[Other OPEN] Capes [M] [IC]

AlphaLuxray · Mar 13, 2017

Chrono

Alex stepped in through the main lobby of the PRT offices, nodding politely to the secretary there. Instead of heading straight through to the offices though, she hooked a right and strolled down toward the heroes' lockers, where she quickly slipped into her tight-fitting costume. It wasn't her most favorite thing in the world, she reflected as she slipped on the coat that went over it. If she'd had any input it would have definitely been much cooler; alas it was as it was, not that it looked bad. At least she'd been able to pursuade the costumer to drop the mask she had intentionally planned.

Finally changed, Chrono stepped out of the locker room, nodding to a couple other heroes standing in the hall talking. Making her way to the training area, Chrono stopped to check the routes on the bulletin there. To her exilharation, she saw that she'd finally been placed on sidekick duty; in the two weeks she'd been here she'd only been going out on simple patrols with other Wards. This was her first chance to see what it was really like to be an actual hero! Strangely enough, Chrono didn't recognize the name of the hero, Florissant. She took a stab in the dark and guessed they were a plant-manipulating hero--names weren't all that complicated here in the Protectorate--and she smiled. It had just enough of a foreign sound while rolling off the tongue to give it a mysterious vibe.

Tearing herself from the daydream, Chrono headed inside the gymlike training area. Several other capes and wards were already here, and Chrono headed straight over to an open area where she could practice sparring. Her powers may be helpful, but since it didn't affect people she had figured she'd better be ready to fight. Of course, due to her thin frame, the fighting style she'd adopted was more reactive: a mix of jiujitsu and taekwondo, with a bit of Bruce Lee thrown in for good measure. She worked up quite a sweat as she shodow-boxed, imagining she was facing down a massive hulking villan with bulging muscles.

Her opponent swung down at her, looking to squash her in one blow. Chrono dodged left, giving the overgrown baddie a good right jab to the nose. Blood splurted as it broke under her fist, but it only seemed to make the behemoth angrier. Several more massive punches came from him, easily telegraphed, and Chrono grabbed the last fist, flipping her oponent over her shoulder with his own momentum. Once on the ground, Chrono gave him a swift kick to the head, knocking him out and ending the fight.

To anyone watching, it would look strange to see someone fighting by themselves, but Chrono was too lost in her own imagination to notice. She turned as her previous opponent's older, much larger brother came to challenge her, and she grinned.

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Splinter

Derek awoke to a rather dimly lit warehouse. He hadn't remembered moving, but as he came more to and felt his hands and feet bound to the chair below him, he made a guess as to what had happened. He cursed himself for not hiding himself better, and grimaced as he tested his bonds. Tight, too tight to undo on his own. Whoever had been sent to do whatever to him knew what they were doing.

Speaking of, a masked figure stepped out of the shadows into the nearest beam of sunlight filtering in through a window. He could tell they were probably a cape, based on the mask and suit, but he didn't recognize them. He cursed himself for not reading up more on them.

"Mister Gutierrez, so good of you to join us." The italian-tinged voice was singsong, almost playful. He knew Derek couldn't do anything to him. Not yet anyways. Derek grimaced as he continued, "I hear you've gone against your word? Too scared of running into capes or something like that? The Fenecian doesn't like being so disrespected."

Derek finally figured out what was going on here. His dropping of the job had been seen as an insult, and now this man was probably going to "convince" him to take the job back, most likely without pay. Derek closed his eyes for a brief moment, collecting his thoughts, before replying, "you want me to do the job? Fine. No promises everything's there still."

The man scoffed as he pulled out a long, thin dagger. It looked razor sharp, if he was to judge by the hair's breadth edge, and an involuntary flashback to the Professor's lab made him twinge. He could only assume the man was grinning under the mask as he stepped closer and said, "oh, we know... This isn't about the job. This about you paying us. In blood if necessary."

Strange · Mar 14, 2017

Damian Edgeworth AKA Mephisto

Another thud on the wall between Damian's room and Edan's broke Damian's train of thought. At least he knew Edan was still distracted enough for him to sneak out. He had packed a small backpack with some snacks, a few kitchen knives in case of emergencies, and a map of a large abandoned warehouse. He had contacted someone from his and his brother's group and found out about an adventure he couldn't pass up. The Space Marauders, a group of cape villains which had tons of money even before becoming thieves, had offered the gang a job, but the details were vague and they insisted a meeting in person before they would get any more specific. The group believed it was a trap, but Damian decided he'd go anyway, after all, he was great at making deals.

He pulled his fox mask over his face, pinned his demon tail onto his jeans, and thrust open his bedroom window. He heard another thud on his wall, this time accompanied by the faint sound of mumbling voices and laughter. He slid through the open window, balancing on the ledge outside it, then sidestepped over to the fire escape and lowered himself down to the ground with a rope he had tied there days before. It had made his escapes much easier, especially since he could climb back up after and sneak back in his room, as opposed to trying to sneak in through the front door.

He ran down a few side roads, dark enough to hide from anyone drunk enough to be wandering the streets this late, and finally stopped when he came to the edge of the Industrial area. He checked his map, plotting out the best way to get to the warehouse, when suddenly a large disk of concrete, about the size of manhole cover, flew down the street and stopped in front of him, floating inches above the ground. No doubt sent by Saucer, one of the members of the Space Marauders. He stepped onto it, thinking he could ride it like he'd seen the villain do on news clips, but he was very wrong. The disk took off at an insane speed, wobbling and knocking Damian onto his stomach, he gripped the sides of the disk tightly as his legs dangled off, scraping the ground occasionally as the disk hurtled down the street. He wasn't sure how long it took but when he arrived the force of the stop threw him onto a hard floor.

He grabbed his arm, which had taken most of the hit, and rubbed it. It wasn't broken but it was almost definitely bruised. He pushed himself to his feet, only then noticing the intimidating trio in front of him. To his left stood Saucer, floating on a metal disk which glimmered from the moonlight that leaked in through the decaying roof, his mottled gray space suit seemed to have the opposite effect, appearing dark in contrast to his shining disk. On his right stood Cosma, in her white and gold space suit which was lit up like a Christmas tree with various strips of lights under each joint of her suit. And directly in front of him stood the most intimidating of all, The Martian Madman, a bio-kinetic who created eerie plant and animal hybrid creatures which, had he not known their true origins, would have made him think they were aliens. The man's dark black suit was large and heavily armored, with giant bulky shoulders and black armored plating. The only part of his suit that wasn't black was his silver helmet, which had an eerie white glow.
"Hello." Damian managed to squeak out.

"I was expecting your leader." Cosma said bluntly. Her voice ringing throughout the warehouse.

"I, uhh, well, my power is to make deals, so we, kind of..." he trailed off, intimidated by the Madman who had clenched his armored hands into fists.

"I see," Cosma replied, "Well, as long as you're here we might as well explain the job." Damian smiled a little. "As you can see, our fourth member, Scanner, is not with us. We have reason to believe he's joined up with a small group of vigilante heros, sold information on us in exchange for a spot on their team. It's really rather inconvenient to have a team of heros that knows every detail about us, although luckily their egos prevented them from leaking the information to anyone else. We wanted your group to take out their little team. Their base of operations falls within your gang's territory, and with them knowing how to exploit our every weakness we're powerless to take them out ourselves. If you take them out and bring Scanner to us, preferably alive, we can pay you ten thousand dollars."

Damian's eyes were wide. Their most famous team member had turned on them? And on top of that they wanted him to catch him and bring him back to them? He was stunned. "Deal!" he blurted out, before he could stop himself. He held out a hand, then hesitated. "My power works best when I touch your actual hand, with no barriers between." Cosma carefully pulled at one of her armored gloves, which hissed and popped off her suit, revealing a slender pale hand with long nails painted gold. "Deal." she said, shaking his hand.

Their handshake burst into flames, Damian's eyes glowing blood red. The fire was warm, but not as hot as fire should be. It faded after a moment, and just by their body language Damian could tell the trio had been caught off guard. He smirked, then informed them "You should know that my deals always happen no matter what. If I bring you Scanner, alive, you have to pay me ten thousand dollars. There's no way to stop it. If you try to get away without paying, the money will find its way to me one way or another." He pivoted on one foot, turning to the door, then walked out. This was going to be more fun than he thought.

PastelPhoenix · Mar 14, 2017

Reza & Maryam Shirazi || Freefall & Bombshell
Male // 18 // Hero Female // 16 // Ward

Smile for the Camera II

Icarus13 ?VERIFIED CAPE?
and that?s all folks! I?m actually on patrol right now, just stopped by to answer a few quick questions

burn0ut
So much for upholding the law lol. Someone is probably robbing a bank next to you while you?re dicking around on your phone.

shadde
making it awful easy for us to find who you are. all we need is the patrol schedule now.

Clover?Clubbs
wait, u mean this isnt the real icarus?

Icarus13 ?VERIFIED CAPE?
good luck shadde, there?s a whole lot of capes on patrol tonight. I can guarantee that. also lol, I?m clever enough not to make my screenname my cape name, give me a little credit here guys.

Shadde
youre a dumbass clover. of course hes not icci, pick up a damn book once in awhile

Reza chuckled to himself and signed out. He should resist playing around on the forums, especially at work, but it was just too fun. It was another boring patrol, and anything to ease some of the boredom was welcome. He?d probably have more interesting patrols if he stopped signing up for sidekicks all the time, but working with the Wards was fun in it?s own way. Not to mention he had to help out dear sis tonight.

Speaking of which, his sidekick for the evening just couldn?t relax. He had spent the entire break watching her pace around. Not that he could blame her; he would be nervous if he embarrassed himself in front of the entire internet too. He didn?t want to say it aloud, but getting ass-rammed by a table was less embarrassing than getting caught in his own invention. Not that he could invent anything to save his life, but the point still stands.

?Relax,? he said, ?they?re gonna have to replace the sidewalk before long if you keep storming about like that.?

?Please,? Maryam said, rolling her eyes behind the mask, ?if me committing the crime of walking on a sidewalk is enough to break it, the city needs a better construction crew. Plus, anything could happen on patrol.? She imitated an old instructor of theirs on the last part, a paranoid old man who seemed convinced every patrol was a new death sentence.

?You?re with me, so sooner or later something will happen here. All else fails, we could start something.?

?Okay, you aren?t insinuating we start a fight, are you??

?What,? he said in mock offense, ?No! I meant like create a dumpster fire or something, and then put it out. You have those extinguisher grenades, right??

?Wow.? Bombshell sighed and put her forehead in her hand. ?That?s real fuckin? heroic isn?t it? I was on the fence about this girl after she made an ass of herself in public, but did you see how she handled that dumpster fire?!?

?Okay, you do know I was jok-?

?Hey, isn?t that dumpster on fire? Shit, it is, should we call the fire department? Nah Tom, I?ve got Bombshell on speed-dial, she handles dumpster fires like a god damned champion?

?You?ve made your poi-?

?And here we are so gathered to present the key of the city to Bombshell. Boy were we lost in that dumpster fire. Thanks to her we avoided damaging the metal, fire resistant box. She saved us a grand total of maybe a thousand bucks. Thanks to her we are under budget and can afford the puppy orphanage, assuming the cruel dumpster fires don?t take that away too.?

?Okay, but admit it, you smiled.?

?Dammit,? she admitted, chuckling, ?you?re right. It was kind of funny.?

?Great, now we can address the robbery behind you.? Freefall chuckled along, point at a small convenience store being held up at gunpoint.

?Son of a bitch!? Bombshell turned around suddenly, pulling out her weapon. ?Why didn?t you interrupt me?!?

?I tried. You looked like you really needed to get it out of your system.?

The two rushed towards the storefront, announcing their presence. Upon seeing two capes suddenly outside, the three robbers decided to bolt with what little cash they had. Two headed out the door while the third decided to risk the window, his thick clothes thankfully preventing him from cutting himself on the thousands of glass fragments now flying through the air. The two had to look good for the cameras now likely on them, and perps bleeding profusely didn?t look great out of context.

?Toss me some rounds,? Reza shouted at his partner, it?d look best if all the capture methods came from her tech. To show she knew her stuff.

With one hand Maryam tossed three grenades from her capture bandolier over her shoulder, firing her launcher with the other. The grenade bounced off the ground a few inches in front of her before starting to unfold. Within moments the shell had completely unfurled into a small wall, complete with peep holes to fire from. She wasn?t going to take a chance with a gun in play. It wouldn?t take heavy fire, but it was more than enough for most anything a civilian could acquire in for a short gunfight.

Freefall adjusted the gravity on the tossed grenades, making them orbit in front of him. He was glad Mary sat him down and drilled him repeatedly on how to prime the grenades when he did this trick, it was now second nature. He also had to thank her for making the priming sequence work with his gravity manipulation, launching the rounds without even touching them was a hell of a lot more impressive than having to awkwardly prepare them by hand. The sound of gunshots and bullets impacting metal made him tense, but he trusted enough in his sister?s shield to focus on the guy in front of him.

