Silver Carrot

Amalgam - Hour of X

Marauder

---

Marauder blew air through pursed lips as she finally relaxed while the Danger Room returned to normality. She decided to look at her score on the monitor out of curiosity. Seventy percent. Points had been deducted for property damage, which was mostly Sam's doin while uner the effect of the toxin. Points had also been deducted for...lethal force.

"They deducted points for letal force on the clones? That's bullshit. Do the clones even count?" she protested, seemingly normally, but her right eye started to squint to near closure, and her left eye had...changed. Where fiery indignation was mere seconds ago was now coldness and rage that didn't belong to her, but be somebody who was much older and more ruthless than her.

"Brotherhood, brotherhood, brotherhood," she began muttering underher breath as a mantra, as she covered her right eye with her hand. This was one of the excercises she'd been given to prevent full-on bouts of psychosis. Before her father's pain and loss overtake her mind, think of happy memories. One day she'd be able to use 'Titan X' as her mantra. For now, being a villain in the Brotherhood was still the period that held the most warm memories for her. She let go of her face and smiled sheepishly at Sam once she'd stopped squinting.

"Sorry you had to see that. I'm getting better but I still get spells like that sometimes."

C L O S E D

These OCs are all really cute! But out of the male characters you listed, Bakugo's the only one I feel any confidence doing romance with.

Are you open for OC x OC? If not, I'd be happy to do Saruka Kai x Bakugo

@Wordy Girl

The Hunt, A Modern Fantasy Smorgasbord RP

---

"Is she sleeping?"

"I doubt it. She can't be that comfortable with her back resting on the wall of a moving truck. She's probably meditating or something."

"I bet you she's sleeping."

Lhoris opened her eyes and looked over to the two OMR agents sitting across from her, and they both shut up and looked away. Despite being of equal rank to her, newbies always had their guard up around one of the OMR's founding members. Lhoris sighed, and closed her eyes again. She was neither sleeping or meditating. She was simply trying to remember everything she could about Faith Manor. The last time she had come here was the year 1874. Alvira Faith, the head of the family at the time, had been a hardline traditionalist and archiver. A Witch after Lhoris' own heart and possibly somebody the 322-year old Elf could call one of her many friends over her long life. It had been disappointing to gain intel of what her friend's great-granddaughter, Angelica Faith, had done.

There were eight of them inside the van including herself. The other seven Rapid Response where there as cleanup. They were to sieze any illegal materials or research and detain asmany members of the coven as they could. Lhoris herself had a slightly different role to usual. After her normal duty of first aid, she was then to join the team she was rescuing as they needed a replacement healer. Lhoris usually turned down longer missions but from what little she gleamed from skimming the notes, this time there seemed to be stakes.

The van stopped. Everyone got out and began arming themselves with wands and staffs and other magical apparatus. Lhoris secured her quiver and grabbed her bow. The first rule of cleanup was that just because it was called 'cleanup' doesn't mean it's not just as dangerous or important. The other seven charged on ahead in order to prevent as many coven Witches from escaping as possible. They approached the mansion from differenr ancles so that nobody could sneak out. Lhoris alone ventured up to the front door, and entered.

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

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

---

Madison saw Gematria's message pop up on her Hero watch. So, she was right to hide. Ada had been the one pulling the strings behind her husband's back. Toreador had been right. No wonder the trail led to this household. They were banking on HERO assuming Peterson's guilt. Did their assumptions factor in that HERO members wouldn't be talking to any Junkers? At the end of the day, a Superhero is a Superhero. We are all allies of justice. It's only natural that we'd be working together.

Through the cupboard door, Madison could still hear Ada's voice but not what she was saying. She eventually heard footsteps, so peered out of the keyhole. She saw Ada walk past the staircase accompanied by three guards, who turned invisible once they reached the top of the stairs. They had looked like they were beginning to turn, so hopefully they'd headed downstairs. She looked back over to the study. There was a guard there. One that she could see. She looked down. The floor of the hallway was carpet, but the floor in the cupboard was wood. Which meant there had to be a spot where they joined. She crouched down and pried the metal edging up, just wide enough for a single strand of cable to fit, then turned her pinky toe into wire and fed it undernearth the carpet. She stuck to the edges of the wall as she unspooled more and more of herself underneathe the carpet, past the guard and up and around the doorway. She sacrificed her entire left arm to give herself enough wire. Once enough wire was gathered at the safe doorway, she gently opened the cupboard door and let it swing out just enough to be noticeable, and to make sure that the guard was facing away from the study door and was about to investigate. She reformed her left hand over there with the spare wire and suddenly grabbed the guard's mouth fron behind. She wasted no time in wrapping more wire around his neck. Performing a nonlethal blood choke was one of the basics of the Academy's hand-to-hand class, and Madison had gone through a lot of private practice to get it right, otherwise lacking talent or prior experience unlike the other students at the time.

