kassandra / Mirage
AKA @Mistress Dizzy
Location | Kassandra’s Room}

---

While the escapades of their ‘break’ between missions proved interesting, it was honestly still a little strange a feeling to be doing nothing. Well, that was an overstatement; Kila couldn’t ‘do nothing’, but with regard to doing things catered more towards his leisure. Even in the year with his amai, it felt strange to be separate from militarian activities. She explained that the stains inflicted within him would take much time to mend. All that said, even Kila could admit that he somewhat enjoyed himself that night with Viktor and the Speech Devil.

However, there always came time for duty to be handled. This time, it would take them to the seas, as Red Tornado had explained. Despite the simplicity of the mission’s description, Kila had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn’t be as simple as an escort. If it were, why not select only one of them? Regardless, there was a certain familiarity, being in the presence of a king, even if only digital. Kila instinctively felt the need to stand up straighter and maintain eye contact when King Arthur spoke.

There was no surprise, especially given the team’s tendency to switch between leaders every mission, that Kassy was selected. It was her homeworld after all. Yet, when she spoke, Kila’s head turned to her. It irked him a little, the level of confidence she was lacking. He waited until Red Tornado essentially gave them clearance to move freely before deployment.

Briefly excusing himself, Kila found himself on the elevator after Kass had gone to her quarters. He wasn’t sure why, but a sort of warm prickling came to his core as he neared his destination. It wasn’t quite anxiety that he felt though…

The doors to the elevator opened to a small corridor, exposing an open space through another, smaller open door to Kass’ Room. He instinctively walked through it, but caught himself mid-motion and walked backwards out of it. Despite being open, Kila knocked on the stone surface.

Kassy’s doorframe was neatly decorated with a shell-covered sign that simply read “Kassandra”. Alisa had clearly assisted with some fancy calligraphy. The Atlantean girl inside was sitting in her tank bed, knees tucked to her chest, breathing in shudders. The idea of leading their team was clearly getting to her. She was partially dressed in the green leotard part of her costume, the orange surcoat draping a dresser. She was mumbling to herself.

“I can do this. It will be easy. They’ll listen to me and everything will be just fine.” A soft groan. “Ohhh, I can’t do this. Why send all of us for a simple escort? Who is this man, is he in danger of some kind? What exactly is he researching? Something doesn’t feel right.”

At Kila’s knock she jerked her head upward, orange eyes wide. “Oh!” She relaxed visibly when she saw who had darkened her doorway. “It’s just you. Hi.” She paused, wondering how long he had been standing there. Maybe if she ignored that fact, he would too. “...did you have questions?”

Kila’s lips pursed, studying her posture. He heard the questions she had murmured aloud, but didn’t comment on them. Instead, he took a few steps in, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. She was clearly more on edge than Kila originally thought…He wasn’t quite sure how to offer reassurance correctly, so he imitated his Amai.

“I do…it is a simple…but still very important question…Are you okay?”

Kass was taken aback by his question. She had been expecting a mission inquiry. Instead he had just come to check on her.

"Um." He had bothered to show up, it wouldn't do to lie. "No. I'm not. I've never led anything in my life and my brain is full of everything that could go wrong. And it will be my fault." She sighed, running her hand through her thick white curls.

"But I must do as my King commands. I have no choice."

Kila took her words in and slowly nodded. “I understand that feeling. I was sixteen when I first had to take the lead on missions. Through my failures, I’d learned to remember that I was not alone. To trust in my squad’s specialties, and that they would trust me in turn.” He didn’t realize that his eyes had started to wander, nor that he paced a bit, walking through his memory. Still, he continued:

“You are smarter than I was then. Your attention to potential failures proves so. What you also have, that I did not, is a team that is also composed of your friends. You have us to fall back on. Some are more bull-headed than others, but we can follow a lead that we trust. Who of us would be greater to trust in the oceans than you? Besides, your King could have sent someone else to guide, and we could have been back up. Yet, he chose you. Which must mean he trusts you, maybe you should trust yourself…at least this once.”

Kila continued walking through his thoughts aloud to her before pausing. Looking up at her, his expression came to a quick flash of a smile before faltering. In a moment of some vulnerability, he struggled with this next question. “Does that make sense…?”

Kassy quietly watched as Kila walked and talked, her eyes following him back and forth. He brought up some interesting points; not to mention a tidbit about his past that she hadn’t heard yet. Then again, some of them really didn’t talk about what came before the team, Kassy herself included.

It was nice to see him smile though, even for just a moment.

“Yes, I think it does. I wouldn’t have thought that this means the King trusts me specifically. I guess that’s a good sign.” Chin in hands, she wondered aloud. “Although my brain is still full of the possibility that something is amiss here, I feel better thinking that I wasn’t just an afterthought.” She would just have to question this Dr. Bingley about his work when they met. “It’s strange. I still don’t feel quite ready - and I don’t think I actually will until the mission actually gets underway. But I do feel much better.” She flashed a sharp-toothed sunny smile at him. “Thanks. I think I needed the pep talk.” Pausing, toying with one of her curls, she tipped her head in question.

“Are you okay? You’ve been…” She gestured loosely with her hands. “Different, since the circus. Not a bad different, I promise. Just… more quiet and serious. Did something go wrong with the tiger, or was it just seeing a poor animal in such a state that upset you? I think I’d be bothered if someone was pulling out a shark to do tricks.” Atlantis had their own brand of entertainment, but carnivorous animals were usually left out of it.

Kila’s smile returned when hers emerged but his eyes wandered towards the ground. Different? The young man himself hadn’t noticed much difference in his mannerism since the circus…was he more distant than usual? The memories from the tiger did leave an unsettling pit in his stomach when it happened…but that was weeks ago now. Still, whatever change was going on with him was enough for Kassy to notice.

“The tiger was neglected by the circus…it was a mother…plucked away. From both the wild, and its cubs…It struck a chord within me, I suppose. Having been taken from my home and family once…to do things at the will of someone else.” The more that he spoke, the more he realized just how much that tiger was like him. The realization was written all over his face.

“But I am okay now…Thank you for asking.” Was his answer, returning his attention to Kassy. It felt strange, even if only for a brief second. He came down here to relieve her of personal issues, only for his own to bear on him.

Kassy seemed to recognize some of the silent pain within Kila. She might have given him a hug, but she was soaking wet from her tank, and didn't want to mess up his clothes. "Good." She murmured quietly, but sincerely. "The ocean may be beautiful, but it is also dangerous. I want you to be able to focus properly. You're going to be my… oh, what's the word that Zach uses… ah, wingman! My second just in case trouble arises. Since you're the only other person who can really swim with me. What animals do you think you'll need?"

Kila’s nod and attempt to smile in support was interrupted by her last question. This was yet another reference to him having some animal ability…Did he display something to the team prior? It was constantly referenced, but, outside of those instances of inner impulses from Daphne and the tiger’s memories, Kila felt nothing.

“I…Tell me something…when was the last you have seen me use my animal abilities?”

Kassy frowned slightly, thinking about it. “Well, you definitely did something with the tiger at the circus. And then after that, you…” She stopped, her frown deepening. “Actually, I’m not sure past that. You haven’t really been active as much.” It took a bit of thought, but her mind made a subtle connection.

“Did something happen at the circus? Did someone mess with you like they did with Talon?”

“I…do not think so…yet, I also don’t remember…The exact events before containing the tiger are a thick mist to my thoughts.” Kila responded. Perhaps the times when his memory fogged were when his animal abilities took over? He could ironically recall many events that happened apparently through a blurred lens in his memory…The idea of which unnerved him a little. To do things without cognitive control or accurate memory.