Unfortunately for him, Mr. Flashy Exit seemed to either not have a gun, or forgot he had one. The jacket clad man just booked it down the street, shoving aside a few slowly fleeing citizens. With a flick of his wrist, the white marked grenade launched itself into the air. There it stalled for a moment, before flying at the suspect like a homing missile. The sound of something hitting the floor came a moment later, and a large cloud of containment foam filled the street. Freefall didn?t particularly like how much it spread, and how someone other than the intended target could get caught in it, but he didn?t trust launching anything else into the crowd. Last thing he needed was to net some poor citizen by mistake. As the crowd cleared, Freefall saw his aim was true. The robber was caught in the foam, with only his head and a single arm free; apparently he turned around just before impact, as the man was glaring daggers at Freefall.

Behind him, Bombshell had successfully nailed one of her targets with a small impact shell, designed to burst into an extremely strong gust of air. The man was now sprawled across the sidewalk, the wind knocked out of him from the sudden impact with the ground, and his gun quite a distance from him. With less qualms about containment foam than her brother, she finished subduing the target and adjusted her aim to the other thief. Apparently deciding that the fight was lost, the woman sprinted like her life depended on it, before having her legs tied with a well placed bola and finding her grip on her pistol failing.

Noticing the last perp was now contained, Freefall opened a line with the Protectorate?s AI to report the crime. A sudden flash of light from the containment foam caught his attention, however, and the window guy had his arm extended toward Bombshell. Acting off adrenaline, he pulled his partner towards him just as a small missile flew from the man?s sleeve and impacted the grenade barrier. Shifting the gravity of the man?s arm, Reza pushed it into the foam rather roughly, before moving to catch Maryam. The man would likely have a sore shoulder from it for a few days due it suddenly being shoved into an uncomfortable position, but Reza couldn?t find it in him to care.

?Hey,? a voice below him said, ?I appreciate you saving my ass, but does it have to be like this??

Looking down, he noticed the position he caught her very much resembled a groom carrying his bride.

?Well, lets just say that?s for the shippers.?

?Great, can I stay off the forums for a single week? Is that too much to ask??

?Nope, you know how this all goes.?

With a sigh she let herself down, storming over to the man who shot the missile at her. A chirp in his ear reminded Freefall that he had opened a line and not provided an update. Quickly describing the encounter, he got reassurance that transport for the criminals would arrive soon before he was called over by Bombshell.

?Hey Free, this guy had tinker tech.?

?Only a missile?? He asked, taking the small wrist clamp from her. The thing was extremely small, almost mistakable for a bracelet at first glance. The actual barrel was hidden well by the sleeve, and it didn?t seem like it had an easy reload method. The thing was simple for tinker tech, he would wager he could figure it out in a few minutes of study.

?Nothing else I can see. The guy claims he bought it from someone, but wouldn?t give a name.?

?Who the hell is selling tinker tech? It?d explain why it?s so? simple though, assuming anyone is supposed to be able to use it.?

?Yeah, I dunno how many think like I do, but I make shit complicated so no one could use it but me or someone I trust. This is stupidly easy to use. High-tech, but next to no security measures on it.?

?Wait,? he said, spotting a small symbol on one of the corners. He snapped a few times, trying to jog his memory of where exactly he saw it. ?Money Makers! That blow-torch had the same symbol! They wouldn?t explain where they got it, from what I heard. We just assumed they had a shitty tinker.?

?Either way, someone better dig some answers out. I don?t like random crooks having something like this.?

?I?ll raise hell when we get back. That?s twice now someone nearly got killed by tech with this symbol.?

(Drakath) · Mar 16, 2017

A loud boom echoed throughout the warehouse as Drakath pushed his arms forward at superspeed, tearing the steel doors from their hinges as they were sent flying. Each door slammed into a suited guard on either side of the entrance. "Yo Fenician!" His voice boomed throughout as he projected it. Giving a dramatic pause as he pointed at the man standing in a pin striped suit, fedora, and black mask atop a platform, "We need to talk." The man turned, facing Drakath, "Sorry but, I'm not the man you're looking for." Drakath slowly began walking towards the man, "Doesn't matter to me Tommy. You're close enough to him to get me the answers I need." Tommy Gun looked out of the corner of his eye before shrugging as he brandished a dagger, "Look, I'm busy kid. Let's do this another time." Drakath stopped and closed his eyes as he mumbled, "Fine, if we're gonna do it that way..."

Drakath dashed forward, wind howling through the empty building, his fist raised, ready to unleash something between a right hook and a jab. Tommy Gun blasted the floor with his power, sending concrete flying as he rolled out of the way. The man he was dealing with in the chair fell behind the destroyed platform, now out of sight as Drakath spun through the debris, catching a chunk and slamming it into Tommy Gun's mask as he rose from his dodge. The black mask cracked throughout, seemingly reinforced, as the momentum of the strike carried through him and slammed him into the floor. Drakath could see a little bit of blood, but at this point, he didn't care. He needed to vent, answers would come afterwards. Or so he thought before he was grabbed from behind and put into a full nelson. The voice that spoke sounded like an Italian Sesshomaru to Drakath, "My men aren't punching bags. You might think you're all that, walking in here like you own the place. But you're just a kid. A kid who needs to be taught a lesson." Drakath lifted his leg to setup for a kick, but this was a mistake, as it only made the suplex that followed easier, though with his weight, it wasn't that hard to begin with. Drakath's vision flashed white when his head hit the floor, but it was nothing compared to the explosion, and that fact drove him to keep fighting. With the same push he used to open the doors, Drakath threw himself out of the awkward hold and landed on all fours. Spinning around, he eyed the newcomer. Similar to Tommy Gun, suit, fedora, and mask, except this man was balding. Fenician... "Your men might not be punching bags, but you are." With this, Drakath rushed The Fenician, weaving through multiple explosions of debris from Tommy Gun. By accelerating his mind he was able to seamlessly meld improvised attacks together into a flowing combo. A superspeed punch was enough to launch him, however due to the Fenician's trained stance and a solid block, it only pushed him back a few feet. A flying side kick followed, which was sidestepped and used to force Drakath into a backflip. He used his superspeed to turn this into a high degree spinning kick which, upon landing, flowed into an uppercut that setup another flying side kick that lacked momentum. The Fenician took advantage of the awkward last attack and spun him by the leg. Drakath tried to kick but only ended up with his foot in the wall. He panicked as the incoming elbow would surely break his leg. In a last ditch effort, he pulled his mask off for a split second and immediately put it back on, freeing his leg during the brief change in footwear. The elbow still connected however, sending Drakath to his knees. He vibrated at superspeed to escape a choke hold and grabbed The Fenician by the wrist, shoulder tackling him into the wall. With this, Drakath supersped along the wall, dragging The Fenician across the rough concrete before slamming him into the corner. "See Fenician? Like I said, with your healing you make the perfect punching bag. Now, if you don't mind, I only have one thing to ask. Why?"

-----

Derek involuntarily flinched at the exploding doors, nearly grinning at the witty remark of someone who didn?t quite know who they were dealing with. Of course, the moment Tommy Gun was looking the other way, he began struggling against his bonds with a quick, firm determination. He mostly blocked out the commotion, but barely managed to brace himself as he was thrown to the ground by one of Tommy Gun?s explosions. He had yet to get a clear look at the aggressor, but he didn?t have much of a choice, even if it was possible for them to recognize him. He began to split, grimacing in pain as he tried to fit two bodies into bonds made for one, but with a satisfying series of snaps, Derek was free.

Standing, Derek finally saw what was happening. A cape he didn?t recognize was beating on who appeared to be The Fenician (figures he?d be here to witness his humiliation in person), while Tommy Gun tried futilely to hit the attacking cape. The cape was male, for certain, though he did sound young. Speed powers. Derek?s trained mind filed all of this an an instant before springing to action himself: Tommy Gun?s back was turned, a perfect opportunity.

Derek #1 rushed straight for Tommy Gun while #2 hooked around to his left side; as planned, Tommy Gun noticed #2 first, more so when #2 said, ?what, forget about me already??

As Tommy Gun turned to attack #2 though, #1?s fist slammed into the small of his back, the air wooshing out of his lungs. A swift kick to the back of the knee brought Tommy Gun to the ground, where #2 was waiting to deliver a swift kick to the head. It was over as fast as it had begun, and both Dereks turned towards where the mystery cape had backed The Fenician into a corner.

-----

Drakath watched as, in that small opening, Tommy Gun, through his concussion, shot two kinetic blasts in the vague direction of the twin Dereks, sweeping the ground out from under them. With the former captive down, and the speedster distracted, The Fenician's wounds ignited and a firm push threw Drakath to the ground, where Tommy Gun began blasting his power with reckless abandon, launching Drakath, not giving him a chance to stand. The building continued to rumble as the repeated launching stopped when Drakath managed to land feet first, where he grabbed a piece of rebar and rushed The Fenician, who had ducked behind Tommy Gun, still "spraying 'n praying" like his namesake. Then, out of nowhere, the concrete floor rose into a three-way wall that formed between him, the two La Fenice, and the disoriented Dereks.

gimmepie · Mar 22, 2017

Jailer
AKA. Anita Blaine

Employment

Anita climbed the stairs, moving at a far slower pace than anyone who could hear her thoughts would expect. Outwardly she was just a young woman returning from a morning outing, inwardly however she was a storm. This wasn't the first time that another Cape had tried to contact them, but they had never received a message like that the day after they had been in a skirmish. She was worried that it was either a trap from the Protectorate, the heroes having deemed her a problem after she threatened civilians, or - arguably worse - it was a villain who wanted to hire them for some sort of violent job that sat well outside their ethics. Or rather, her ethics. Sebastian would be easier to coerce if he thought that the thrill would be worth it.

Anita opened the door to their apartment and walked in to see Sebastian, still dressed in his sleepwear, laying on the couch browsing the internet. He didn't even look up when the door opened, which at the very least meant nothing terrifying was happening. Anita breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, welcome home." Sebastian said as though he hadn't told her to come back, finally realising she'd arrived. His voice was casual, but a fiendish expression had formed on his face that sent alarm bells ringing in Anita's head. That face normally meant he wanted to do something that was a very bad idea. "Long story short, we got a message from someone who I'm thinking is probably Vacuum. He wants us to meet him somewhere and left a Traxmail address for us to contact him with."

"Vacuum, from La Fenice? What would the biggest criminal organisation in Fallcliff want with us?" Any relief that Anita had been feeling had been snuffed out in an instant and replaced with unease. She prided herself on her ability to remain cool under fire, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to react appropriately to a concerning situation.

"No idea!" Sebastian said, still grinning mischievously "I suppose he'll tell us though. What time do you want to meet him and where?" Anita wished she could say she was surprised that her friend was actually entertaining the notion of a meeting with a member of La Fenice, but she'd known him long enough to know better.

"Absolutely not. We are not meeting with him anywhere, at any time." Anita said, her voice firm like a parent's "The kind of work La Fenice are likely to be involved in is not the type of work we want to be a part of."

"I doubt that La Fenice, the biggest and baddest criminal organisation around with a membership including some of the scariest capes in the city, is going to want to use us for anything particularly violent. I'm a bullet magnet and you make shields. Why would they want us when they've got Vaccuum, Tommy Gun and a legion of mercenaries they could hire?" Anita knew that he had a point, but she'd been involved with her father's operation long enough to know that even a minor job could turn extremely violent when these crime syndicates were involved.

"I don't care how you try to reason it, my answer is still no. Under no circumstances are we involving ourselves with La Fenice."

It was several hours later that Anita pulled her car into the empty parking lot and got out, grabbing the backpack containing her costume before heading off in the direction of the meeting place. Slipping into an alcove in a nearby alleyway, Anita changed into her costume. Incredibly, she'd once again been worn down by Sebastian's persistent attempts to reason with her and goad her until she finally caved and agreed to at the very least meet Vaccuum. After all, it wasn't like they had to take the job after it was explained. At least, that was what they were telling themselves. Deep down, Anita was fairly certain that saying "no" to La Fenice wasn't really an option and that they were in for whatever job this was whether they liked it or not now.

It was later in the afternoon now, the already grey sky becoming steadily darker. It was far from being late enough that a cape could move around easily though. This was something that she and Sebastian had decided on easily. It might have made it harder for them to get around, but it also made it harder for Vacuum. If it came down to running from him, they knew the area better and any hero capes attracted to the commotion would certainly prioritise La Fenice over them. At least, she hoped that was still the case after the previous day's excapade.

It took a little longer than it normally would have to reach her destination, a location that Sebastian had picked out for the meeting. Surprisingly, Vacuum had been happy to meet anywhere they chose. In his case, a rundown parking facility in the Abandoned Industries district. Sebastian had assured her nobody ever went there ever since it had been closed for maintenence that it never received.

"What took you so long?" Hostage said from off to her side as she walked in. In the gloom of the structure he was barely visible in his all black costume. "You kept this poor, impatient, man waiting a whole ten minutes!" he added his voice thick with mock incredulity. Hostage hadn't been waiting for her alone, not far away another figure was leaning against a cracked concrete pillar. Vacuum was definitely a member of La Fenice. The young man, only a few years older than Jailer or Hostage, wore only a pale grey suit and a vibrant green mask for a costume. At least it appeared that way, he likely had kevlar or something similar underneath. Atop his head was a black fedora.