Once he was unconscious and stopped struggling, she quickly let go and lowered him gently to the floor. She then snuck out of the cupboard, to the study door, and unlocked it from the outside while retracting the wire and reforming her left arm back where it should be. She peered in with a finger to her lips, and an inquisitive thumbs up as if to ask 'is everybody okay?'

---

---

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

---

Lab Rat's reflexes may not have been quite as fast as the juiced-up Torch, seeing as how effortlessly he managed to register her attack and then then comfortably dodge. Still, he wasn't the only one who's physical strength and speed were the result of a chemical injection. His was just more state-of-the-art, and he wasn't used to it yet nor could he control it. Lab Rat, however, had over a decade of experience. She hopped back the moment her feet could find purchase on the floor and avoided getting burned by the fire. The intense heat was still, however, disorienting to her enhanced senses, and she wasn't going to dodge a second time as easily now her equilibrium was unbalanced. She was very lucky that he'd lost interest in her before attempting a follow up.

Luckily, Freakshow came to the rescue, and grabbed Lab Rat in one of her arms. Lab Rat followed Freakshow'sadvice and tucked herself small. Almost unnaturally small given that she didn't have any shapeshifting abilities of her own. Well, she wasn't called a rat for nothing. She could see that Freakshow already had the remote, and that she'd already commanded the Terrazards to return to the plant. That was most everything wrapped up, except for that hole. It didn't look like there were any doors on it. Lab Rat would have liked more time to investigate but the plant was now on fire. Bringing the whole plant down on top of the hole might be the safer option after all. Even if that many Terrazards were acting natutally, people near the docks would still be in danger.

The Hunt, A Modern Fantasy Smorgasbord RP

Lhoris Araqen

General Information

• Age: 322
• Gender Identity: Female
• Species: Elf
• Sexual Orientation: Pansexual
• Agent of the OMR?: Yes, rapid response agent
• Reason to be chosen for the mission: Lhoris’ affinity for healing, support and ranged offense makes her an invaluable response agent for if anybody gets seriously hurt.

Appearance

• Height: 5”8
• Weight: 132 lbs
• Eye Color: Blue
• Hair Color: Unnaturally light blonde for a human. Almost white.
• Clothing Style: Lhoren's clothing style tends to be dark, chic and trendy. She is a big fan of skirts that are knee-length or longer.

Personality

Lhoris, as an Elf, has a demeanor and attitude that a human may find alien. She is patient to a saintly degree and cynical to a hellish degree. She is friendly to strangers yet seems to see straight through people at times. She does not reminisce about the past, as to her, the world changes too fast. But nor is she excited about the futire. What excites her is knowledge, specically potioncraft knowledge. New ways to approach her life's work with new methods and new ingredients is what she lives for.

Magical Abilities and Skills

Skills

• Martial Arts: With a lot of free time on her hands, Lhoris has a long background of training in boxing, wrestling and savate, which was a strong basis for her to also be trained in MMA on the OMR’s recommendation.
• Music: Lhoris often calls music ‘her first love’ and is a world-class talent with the fiddle, accordion, piano, saxophone, and drums. Her singing voice is equally world-class.
• Archery: Lhoris’ chief weapon of choice is the longbow. Even without magic, she is an incredibly accurate shot as well as a quick draw.

Magic

Lhoris’ primary area of magical skill and expertise is potions. She can brew and enchant potions and other consumable magical items. She is a walking encyclopaedia of worldwide potion lore. From the typical European ‘eye of newt and toe of frog’ witchcraft, to African Witch Doctor Muthi, to Chinese Blood and Qi pills. This is less useful in field work itself but she is frequently asked to prepare batch orders of potions by the OMR.

Much more useful in field work are her other magical fields; healing, and arrow enchantment. By laying her hands on an injured party, she can use her mana pool to heal the body’s wounds directly. She can also enchant the arrows she uses with a variety of effects such as homing or explosive.