The young soldier again caught himself blinking at something a thousand miles away from the current moment. “I am sorry…I didn’t mean to come down here to steal away your focus…”

Kassy shook her head. “It’s really okay. I’d rather know now if something is wrong, rather than in the middle of the mission.” Still, it was worrisome that he couldn’t fully remember. She asked the next question as delicately as possible. “Um. Do you think you’re up to this? It’s really okay if you’re not. If you tell Red Tornado that something is wrong, maybe he’ll let you sit this one out?” She definitely did not want to just kick him off - it was more that she was concerned about him.

Kila chuckled, oddly enough. “It is okay, Kassy. I do need time to figure this out…but, I have a feeling that is something I will be doing for the rest of my life. Besides…how many opportunities would I get to see a kingdom under the sea? Much less with a smart and caring leader?”

The resulting smile felt both foreign and natural to him, shared with the enchanting ocean girl. “I trust your leadership, trust my ability to support.”

Kassy grinned back at him. Why was it so warm in the room, suddenly? “I’ll be glad to have you, then. You’re going to love Atlantis, it’s so beautiful there.” She was relieved that he’d make the mission - he was the one she trusted the most.

“Alright. I think I’m ready to face this now.”

Kila slowly nodded, taking a few steps back towards the elevator. There was a certain warmth in his chest now that replaced the anxious prickling from before. She was the cause, the boy was not fooled by his body’s responses. However, there’d be a time to attempt to break it down further. For now, they had a mission to attend, and that was more important.

The blur in his memory…the connection to his power, there was some kind of correlation. His question though…would it overtake him on this mission? Is there a way to make himself remember?

There was only one current way to find out.

《 H.E.R.O. 2064 》

Bunninja

---

---

Blur Rabbit

"Powers is lying in my name. Lying in my name is Powers. My name is lying in Powers."

---

---

[ NAME ]
Solomon Br’er Powers

[ HERO IDENTITY ]
Blur Rabbit

[ NICKNAME/ALIAS ]
Sol, Powers, B. Rabbit, Rabbit, Hare, Bunny(If you dare)

[ AGE ]
???

[ GENDER ]
Male

[ AFFILIATION ]
HERO AGENT
Formerly [ CLASSIFIED ]

[ APPEARANCE ]

Full Body Example II

Solomon stands at six feet even with a caramel skin tone and sharp silver eyes. He possesses a toned and athletic build but he isn’t a walking wall by any means. His body has varying scar marks due to training and from a few missions. His hair isn’t naturally blonde in color, instead more of a dark brown but he often dyes it. It is often short and tapered, braided in differing ways as well. He also has some peach fuzz about his chin and corners of his lip that he doesn’t do much with.

As far as dress and grooming goes, Sol can be seen in a wide array of outfits. As if in contrast to his demeanor, his outfits often describe how he is feeling with color and accessories. When on duty or in HERO facilities, he dresses professionally, in a dress shirt and slacks, though willing to change when appropriate.

Full Uniform Example

His heroic uniform consists of a plain black dress shirt with a white tie, black pants, and even a sleeveless surcoat at times. Underneath is a white bodysuit with black accented gloves and boots. The bodysuit is form-fitting to maximize mobility and is highly resistant to laser-weaponry. He also wears a black and white helmet with two protrusions that stick out above his head, reminiscent of rabbit ears. ^{Further detail on the helmet will be found under equipment.}

[ PERSONALITY TRAITS ]
| Honorable |
| Gentle/Calm |
| Observant/Methodical |
| Altruistic |
| Reserved |
| Stubborn |
| Quiet |
| Critical |

[ BIO ]

Background Files

Early Life

[ CLASSIFIED ]

Training

[ CLASSIFIED ]

Relevant Information

*The Blur Rabbit has been associated with HERO for ten years but is suspected to have roots much deeper.
*Despite his paygrade, Blur Rabbit is often seen in Watervale and Brookside. Because of this, it is rumored that the Blur Rabbit had some prior connection to the Hood and The Outlaws but there is no confirmation.
*The Blur Rabbit is widely attributed with the eradication of Castleburg's Koshiki Devils that once worked with the Yakuza.
*The unmasked identity of Blur Rabbit isn’t known to common folk and most heroes, enabling him to blend in with the populace.
*Solomon Powers is widely regarded as having a simple job as a mechanic for the HERO organization.

| MISCELLANEOUS |
Has an inexplicable affinity towards Rabbits and Hares, a soft spot if you will. It has been confirmed that he has several as pets. The reason for this odd interest is unanswered currently.

Sol’s Soundtrack

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[ RANKING ]
S

[ POWERS ]
Blur Rabbit’s abilities are essentially a means of self-enhancing his physical attributes, absorbing energy through the particles around him via motion. His power relies on momentum and requires his constant motion to build in potency. The more momentum he garners, the more energy he is able to draw towards his physical capabilities; his trademark “Blur” speed for example. This can be as simple as getting a running start before an attack but it is not limited to such. Varying athletic actions can also create differing boosts depending on how rapid and rigorous the movement involved.

While seeming to have no upper limit, this ability does have its weaknesses. For one, if he is immobilized, unable to move his muscles in any way, his abilities take no effect, leaving him vulnerable as any average human. With this, he must be conscious in order for the abilities to work properly. Further, while the enhancement does grant him enhanced durability and some regenerative healing, it does not give any extra stamina. In fact, should he have a lasting injury and need to recover, his therapy is moving while injured and that will sap his stamina until utter unconsciousness.

[ PHYSICAL STRENGTH ]
■■■■■■■■□□
(8/10)

[ AGILITY ]
■■■■■■■■■■
(10/10)

[ INTELLIGENCE ]
■■■■■■■□□□
(7/10)

[ DESTRUCTIVENESS ]
■■■■■■■■□□
(8/10)

[ LETHALITY ]
■■■■■■■■■□
(9/10)

[ ENDURANCE ]
■■■■■■■□□□
(7/10)

[ EFFICACY ]
■■■■■■■■■■
(10/10)

[ SKILLS ]
Advanced-Level Martial Artist
_{Specializes in Oriental Forms and Includes special martial art developed by former hero “The Glide” designed to target special pressure points. It is designed to briefly disrupt the powers of metahumans and can cause temporary paralysis. The acquisition of this skill is what places the Blur Rabbit into S-tier as there are only a handful of practitioners ever documented.}

Advanced-Level Free-Runner/Acrobat

Advanced-Level Escapist/Infiltrator

Intermediate-Level Detective

Intermediate-Level Marksman

Intermediate-Level Actor

Intermediate-Level Mechanic/Captain

Basic-Level Medic

Basic-Level Chef

[ EQUIPMENT ]
Hare’s Helmet - The Helmet of the Blur Rabbit is designed to enhance the senses, essentially shortcutting the time his brain needs to catch up to the speed his body moves when close to his max. It is the most durable part of his uniform.

Swift Slicers - Two swords wielded by the Blur Rabbit. They are designed in the shapes of a Katana and Wakizashi and are worn in the fashion a samurai would. Although not the most durable or sharp, they are quite dangerous with the Hare’s precision and speed.

Smoke Pellets - The Blur Rabbit carries smoke pellets of varying types for differing situations. These are often used as a diversion, getaway option, and means to draw fear in the hearts of enemies.

A Hunter’s Son

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KANATI

"A strong man stands for himself. A stronger one stands for others…Or at least that’s my Até what tells me."