"Someone told me my route was quicker than it actually was." Jailer replied cooly, not taking her eyes off of Vacuum. It wouldn't do well to show how concerned she was, so she was happy to banter with Hostage as per usual, but she wasn't going to give Vacuum any opportunity to try anything sneaky either.

"I guess it's true that you bicker like a married couple." Vacuum said, his voice smooth and neither too deep nor too high-pitched. The villain moved closer to Jailer and Hostage, slipping his hands into his pockets, his demeanour completely relaxed and it seemed not artificially so. Despite being outnumbered, Vacuum seemed completely sure of himself. As though he knew that if they tried to attack him, he'd win anyway. Jailer figured that was probably because if they decided to attack him, he would. "I saw some interesting video footage of you two last night and after showing it to the Fenecian, we agreed that we should contact you right away. The people of Fallcliff have clearly been underestimating you."

"You don't need to flatter us, Vacuum." Jailer said "It won't change how favourably or unfavourably we look on any job you have for us. I'm pretty sure it's a job anyway, I can't see a La Fenice big shot wanting to see us socially."

"Does he have to stop flattering us? I rather like getting some praise for a change." Hostage chimed in. Jailer ignored him and instead waited for Vacuum to answer.

"Fair enough, although if it makes no difference I see no reason to object either." Vacuum said, a hint of amusement colouring his voice. Jailer got the distinct impression that he was inwardly patting himself on the back for that bit of wit. Vacuum's personality was eerily similar to Hostage's, although the La Fenice villain's character was somewhat more refined. "You're right of course, we have a job offer. A simple heist not that different from what you normally do. There's a small research company based here, we want you to break in and steal some documents. If you succeed, we'll give you twenty thousand dollars in cash."

"I could go for that." Hostage said "Let's hear some details first though. Surely there's a catch here."

"There's no catch. The employees are usually all gone by nine at night and there shouldn't be too many heroes overly close at that time either. So you hit the place then. Grab anything you can relating to trigger events and then get out. Nice and simple."

"Trigger events? Why?" Jailer said, although he was fairly certain she already knew the answer to that question. There was only one reason for La Fenice to take a interest in trigger events.

"I think I'll keep that information to myself." Vacuum said, the inflection in his voice making it clear that was the end of that line of discussion.

"Nine at night, what day?" Jailer said, already resigning herself to the fact that between Hostage's thrill-seeking and La Fenice's insistence, she was taking the job. Vacuum laughed audibly at that.

"Tonight. After you're done, meet me back here for your payment. The place you're hitting is Future Science Laboratories." It was at that point that Jailer understood everything. The reason that La Fenice was giving them the job was because they needed a group that was competent, expendable and that was unlikely to be linked back to them in any way. The message for them on CapesOnline had probably already been deleted for good measure too.

"Oh." Hostage said, having apparently come to the same realisation as Jailer had. "We're robbing Tempestuous."

Ice1 · Mar 22, 2017

It was a morose darkness inhabiting his view. Lack thereof, if he was being honest. Memories lunged up like snakes charging for a prey. Blood, death, violence. To say he relished in it would be an exaggeration, but it was where he did his best.

He was never a musician but there was a musicality to everything he did. He never touched a string or a key. He couldn't even whistle. The only music he had ever made was the steady beat of his heart drumming, rising to a crescendo, falling in pace, building with the moment. He knew the terms, the lingo, the jargon. He could describe music to its finest details. It made him appreciate it more. Mozart was only showed its inner beauty when the tempo wasn't just the tempo, it was andante, the pace of a small creak flowing. The notes weren't just notes, they were played with feeling, meaning. The loneliness of a sole note being played staccato, unconnected, solemn, it was incomparable to the stream of notes played legato.

The human heartbeat was staccato, its rhythm ticking away in voiceless thumps that were that existed in pure isolation. Humans were legato, ever moving, influencing each other, each step just a single one in an ongoing walk.

He considered the biggest sin in music to be the fade-out. Repeating endlessly while the volume lowers until the song becomes too faint to listen to. It showed weakness and fear. The fear of endings, and the weakness to commit.

Sadly, humans, if left alone, undisturbed, faded out. Some songs lasting only minutes while others lasted years, but fading out nonetheless. To him, though, there was no greater ending than a knife between two heartbeats, replacing the final one with a rest. An interval of silence.

The Smiling Man stepped out of his cell, as a guard pushed him through the compound.

Fen-Fen · Mar 22, 2017

Chrono and Florissant

JP with AlphaLuxray

Chrono had been practicing hard for a while now. Sweat dripped from her forehead, but she was still engrossed in her own imagination. While any onlooker who knew anything about martial arts would realize how much of an amateur Chrono was, in her imagination she was unbeatable. She was currently facing down 5 enemies at once: highly trained ninja assassins sent to take her out. With each strike, Chrono grew more and more confident, and before long she had beaten these opponents as well.

Deciding enough was enough though, Chrono stretched, snapping back to the real world. With a respectful bow, she left the circle she'd been practicing in, and grabbed the water bottle she'd set out before starting. A quick swig, and she headed over to the showers. A glance at the clock told her she was just on time for sidekick duty, and she quickly stripped and switched on the cool water. As she showered, her thoughts began to wander as to who this "Florissant" person could be. She finished up her shower quickly, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to rub elbows with the pros. After getting out, Chrono went over to her where she was to meet her senior partner. After only waiting around a few minutes, a young olive skinned woman with reddish hair and decked out in a black body suit with plant motifs on it and a green carnival-style mask. The older woman smiled widely and waved at the blonde, saying, "Hello! You must be Chrono, yes?" She held out her hand.

Chrono grinned widely, a giddy feeling in her stomach. This was an actual hero, one she'd be working with! Florissant's costume was intriguing as well; she had guessed correctly as to the plant powers it seemed. Excited as ever, Chrono replied, "Yep, that's me! You're the Florissant, yeah?" She had probably butchered the pronunciation of the name--she wasn't that great at foreign languages if her Spanish classes were anything to judge by. She took the woman's hand in an emphatic handshake; she couldn't wait to get started.

"So, where are we patrolling today?"

"Correct. Though, no need to say the Florissant. Just Florissant will be good." Florissant thumbed through the briefing for today's patrol, "Let's see...we will be going to Nouveau Toulouse to patrol." Her pronunciation of the district indicated some knowledge of French herself. "But...before we get started, I'd just like to say it's always a pleasure having a sidekick tagging along. She, how you say, flavors- no, spices up a patrol. Come, we'll get to introduce ourselves on our way and have a grand old time!"

Chrono was barely fazed by the accent of Florissant; as her father was an academic, and a good one at that, she was quite familiar with all sorts of accents. She just couldn't reproduce them for the life of her. She dutifully followed Florissant as they exited the building, the breeze blowing through Chrono's short mop of hair, still damp from her recent shower. It then occurred to her that they had no means of transportation… Not unless Florissant had some magical flying plant seeds in her pocket. Deciding to enquire, Chrono piped up, "Hey, so, how are we going to be getting there? Whenever I've gone out with other Wards the patrol route's usually been right close enough to walk. Unless you want to call a cab?"

Florissant laughed. "Oh, a cab won't be necessary. We have the PRT transport." She gestured to a bus located on the premises. The two got into the transport, and were driven off towards Nouveau Toulouse. She exclaimed, "Oh yes, I forgot to ask. What are your powers, Chrono? Something with time?"

Chrono had always wondered what those busses had been for. It made sense that there'd be transportation for capes that couldn't transport themselves, Chrono just hadn't thought about it before. In response to Florissant's question, Chrono cracked a grin and replied, "yeah, not very subtle is it. I can create areas in which I can control the speed of time. Doesn't affect people though. I'm guessing you can control plants?" She gestured to Florissant's costume as she finished. It was more a rhetorical question than anything, but this conversation was thrilling Chrono to the bone. To think she'd be in that position in only a few years, teaching Wards to be the best heroes they can be… It was the dream.

Florissant gave her junior partner a nod. "Yes, that's what I do. I can mutate them too. Turn them into quite the beastly creatures. All sorts of things to make the enemy go fleeing into the shadows!" She grinned in delight at that thought. "I've come to think of my creations as pets. Nice to me, dangerous to villains."

"Sounds really cool! I look forward to seeing it someday." As the bus pulled to a stop near where she and Florissant would be patrolling, Chrono stretched and walked out into the sunshine. Her goggles gave the world around her a slightly blue tint, acting like sunglasses. The busy street was full of people walking from place to place; she remembered Christine saying it was very similar to France, the very place this district was modeled after. Chrono wondered if she'd spot her friend, but pushed the thought away quickly. She had to focus. She was on the job.

As they walked down that street, Florissant kept her eyes peeled for anything suspicious, which rarely happened. She told Chrono, "Usually, we start the Wards off nice and easy with assignments like this. Get them in the swing of things. Now tell me, what have you learned up to this point in your Wards training?"

Chrono was vigilant. So vigilant, in fact, that she almost missed her supervisor's question. She quickly thought, and replied from what seemed rote memorization, "Always be watching, anyone can be a threat. Our primary objective is to incapacitate any threats to civilians. Back off if the opponent is too strong; there's more of us than them and we can call for backup. I can recite more of them if you want. I memorized the entire packet they gave us."

"No no, that's fine. I was Wards hero myself. I was just trying to determine how much of a beginner are you. I remember how much I was scared when I did my first patrol, and well, could have gone better. Had a sewer line burst in the Historical Heart and me and my supervisor were nearby. Oh the amount of perfumes I had to make." She laughed lightly.

Chrono couldn't help but chuckle, even if she felt somewhat remorseful for it. She did hope her own first patrol would go better, no offense to Florissant. Yet she was itching for some action… Alas the streets were calm. People bustling along from street stalls to markets to bakeries; Chrono made a mental note to come back here with Christine, it seemed like the perfect place to unwind after a long day. She was more than content to walk with her supervisor, nodding to the occasional passerby with a smile.

Florissant said to her Wards companion, "No need to worry. You're doing great. It's gonna be slow at first, but I always there's ways to liven up even a slow day's patrol. A little bit of 'PR' stunts here and there." Her smile had a mischievous edge to it.

Chrono grinned at Florissant's quip. She'd seen those sorts of things before. Of course, she hadn't ever had the opportunity, but she definitely perked up now that she had something to look forward to, uneventful patrol or no. "By the way, your accent? You aren't from the states are you?" Chrono was intrigued with all sorts of world culture: she planned to travel around the globe sometime in her life, seeing all the different places and people of the world.

"I'm from North Africa. Fled some unpleasant things to get here in the States. And I have to say, I'm pretty glad with how my life has turned out despite that."

"That's good. I heard it was kinda scary over there, since they don't have anything like the PRT. Is that--if you don't mind me asking--what caused you to trigger?" Chrono knew some capes didn't like talking about their triggers. It was usually something traumatic; take her for example. She had quite literally watched her mother die in her arms. She shook the thought from her mind, using the techniques her psychiatrist had taught her. Thinking of it wasn't going to do any good, especially since she needed to be focused.

Florissant's face went serious and she said, "I'd...prefer not to talk about it."

"Yeah, I understand. Hard to talk about. Have you ever been here in Nouveau Toulouse before? I have a friend that lives around here. Seems like a nice place."

Florissant's face lit up again without a hitch. "Oh yes, very nice. Très magnifique. It's a very fun district to go exploring through, going in those cute boutiques, taking long walks, bringing a significant other for a date or living here." She sighed wistfully. "I love it when I get to patrol here, but I usually have to fight crime in other parts."

"Seems like fun. I'll have to keep that in mind." She was glad this seemed to be the 'dream patrol.' While she was sure there was still crime here (it was Fallcliff after all), her mentor's reaction didn't put in such a crime-filled light as some other districts. Chrono got to thinking though, as she was wont to do, and seemingly out of nowhere said, "So, random question, what do you do if you see a crime and you're out of costume? And you have to use your powers to stop it?"

"You have t-" Florissant began her answer before hearing a voice coming in through her radio. An armed robbery at Bordeaux and Biscay. Perpetrators are non capes armed with Tinker tech, with a request for backup for any available capes in the area. Immediately, her mind went into gear as she replied, "This is Florissant and Chrono, we are in the area and on our way." She sighed as she said to the taller girl, "Well, I guess things are a little more interesting than I thought. And just when we were talking about this area being peaceful too…"

Oddball_ · Mar 28, 2017

Edan Edgeworth AKA Brimstone

With a single touch, the vines barricading the door to the floristry began to dissolve into dust. Several red blooms began to wilt and fade as Brimstone forced his way into the store.

"What are you doing? The Los Diablos are out there!" A young teenage man with brown hair and amber eyes ranted as he moved his hands in varying motions

"Well I have to wonder why. More importantly, why some of them are dead from causes that are very much cape oriented." Brimstone wheezed through his strange voice filter as he stepped into the store and the vine barricade slowly began to reform, this time in some sort of thorny bush type amalgamation.