Weaponry and Inventory

• Longbow and quiver
• Emergency Potions

Biography

Lhoris was born in 17th Century Marne, France, in a settlement of Elves that lived inside the woodlands. In spite of the rising tension in the country as a result of the Nine Years’ War, the village she lived in was very insular. Trade in potions with the nearby towns supported what little there was of “an economy”. Still, Lhoris was always fascinated by stories and other potion methods from the outside world. During the Jacobite Rebellion around 1750, Loris travelled to Scotland and taught herself English. The flow of information directly as a result of the Seven Years War was far greater than in Rural France and Lhoris learned a lot. Sadly, her time away from home was cut short.

The French Revolution occurred, and the neighbouring towns began raiding the forest settlements and killing Elves. Not content with nobility, anything that wasn’t a working class human being was a target, and several of Lhoris’ childhood friends were burned as Witches. She hastily returned home and helped the Elves fight back with several years of guerilla warfare. Everything changed when Napoleon took power, who saw the benefits of magic in his dreams of conquest and employed the Elves in his service. Lhoris travelled to Egypt and did not aid directly in fighting, but in potioncraft, study and research.

The tide of the war turned and Lhoris was recalled to France. Upon Napoleon’s defeat, she was captured by the British and returned to Scotland after striking a deal where she would defect to the British Empire. The sheer number of wars she assisted with helped greatly in her studies which became her main focus. During the Opium War, she took the opportunity to study Chinese potioncraft. During the Zulu War, she took the opportunity to work with the Witch Doctors. She didn’t care about the wars. The machinations of powerful humans didn’t interest her. She was already two hundred years old and had seen so many regimes rise and fall. Human power was fleeting. Potioncraft was eternal.

Lhoris stayed in service to the British during the Great War, where she returned to her home forest in Marne and began teaching the other Elves all the things she had learned in her travels as they produced potions for the Allies. Upon her request and as reward for her services, the British let Lhoris stay home. Sadly this peace was to be short lived as just a few years later, the Nazis occupied France. The forests were decimated and the Elves scattered. The Nazis had been doing their own research into the occult and the peaceful elves were no match for pure offensive magic. The Elves retreated west and joined resistance cells in the Cities. A way of life that had been maintained by the Elves for over a millenia, gone forever in just one war.

After the war, the world agreed that it did not want this to ever happen again. The non-magical humans formed the United Nations. The magical races formed the Organization of Magical Regulation. Lhoris herself assisted the founding of the organisation but refused a position of authority. She did not want the paperwork involved, and told the other founders to “write to her if they ever need help”. She then moved once again back to Scotland, and lived a fairly solitary life in the small town of Pitlochry.

The Hunt, A Modern Fantasy Smorgasbord RP

Lhoris Araqen

General Information

• Age: 322
• Gender Identity: Female
• Species: Elf
• Sexual Orientation: Pansexual
• Agent of the OMR?: Yes, rapid response agent
• Reason to be chosen for the mission: Lhoris’ affinity for healing, support and ranged offense makes her an invaluable response agent for if anybody gets seriously hurt.

Appearance

• Height: 5”8
• Weight: 132 lbs
• Eye Color: Blue
• Hair Color: Unnaturally light blonde for a human. Almost white.
• Clothing Style: Lhoren's clothing style tends to be dark, chic and trendy. She is a big fan of skirts that are knee-length or longer.

Personality

Lhoris, as an Elf, has a demeanor and attitude that a human may find alien. She is patient to a saintly degree and cynical to a hellish degree. She is friendly to strangers yet seems to see straight through people at times. She does not reminisce about the past, as to her, the world changes too fast. But nor is she excited about the futire. What excites her is knowledge, specically potioncraft knowledge. New ways to approach her life's work with new methods and new ingredients is what she lives for.

Magical Abilities and Skills

Skills

• Martial Arts: With a lot of free time on her hands, Lhoris has a long background of training in boxing, wrestling and savate, which was a strong basis for her to also be trained in MMA on the OMR’s recommendation.
• Music: Lhoris often calls music ‘her first love’ and is a world-class talent with the fiddle, accordion, piano, saxophone, and drums. Her singing voice is equally world-class.
• Archery: Lhoris’ chief weapon of choice is the longbow. Even without magic, she is an incredibly accurate shot as well as a quick draw.