---

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[ NAME ]
Kane’Tohopka Wernicke
_{CAH-NAY-TAW-HOPE-CAH}

[ HERO IDENTITY ]
Kanati

[ NICKNAME/ALIAS ]
K, Kane, Hairball, Prince of the Wild

[ AGE ]
18

[ GENDER ]
Male

[ AFFILIATION ]
H.E.R.O.

[ APPEARANCE ]

Fun Visual References

Kane stands at 6’6 even with a bronze skin tone and brown eyes. He possesses a mesomorphic and burley build, easily mirroring his father in a few years. His hair is naturally a dark brown in color, though in certain lightings it can be mistaken for black. It is thick, shoulder-length, and sparsely braided but most often wild. He also has some dark markings on his forehead, reminiscent of tribal tattoos.
^{*Further details on these markings will be found under Abilities.}

Kay’s style of dress can be seen as fairly conservative. Despite his musculature, he doesn’t flaunt it much, with the most skin seen on average coming through the exposed arms of varying shirts. Otherwise, jeans, combat pants, khakis, and sweats are all things he would be seen in. He also tends to like wearing different sorts of Stetsons, no matter what he wears casually. Kay also isn’t the type to dress up and would have to be talked into doing so.

Inherited Heroic Uniform Example

[ PERSONALITY TRAITS ]
| Adventurous |
| Honest |
| Determined |
| Kind |
| Insecure |
| Ignorant |
| Mischievous |
| Wrathful |

[ BIO ]

Kane’Tohopka is the first born son of Samson and Kia Wernicke. His Father, also known as Kanati the Hunter, is a retired longtime agent of HERO. Kane was raised in the country, on the Wernicke Family Farm that his own father was raised on. The boy had a peaceful home life. His father worked hard to make sure that his family lacked nothing secularly. His mother managed the home as best she could emotionally. As a result, Kane’Tohopka had a stable childhood.

Except for one thing: The Chazeka.

Ever since childhood the Chazeka, or Rage, has afflicted Kane. What was worse, unlike other children, his powers began to develop much earlier. It was what kept him from conventional schooling as when he lashed out, even as a little boy, he was a danger to most. It had gotten bad enough to the point that his mother feared she gave birth to a Wendigo. Sam, while similarly distraught, did not panic.

Instead, he made a call to an old friend of his. This old friend wrote symbols on Kane’Tohopka to help manage the Chazeka. After that, outside of the Incident, they managed to live a relatively peaceful life. Kane learned and laughed just as any other boy. He took particular interest in tending to the farm’s animals, naming them all and making it his personal mission to tend to them when sick or injured. The boy often journeyed into the forest around the farm to explore, even christening himself the Prince of The Wild.

It was while he was getting older though that Sam recognized that Kane couldn’t stay on the farm forever. Eventually, his boy would have to go out into the world and that adventurous spirit made that time fly to nearness. A world that was full of stresses and pains. Kane would have to learn how to deal with such things without losing himself to the Chazeka. In which case, a good place to learn would be at the famed Academy for Junior Heroes.

Thus, despite some minor protest from his wife and the boy himself, the family bought a second home and moved to the suburbs near to the big city of Castleburg. A fish out of water would be an understatement to describe how overwhelmed Kane was at first. The city was loud, it stank, was bright, was fast, and technology was confusing. It was hard but with his support group, it became great and he caught on fine.

More recently with becoming 18, Kane’s father promised him the keys to his old place in the East Flank. He was told that it was a big responsibility in maintaining a home of his own, but Kane was ready for it. There’s always been the concern of the Chazeka but it’s been a while since the last outburst. Besides, he’d just signed over to start working for HERO officially now. The future was brightening up for him as he was following in his father’s footsteps.

What does he have to fear?

| MISCELLANEOUS |
Kane is multi-lingual separate of his power, speaking English, Lakota, and Spanish in that order of fluency.

He has a six year old little sister named Xima, who hasn’t displayed any super powers as of yet.

---

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[ RANKING ]
Average = B+
The Chazeka ≥ A

[ POWERS ]

Reactive/Environmental Adaptation
Kanati from a young age has had the ability to adapt to the world around him in a variety of ways. It is a passive ability for the most part, that acts instantaneously to ensure his survival. It can act in two different ways, being short term and long term adaptations.

In short term situations, it provides short term solutions. For example, if he were to be submerged in water for a couple of minutes, he will have developed gills and can breathe underwater for a while. However, once he’s back to breathing air for the amount of time the adaptation was needed, he reverts to his normal state.

In long term situations, it provides longer lasting adaptations. Long term situations usually mean repeated situations over a long period of time. For example, he has developed borderline superhuman physical attributes after many years of rigorous physical work alongside his largely superhuman father. For this to die down, it would take many years of him not doing imposing physical labor.

While his adaptation is instantaneous, the situation to adapt to must be introduced to his system at least once before. This would mean that one-hit kill or incapacitating attacks to his system would definitely do the trick. This would obviously mean that he can’t carelessly throw himself into any situation. Another limitation is that while he can go for longer without food and water, he still indeed needs those things or he’ll die. It also doesn’t give him more intelligence, he still has to make smart decisions on his own.

The Forehead Runes Keep The Chazeka At Bay

However, these limitations are temporarily exuded when Kane is overtaken by the Chazeka. When The Chazeka is in control, the passive nature of his ability is overridden by stress and he goes into a fight or flight state. If Chazeka is in fight, it will attack the stressor, enhancing his physical prowess as damage is taken until the stressor is incapacitated or it flees. If Chazeka is in flight, it will flee the situation by whatever means necessary.

Once it feels safe, Kane’Tohopka will go into a state of unconsciousness as his body is recovering which can stretch from a couple days to even a month, depending on how long he was overtaken.

There are several ways to counteract the Chazeka:
1. A being, or group, of sufficient enough power can overpower the Chazeka, at least briefly before the adaptations stack.
2. A being, or group, of sufficient emotional connection to Kane can manage to calm the Chazeka down, or at least put it into flight by leaving with that person.
3. A sufficient dose of power dampeners.

_{Filled Boxes Represent Average.}

[ PHYSICAL STRENGTH ]
■■■■■□□□□□
(5/10)

[ AGILITY ]
■■■■□□□□□□
(4/10)

[ INTELLIGENCE ]
■■□□□□□□□
(2/10)

[ DESTRUCTIVENESS ]
■■■■□□□□□□
(4/10)

[ LETHALITY ]
■■■■■□□□□□
(5/10)

[ ENDURANCE ]
■■■■■■■□□□
(7/10)

[ EFFICACY ]
■■■■■■■■□□
(8/10)

[ SKILLS ]
Advanced-Level Hunter/Fisherman

Adept-Level CQCombatant/Marksman

Adept-Level Survivalist

Adept-Level Animal Handler/Veterinarian

Intermediate-Level Farmer

Intermediate-Level Guitarist

Intermediate-Level Lumberjack

[ EQUIPMENT ]
Hunter’s Bow - Kanati has a composite bow that Samson built early in his career. It has a draw-strength of 250 lbs that he could pull back casually enough to quickdraw with. For Kane, he can pull it back with little difficulty, but has to build up to be able to similarly quickly fire arrows with accuracy.

Arrows - Carries 15 on average; 10 Regular Arrows, 5 Trick Arrows.

Tomahawk - The small, durable, axe-like weapon that Kanati has had since the heroic golden age. It may not be the most flashy weapon, especially in this new age, but it’s definitely one of the most reliable.