"They found out who I was. Well partially. I don't think they expected I was a cape, but I couldn't just let them kill me could I. They thought they were coming up against a simple target. Basil Stevenson, member of the Brotherhood. But no. Their target was a cape. They know that now. I can't let them tell anyone else, I'll never be safe if I do." The boy choked a bit, clearly running through the scenario in his head.

"So, you thought you would have to kill them? You think that will make you feel safe? You're going to bring the Protectorate down on us. You think Los Diablos is scary? Think about what people who are equipped to handle enhanced people are like. We work from the shadows, we work on an intricate balance of trust. We may hate each other, we may want each other dead. But people like you and I are cursed to be the ones who very much can do something about that, but also be the ones who shouldn't." Edan explained as he tried to take the metaphorical gun from the loose cannon in front of him.

The boy shook his head. "No… We can't just wait around for the old methods. That… We lose so much every day. This stupid gang war could be over in a matter of minutes!"

"I can't let you do anything stupid Basil." Brimstone said as he began rushing towards the boy.

"What's your problem! Why on earth are you stopping me! You of all people-" The brown-haired teen growled as a sickly-looking sprout began growing out of the bullet hole of Brimstone's kneepad and attempted to tie his legs together.

"Because you're being an idiot!" The masked figure echoed, the voice distorted within the mask. Brimstones fist struck forward and connected with the hazel eyed boys jaw and caused him to fly across the wreckage of the interior of the floristry.

Brimstone slid his fingertips along the vines on his legs and the plant matter quickly began to melt away into an extremely dry ash.

"I came here to help you." Brimstone hissed. "I came here, because you're one of my brothers."

"They deserve it! You know that better than I do! Don't you Edan!" Basil fumed looking around desperately for the location of Edan.

"Shut up. I'm taking you to the boss. She can decide what to do with you." Edam stated plainly as he raised his hands and began throwing punches into the side of the plant based cape.

Basil began coughing, and Edan watched as several red splotches began to splatter across the floor.

"You want to come with me now? You don't look like you can take much more of thi-" Edan stopped mid-sentence as he felt the jagged piece of glass cut through his thigh.

"Heh. You know. You're lucky that you're probably immune to most spores that I could possibly create…" Basil said as he stepped away from the now prone Edan.

"How-" Brimstone grunted as he felt the glass digging itself deeper into his leg.

"Faked you out. One of the more interesting abilities I have. I created berries inside my own body. Its gross as hell, but a useful trick." Basil explained as he began to dig through one of the cabinets in the back of the room.

The quiet sounds of police sirens had been growing louder at a steadily increasing pace, however they suddenly grew in intensity.

"Well, I guess our funs over." Basil sighed as he threw some gauze and a needle and thread over to Edan. "Don't say I left you for them. Fix yourself up and then go tell the boss I'm going to fix everything."

"Basil…" Edan growled as he watched the boy escape through a back door. "God damnit Basil!" Edan gritted his teeth and hissed as he tore out the glass and began to rapidly patch himself up.

AlphaLuxray · Mar 28, 2017

Chrono and Florissant

JP with Fen-Kun

Florissant and Chrono sprinted to the site with great haste. The site was only three blocks from their position. Florissant told her partner, "Well, you said you wanted to see my powers in action. I guess you'll get to see now." She flashed Chrono a smile, still cool and seemingly not bothered.

Chrono sprung into action as she heard her superior's radio crackle to life. Something was happening--something she could stop. She raced along after Florissant, too excited to tire even if it was such a short distance. When they came to a stop across from the boutique, Chrono stepped behind a waiting car to scope out the situation. The storefront was empty save five figures. All were armed, from what it looked like. And was that…

"Shit, they have a hostage! Get down!" The urgency in Chrono's voice barely masked the shakiness of fear that tinged her words. She couldn't help but think of that day… She took a deep breath, using the strategies her therapist had taught her to clear her mind. They had to come up with a strategy.

The bank robber was unperturbed. "We don't want any trouble lil' missy. Stand down, and this young man will be spared."

Florissant turned to Chrono, whispering, "Chrono, you stop these men from firing their guns, and I will subdue them."

"Yeah, I can do that." Turning back to the building, Chrono stood and focused. She took one small step forward, followed by another, raising her arms. To any onlooker it would appear nothing was happening, but Chrono could see the forming time-pocket thanks to her specially tinted goggles. She finished it with a flourish, encapsulating the storefront and everyone inside. Of course, her walking into the open did nothing to ease the burglars, and one yelled something incomprehensible before firing his weapon.

At least he tried. With a click, the trigger pushed the firing mechanism into motion, but it was several seconds before the hammer even hit. All five were bewildered as they watched the muzzle flash in slow motion, the bullet not even having left the barrel.

"Go now!" Chrono shouted, cueing her partner behind her.

Florissant took the opportunity to summon some vines and twist the guns out of their hands. She quipped, "Gun problems, boys?" She smirked as the vines wrapped themselves around their hands, tying them together. These robbers seemed to be real pushovers, something that an ordinary cop could handle. The robbers, surprisingly, rebounded fairly quickly. They too smirked, one laughing hysterically.

Confused, Florissant asked, "What's so funny?"

"We ain't the guys-or I should say girls-you should be worrying about."

From the back of the boutique out emerged some other robbers, armed with an assortment of Tinker technology. Rudimentary compared to stuff she's seen by the likes of other gangs, but powerful nonetheless. These robbers were armed with what appeared to be laser guns, grenades and a specialized combat knife.

Chrono inwardly cursed. She didn't know about lasers, but that knife was definitely beyond her control. She glanced around, for any sign of anything that could help… Her eyes were drawn to the still firing pistol as it lazily tumbled through the air. It would have to work. She waited. Longer. Not quite… THERE! With a thrust of her hands she dropped her time pocket, speeding things up again. The pistol, suddenly working again, unloaded its round directly into the knife-wielder's knee. She heard the scream of agony as she ducked behind cover again, pulling Florissant down with her. "I've dropped the time field, I need time to set it back up again! Can you distract them for long enough?"

The shorter woman nodded. "My pleasure to do so." She used the vines to whip the regularly armed robbers into the Tinker armed robbers. Florissant quickly summoned another plant, this one resembling a mix of a pitcher plant with legs and a venus fly trap for a "mouth" about seven feet tall. "Say hello to Aisha." The creature growled, and started hounding the robber with surprising speed. Before they could aim the laser guns at either Florissant, Chrono or Aisha, Aisha ensnared one of them, allowing Florissant an opening to unleash some bullet seeds on the rest of them.

As Florissant's plants sprung up, Chrono closed her eyes and focused. She had to make it even slower than last time if it was going to affect those lasers, should they fire this direction. She formed it with a thrust of her arm, and once again it was sealed. She doubted the robbers would realize exactly what was happening, as Chrono wasn't even known to many. She decided to use this in her favor as she sprinted out toward the shop. She had to get that hostage free, especially with that knife wielder.

The plants continued to restrain the robbers and Florissant continued to barrage the robbers, pinning them down towards some counters with undoubtedly expensive goods. One of the criminals who wielded a laser gun, however, managed to get an opening and shoot a laser beam. The beam narrowly missed Florissant herself thanks to rolling out of the way. She summoned more plants to help shield herself from the lasers as a way to bide time before searching for another opening.

Chrono had to think, and fast. She only had one chance to save that hostage, thankfully the one with the knife was currently on the ground unconscious. The one holding the hostage had thus far seemed untargeted by the plants; for the safety of the hostage, Chrono could only assume. He and Chrono both spotted the knife lying helplessly on the ground at the exact same moment. The burglar hefted the woman with him as he began moving toward it, Chrono pouring on as much speed as possible. She had to do something or it was going to all be for naught. She couldn't let someone die on her first mission… Think how she would be seen. A quick scan found a decent sized chunk of glass. She snatched it up as she walked past, trying to ignore it digging into her fingers, took aim, and let fly. By the time it hit her time pocket she had already formed a smaller one within, with faster than usual time. The glass shard hit the barrier to the smaller bubble and shot forward, piercing the man's hand as he reached for the knife. Chrono dove as he recoiled, screaming, and snatched up the dagger, tossing it out of reach. One swift punch to the bridge of the man's nose was enough to send him recoiling, and Chrono caught the hostage woman as he pushed her away.

With the hostage safe and the robbers secured, Florissant called to her partner, "Get the hostage to safety, I'll handle these guys."

Chrono nodded to her partner, helping the woman out through the broken door. She talked gently, trying to calm her, but was distracted as a cheer went up from the spectators as they caught a glimpse at Chrono and the hostage. Chrono couldn't help but swell with pride as she crossed the street to where Florissant was standing. She had been successful. This was her first step toward being a full fledged hero.

With the now injured robbers without a hostage to levy against her or Chrono, Florissant was free to easily subdue the non superpowered humans and handed them over to the police, disarmed and for all intents and purposes, harmless. Florissant went out to the cheering crowd, which became more numerous as they recognized the more senior cape. She shouted out to the crowd. "Hello, citoyens de Nouveau Toulouse! Me and my partner are so glad to be of service to such wonderful people and to stop these lowlifes!" She flashed the crowd a winning smile: wide, natural and exuberating vitality. The crowd cheered, snapped photos and Florissant did her usual PR crowd pleasing. Another job well done for the both of them, and an introduction of Chrono to the world.

(Drakath) · Mar 28, 2017

Her rough breathing and pounding footsteps was all someone would need to know that she had far from just started running as she sprinted towards the slightly echoed commotion. She gave a mental sigh as the noise confirmed her fear, God damnit Kiro. She stopped just outside of the doorless doorway as she could hear that much of the loudness was just Tommy Gun living up to his namesake. Seeing as how most of the area was of a similar substance, she leaned with her hand against the wall. Activating her power, an inward pulse could be seen flowing from the wall into where her hand was placed and being sent across her body, changing her costume, hair, and eyes from a mirror to various stone based shades of color. An audible pop could be heard as her hand snapped off of the wall. She exhaled, steeling herself as she entered the warehouse, her hand sliding around the doorway. Shit! She made the concrete floor rise into a three-way wall to divide up the combatants, while also catching the moving debris from Tommy Gun strewn throughout the area. The battle stopped for a moment as they all looked towards her. Her plain, skin tight costume was segmented into various greys that appear to form thigh highs, and opera gloves over the top of it. Her mask, physically similar to Drakath's own masquerade, though more elegant, also paired with the same ninja-like mask for the lower half of her face. Meanwhile, her long cape following the same color scheme along with her flowing hair. She took the time within the pause to analyze each of the capes in the warehouse, though it wasn't long before the fight resumed.

-----

Derek was surprised by the sudden wall in front of him, but he was quick to associate it with the figure that had just entered. Now that he had a chance, he looked around the warehouse for anything he could use; it was bare, empty save for some piles of rubble from the more unstable parts of the building. The only door was right past this new person, whom he had no clue what their powers could entail. Shaping a stone wall seemed like only one facet to this mysterious character.

His train of thought was interrupted by the shaking that confirmed Tommy Gun was still conscious. Derek figured that meant his mask was tougher than he thought, but it would make sense if it was some sort of tinker tech. La Fenice wasn't known for being modest with their spending money. Figuring since the wall next to him was still partially intact, he was in the clear, Derek decided to chance it with the stranger. From behind him, #2 sprinted directly at this person, aiming for the door behind her. Whatever happened, #1 would see it from where he was hiding against the cover she had made. If #2 got out, all the better.

Drakath looked in shock as the rebar that he was holding sunk into fresh concrete. He tried to pull it out but the wall's grip on the improvised weapon seemingly tightened. He let the rebar go, deeming the effort not worth the pain in his hands, even with super speed. Whipping around, he assessed the situation near instantly with his accelerated mind, his eyes settling on a familiar figure donned in 50 shades of grey, OK more like six, struggling to keep her hand raised. Lisa... Well, that explains the wall and why the debris is frozen in midair. Wait she just made a wall and Tommy Gun- Drakath's thoughts stopped as he rolled out of the way to dodge the exploding wall's debris, looking up only to find the stone chunks held in place just before they would've hit him. Suddenly, before he could react, the wall quickly lowered back into the ground, the force cracking The floor throughout, making everyone lose their balance and fall over.

Simple tremors weren't going to stop Derek that easily though. Though #2 stumbled, he was back on his feet in an instant, still rushing toward the door. His wall gone, however, #1 found himself face to face with Tommy Gun. The Fenice criminal was enraged, and Derek could see some skin beneath the city cracked masked. Barely a second passed before Derek reacted, smashing his fist directly into his mask. Finally having taken enough beating it cracked, falling off and fizzing on the ground. Tommy Gun's face was angry as ever, at least before Derek punched him again, finally knocking him out.

Drakath propped himself up onto the jagged ground, Well, okay then. Turning only to see Tommy Gun get taken out of the situation with one last punch. Exhaling, Glad that's over with, he looked back towards the doorway before doing a double take, Wait why are there two? The fuck? One man, having just knocked out Tommy Gun, at the same time also rushing the costumed Lisa. When she reacted, this time a shorter wall, more like a ledge, rose in front of #2. The moment he was in the air to leap over it, she had the ledge sink into the ground forming a pit which he quickly fell into at the will of gravity. While at the same time another wall rose as The Fenician threw a punch, still slightly inflamed, that went straight through it, grazing Drakath.