Magic

Lhoris’ primary area of magical skill and expertise is potions. She can brew and enchant potions and other consumable magical items. She is a walking encyclopaedia of worldwide potion lore. From the typical European ‘eye of newt and toe of frog’ witchcraft, to African Witch Doctor Muthi, to Chinese Blood and Qi pills. This is less useful in field work itself but she is frequently asked to prepare batch orders of potions by the OMR.

Much more useful in field work are her other magical fields; healing, and arrow enchantment. By laying her hands on an injured party, she can use her mana pool to heal the body’s wounds directly. She can also enchant the arrows she uses with a variety of effects such as homing or explosive.

Weaponry and Inventory

• Longbow and quiver
• Emergency Potions

Biography

Lhoris was born in 17th Century Marne, France, in a settlement of Elves that lived inside the woodlands. In spite of the rising tension in the country as a result of the Nine Years’ War, the village she lived in was very insular. Trade in potions with the nearby towns supported what little there was of “an economy”. Still, Lhoris was always fascinated by stories and other potion methods from the outside world. During the Jacobite Rebellion around 1750, Loris travelled to Scotland and taught herself English. The flow of information directly as a result of the Seven Years War was far greater than in Rural France and Lhoris learned a lot. Sadly, her time away from home was cut short.

The French Revolution occurred, and the neighbouring towns began raiding the forest settlements and killing Elves. Not content with nobility, anything that wasn’t a working class human being was a target, and several of Lhoris’ childhood friends were burned as Witches. She hastily returned home and helped the Elves fight back with several years of guerilla warfare. Everything changed when Napoleon took power, who saw the benefits of magic in his dreams of conquest and employed the Elves in his service. Lhoris travelled to Egypt and did not aid directly in fighting, but in potioncraft, study and research.

The tide of the war turned and Lhoris was recalled to France. Upon Napoleon’s defeat, she was captured by the British and returned to Scotland after striking a deal where she would defect to the British Empire. The sheer number of wars she assisted with helped greatly in her studies which became her main focus. During the Opium War, she took the opportunity to study Chinese potioncraft. During the Zulu War, she took the opportunity to work with the Witch Doctors. She didn’t care about the wars. The machinations of powerful humans didn’t interest her. She was already two hundred years old and had seen so many regimes rise and fall. Human power was fleeting. Potioncraft was eternal.

Lhoris stayed in service to the British during the Great War, where she returned to her home forest in Marne and began teaching the other Elves all the things she had learned in her travels as they produced potions for the Allies. Upon her request and as reward for her services, the British let Lhoris stay home. Sadly this peace was to be short lived as just a few years later, the Nazis occupied France. The forests were decimated and the Elves scattered. The Nazis had been doing their own research into the occult and the peaceful elves were no match for pure offensive magic. The Elves retreated west and joined resistance cells in the Cities. A way of life that had been maintained by the Elves for over a millenia, gone forever in just one war.

After the war, the world agreed that it did not want this to ever happen again. The non-magical humans formed the United Nations. The magical races formed the Organization of Magical Regulation. Lhoris herself assisted the founding of the organisation but refused a position of authority. She did not want the paperwork involved, and told the other founders to “write to her if they ever need help”. She then moved once again back to Scotland, and lived a fairly solitary life in the small town of Pitlochry.

Amalgam - Hour of X

Marauder

---

Despite having captured the Herald, Anna-Marie didn't feel good. It was a diversion and they'd taken one of their own. Being a Hero brought with it a sense of responsibility and caution. If anybody had kidnapped a Brotherhood member, there would have been blood on the streets as they tore the city apart getting them back. It was a purer form of loyalty, though she could no longer ignore or justify the collateral damage. She didn't know what to do with all of this anger. Lacking any other outlet for her restlessness and frustration, she headed to the Danger Room.

It was already being used, and Anna-Marie could see on the monitors that Sam was struggling against Billy Infinity and Scare-Crow. Of course, he culd lose this fight and learn a lesson, but The whole point of this group, of any group, was that they were stronger together than individually, and had each other's backs. Anna-Marie pressed a few buttons, adding herself to the simulation, and stepped into the danger room. The fear-inducing of Scare-Crow hadn't yet adjusted to her own fears so she began methodically dispatching the Meta-Mutants and clearing a path towards Sam. She hadn't even copied his powers yet but her own innate powerset and training was more than enough to handle the crowd.