《 H.E.R.O. 2064 》

&

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Location | Innocuous Warehouse |
Missions | A Dish Best Served Cold |
Mentions | @Zoey Boey |

---

It was a bumpy road. Or rather, rooftop. They were moving fast, and Shadow Scythe Vengeance could barely make out the ground they were covering beneath them. She was set down on a roof, probably a block away from the warehouse.

”Hey…” She said. ”Blur Rabbit? That’s you, right?” The girl asked, still laying on the ground. ”...Did HERO set me up?” She asked, and even though her voice was modulated to be deep and intimidating, one could make out that she would be hurt by the idea.

”You should have people keeping tabs on the tips you receive…” Solomon answered over his shoulder, peering back over to the facility through his mask, spotting vehicles outside. He didn’t recognize them, which made the appearance of the strange “strong boy” more concerning. Looking over at SSV more directly, he walked closer.

”And, yes, they did. Went to some strange lengths to do it as well…” Was his reply. He heard her question about his alias, and he debated on whether he should confirm or deny. Though, from the few encounters they’ve had in the past, she was likely to recognize the strike, if nothing else. Still, he’d rather not have her calling him that left and right. There was always bound to be someone listening.

”You can call me Ronin.”

”Cool.” Shadow Scythe said, understanding what he meant. But then the previously mounting anger that had been briefly undercut by Ronin’s cool new nickname bubbled to the surface.

”But for real, fucking seriously?! Me!” She exclaimed, her voice going high pitched with indignation. It sounded pretty weird being filtered through her mask. ”Out of all the shit in this town! They leave us to fend for ourselves and then step on our fucking hands the second we try to climb even a little bit higher! I- I DO have people check it’s just- I didn’t think they’d- Oh God damn it- can you unparalyze me, please? I can’t move!” SSV wanted to throw her arms around in protest but was just a useless sack of potatoes on the ground.

”Answer me this first; HERO has you in their sights now. What is your first move?” Sol asked, crouching down.

The vigilante was silent for a moment. ”...I guess I’ll need to get some volunteer moderators for my website. Vet the tips that come in more extensively. Or maybe I could use donated money to pay them. Once I tell the public about this, they’re sure to be outraged on my behalf, so that might get me more attention.” She said.

”You’re likely going to need a new site or perhaps ditch the idea of a website altogether. Being that they already have the information to this one, it’s already too late, and will only be a matter of time before they track you down. Burner accounts and devices are likely your best bet on posting any information related to your missions on social media.” Was Solomon’s response, swift and blunt. The vigilante didn’t say anything, but her jaw was set underneath her mask.

Being that some sort of interference should be clear to the ones inside by now, it’d likely be in both of their best interests if he set her back in motion. He lifted her up from where she lay on the ground and bent her over his knee. Setting fingers along the back of her suit to try and feel for the correct bones, he warned; ”This is likely going to hurt.”

”I wouldn’t worry about that.” SSV responded quietly. Taking her words as a prompt, Sol sharply jammed his fingers into the central area of her spinal cord. It was a trying process. Too far to any direction other than dead center would likely just cause damage, pain, or even extend the period in which the paralysis would last. Several small crackling sounds later, he raised his hands.

”Give it a few moments before you go running or jumping. Your limbs are not fully awake yet.”

Shadow Scythe Vengeance rolled calmly to her feet. She didn’t visibly react to the sensation of being unparalyzed. Brushing off her pants, she adjusted her mask on her face to make sure it was still firmly in place. She gathered her composure. Then she pointed a finger at Ronin defiantly. ”You don’t know a lot about how I work. Vengeance(dot)net is a public site. Anyone can go on it. I need the website if I’m going to help Castleburg. They don’t have shit on me, they just tricked me one time. The only reason I would shut down the sight would be if I was done...doing this.” She clenched her fists by her side. ”And that’s not happening.”

”Honorably stubborn as you may be, I am warning you from the perspective of an ally. Many Villains have power, few have structure, and fewer have resources. HERO has all three. I may not always be around to warn and pull you out.” The young man admonished before standing up straighter to head back towards the warehouse.

”From the looks of things here, now there is a problem going on in the warehouse. I’m going back to keep up the facade.” Solomon started walking, but paused to look back at her again briefly.

”I have a measure of trust in your ability to look after yourself. However, don’t let your confidence become arrogance. Be careful…For now, go get a head start and I’ll take care of what I can from the inside.” Were his last words. Raising his hands to chest level, Sol extended two fingers from each hand and flapped them before vaulting from the roof’s edge.

Caught between being a huge fan and being sick of being talked down to, Shadow Scythe Vengeance took a few pointless steps forward after him. She had more questions. But he was gone, with an exit so cool it sent chills down her spine.

”Damn it.” She punched the air, and was left alone on the roof. Sighing, she cast a longing look towards the warehouse in the distance.

Young Justice

_{Interaction | Currently None
Location | Haly’s Circus}

---

Kilamanjaro bounced about on the balls of his feet to the introductory music, being more percussive in origin. It sounded like they were trying to imitate the tones of a Djembe drum, trying to set the tone for his act. The name he had given them, despite the anxious feeling it gave him, was that he was to be called “Ja Zaki, King of Beasts”. Despite the fear that the name gave him personally, it was all he could think of in the spur of the moment. Besides that, very few would actually know that name, much less common American people.

The green and brown colored costume offered was weird in fit. The torso had a full sleeve on only one arm, yet came with a smaller detached sleeve for his uncovered forearm. Then on top of that, it was tight up top, with the pants being the opposite as they were swishy and loose. Ja had also gotten Kassy to tie his hair back into a puffy sort of tail on the back of his head. That way the top could fit under a golden colored bandana that covered the scalp, eyes, and nose. Even for Ja’s liking, he felt a little goofy, but he didn’t mind much.

The surprise about this act was that Ja didn’t know what animal they’d be bringing out. He told them to bring him whoever among the animals they had, and he could tame them to perform actions. In order to do this, he’d have to impose his Spirit of The Wild on them though. He didn’t like to do it, it felt wrong to project his will onto them opposed to asking, but this mission needed to be completed effectively. There could be no room for error, like the last mission.

Before long, two burley men walked out with a cage on wheels, covered in cloth. As they came to the center, Ja felt a foreboding feeling come to him in response. He felt something akin to heartache, rage, and hunger coming from the cage.

“For our next performance, we have Ja Zaki the King of Beasts. He claims to be able to tame any animal he comes into contact with. However, can he navigate 250 pounds of pure muscle and unbridled ferocity?! Allow us to present…”

The fake Djembe drumming picked up. Rings of varying circumference size and heights flicked to life with fire. Then, in a sudden motion, two of the men pulled the cloth from the cage to reveal a young female bengal tiger. The sudden lights and loud sound caused the tigress to flatten her ears and snarl in a defensive position.

“Bhoomi!! And the Flaming Rings of Fury!!” The announcer shouted followed by the guitar riff for Eye of The Tiger, causing the crowd to cheer in astonishment. Ja stared at the tigress and his jaw nearly dropped but he caught himself. To most, she would appear muscular and fearsome, but off the bat, he could tell that she was underweight. If Ja could guess, it appeared that they fed her just enough to keep up appearances. Already, Ja wasn’t happy about the circus anymore.

One of the men from before came to him holding a whip and a bucket of meat, another holding the door to the cage. To the man with the “taming” materials, Ja didn’t even look at him again, waving him off, to which the announcer made commentary to boost crowd reactions.

”Open it.” Ja commanded, to which the attendants hesitated. They looked to the ringmaster, who gave an approving nod, and they complied.