#2's stomach churned as the abyss opened up below him, but a quick reach managed to snag the ledge. Hanging there, Derek realized he was probably not going to get out. Not like this anyways. As #1 stood up, he caught the lady's costume in the corner of his eye. Was it just his imagination, or did the color seem less sharp, its surface more reflective? Sure enough as he watched she made another wall, compounding the effect to her costume. A slight grin broke on Derek's face as he split once more. He'd only have this one chance, so he may as well take it.

Both #1 and #3 began running toward opposite sides of the pit where #2 was currently attempting to climb out. If he read the situation right, he should be able to slip past with at least one of his selves, and that was all he needed. He did look back though, and felt pity for the boy. He hadn't properly thanked him. Fixing a mental image in his mind, Derek made a note to find him later, if the boy somehow survived. The Fenician was not a good person to piss off, that Derek knew firsthand.

She could feel her power ebbing away faster and faster as the debris that she held floating in the air got seemingly heavier. A quick look at the edge of her mask was all Lisa needed to confirm this. She could use the last of it to throw the debris at her twin attackers, but that would still leave a chance for them to get past her and escape. The Fenician wouldn't approve of them getting away on her part, although neither would he of her defending Drakath. The clones closed in, outing her first idea and leaving her to improvised as second. Police sirens could be heard, probably a noise complaint. Deciding to solve both problems at once, Lisa relaxed and turned around, using the last of her power to throw up a wall to seal the doorway as she was tackled by #3, ruining her aim, to clear the path for the original #1.

Drakath spun to his feet, only to trip on the shattered surface of the ground as The Fenician freed himself from Lisa's fresh wall. Drakath superspeed vaulted over the wall as the villain went around it. Hooking the top of the wall, the rogue swung behind The Fenician and landed on his flaming back with both feet. This was his chance, after the villain was pushed to ground, Drakath spun on his left foot, still grinding against the muscles flesh that the ripped suit revealed, and sent a fast kick with his ignited right foot straight to the side of The Fenician's head. Just when he thought it was over, the two combatants were both suddenly pelted with falling rocks from the aftermath of Tommy Gun's rapid fire. It only lasted a second however; as Drakath was ripped from the rubble and held up by the would be collar of his costume, stretching the material. Staring down the man, the teenager watched as he readied a fist and wound up a fierce jab.

Derek felt the ground shift behind him, and knew he was free. He had #3 tackle the lady for good measure, just so she didn't try to stop him bodily, and he was out in the open air. His clones vanished into thin air as they returned to him, and Derek found himself face to face with a PRT officer. "Hey, do you know anything about the two in the car? Wait, what's going on in there Derek?"

"Officer… Gutierrez? What are you…?" Derek instantly knew this was going to be a problem, as he recognized the officer. Simon Yeates, a fellow in the academy and a partner before his capture by the Professor. He had no choice… His fist collided with the confused man in a heavy-hitting right cross, knocking him out cold.

"Sorry Simon, it's better this way. Enjoy the PRT before they forget about you too." Derek took a deep breath before dashing down an alley, home free. Well, not really… He'd have to check his apartment to see if La Fenice's goons had been kind enough to leave anything, then he had someone to meet with to set up a new hideout. Honestly it was such a pain when your enemies knew who you were. He almost wished he'd trusted his gut when he first took the job that had landed him in this mess. His train of thought was interrupted as he was suddenly knocked over and engulfed in thick grey smoke.

Drakath supersped to cover for his lack of upper body strength and used the momentum to backflip out of The Fenician's "bully hold." Landing in a 3 point pose, simply for effect, he looked up to see the man with an arm broken at the elbow, forced to look up at the ceiling from a fierce kick.

With quick rush leading into a fierce punch to the chest was followed by a sonic boom as Drakath sent The Fenician flying through the wall, snapping through what seemed to be a steel beam inside the wall. Pebbles rained down from the ceiling as the warehouse began shaking, gradually getting more and more violent as those outside could see the foundation cracking under the weight and those inside seeing the wall do the same. He knew he had to get out, the building was coming down. His accelerated brain assessed the situation as he devised a plan. A loud snap crackled through the air as the windows shattered and the building began collapsing. He'd just chucked Tommy Gun's unconscious form at his boss and had only just arrived in at Lisa. Pushing his limits as he continued to break the sound barrier, Drakath ran through the hole that The Fenician's body had made and scooped up a large clump of dirt along the way. Stopping to put Lisa down in front of the two La Fenice, he smacked the dirt into her hand and yelled "Wall!" Her suit turned brown as the series of events registered within her mind. A loud crash could be heard as the building hit the ground, forming a that gray cloud was fast approaching the group as his friend quickly threw her arms up and caused a rocky dirt wall to rise out of the ground, shielding the group from the blast.

Damnit, now that's two buildings. Drakath found himself still accelerating as he checked his vitals through the mask's HUD. His body still hadn't slowed down as he was engulfed in head level smoke. He was hit with an extreme wave of vertigo as he passed out against the wall, Too much… Speed~

gimmepie · Mar 29, 2017

Hostage
AKA. Sebastian Medina

The Eye of the Storm

"This is a terrible idea."

The voice came from Hostages right, where Jailer was perched next to him on top of the building across the the street from Future Science Laboratories. Over the past little while they'd watched as the various employees exited the lab. Hostage had found himself wondering how many were Darwin's Chosen or otherwise capes. It struck him as an odd thought that ordinary people would willingly work for a woman who quietly advocated for their genocide. He figured that Jailer would have been thinking similarly if she wasn't busy being worried about the job.

"Yet, here we are." Hostage said, "So we may as well enjoy the experience." Despite what he said, it wasn't as though he was completely calm about the situation. If anything, Jailer was the one maintaining her composure the best of the pair of them. He was well aware that they were in a risky spot here. They stood every chance of making an enemy out of Tempestuous, a woman who was a strong contender for most powerful cape in Fallcliff, and if they screwed up then they'd likely make enemies of La Fenice as well. Hostage wasn't an idiot, he knew having two of the most powerful groups in the city out for their blood was not a good thing. He couldn't help who he was though, which meant he responded to the risk with an adrenaline buzz not caution. "At the very least, that other building going down will distract the Protectorate and it doesn't look like Tempestuous is here herself."

"That building falling over doesn't help us if they try to blame it on us like the last one." Jailer pointed out, eliciting a sigh from Hostage. Jailer was always too cautious for him and he'd be lying if he said it didn't get on his nerves. Of course, it was also a big part of why he was still alive so he found himself being grudgingly thankful for his partner's careful attitude.

"True enough, but we'll manage if they do. Now let's get to work. We've got an incredibly dangerous enemy to make!" Hostage said, a touch too enthusiastic when he said the last part. It wasn't entirely bluster either, there was something exciting about picking a fight with Tempestuous.

They climbed down from the roof via the fire stairs, and moved up between it and the neighbouring structure. Then, once the coast was clear, crossed the road to Future Science Labs. It was a two story building, very modern in architecture. It had a smooth concrete exterior painted a uniform charcoal colour and enormous glass windows at the front that reached the second story, showing an open lobby inside that took up both stories. Hostage knew from some brief recon that smaller windows looked onto the area around the building from at least some of the offices.

"I like the way the lobby's set out. Very modern." Hostage quipped, peering through the gigantic windows. Jailer kept walking past him and around the corner of the building. Seemingly all business until her exasperated voice floated around the corner.

"I didn't know you were an enthusiast."

"Please, you should know that I have a taste for all the finer things in life. Architecture is an art form Jailer and someone needs to appreciate it when it's done well and criticise it when it isn't."

"How very refined." Jailer said, her voice dripping sarcasm as she stopped below a second story window. "Makes me wonder why you're such a slob at home."

"Words hurt you know." Hostage said, feigning dejection. Jailer just scoffed at that and summoned up a force field bubble, barely visible during the day and even harder to see at night, around Hostage. She then made a second bubble, which she climbed on top of. Expertly maintaining her balance, Jailer levitate both force fields until she was level with the window. "Careful not to cut yourself." Jailer said, this time voicing mock concern.

"I'd be more worried about me falling off of this bubble." Jailer replied as she proceeded to ram her elbow into the glass. There was a loud thump, but to both villains' surprise, the glass didn't shatter or crack.

"Did you need a hand with that?" Hostage asked, not missing the opportunity to mock his friend. The glass was obviously reinforced and he knew that Jailer had well and truly gotten used to his quirks, so he wouldn't get a reaction. At the very least though he could enjoy his own wit. Ignoring him as predicted, Jailer repeated the process until eventually the glass cracked, shattering a few impacts later. "Took you long enough, and honestly you think I'm lazy."

"You know, sometimes I wonder why I haven't dropped you from a great height yet." Jailer said. Her voice was flat, but Hostage knew she was fighting the urge to chuckle at his false criticisms. Jailer stepped off from her bubble and climbed through the window. Then, she moved Hostage's containment as close as she could before banishing it, leaving him to drop.

Hostage caught the edge of the window, banging his body into the side of the building as he did so. He then, grateful for his costume's protective body armour, pulled himself up through the gap. The maneuver had been a necessity if they hadn't wanted to break in through the front door. There was a fire exit attached to the back of the building as the law required, however it was a high tech contraption that Jailer couldn't bust open with her power like at the university. That had left the windows that were too small to float a force field through on the top floor.

"Next time let's rob somewhere with smaller windows. I feel like this wasn't enough of a challenge." Hostage said, following Jailer as she walked out into the hall and checked the number and name plates on the office's blue door.

"Don't complain, you're the reason we're in this mess anyway." Jailer chided, checking the number on the door. Hostage followed her example, peeking at it's laminated exterior. This wasn't the room they wanted to start in. They'd figured that the place they'd most likely find what La Fenice were after in was in Tempestuous' own office. So with that in mind, they started walking down the rows of identical blue doors, checking the information on each one. There was only a single lab upstairs and several offices, but they found the room they were looking for soon enough. Tempestuous' office had been the other direction to the one they first went and was one of the few facing the open space above the lobby.

Hostage reached out and opened the door. The inside was surprisingly normal, you wouldn't have guessed it belonged to a cape supremacist if you hadn't known. Unlike the room they'd first entered, the hefty mahogany desk was the only one in Tempestuous' office. A computer sat atop it. The walls were lined with bookshelves and filing cabinets and two comfortable looking armchairs sat across from the desk. The only personal item in the room was a picture of Tempestuous' immediate family. Her husband, a now deceased cape, and her two children - a boy and a girl.

It was very weird seeing that image, even to Hostage. As a kid, before gaining powers, he'd always found the thought of capes going home after a day of super heroism or villainy to normal lives weird, almost nonsensical. After becoming a villain himself, he'd mostly gotten over that, but Tempestuous was an almost mythical figure in Fallcliff. Seeing her as a normal human being was just strange to experience.

"Do you plan on helping?" Jailer's voice shook Hostage from his thoughts. She was already rifling through books and files on the bookcases - intentionally ignoring the photo on the desk, Hostage was pretty sure. He didn't feel much desire to pester her on that though, instead he did as he was told and got to work. Pulling out one of his swords and using it to pry open the locked filing cabinets.

Unsurprisingly, they found quite a lot relating to Trigger Events. Soon enough, the bags they'd brought with them were heavy with reference books, files copied out from other researchers and Tempestuous' own notes. Sebastian had tried reading a paragraph or two, finding most of it near impossible to understand.

"It's like another language." he said to Jailer as she followed him out of the office "I like to think I'm a pretty smart guy - fuck it, I know I am - but it's like I'm reading gibberish. The only thing I am able to understand is that the part of the brain responsible for Triggering has been identified and that people are looking into how to make Trigger Events happen. No wonder L-"

"It's nice that you're at least making an effort to understand my work Hostage, but you're centuries away from being able to comprehend anything I've got written. Now, be good and go put all that back."

Hostage and Jailer both froze in their tracks. There was nobody on the second floor with them, but directly across from them, down in the lobby, Tempestuous was standing in front of the building's open sliding doors. She was dressed in her costume, a skintight black bodysuit under a white lab coat.

"Fuck!" Hostage heard Jailer hiss under her breath, a very clear sign that this was not a situation they wanted to be in.

PastelPhoenix · Mar 30, 2017

£$Þ€¢tªð¤®ª
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A woman sat in a dim warehouse, a small table of gadgets in front of her. This was a big sale, and by god she was going to cinch it. Unfortunately, the customer actually seemed more interested in the actual toys themselves than how well her disguise hugged her curves. Luckily, his gaze was just at the right level to reveal how... loose the outfit could be also. Leaning over, she pretended to adjust how one of the miniature flamethrowers was displayed, and the sudden transfer of the customer's gaze back to her told her that she had his full attention now.

"So," she began, playfully brushing her hair's carefully manicured curls to the side, "I see you're interested in the Lightgun, lunchbox bomb, and deafphones. These are one of a kind items, coming from a one of a kind supplier such as ourselves."

"These are very tempting," the man muttered, rubbing his stubble again. "how big of a blast does the lunchbox make again?"