Kid Cannonball was swinging wildly, not knowing who or what he was attacking. The number of Billy Infinities was too many to count, and the hallucinations manufactured by the Danger Room were practically the real deal. The Scare-Crow flew back and forth slashing at Sam with his scythe. It appeared as if the blade was on fire and the tech based criminal was more of a bird-like beast man than spindly nerd, at least in the eyes of the hallucinating hero.

Marauder, in stark contrast, was dispatching clone after clone with brutal efficiency, no longer holding back in the Danger Room. She was skilled at martial arts but said martial arts were designed for assassination and bloodsports and she usually only utilized them to give herself an opportunity to make skin contact. In here, though, the brutal, ugly side of her fighting style was given time to shine and she was quickly making a path to where Sam was. Marauder was too afraid of herself to be afraid of big monsters or flaming scythes, so there was no hesitation in her movements as she grew closer.

"Who else is in here, ANYBODY?!? I don't know what this guy's doing to me and I don't know what's real..." Kid Cannonball screamed out over the mass of monstrous Billy Infinities while trying to dodge the Scare-Crow.

Marauder finally reached Sam, and with her still-gloved hand, grabbed his shoulder firmly. "This is the Danger Room. Absolutely none of this is real," she barked at him, before slipping off her glove and tapping his bare neck. Now with the combination of Sam's copied powers and her own strength, focus and training, she took off and made a beeline towards Scare-Crow, reaching Mach 2 from a standing start and planting a kick firmly in the figure's abdomen.

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

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

---

When Madison got to the top of the stairs, she heard more footsteps behind her, and hid in the nearest door which was a broom cupboard. From there, she heard both gunshots, and then footsteps of several people past the door. She heard Ada's voice talking to, she presumed, Alchemist. So, was it Peterson's wife who was behind this? Were they the boss? How far did this really go? Either way, she all but admitted that she'd been using her husband, and she was in possession of some kind of button that could kill him. So, there was no point 'rescuing' Peterson until Ada was captured. She addressed somebody else in the room too. That must be Gematria. Madison still had the element of surprise, but now wasn't the right time. Adawas going to take the other two Heroes somewhere. Madison would tail them, and then look for an opportunity to rescue Peterson.

---

---

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

---

Lab Rat silently let Torch monologue, as he fed them a fair amount of useful information. He was bragging. He wasn't planning to let any of them leave alive if he could help it. But Lab Rat had fought a lot of villians in her time, and they tended to underestimate her as 'the nerdy one who's power is to talk to rats'. Even this villain had a vendetta against another member of their team. They had a history that Flora didn't want to pay much attention to out of respect for her teammate.

This attitue changed when she saw that the sleeping one was injected with something, and begin to transform. A power enhancer? Or is he turning more into a Leftover? Serious and painful side effects, so it clearly hadn't been perfected yet. Was this somebody's attempt to replicate Project Chimera? Either way, the mere existance of something like that had serious ramifications!

Even though Menace grew so huge and powerful, she just had to trust that backup was arriving and that the Heroes outside could handle it for now. Upon seeing the monologuing villain had a fire power, Flora took off her lab coat and let it drop to the ground. Maybe she'd need to rethink her gimmick if a long, flowing lab cape could be a fire hazard. And she'd been so proud of coming up with the name 'Lab Rat', too.

The Twins approached her and Ardent, tried to weakly mock them, and then began multiplying. Flora pondered Ardent's question. Could she snag that black box? As Torch and Luna began fighting, she didn't think so. At least not yet. The fight was too frantic and messy and she'd just get in the way. Instead, she wanted to retrieve the empty needle gun. She wanted to take it back to Hero One and analyse this serum.

While her back was turned, one of the Twin clones swung at her with a crowbar, and bashed her skull. It hurt a lot, and had caused a nasty bruise, but Flora had barely moved from the impact. Her muscles and bones were both far too strong to succumb to blunt force like that. She dispatched the clone with an elbow to the face that knocked him out, without even needing to turn round. She then retrieved and stashed the empty needle in one of her belt pouches.

Unfortunately, Torch then injected himself with another needle. So it was a power amplifier after all, though the side effects seemed to be no less intense. He then immediately began spewing forth fire in every direction. On instict, Lab Rat darted away and to the wall, which then then scurried up and across with all four limbs. She was moving more like a rat than a real human now. Once she was facing his current blind spot, she leapt from the wall and attempted to tackle him. The heat was uncomfortable to her enhanced senses but she had to neutralize him and fast.