With one metal wall of the cage opened, the attendants all took a step back, clearly on edge. Ja, in the meantime, crouched down and kept his eyes on Bhoomi, who surveyed the opening of the cage. In an instant, Bhoomi zoomed out of her cage, forepaws thrown directly into Ja’s chest. As he crashed on his back with the tiger atop of him, there was an abundance of crowd gasps and concerned murmurs following quickly. A few more attendants started to move in and there was a moment of silence in the crowd, the music turned down. However, they stopped.

From under the tiger, Ja had raised one of his arms, waving them away from Bhoomi, who looked all around her with a growl. Ja put hands to the sides of her head, causing her to abruptly stare down at him. Upon eye contact, Ja felt the flow of the Red surge through him, flowing out to Bhoomi. In a moment’s notice, it could be observed that Ja Zaki started rubbing up and down the tigress’ neck. Then with a small groan, she seemed to playfully roll over and off of him.

Just like that, Ja popped up from the ground, looking around the crowd. Remembering that this was supposed to be a performance, he smiled and raised his hands. The additional attendees backed off and the announcer simply picked up where they left off playing it off as though part of the act. Bhoomi stretched her shoulders and upper body with a much calmer aura.

“And so the Ja Zaki has proven to finesse the feline femme fetale!” Was the remark, to which the crowd built itself back up to cheering. The man from earlier that had the bucket of meat, having relinquished the whip now, tried to approach once again. Ja once again waved him off. Food, even if for a reward for jumping through the rings, would be too much right now. With the tigress in mind, seeing memories through her eyes, Ja now knew that she was long hungry.

It would have to wait until later…for now, he elected to slap the ground instead to get Bhoomi’s attention. Carrying on with the act, the King of Beasts ran towards one of the larger, lower rings of fire, jumping through it with ease. Once through, Ja turned around and beckoned for her to follow, which took no time at all. With the first completed, the music cued back up, and the crowd’s cheers built back up.

With that, Ja continued jumping through rings, and Bhoomi continued to follow through. Each set of rings increased in difficulty, shrinking in size, increasing in number of jumps necessary. This went on for a little while, as they didn’t seem to anticipate “Ja Zaki” to be able to tame the tigress for that long.The crowd seemed to like it, so the attendants started readjusting the rings in new patterns while the act was going on, to which Ja and Bhoomi simply adapted. At this point, they were going beyond what was rehearsed when it was just him earlier.

Ja was starting to break a sweat, but it wasn’t because of the heat. Given how feral in mind she was from the mistreatment by this circus, Ja had to completely focus on tasks and getting her to complete them by copying him. It was a huge mental strain, and he felt his adrenaline level going the wrong way as her fury crept into him. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep this up.

“And now… the final challenge. Ja Zaki and Bhoomi now must jump through not one, not two, but three rings!” Went the announcer’s charismatic voice as they set it up. Ja sighed, bending over with a hand on his knee, but waving with the other hand for the crowd to cheer louder. Looking back at Bhoomi, she seemed to be a bit off, looking around as though bewildered. A small, low rumbling growl caught Ja’s ears. His hold was loosening as he was getting tired. He eyed the three rings in particular, which were setup to be a little taller than he was. Thankfully they were close together.

All he needed was one more push…thus, standing up straighter and jumping a few times in place, he sprinted for the rings. Jumping up, Ja dove through, narrowly avoiding flames, and rolled upon impact with the ground. Taking in a breath, Ja rested on his hand and knee for a second after getting out of Bhoomi’s landing path. Though, there was hesitation from her this time, clear resistance to his compulsion now.

It was an awkward sort of pause in the action, and Ja felt it. With the potential of jeopardizing this mission on his mind, and Bhoomi’s feral drive fueling his disposition, he yelled out to her directly: ”Kurumidza, Bhoomi!”

After which, he felt a pang in his head. The young man’s body started to feel weak, and vision became blurry for a moment as he rode the wave of a sudden headache…

---

By the time his vision was restored, he rubbed the space between his eyes before opening them and looked around him. It was clear that Bhoomi had gotten through the rings, as the audience gave them a round of applause.

The tigress in the meanwhile was pacing about. Going by her body language, and the way her ears started twitching, he somehow realized what had happened. What would follow, wouldn’t be pretty if misexecuted. He quickly got up to his feet and jogged in her direction.

”You! The bucket, give it here! Give it now!” Kila called the same man with the meat bucket from earlier. Clearly irritated, the man started walking over with the item. When Kila got close to Bhoomi, he stopped, as now she was looking right at him. He opened his palm for the man with the bucket to stop. Instead, he opened and closed his hand. As if instinctively understanding the gesture, the man tossed a turkey leg his way.

Bhoomi watched the meat as it crashed to the ground. She growled, then roared at Kila as he was slowly reaching down to pick it up. Rearing back, she pounced for it and the young warrior dodged to head towards the man with the bucket. With her briefly occupied, he took the bucket and made a break for the cage. Following her nose after having only gotten a morsel, the tigress dashed after Kila.

Trying to keep up with the act, “Ja Zaki” waved to the crowd as he was running with the bucket. With some oohs and aahs, the crowd clapped along. Bhoomi, in a feeding frenzy, jumped to pounce on the boy to end the chase.

In a single motion, Kila jumped to the top of the top of the cage and threw the bucket into the cage for the slightly bloody chops of raw meat to spill about inside. Barely missing him, the tigress followed her stomach and went after the dead meat instead. Once inside, Kila pulled the latches to close the cage’s metal door.

Exhausted, Kila remained laid on top of the tiger’s cage, to which attendants came to roll them off.

“Give it up for Ja Zaki and the Flaming Rings of Fury!”

《 H.E.R.O. 2064 》

&

---

Location | Innocuous Warehouse |
Missions | A Dish Best Served Cold |
Mentions | @Akayaofthemoon, @Hitman, @Mintz, @Sassy1085, @Zoey Boey |

---

Solomon kept hold of Shadow Scythe Vengeance, trying to keep her down and listen in on what was happening with the heroes looking for them. The diversion for the two searchers seemed to work well enough with Beth’s chirped expletive. Peering briefly over the counter that he managed to duck behind, he took note of Nilin walking up to the group afterwards.

With her running a sort of interference, Sol’s thinking process could swap from another diversion to potential escape routes instead. His eyes went to the windows. Not so good, too much noise, and depending on where they exited from, the heroes could spot him which would allow them to send in a description. The door wouldn’t work, too many hero affiliated people just exited and are likely still around the premises.

That’s when the blue haired recruit’s flashlight started panning about again, to which Sol ducked back down. SSV in the meantime had been kicking his leg, trying to get free. He had endured worse and ultimately wasn’t much injured by it, but this was starting to get annoying. He hoped he wouldn’t have to do this, but her stubborn nature wouldn’t let her listen. Not on the scene, at least.

Thus, he let her arm go.

The vigilante, assuming her kicks had worked, took the advantage. She rolled backwards and into a three point pose. She reached for her chain and prepared to wrap it around her enemy, but when she looked up, he was gone. She paused for hardly a moment, before refocusing on her escape, but she felt an impact between her shoulders. Shadow Scythe went to whirl around and counter attack, but instead she lost her balance, limbs not responding. Her entire body was full of static, and felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. With a heavy thud the vigilante landed awkwardly on her side.

Sol released a smooth exhale that felt more like a sigh as it was coming out. With her now in a more manageable state, he took a glance at the anti-hero’s utility belt. Taking a guess at which held the smoke pellets she used, he pulled one out. Picking the girl up, he made sure to relocate behind inventory shelves stocked with what was likely more drugs. He still couldn’t quite believe the carelessness put into HERO’s plan.