"You ever seen a Tomahawk missile?"

He gave a slight whistle, clearly impressed. "Remind me, what's left after that?"

"Nada. It would take a very strong bunker to resist that."

"And the deafphones," he continued, pointing out the innocuous piece on the end. "I can't even tell them apart from the real ones. How loud did you say they were?"

"Activate, throw, and the entire room is more or less incapacitated. Any poor pendejo who tries to actually listen to music through them? Well... it's the last thing they'll ever hear. It's cheaper than a lot of the others, but still incredibly useful."

Nodding, the man excused himself and began pacing. Stopping, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone. Before he could dial anyone, a thin laser burned a hole through the phone.

"The fuck?!" The man shouted, dropping the burning carcass of what was a nice phone.

"No me jodas, cabron," the woman shouted, returning the still smoking watergun that shot the laser to the table. "Consider that a practical test of the lightgun and a warning. You're lucky that wasn't your head. Don't try that shit again. Now, are you buying or not?"

Still stunned, the words appeared to take a second to sink in. Once he realized he got off lucky, he nodded and pushed the briefcase of cash towards the woman.

"Good choice, cariño. I'll bag these up for you, and you'll leave all of the cash here as a dipshit tax."

~~~

A few minutes later, the man was walking out with a small backpack with three pieces of tinker tech in them. Truth be told, he didn't remember exactly how the meeting went down, but he thought he got a good deal.

The saleswoman as awful nice, too. He always had a thing for blondes.

Although the idea that she was actually a red head wasn't leaving his head.

Come to think of it... he could barely remember anything about her. She was oddly a blur in his mind.

~~~

Back in the warehouse, the woman pulled out her own phone, making a secure call.

"Oye, jefe. Deal went through. Idiot tried to call someone, but he insisted on leaving a generous tip."

"Great," a crackly voice came from the speaker, stifling a yawn. "Come back to the workshop."

"Coming back now. Might want to get some sleep too. You sound like shit."

"I think I'll take you up on that," the voice responded after a brief pause. "And, Espectadora? Take the day off tomorrow. Looks like La Fenice wants to wreck some shit."

"Don't trust I can keep safe."

"No chances. No need to risk such a valuable employee."

"Oye, you can admit you'd be lonely without me, you know?"

gimmepie · Apr 5, 2017

Jailer
AKA. Anita Blaine

Today's Forecast: Pain

"This might sound like a stupid thing to say at your place of work," Jailer heard Hostage say "but you really are not meant to be here." Tempestuous smiled at that, a wicked predatory grin that excluded a sense of smug satisfaction.

"I was on my way to a Chosen rally when my security system alerted me that you two were here. I seriously considered just phoning it in to the PRT, but I was nearby so there's really no need to bother the heroes." She said the last word in a tone indicating she thought very little of the PRT or Protectorate.

Jailer was hardly registering the small talk. She wasn't sure if Hostage was trying to buy time to think or if he was just being Hostage, either way she wasn't going to waste the opportunity to search for a way out of the terrible situation they'd found themselves in. Preferably a way that didn't result in one or both of them ending up dead. Therein lied the problem though, the simplest solution to the immediate problem would be to simply give back everything they took and hope that Tempestuous let them leave in one piece. That wouldn't keep them safe though, because then they'd make an enemy out of La Fenice. La Fenice were not people to let failure slide - especially intentional failure.

What can we do here? We have to escape without losing the loot. There's no window in her office. The closest exit is directly in front of us, but she's between there and us. Jailer had lost all focus on the conversation for the most part, now only vaguely aware that Hostage was still talking to Tempestuous, the woman getting progressively more impatient.

"I think you've had long enough. You must have realised that you're not escaping with my research. Just hand it over and I'll let you walk out of here. Take the deal because the alternative is that I find out how conductive you are." As she spoke her last sentence, lightning crackled around her. A casual reminder that she could probably incinerate them right where they stood. It looked like their time was up, they'd have to make a run for it and hope for the best. If they cooperated they were dead anyway.

"Over her head." Hostage said, his voice a whisper. He apparently had come to the same conclusion as Jailer had. She hated doing something so reckless, but she had to admit Hostage was right. If he hadn't been there to prod her into action, she really didn't know what she'd do. In an instant, Jailer summoned a barrier around Hostage she propelled it forward - leaping on top of it so it was between her and any lightning that got shot at her - speeding it up as she wrapped her arms and legs around it.

Jailer wasn't the sort to let herself be unreasonably optimistic about a plan's success, that went double for any situation where their opponent was even half as powerful as Tempestuous. Despite this though, she still experienced a sinking sensation when a gale suddenly whipped into existence within the lobby, catching both her and Hostage in the whirlwind that spiralled around Tempestuous. Or rather, from Tempestuous.

Jailer tried to hold on to her barrier, but they weren't really made for the purpose of being grippable. She was quickly thrown from the top as she was thrown around in the frenzied wind. The experience was dizzying, the world around blurring together into an abstract concept as Tempestuous continued to toss the pair about. Jailer was vaguely aware of her barrier taking many impacts as Hostage hit the walls, roof or balcony. She herself wasn't lucky enough to have that kind of protection.

Jailer was treated to excruciating pain as the wind slammer he against the insides of the building in various unpredictable orders. The only thing she wasn't hitting being the massive windows she had been aiming to escape through. Then, as suddenly as the gust had first come into existence it disappeared. Jailer saw Hostage out the corner of her eye, his momentum carrying him forward over the top of the balcony and into the wall beyond it. She felt her barrier disappear during the collision… that might have had more to do with her than Hostage however. She had fallen straight down and landed on the hard tiled ground of the lobby. Her vision flicked out of existence briefly and her whole body ached. Her only consolation was that she didn't think she'd actually broken anything somehow.

Groaning, Jailer tried to stand up, but she couldn't get her aching body to play nice and ended up stumbling onto all fours instead. Her head was ringing from the impact and she was sure she was concussed, but she tried to think of what her next move should be. Unfortunately, she was drawing blanks.

"Honestly, I thought at the very least one of you would be smarter than that." Tempestuous said, her voice cold and clinical - almost as if she was bored by this minor inconvenience already. Slowly, deliberately taking her time to make Jailer quake with fear, which was definitely working. Then the lightning started to crackle and her blood ran cold. "It's always a shame when a cape or two do something stupid and have to die as a result. But, legally I have every right to defend my lab against two dangerous assailants with lethal force if need be. I intend exercise that right."

"How are we a threat to you. You're practically untouchable." Jailer croaked, feeling death's grip on her even as the feeble attempt at reasoning left her lips. Tempestuous smiled with predatory glee once more.

"Who knows what you might do with those barriers of yours." Tempestuous said, her expression not faltering. It was at that moment that Hostage leapt from the edge of the balcony, sword pointed down towards Tempestuous' head. He thought he'd caught her off guard, Jailer could tell. Tempestuous was far too smart to think that the one within the protective barrier would have been taken out if Jailer was still conscious though.

Instead of driving his weapon through Tempestuous' head like he'd intended, Hostage found himself falling through a black cloud. He landed on his feet, dropping to his knees to better absorb the impact as his sword hit the ground point first, snapping as it failed to break through the hard tile and jarring Hostage's arms.
"Shit!" he yelled at the pain running up his arms and through his legs, but he had a bigger problem. There was a crackle and in an instant, Jailer knew what was coming. Instinctively she summoned a barrier around Hostage, pushing the storm that was Tempestuous out and away from him just as she let loose with her lightning. Jailer winced despite her eye protection as a furiously bright blue-white light erupted around Hostage microseconds after her barrier had formed. The lightning pummeled her barrier. Thankfully however, despite its intensity her protection around Hostage didn't break.

It wouldn't last forever, but it did give Jailer an idea. Slowly she forced herself onto her feet, she was going to need to be ready to run at any moment. She almost laughed, it seemed that Tempestuous' lie had actually been true in part. There was something she could do with her barriers.

"Try this bitch." Jailer growled, allowing her anger at Tempestuous' attack on Hostage to seep to the surface. It reinforced and gave her courage. Like taking a shots but her mind had never felt clearer. Jailer created as many barriers as she could. Filling the room, each barrier trapping a fraction of Tempestuous inside. Tempestuous let loose with unrestrained fury, lightning igniting each orb like some sort of lantern. It wouldn't take long for them to burst at that rate, but it didn't matter. They had enough time… she hoped.

Ignoring the shaking in her legs, Jailer ran toward Hostage and leapt onto the barrier around him as she had originally tried. Scrabbling onto the top, she sent the barrier hurtling through the front of the building. She didn't stop until they were beside the store they had been watching the building from on top of. The bright crackling lightning within Future Science Labs made it look like something out of a horror movie from on the streets.

"My range isn't much further than this." she said to Hostage who nodded before giving his response.

"Hold her for as long as you can. Once we're in the backstreets we split up and meet back up at the parking lot with Vacuum."

"Absolutely not. What if she comes after you when I can't protect you?!"

"Quite frankly Anita" Hostage said, breaking their unwritten rule by using her actual name in costume, never taking his eyes off of Tempestuous' building where her rage was very clearly yet to subside. "The mood she's in I really don't think it'll make much difference. She's going to break free any moment and if we're together she'll just fry you first before she comes after me. Now shut the fuck up, let me out and run like mad."

Jailer didn't immediately relent, but she couldn't deny Hostage's logic - as per usual. She didn't want to do it, but she didn't have a choice. Fighting the twisting sensation in her stomach, Jailer took several deep breaths to steel herself before releasing Hostage from the confines of her force field. Then, they ran. Only moments later, Tempestuous broke free of her restraints.

Fen-Fen · Apr 6, 2017

Chrono and Florissant
Soon enough the buzz died down, and Florissant and Chrono were once again back on their patrol. One good thing was that thanks to the coverage of their rescue earlier, Chrono doubted any smart person would be committing any crime in the area. Meaning it was sure to be a quiet rest of the night, just as Florissant had predicted earlier.

Speaking of her partner, Chrono turned to where she was walking next to her, and started up the conversation again. "As I was asking before that whole fiasco, what would you do if you had to use your powers to save someone, but you were out of costume? Would you risk your identity?"

Before Florissant could answer, Chrono's phone buzzed in her pocket. She'd thought she'd silenced it, but alas. A quick glimpse at the screen showed it was a message from Christine.

"Hey Al, take a look at this! I live just down the street from here!"

Attached was a link to what Chrono could only assume was coverage of the recent robbery. A quick furrow of concern crossed her brow, but as Christine didn't ask about that familiar-looking cape the feeling quickly passed. She pocketed the phone and turned back to Florissant. "Sorry," she continued, "you were saying?"

Florissant replied, "To answer your question, I know that many times, you will find situations where you feel compelled to save someone outside of the job. However, especially with a hero with more flashy powers like myself, that would risk discovery by people who would want nothing more to harm you, your family and friends. I love my job here at the PRT too much to risk my identity." She looked at her apologetically, "I'm sorry if that's the answer you did not want to hear."

"No, it's fine. Makes sense." They were getting to the more rural part of Nouveau Toulouse, the markets and shops behind them. She knew Christine lived quite literally blocks from where they now walked, but contained her urge to think of her. She turned back to her partner, and asked, "okay, this may seem sudden, and maybe not applicable, but… Say you like someone, but you're not sure they're into you? What would you say to do?"

Florissant grinned. "Got a boy in mind, eh? Lucky you!"

"Well, I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but… No." Chrono's face tinged red as she looked at the sidewalk ahead of her. She hadn't been super open about her feelings even to her dad. She steeled herself, and continued, "I'm not sure if she's into me. I know it's kinda sudden, but you seem like someone I can talk to. Y'know?"

"Y-yes, I see." Florissant cleared her throat. "You are one of those girls who like other women. Th-that's no problem to me though. I-I was just...surprised is all." She spoke a bit rapidly, seemingly a little on edge. Just as soon as that edge was there, she quickly recovered with a cheery smile. "But I'm glad you think I'm worth talking with stuff about. It really makes me happy to make friends, and I'm always open to chat." She gave the area a quick scan, seeing nothing more than tranquil scenes of the semi-rural parts of Nouveau Toulouse.

It was quite obvious Florissant was not comfortable with where the conversation was headed. Chrono didn't blame her; she'd honestly have been more surprised if Florissant had openly accepted it as normal. "Sorry," she replied after a brief moment, "it was kinda sudden. Slipped out."

It was obvious neither wanted to continue that conversation, so Chrono let it drop, continuing to walk in silence. The afternoon breeze was cooling off the reasonably warm day as the sun approached the horizon, Chrono's favorite time of day. She decided she'd let Florissant start the conversation this time; all Chrono seemed to bring up were touchy subjects for her partner.

"Don't worry about it, Chrono. Water under the bridge as they say." Changing the subject, she asked Chrono, "What sorts of things do you like to do, when you aren't suited up to literally change time?"

Chrono was caught off guard by the quip and couldn't help but chuckle. She quickly composed herself, and responded, "well, a lot of my time is spent at school, but when I do have some spare time I'm usually out of the house with my friends. Just the other day we were having dinner at the park just near here. Dad's pretty busy at work most of the time, so I'm usually free." Mentioning her father did spark a pang in her, but she was able to contain it. She wasn't going to let that stuff get to her here. She had to at least seem professional.