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

---

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

《 Super H.E.R.O. 》

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

---

Madison never got the chance to listen to Cloudburst's spiel, but she didn't have to. She didn't like the look in his eyes. It was desire but devoid of warmth, as if he was thinking 'I've found something new that I want'. It was an umpleasant gaze and she could already hear the corny attempt at flirting with no self-awareness prefacing any point he would take his sweet time getting to. It was a mercy that if was cut off before he got to utter anything.

The man who'd taken his place should have, on paper, been a more worrying sight. She'd dodged a conversation with a Junker and in its place was a conversation with the Junker. However, Madison was just pleased to be in the company of somebody with the awareness and well-practiced inoffensive social grace to keep her from feeling too uneasy. Toreador was a very famous hero. A bit too far before Madison's time for her to personally be a huge fan, but nevertheless a living legend.

If she said she wasn't intimidatedat all, she'd be lying. He was studying her. She knew what his power was and there were probably very few secrets she could keep even if she wanted to. No doubt he knew why she was here, but as a Hero himself, he wasn't going to stop her. For all their differences, H.E.R.O. and the Junkers were still Superheroes who punished evil. If the Junkers were the type to protect criminals for any reason, there would already have been a fight by now.

He was about to mention her father, but they got cut off by the tapping of a glass. Peterson was about to make a speech. They both turned to watch and listen to the party's host as he spoke. He was annoucing a ballroom dancing competition, but wouldn't be able to judge it in person. She watched him as he left, and saw that he approached Alchemist. She'd already been nervous enough trying to blend in with guests and now she had the attention of the primary target himself. 'Good luck', though Madison. As far as first ever missions go, that was a tough break but also a golden opportunity if she could stay calm and make the most of it.

Madison's attention snapped back to Toreador as he began speaking. She wondered what he was about to say about her father, but if it was important, it should come up again. His slight smile was not a reassuring one, but she was nontheless reassured to see it, and it helped her relax. She was not in immediate trouble as Toreador seemingly wanted something from her.

"It would be my honor and privilidge," She replied with a pleasant smile and slight curtsey of her own. "It's been ten years since I last danced at a ball. I'll follow your lead but it should all come back to me with a little practice. I won't be stepping on your feet."

Her lack of acknowledgement of his comment about it furthering her aim was in itself an affirmative confirmation. She was nervous and a little intimidated but her smile was real. She'd been preparing and training for surviving in this shady upper-class world long before she'd been training and preparing for Hero work. That time hadn't all been wasted, useless baggage setting her back and preventing her from being taken seriously. Those skills were exactly what were needed to be called upon today, and very few others at H.E.R.O had them.

---

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

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The gunshot cut everybody off and signalled that the terrazards were attacking. Their formation was unlike anything Flora had observed, which meant that either they were learning and adapting in unforseen ways, or somebody was teaching or controlling them. Both possibilities were concerning but neither changed the plan that much. As everybody else sprung into action, Lab Rat began sprinting to the approaching crowd of Leftovers. The moment the walls were erected, Lab Rat effortlessly scaled the wall, scurrying up in with peculiar movements much more suited to an actual rodent than to a human.

She used the momentum from vaulting the top of the wall to plant a deep kick into the side of a terrazard that had already managed to get to the top of the wall, and sent it flying into the crowd, knocking several over. Another terrazard managed to climb the wall and lunged at her. In a swift movement she was very familiar with from her ICOSA days, she grabbed the terrazard's head. Unlike the past where she'd now keep its jaw open to apply a sedative, this time she snapped its neck and threw its lifeless body straight down towards another terrazard attempting to climb the wall.

Her relentless defense of the wall meant that more terrazards tried to attack Mire instead of attempt to escape. Between Mire's baiting and her own efforts, the Leftover seemed like the easier option for freedom. This proved to be incorrect as a cloud of enzymes burst forth and killed the terrazards in a horrifically gruesome display. And the smell was not kind to Flora's enhanced sense of smell.

Flora used to be under the impression that Mire really didn't like her. Now she'd truly begin to see how lucky she was and how much mercy she had been shown.

Through their combined efforts, they were prevailing against the terrazards without much incident. Even back in the day, Flora was never in missions as part of a team. She was a shy hero with a creepy power who barely spoke a word of English. She was part of a trio once and that was the largest mission team she'd ever been a part of before now. This level of organisation and teamwork providing results far greater than the sum of their parts. Yeah, Flora definitely made the right choice coming back.