The Hare kept his ears wary and eyes on a swivel, throwing her over his shoulder to climb up the shelves. He was sure that the maneuver made some noise, so he laid on his stomach when up at the top. Listening in again, he took note of another voice. Someone new had entered the fray, but his manner of speaking sounded off, and ‘Strong Boy’ didn’t roll off the man’s tongue well enough for that to be his name. It made Sol suspect if this ‘Sam’ was part of HERO’s plan.

Regardless, there wouldn’t be much time to ponder the pretender’s purpose right now. Instead, Solomon took note of a particular vent that had been left open, likely from her earlier entrance. Not a good escape route, given the tight squeeze, but a good enough point of interest.

While up there, he took note of a green light from a small second floor area of the warehouse, likely the office where the ones in charge would typically do computer work. The green light, despite the power being out, was an indicator of an emergency exit. Given that there was no real work going on here, it meant that no civilians were evacuated from there.

Shadow Scythe Vengeance’s mind was racing. For a moment, she had been afraid that her career as a vigilante was over. The jig was up. But her captor hadn’t delivered her to HERO. Instead, he seemed to have his own agenda. Being flung and carried around by luggage wasn’t ideal, and her cheeks burned with embarrassment. Still, was this guy...Blur Rabbit? Was she being rescued right now? That kind of sucked, considering she felt like she was about to escape herself. But also, if it was, that would be kind of cool. It was weird to see him out of costume.

SSV couldn’t move, so she couldn’t get the full picture. The two of them were up on some shelves, and she was over his shoulder. He had stolen one of her pellets earlier. Now he used them as a diversion, throwing it into the vent. It exploded, making it look like she might be going there. Which was, y’know, smart. Did he have another exit? They were on the move again, her arms trailing limply behind, like the worst cape ever. Penny cringed under her mask. He must think she’s so lame.

With noise and visual cues going to the vent, hopefully the distraction would last them long enough for the heroes to believe either: A, she had already escaped and was on the roof, or B, SSV was trying to distract them and was still lurking around. Either option left no idea to check the office. Vaulting over the railing to the platform just in front of the office door, Sol went for the handle. Which, of course, was locked.

Placing SSV down to a sitting position between the stairs and the door, he looked at the window. Bad idea to simply smash through the window to get inside, too noisy, and trying the metal outer door would be much worse. Not to mention, he’d need to generate more force to burst through. His eyes narrowed for a moment as he thought of what to do.

Studying the door itself, specifically the handle, he took note of the small space between the door and the doorway. Given how old this warehouse was, along with how infrequently used, the door’s lock hadn’t been updated. He looked around for something flat, yet flexible enough to fit through.

His eyes first trailed to SSV, but most of her equipment was likely metal, and he didn’t have the time to search her for something more useful. Solomon hadn’t brought any of his own equipment on this mission per se, given that he wanted to ensure there was nothing that could connect him to the mission site.

That was…except his mask. It had a straight edge at the top, and was made of flexible enough materials. His glance went back to SSV. He weighed the chances of them encountering each other in the times Sol would be out of costume. It was only a moment though, as surely their followers would be searching more thoroughly now. Deciding the long term risk was outweighed by the immediate one, he unstrapped it and placed the straight edge of his mask through the door slit.

Quickly fiddling it behind the bolt of the door, he used the mask in tandem with pulling at the handle to open it. Not wasting the time to try putting his mask back on, he scooped the girl back up and dipped out of the emergency exit in the office…

Young Justice

_{Interaction | Daphne Or @Dreamingflowers
Collab-Written Flashback}

---

It was nice and sunny, barely any clouds and a soft breeze that was just right. Compared to Gotham, Happy Harbor was a much brighter place to live. The buildings were smaller and not cramped together. The ocean wind breathed into the streets, instead of the city smog. Daphne loved it here, it was peaceful and quiet. It gave her room to process all the crazy things that had happened to her this last year.

Her thoughts went back to the mission at La Hoya. She walked further out into the grassy fields at the back of the HQ, her ponytail swaying from side to side. The first hour on comms went great, but her powers turned it into a disaster for everyone. Ja insisted it was his fault too and as nice as he was, he probably pitied her.

Daphne glanced over her shoulder. Her teammate wasn’t there yet. She was early though. It gave her a head start to mentally prepare herself. She kept walking, heading for the clearing they used for combat training. At first she hesitated to accept Ja’s offer to help her learn to control her powers. He asked her the day they got back from la Hoja. Daphne was having a pity party by herself, wallowing and feeling very sorry for herself. If even the Martian Manhunter couldn’t help her, Ja probably wouldn’t succeed either. The day after her solo pity party she realized she would be an idiot to turn down Ja.

She got to a good spot and checked her bag for the snacks she packed for Ja and her. Yup they were still there. Daphne put her bag on the grass. She could probably get in some stretches before Ja got here. She reached down to touch her toes, sucking in her breath, feeling her leg muscles straining a bit.

It wasn’t long before sounds of leaves rustling from the trees could be heard. It was loud and quick, but ended just as abruptly as it arrived. Next it came from the bushes, this time, the sound of a chipmunk’s chatter followed. Surely these sounds could have been merely a coincidence, given her place outside. What couldn’t have been though, was the sudden appearance of Ja floating above her head upside down.

Channeling the power of a Hummingbird’s flight and Owl’s silence, he smiled and waved to her in a way similar to how he did on the jet that day. When they got back, Ja let her have time to breathe and recover. However, he decided that he could try to teach her how to control her power. To be able to build strength on her own with her inner nature.

The words of Viktor during that time really struck a chord with the Jungle boy. Not because anything he said about her powers were incorrect, but it was wrong that he blamed her for their failure. It was wrong in the way he said it, and wrong in the place he said it. Perhaps that harshness was supposed to be her punishment, but she didn’t deserve it. Daphne wasn’t the one that was spotted.

The mission in La Hoya was her first one ever, but only one of hundreds that Ja had been on. He was the one that failed them because of his own weakness of mind. If he had been paying attention, maybe they get more than Alisa’s drawings. Maybe they get more information about the strange car. Bluntly, if Viktor was so adamant about something being said to him, he could have said it himself over the comms. Ja, while understanding of tactics, recognized the rivalry between Viktor and Talon behind the planning. He sensed it even before their staring contest on the jet…His thoughts on that was for another time.

“Hai Daffy-Knee!”

“Hi Ja!”

Daphne stood on her tippy toes and interlocked her hands with Ja, pulling him down to the grass. She smiled, now face to face with the curly haired boy. “Did you eat breakfast already, if you didn’t I brought some snacks” She knew Ja loved to eat. It was the least she could do for him, seeing as he was helping her. Besides, Daphne liked taking care of people.

For a moment, Ja was shrouded in darkness as some of his hair flooded his eyes from the sudden wind change. He felt no need to clear it when down with Daphne on the ground now, chuckling playfully instead. When she mentioned snacks, Ja’s smile became more toothy and gluttonous. While he certainly had not missed eating breakfast, he didn’t want to lie to get the snacks.

“Mmm….I had breakfast…but I did not eat brunch yet!” He explained before sitting criss-cross on the ground before her. Pushing his hands from his chin up his face to move hair out of the way, his bright and cheery eyes now visible. “But, I can wait until a little later. I don’t want to accidentally fall asleep during our lesson today.”

“Are you sure….??” Daphne teased, reaching into her bag. She built up the suspense only to come up with an empty hand.