"Well then, it seems you got yourself a head start at making friends then eh? That's very good that you at least have a great way to fill your free time. Personally, I did the exact same thing. My parents scoffed that I was slacking in studying English, but I showed them! The more I hung out with my friends, the better my English got. And we had lots of fun playing videogames, watching anime and shopping. Things that made me feel quite American!" The shorter woman sighed contently, clearly enjoying recalling those times.

Chrono's mind went back to doing the exact same things with Christine even as Florissant mentioned them, and a genuine smile grew on her face. It was good to know there was other people out there just like her--well, mostly like her. "I know what you mean. We do that stuff all the time. It's cool that you found friends when you moved here though. Do you still talk to any of them?"

Florissant nodded. "Yes." She giggled as she added, "Despite getting older, we never really grew out of those things. We still to this day do the same sort of things. Call me a child at heart I guess."

Florissant seemed like just the right person for her
to have been paired with. They were already becoming friends, and they hadn't even known each other this morning. Chrono was glad she had been so lucky. Part of her had been nervous that she'd have been stuck with someone she wouldn't like--unlikely as that may be--but no need to dwell on what-ifs.

"That's nice. Besides, being old is overrated." Florissant's laughing was contagious, and Chrono found herself chuckling as well.

The more senior cape nodded. "A lot less stressful too. It's like...even though I do all the adult things I need to do and be a responsible member of society, I still find the time to enjoy life. And I feel that being a cape allows me to do a lot of that."

"Yeah." Chrono looked up at the slowly ambering sky and smiled. She wishjed she could just tell Christine about everything she did, her new friend… Alas it was against the rules. Christine would have to go on thinking she was in some warehouse sorting boxes all evening. Turning back to her partner, Chrono asked, "say, what about you? Any potential romancers in your life?"

Florissant shook her head. "No. None so far."

Chrono nodded. "No worries, I'm sure you'll meet someone eventually. At least, that's what I've been told." Curse her puzzler's mind though, as her cogs began to spin with speculation. She was certainly attractive enough. Maybe it was a personal thing. Then again she had reacted pretty strangely to her statement earlier… No, it was probably just her imagination. What were the chances of that? Chrono was sure it was anything but.

She nodded her head. "Yeah. But man or no man, I think I'm still pretty happy."

Chrono couldn't come up with a response, so she kept walking quietly. After a few more moments, she finally thought of something to say, and went for it. "Florissant," she started, "you are perhaps the kindest person I've met. I'm glad we got to work together today. If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to let me know."

Appreciating the flattery, Florissant beamed and replied, "Aww, thank you so much. I'm so glad that you say that. The feeling is mutual. You are a heck of a cool partner." She ruffled Chrono's hair a little.

The feeling was unfamiliar to Chrono, but not overly unpleasant. She managed a grin, and said, "Good to know. Say… How long are we supposed to be out here again? I don't remember any of my other patrols being this long…"

Indeed, it was starting to get late and cutting it close to clock out time for Chrono. "We're just about finished here. A little bit past it I have to say, but hey, not a problem for the authorities, and I had a great time, both with you and catching those robbers. Another job well done in my book!" She walked Chrono back to the transport and began the journey back to PRT headquarters.

The short ride back was calming, and Chrono couldn't help but feel a swell of pride as she looked back at her first day as a real Protectorate member. It was amazing to think that just a few weeks ago she hadn't even known how to control her powers, much less use them to save someone's life. This called for some celebration. Chrono pulled her phone back out and shot a text to Christine.

"Hey, getting off work. Want to hang out? There's that new movie coming out tonight."

Chrono already knew the answer; Christine had been excited about that movie since it first got teased. Something about Christine and space-horror movies seemed to go together, even though Chrono wasn't a huge fan of the horror genre. Somehow having Christine there with her helped her though.

(Drakath) · Apr 7, 2017

Lisa saw this as a perfect opportunity to escape and used the last of her power to get rid of the dirt wall and then began replacing her former element with the smoke around her. Grabbing the now unconscious Drakath, she began dragging him away while using the smoke for cover.

~Some time later~

Having woken up in some building devoid of people, Drakath had already left the Abandoned District and been watching the news just outside of a building while thinking about recent events. This has been, the most, ridiculous 24 hours, of my life. At least she bothered to get me away from those two... Maybe she's not too bad after all. Even if she blew me up. Which I'm still pissed about. Eh, I guess the repercussions of helping me out 'll make up for it. The news channel briefly caught his attention as it revealed that many citizens had reported that crimes had taken place immediately after the bombing of Piper Street. Kiro sighed, So, that's the reason. Turns out that the bombing was just a distraction so that the crimes could go off mostly without a hitch. Mostly calm from "venting" in the warehouse, he began to walk away when, a certain topic had caught his attention. "A new video has surfaced of four capes fighting in the now destroyed warehouse in the Abandoned Industries where two non-cape arrests had just taken place this morning." The reporter had continued talking as Kiro sank against a wall and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fuck." Sighing, he decided, I need a run, before popping his mask on around a corner and blitzing off.

A run through the city at just the right speed was a relaxing, almost therapeutic for Drakath. However for him, the "right speed" was about 700 miles per hour. Not exactly the accepted speed limit for the streets of Fallcliff. Then again, he wasn't even in a car, which begged the question: As a speedster, does one on foot need to follow the rules of the road. Well, the answer was clearly yes as this particular routine often caused a complaints throughout the city, seeing as how he made an effort to go down each and every street, timing himself to see if any one route through the city was faster than another. District by district, he ran, leaving no road left untraveled, until he came to the cliff. Having cleared through the lower half of the city, a quick sigh and shrug followed by a mental, Fuck it, Drakath ran straight up the cliff. Only to fly right off a moment later. "Shit!" Drakath whirled through the air, spinning to level himself out before gravity began pulling him back to the Earth. Aligning himself with the sloping path along the cliff, he braced himself as the angle helped him hit the ground running. Woo! Ok then, how 'bout that water trick? Sprinting down the path, Drakath ran straight for the river once he hit the bottom of the cliff once more. Alright, it's definitely possible. I've done it before, I've looked it up... I'm definitely fast enough. In only a second, he went from blacktop, to dirt, to not so shallow water. A brief moment of tension passed before he looked down and confirmed, yes, he was running on water. "Yeah! Woo hoo! I did it! I'm Jesus motherfu- Ack!" The strange properties of using deep water as a solid surface was enough to make him lose his balance and fall over, skimming across the water before sinking into it. Using his acceleration to get his bearings, he waited until he hit the bottom, which took longer than he would've been comfortable with, before giving a superspeed push with his leg to jump straight out, landing on dry ground, opposite of the city. Rolling to a stop, Drakath paused and sat riverside after checking his vitals, "Phew. A little more practice and that's gonna be on hell of stunt." He started to lean back and relax before stopping midway upon noticing the approaching figure.

"It's a bird! It's a plane! Nope, it's just Seraph." He called out to the hardlight tinker as she quickly flew over the river before stopping midway. "Hey there," he said, waving and still soaked, only to receive a volley hardlight feathers in his direction. Backwards rolling to his feet, Drakath accelerated to swiftly dodge the colorful projectiles. "Woah woah woah Seraph! What the hell? I know I ran some red lights, but God damn! Was that necessary?"

They'd been through this routine before, however this instance was much more aggressive than usual. "Now is not the time for this Drakath," she said, projecting her voice through the suit's microphone, "Resisting arrest is only going to get into more trouble than you're already in."

"Couldn't you've opened with that? You must live by the whole "shoot first, ask questions later," thing then." He paused before continuing, "Besides, you can't really believe that I wanted to blow up both of those buildings. I mean, I enjoy our little chats like this, but come on. That's not enough motivation to make me go Villain. I'm a Rogue for crying out loud, a delivery boy."

"Either way, you're under arrest for repeated public disturbances and destuction of city property." She announced.

"Oh come on, I'll admit that the second building was directly, yet unintentionally, my fault. But that first one was a setup. And those public disturbances, what's a guy with superspeed gonna do when there's nothing to do? He's gonna run. And he's gonna run, "Fast as fuck boy!" And with that reference, he bolted.

Ice1 · Apr 9, 2017

Calvin Nanyemba A.K.A. Animator

It seemed like a job better suited for Medic, but Calvin didn't mind. He didn't feel like field-work today. Arresting a hospital patient was a much easier task. Michael Gallavant had recently been bailed out of jail by an unknown benefactor. He had been a free man for a week. A week in which he robber a liquor store and stole a car. Not to mention the ties to La Fenice.

They had put him in his own room. It was common procedure with recent triggers. There was no set way to deal with powers, so keeping them away from civilians was the best course of action. A single bed sat in the middle of the room, some medical equipment scattered across the floor. Calvin had coated himself in a thick layer of steel, shaped vaguely like a knight's armor.

The soon-to-be detainee sat on his bed. His whole body was covered in heavy burns, but he didn't seemed to be too bothered with it. His blue eyes peeked through a curtain of black hair.

"Animator. Better than a Ward, at least," he said.

"I'm going to ask you to come with me peacefully." Calvin didn't feel like small talk. He would prefer if the gang member would just quietly follow him to the PRT vehicle stationed outside. Was it ever that easy, though?

Two PRT agents stationed themselves on the sides of the door. Out of sight of Michael, but capable of intervening quickly. New triggers were the worst, it was never clear what power someone would have. Michael's power was clearly some form of regenerative ability. Which was the worst-case scenario, because with any other powerset the man would still be in a medically induced coma. But no, the criminal just had to get something to complicate the situation.

Michael shook his head. "Look, I'm not going to threaten you, or make demands, but if you don't let me walk out of here I will use resort to lethal force." He stood up, already marching towards Calvin, as if the hero was just going to allow him to leave. The suit of armor expanded, forming a thin wall within the hospital room, blocking his passage.

"Lethal force it is," the villain grunted. Two inky black claws pierced through his chest as his skin turned white. The man was mummifying as a shadowy homunculus escaped his body. Tendrils, claws and other limbs expanded over the floor, as all that was left of the man was his skin and hospital gown, draped over the linoleum. The creature hissed violently as it lashed out towards Calvin's ankles.

His metal boots grew heels, allowing Michael to cut away at something that wasn't flesh. It missed by a hair. The two PRT officers threw a gas grenade into the room. Smoke started billowing out.

"Animator requesting evacuation of the Saturn wing. Animator requesting evacuation of the Saturn wing."

The creature slithered across the room. It lashed out against the windows, trying to pry it's way out. Something kept it from destroying it, though.

Calvin grabbed the hospital bed, as it shaped itself into a small dog. It's razor sharp teeth sunk into shadowy tendril, tearing it off. The creature twitched and screeched. The abstract shapes formed back into a more human form, before starting the whole mummifying again. Calving tackled Michael before the two claws could erupt, but the man felt too light. As he pushed the skin husk over, he saw a insectoid creature run through the door. A cockroach that had been bred with a dog, that was what it reminded him off.

He sent his own metal creature after it, but as soon as it left the room, it'd be useless. Line of sight was one Calvin's biggest weaknesses.

"Animator here," he spoke into his intercom. "New cape is either a breaker or a changer. He has escaped. I'm going to bring some disturbing evidence back to have a look at."

The eyeless stare of the skin husks were unsettling.

AlphaLuxray · Apr 10, 2017

Derek Gutierrez -- Splinter

Derek stood over the mess that used to be his home. La Fenice had gone through everything--even his hidden backup spots. If it wasn't broken, it was missing. Sitting on the shredded remains of mattress, Derek sighed. This was going to be pricey, but he honestly had no other option. He pulled out his phone, and dialed a number he hadn't called in months.

"Hello, and thank you for calling Aim Information Management--" Derek didn't even wait for the automated voice to finish before punching in the 5 digit code that would connect him with the person he was trying to contact. After a few seconds of connecting, another woman's voice answered, this time real.

"Aim server tech, this is Angela."

"Angela, it's me," Derek replied, "have a moment?"

After a few seconds of silence, Angela responded. "You must have some real nerve calling me back after what you pulled last time 'Splinter.' Better have a good reason."

"I do. I need a reset. Everything. I'll pay you double this time. La Fenice got to me over a sour job."

"La Fenice?! Are you fucking kidding me? You let them get a hold on my tech?!"

"Calm down, the emergency overrides are still in place. They won't be learning anything. Plus, seems they have a Tinker of their own. Tommy Gun's mask-"

"Oh so you're saying La Fenice sent one of its big boys after you too?! I can't fucking believe you Derek. I thought you were smarter than this."

"Do we have a deal or are you just going to lecture me?"

"Ugh, fine. You know I can't say no to work these days. But you're not skimping on your pay this time or I'll personally rip your jugular out. Come by in an hour."