“Okay okay, let’s focus” The teen girl stopped messing around and sat in the same position in the grass. Legs crossed underneath the folds of her skirt. The breeze felt nice on her skin and she breathed in the fresh smell of the grass. Daphne closed her eyes to enjoy it.

She opened her eyes back up and looked at Ja’s happy face expectantly. The maned young man smiled.

“I am sure you have felt it before in your time with these abilities. You feel urges within you. I am not sure what exactly you feel, because mine is the Red. The force of nature that connects to you, is called the Green. My Ambuya, or the american word…grand…ma? Grandma. My grandma taught me that, the Green is what connects all plant life together on earth.” Ja explained, leaving a second to let it sink in.

“So any time you feel something from the plants around you, it is the Green speaking to you. You may not always understand what it is trying to tell you, but that is okay, that takes time, and practice. Today, I just want you to get used to focusing on that feeling. It is still lively outside today…” Ja paused, looking around briefly. Then he pointed out a small patch of flowers in a small clearing between the trees getting some sunlight.

“Close your eyes, and maybe try to focus on what it feels like when the sunlight touches your skin.”

Daphne remembered Ja mentioning the Green weeks ago. At the time she’d brushed it off. Later during her sessions with the Martian Manhunter he also mentioned the Green. He helped her understand the why and how she was connected to this natural force. She smiled encouragingly at Ja’s struggle to find the right English word to express what he meant.. He was doing really great. There was a warmth she saw in his eyes when he talked about his family. He probably missed them, being all the way in America with the team and her.

Daphne narrowed her eyes slightly, concentrating on what Ja was explaining about the Green. He had an understanding of it because he was connected to a similar force, the Red He would be able to teach her things the Martian Manhunter couldn’t.

She glanced at the direction he was pointing at, seeing the small patch of flowers. He wanted her to focus on the sunlight. A little smirk appeared on her face. That was too easy. She could do that with her eyes well closed. Daphne untied the ribbon in her hair and set it down next to her. You could hear a quiet rustle while her transformation spread, starting with her hair and tracing down the rest of her until she was completely verdant.

Daphne opened one eye to peek at Ja.

“Don’t startle me please '' She knew Ja liked to joke around and so did she. Daphne had come a long way with controlling her powers, but having them fail twice lessened her trust in them. She returned her attention to the sun. Daphne could tell she was photosynthesizing because her skin tingled when the light triggered the cells to grow.

“As you are feeling this, try to focus on those flowers I gestured to. To feel familiar with them…”

Ja’s smile shrank just a bit as he waited for her eyes to close back again. For a moment, Ja himself closed his eyes, exhaling and rolling his shoulders. As he felt the Red’s flow through nis body. As much as he didn’t want to do this, this lesson was one he wanted to get out of the way first. Clawing his fingers, he crept around Daphne using the silence of a leopard. Once near the clearing where the flowers grazed the sunlight, he waited for just a few more moments.

Keeping an eye on Daphne, Ja raised one of his clawed hands and he swiped them up from the ground suddenly. Like knives, his talon-inspired attack sliced a few of them in half and uprooted the others in one simple swoop. If done correctly, and if she had the connection to the Green as he expected…

Daphne kept the flowers in her mind's eye, remembering the way they swayed in the w….
“Aahhhh!!!” Sudden cries of pain reached her ears, ripping through her. She covered her ears. The sounds came from further away, like some sort of accident happened in the distance and she was hearing the victims cry out. They turned into a soft distant moaning. Daphne shot up from the ground and transformed back, breaking the connection with the Green immediately.

She put her hand over her chest, feeling her heart beat fast. What happened?
“What happened…?” Daphne looked over to Ja, seeing him with a fistful of flowers in his right hand.

“Your first test, unfortunately.” Was the young man’s reply, resting the flowers on the ground in front of her. “You have a strong connection to them...If not, you would not hear their cries.” Ja paused to let that feeling sink in, his expression soft and almost apologetic.

“As those who have trained me figured out...pain is the easiest thing to recognize…” He let the specific animals of the red flow out for the time being. He placed his left hand on Daphne’s shoulder.

“However, while I will not do to you what has been done to me, it will make you stronger to do these sorts of tests every so often. It will build your inner strength, so that the Green does not hurt or hinder you in the field…” Ja carefully explained, making sure to use the correct english words to convey what he meant. The maned young lion smiled again though.

“You did better than me on my first test. You did not panic…” He commended, eyeing the ground where he placed the flowers.

Daphne smiled. Ja’s words encouraged her. She wondered what he alluded to, it sounded to her that he might have experienced mistreatment in the past, involving his powers. She didn’t know what that felt like, but she did feel for him. There was much more to his smile. Daphne looked down at the grass and picked up some of the flowers, twirling them in her fingers.

“Thanks Ja, it means a lot to me to have someone help me understand my powers better. The meditation techniques the Martian Manhunter has been teaching me can only take me so far. Lately I’ve been feeling like it’s a waste of time. It didn’t help me at La Hoya one bit.”

She looked at the flowers, their simple beauty making her feel better. Daphne changed the subject, glancing at Ja with her warm brown eyes. She reached her hand up and tucked a red poppy in Ja’s curly mane. It stuck there immediately.

“Flowers for some reason are much easier to talk to, I don’t know why. My dad suspects it’s because they’re more social than some other plants. They communicate with bees and butterflies during their short life. Trees are different, they are more independent.”

Daphne shook her head, smiling at herself. “Not that this is useful information to you though”

She retrieved her bag from the ground and held it up to Ja. “Snack time?”

Ja grinned. So far, today seemed like a good lesson day. She didn’t panic AND she wasn’t sad about the first test, as painful as it might have been. Plus, he got to learn more about her when she opened up some. Despite her belief that some of the information was irrelevant, to Ja, it couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“Snack time.”

---

---

Current Day

_{Interaction | The Team + The Newbs
Specifically Zachary AKA @Crimson Flame
Location | Sanctuary’s Base Level}

---

Kilamanjaro couldn’t help but marvel at the legendary Batman, even though it wasn’t an actual bat-man. Ja also didn’t sense any animal abilities but maybe that made him more impressive. The man carried himself very seriously and, in a way, reminded him of King Lion. He was somewhat surprised by not being pulled aside after having a hand in the team’s major failure…Though, he supposed that container he found made up for it to some extent. It was a change of pace at least, and one of the many differences from what he grew up with.

In the meantime, he made sure to pay attention to what Batman was instructing them to do next. Infiltrating a ‘circus’ took Ja a moment to process. The word was foreign at first, but it clicked when he thought about Zachy. Whenever Ja watched his videos on the computer, other videos showed up on the side as suggestions, and a few of them said ‘circus’ on them. When he watched them, it was essentially a bunch of silly and fun stunts! Though, given this was a mission, he guessed being silly wasn’t so much to be a part of things.

He also brought up the situation around Hex and Gold Rush, being their teammates’ replacements. Both of them strangely disappeared right after the last mission. Hex disappeared into the realm of spirits, and it made Ja wonder what would cause him to get stuck there. Although worrying, apparently Hex had gotten stuck there before and made it back to the realm of the living. In Gold Rush’s case, Ja had seen a few movies about time travel to guess that something in the present may have changed something in the future. Did…did the team failing the mission mess up the future? Was Gold just gone forever now?

It made Ja sad to think about, but he didn’t dwell on it too long as their new teammates came in. There were two girls this time. The first one, Maya, was clearly a special swords-person. She must have had a lot of skill with sharp things, like Talon did. Ja smiled to her and waved. The other one with the blonde hair on the other hand, made him wonder. She spoke venom, throwing it around the room with each person she laid eyes on. Even their senior and commander, she spoke too with disrespect.

Ja was taken aback by her impression that he had forgotten her name and his smile disappeared. A tingle of fear and a protective snarl rumbled from the bottom of his throat when Daphne approached her. With her more friendly response to the flower girl, Ja’s nerves eased. Returning his mind to the mission, he listened to the others as they discussed potential acts.

It was easy to figure which act would likely suit him; anything related to animals. However, he didn’t know if this particular circus had them, and even then, which ones. Otherwise, he hadn’t a clue what he could do for an act. Zachy had the most experience with this stuff, so it made sense when the others asked him questions. Maya mentioned being a knife thrower, Aleen’a a strongwoman, and he suggested Kassy to be a singing mermaid.

The memory of Kassy’s voice brought a warm and twitchy feeling to his chest that stole his attention away for a moment. She didn’t like singing to people though. Blinking back into focus, Ja returned to the moment and crawled over to the magician. ”Ooo! What can I do Zachy?!”

《 H.E.R.O. 2064 》

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Location | Innocuous Warehouse |
Missions | A Dish Best Served Cold |
Mentions | @Akayaofthemoon, @Hitman, @Mintz, @Sassy1085, @Zoey Boey |

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Solomon watched the sudden chaos ensue and felt the need to subvert a cringe. “We’re going to jail”? These interns clearly were just randomly picked off of the street and given no actual training. If they were meant to be criminals working in a drug operation this big, given that they were in a warehouse, they should have more composure. If they were trying to fool her, the behavior of the majority of the ‘criminals’ should be a red flag.

Then there was another issue, there were no guns or at least none visible. Solomon understood that this was merely a ploy, but no actual trained agents with weaponry mixed among the interns was, again, a bad look. Even if the ‘super-villains’ with powers were cocky, they always had several armed lackeys, even if they were just simple handguns. Often there was a superiority complex aligned with some cowardice, keeping around weaker but actually dangerous units. Not just to protect from heroes, but also for potential firefights with other criminals, especially on this side of town. If SSV was studying them from the shadows, the lack of actual protection for the drugs would likely be another red flag.

Young Powers was able to put these red flags together in just moments of looking around. He was hoping that the girl would put together that this was a trap and disengage but knew better when the flashlight hit her. It was like a spotlight, and it fit right into her character’s gimmick. Once the monologue started, it was clear that Solomon’s original plan wasn’t going to work. When it came to this new guy with blue hair, Sol didn’t know his powers or even really recognize him. He must’ve been new as Sol made it an ongoing side-mission to go through HERO files for worst case scenarios.

In which case, he was going to have to lean more on his disguise than he thought and directly get SSV to extract. She was clearly going for the more stealth-based tactic, sticking to smoke and darkness, but this new guy kept finding her near instantly with his phone flashlight. It was more than obvious that it wasn’t just a coincidence, but a result of whatever power he had. He knew Spark Girl, whose powers were a wildcard in this particular situation, likely the most dangerous.

Sol didn’t want to have to use his abilities too much here, but if the situation called for it…Sol needed to just blind the guy for just a second, Sparky wouldn’t know where to aim and she likely wouldn’t just blow them all up. He doubted HERO wanted SSV that badly to sacrifice any innocents. So, while the blue guy tried to talk down SSV with a threat, Sol took advantage of the shadows.

Grabbing hold of one of the running interns, he snatched the lab-coat off of them and pushed them towards an exit. As he held the garment, he shook his head. A fucking lab-coat…seriously, who set up this trap? Did they think criminals were complete idiots? Annoyance aside, he inhaled briefly before briskly bolting for one of the warehouse’s walls. Running straight up the vertical surface towards the rafters, he aimed his eyes around for the layout in the meantime. Plotting his course of motion compared to SSV’s position and the guy’s flashlight, Sol jumped from the wall.

Swiftly swinging from bar to bar, his motion created a disturbance in the smoke above the heads of the two heroes. From the rafters opposite of SSV, a small gust of wind echoed loud in the emptying warehouse. After traversing from one end to the other, a second of silence briefly passed until Sol dropped from the rafters.

Exhaling, Sol’s eyes focused as he zoomed towards little boy blue and Sparky. The sound of displaced air was followed by the lab coat that suddenly flew towards the duo like a ghost. The empty garment landed over the guy and phone to cover the light as if blown by wind. Sol had to move double the time of the first to get past in a shadowy blur without touching and hurting either of them.

Up the wall once again, he aimed towards SSV herself. This time, slower and quieter, he snatched her arm and pulled her down. Using gravity as the main source this time, Sol sped up their descent to duck behind a desk, making sure he landed first to take the brunt of the impact. Now with several seconds to breathe, Sol looked down at the vigilante in his grip.

“You have to go. It’s a trap.” Solomon whispered quickly.

Young Justice

_{Interaction | Daphne AKA @DreamingFlowers
Kassandra AKA @Mistress Dizzy
Location | Team Jet Returning To Sanctuary}

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Kilamanjaro hadn’t said a word since they took off to return to home base. He had done what Rain had commanded so far as placing the container on the jet. Along with the distraction that Aleen’a had given, he managed to fly to the roof and scoop up some members of Squad A to aid with extraction. Vicky had said nothing too, which got under Ja’s skin, making him anxious. He remembered that Djum Djum’s punishment did not happen when they failed the mission. It was when they returned home.

Regardless, he currently had nothing else to do but hope Daphne got better. On that front, progress was slow. It didn’t feel like she was suddenly dying anymore, but she didn’t quite recover yet. Thus, Ja felt the urge to stay close by despite not knowing what she needed. It seemed that the cold was the main issue, so hopefully the blankets would help.

Ja had long abandoned the mask to a counter on the jet, though his suit still took on something of a pale grey with brown spots. The guardian mentality of the German Shepherd remained in him but he had the feet of a fat-tailed gecko, using his palms to stick the roof above Nymph. He had watched after her for a bit, but eventually his eyes had closed. He kept quiet as he heard someone approach, though opposed to opening his eyes, the scent told him who it was.

It was strange, the warmth he felt from Kassy’s presence, even before she said a word. When she spoke to Daphne just below, with words of comfort, Ja was sure he could understand why. On Kassy’s yelping interjection though, was when Ja’s eyes jutted open. Considering that she was looking up at him, he wondered if it was something he did. He quickly looked down(or up) at himself. Nothing seemed wrong…Though, then again, he took note of the color pattern his suit had taken on because of the gecko…Perhaps she did not see him.

Her question made him pause. He wasn’t sure what exactly he was feeling. They all made it back alive and mostly unharmed, but his fear failed the team of their mission. All he had to do was keep from getting found, and he lost himself to memory when he felt Daphne in trouble. It surely wasn’t Daphne’s fault for their failure. From looking at her, the skin had become tree bark, her leaves browned and withered. Looking back, his senses were probably also trying to tell him fall and winter were coming, through her.

Clearly, her powers were something that she just had to grow to understand, Ja supposed. The boy knew what that was like, despite it being a little while since he lost control. He would try his best to help her to control them, when the time was right…

His mouth moved to answer, as he realized he was taking a while, but he caught movement below. Seeing Daphne move on her own to wave brought a small smile to his face. She was better…Sort of, her face was still stuck. He waved back to Daffy-Knee, and returned focus to Kassy sharing the smile with her too.

”I am okay…It was my fault that the alarms went off…” He admitted causing the brief glimmer in his eyes to falter, still trying to maintain a more mellow tone than monotone.