With a click, Derek was once again left to himself. Angela may be gruff, but she was the closest he had to a friend. He wouldn't trust her with much, but at least her tech was reliable. With one more look around the ruined room, he stood. Now that that business was out of the way, he needed a place to live. He rang up one more number as he headed out the door, leaving it open for good measure. Anyone could find it now for all he cared, but he was going to have to lay low for a few days before taking any jobs again. La Fenice wasn't going to let him off that easy. If anything, Tommy Gun now had a personal reason to take him out.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Alex Jones -- Chrono

Alex stretched as she exited the PRT building, already having changed back into her clothes again. Florissant had seemed to have something important to get to, so Alex had been left to her own. A quick glance at her phone told her that she had just enough time to get over to Christine's house, so Alex set out right back the way she'd came, hopping on the city bus a few streets down.

Soon enough Alex found herself in front of her friend's quaint suburban home. It wasn't large, but it didn't have to be with only 4 of them in there. Alex was already familiar with every nook of the house; she'd been over here more times than she could count. She walked up and knocked, waiting patiently until Christine's mother opened the door.

"Alex, dear, come in! You look tired, long day?" Christine's mother was a short, portly woman, whose Italian heritage was obvious in both her appearance and accent. Alex gladly followed her inside, entering the living room that dominated most of the first floor. From up the stairs to her left, Alex could spy Christine's door, slightly ajar. She didn't even have to ask to know that her friend was in there, and she smiled and excused herself from the living room, saying, "thank you, Mrs. Rousseau. Nice to see you as well. Today was fine though, not too hard."

With a wave, Alex climbed up the stairs, Mrs. Rousseau presumably returning to her kitchen, where she was almost always cooking something. Upon reaching Christine's door, Alex knocked, then entered. Christine never left her door open if she didn't mind anyone entering. "Hey Chris, almost ready to go?"

Christine was seated at her desk when Alex entered, putting on lipstick. She smiled at Alex through the small mirror on her desk before finishing up and responding, "Al! I was almost afraid you were going to be late!" A quick friendly hug later, the two were heading to the door. Christine let her mom know where they were going, and then they were on their way.

------------------------------

An unintentional shiver went down Alex's spine as the pair left the theater. It had been just as scary as Christine had predicted. Whereas her friend had a massive grin on her face, Alex was paler than usual. She'd barely made it through even with Christine there. It had taken all of her self-restraint to keep from strangling Christine's arm during some parts. But it was done now.

"Wow, what a cool movie! Right Alex?" Alex mustered up a smile, but it was no picture of enthusiasm. Christine's grin softened to a friendly smile, and she said, "I really appreciate you going to it with me, even if you didn't like it. You can pick the next movie we watch I promise."

Alex's smile perked up a bit. Christine was such an amazing person. "So, um… Dad's not getting back till real late and if I'm alone I might go crazy after that. You're parents don't mind, right?"

"Of course not. You know you're welcome anytime." Alex was reassured by the answer, and shot her father a text to let him know that she'd be staying at Christine's. With another smile to her friend, Alex and Christine made their way back to her home.

Fen-Fen · Apr 15, 2017

Florissant

After a pleasant patrol with Chrono, Florissant was ready to clock out, eat a big dinner and unwind with some movies on Netflix. She was about to head to her office to change into her civilian clothes when she was stopped by her superior, Arief Khadiji. Not the type to engage in pleasantries or small talk, Florissant of course immediately assumed to be business related to her. The taller, bigger man spoke to her in a no nonsense tone. "Florissant, come with me. I have urgent business with you regarding a case. I need to ask you some questions." He gestured towards one of the rooms used for interrogation and they went in. He sat down opposite of Florissant and cut straight to the chase. "You are under suspicion of a murder in the University District. The victim was a member of the street gang Los Diablos. He was stabbed to death by a vine." He leaned in closer and looked Florissant directly in the eye. "Where were you today at around 11 am?"

Still processing the grave charges levelled at her, she waved her hands in front of her and told him, "Wait, hold on. I'm being under suspicion for this death of some common street criminal?"

Khadiji replied, "You can't deny that the method in which he was murdered doesn't raise a few eyebrows, especially sitting right in front of the one well known cape around Fallcliff whose powers are plant related."

While Florissant could certainly not fault him from surmising the conclusion based on the circumstances, it still came as a little shocking that she, a hero well known for scarcely being violent despite formidable and occasionally hellish looking powers, would be in the running for suspicion in the case. "But I wasn't even close to the murder scene. I was on patrol in the Divided District towards the river, at Kings Park."

Khadiji rebutted, "Yes, I see that on your file here. That's where you say you were. Have any witnesses to corroborate your story?"

Florissant replied, "Yes, there was Avila and Falcon on patrol nearby, and several civilians saw me. In fact...come to think of it..." She scratched her chin. "I greeted a police officer personally doing my rounds in the park. Sergeant Parker was his name. Big, tall African American fellow." She laughed slightly as she said, "Big guy was like teddy bear. He wanted my autograph for his son."

The PRT chief duly took notes and nodded. After finishing his thoughts on paper, he looked up and said to Florissant, "Okay. It seems if things check out, you have an impeccable alibi. Some of the details have already been made public, such as the method of the murder. Once we get back to you with results of the investigation, we'll let you know if you can make any public statements about this incident. Any questions?" Florissant shook her head. "Then you are dismissed."

She walked out of the interrogation room, the red headed hero clocked out and took the bus home, wishing she was driving her car that was in the shop. Arriving home, she exclaimed her arrival to a small, blue-grey cat. "Hey Fariha!" Safiya picked up the cat, hugged it and sat with it on her lap while she ordered the pizza. While waiting around for the pizza deliveryman to arrive, Safiya decided to check the Cape Forums really quick to see what else was coming of the case, now that time had elapsed. She would not think of searching the forums for one murder in a large city of a civilian otherwise, but since the methods of the murder were made public, Safiya was bound to find something and found it quickly as a brand new topic.

Thruther
There was a body found in the University District at this little flower shop. Guess what killed them? Stab wounds. Not just any stab wounds, though. There were some vines that ended up killing the dude, certainly not stuff you can find there ofc. I betcha Florissant was put up to this. Y'know, red haired chick with the plant powers. But here's the thing: it all stinks of something fishy. I mean here we have a hero who's all goody goody suddenly kill some random gangster. The PRT is up to something man.

KoolKape3
maybe that's because nothing happened ya damn tinfoil. Grow up lol

Safiya laughed to herself, just for how ridiculous the claims were. "Al'abalah", she muttered to herself. Idiot. After having a chuckle over it, Safiya put away her phone and watched an episode of a TV show before the pizza arrived twenty minutes later. The incident was relegated to the back of her mind as she wolfed down the pizza after being on patrol all day. After all, it's not as if people would believe that crackpot nonsense over her standup reputation.

Desert Stream~ · Apr 23, 2017

The phone rang, and Cactus picked it up. "What do you want? Do you know what time it is?" She yelled into the phone. Listening carefully to what the caller had to say, she shook her head. "I thought we were done after last time! I told you, I already have a private manu-" the caller hung up. Another death threat if she didn't hand over money. This time the meeting place was on a big empty lot close to the edge of town. Cactus fired up her flight suit and went over to the lot. There was noone in sight.

Cringing, Drakath shook his head, as he replayed his joke in his head, I need to get off the internet. He looked back to see Seraph hot on his tail. This would be shocking had he not been handicapping himself to around the hero's top flight speed. Turning around he taunted as he ran backwards, "What's wrong? Having trouble keeping up?" He noticed the next flap of her wings was slightly mistimed. She could tell he was toying with her. "Come on girl! You're too slow! Gotta go fast to keep up with me!" Ha, shoulda named myself Sonic. I'm enough of a "prick" to make up for his "spikes." I wonder... Chuckling at himself, Drakath dodged another volley of feathers as he turned around.

Cactus could hardly see the figure approaching, at super fast speeds. I'd better get out of here She turned the flight button on, and began to hover a bit. Come on! Hurry up! The flight suit crashed into the ground, and the incoming figure collided with her. "Hey! That hurts!" Said Cactus, forgetting her invisibility was still on. "Wait a minute… you're… Drakath?"

He coughed, and wheezed before letting out a groan, "Ugh. What the hell." Propping himself up, he looked around for the source of the voice, "Sorry. Wait- I didn't even hit anything! What the fuck?"

Cactus noticed she was invisible as she looked down at her scraped hand. She drew a small blade, and became visible again. "Alright, what's the big deal running like that? You could have hurt someone badly!"

Drakath flinched as a figure appeared "Cactus?" Fucking Strangers... He reeled back looking mock offended from being yelled at, "Hey, I have crazy reflexes and I can stop on a dime. Besides, the only reason you got hit is because you were invisible." He noticed the sharp object Cactus had drawn, "And what're you gonna do with that 'Little Miss Ezio?' You're not gonna stab me and even if you were, you wouldn't even land a hit."

Cactus had no idea what to say to the invisibility part. "Don't blame me! Blame the person who uh… made my flight suit."

He slowly got to his feet having completely forgotten about his previous endeavors, "So, who might that be? And I guess since you apparently tried to fly away, instead of just jumping out of the way like a smart person, you clearly must've went to the 'Prometheus School of Running Away From Things'."

"I didn't actually. I taught myself," She said, ignoring his question.

And… That one went right over her head.

"And this? I'm taking you in. I've heard about what you did," Suddenly, Cactus saw another figure approaching, this one in the air.

"God damnit. Another one?" Drakath sighed, his thoughts slightly escaping. "In fact," he turned around to see Seraph in the sky, "Fuck it. Just fuck it. I'm fucked. I'm fucked no matter what I do. 'Oh, just go to the PRT, turn yourself in.' No. If I do that I'll either be in jail, a Ward, or I'll be restricted. Fuck that. I'm gonna be known as kid who blew up two buildings anyway, so what's the point. I lose no matter what I do. I'm a Rogue for a reason. Why would I blow up a building? It was a setup! We're not even allowed to kill people. Besides police were already on their way there. It'd be stupid at that point. 'Oh what about the second one.' Well technically it 'imploded,' but yeah, sure, that one was my fault. I didn't do it only on purpose, but at least it was my mistake. But oh, that doesn't matter, I did it anyway. So if I'm gonna be wanted, then I'm just gonna be wanted. Fuck it. Just get it over with and call me a Villain. I don't care anymore. It's gonna happen eventually so might as well just get it over with, 'cause I'm gonna keep running. So fuck it. I don't care anymore." Fucking Lisa! A grunting stomp into the ground at superspeed was enough to crack the lot throughout. "God Damnit!

"Woah," Cactus mumbled as she managed to keep her footing. "What exactly went wrong with the building? If it's not your fault maybe I shouldn't bother you…" Cactus thought for a second before getting a notification on her phone. "Oh goodness, not again!" Cactus turned invisible for a second, and read over the text. Meanwhile, Seraph had landed at the scene.

Drakath sighed as he looked towards the disappearing figure, realizing his venting. I got it. You know what, I'll give them a choice. As he thought out a plan, something metal wrapped itself around his wrist. Spinning, Drakath almost socked the person responsible just off reflex, however he realized that it wasn't exactly a good idea to attack a hero, and redirected his punch towards the the handcuffs, breaking them immediately.

Hearing the handcuffs break, Cactus turned from her phone. Drakath was being unsuccessfully apprehended by Seraph. Ugh, what to do now? Cactus dashed into the middle of the group, pushing both of them aside. What am I doing? Oh well, at least no one should get arrested now…

Drakath looked in confusion as the vigilante separated them, "So, who's side are you on here?"

"Your's. I believe you. But you better run," Said Cactus. She put the knife back, and tried to fly into Seraph, but missed as she took off and landed on the ground face first. "Agh…"

Drakath stifled a laugh as he watched Cactus's go at Seraph, "You sure wanna go against a hero, and help the wanted guy?" He shrugged, "OK then..."

He's right. I should probably get outta here. How am I going to do this? He won't leave on his own so maybe I can force it upon him. Could I turn him invisible by holding his hand? And then maybe, have him superspeed me away? Settling on that idea, Cactus grabbed Drakath and they both disappeared. "Ok, let's go!" She said, bracing herself for extreme speeds.

Caught off guard, Drakath stuttered, "W-w-wait what?" Alarmed and confused, he felt like he'd missed something huge as he looked around and through his invisible self. OK, I- what? After some accelerated incoherent mumbling, and a test of whether or not an invisible person can see through their eyelids, Drakath eventually came to the conclusion of, "Fuck it, before this gets any worse," and blindly picked Cactus up while managing to properly brace her as she held him before running off. And… I'm not invisible anymore. Oh yeah, forgot. Can't carry people. Turns out 0-700 mph in a second isn't too good for the human body. The G-LOC from the acceleration had knocked Cactus out cold. Hm… She'll be back in a minute but, I'll kill her if I keep going. He ducked into an alley and hid Cactus in a pile of boxes. "You know, despite the name, you're actually pretty soft." He gave a mental groan, I can't believe I just said that, "Just, don't be a 'stranger' next time, OK?" And with that, he left at speed, dashing out of the alley, back through the cracked lot, and under a bridge,ditching Seraph in the process and checking for a no longer present Cactus before heading home. He had some things planned for tomorrow.

AlphaLuxray · Apr 26, 2017

Aereo & Chrono

As Clarissa exited a jet black, impressive looking Mercedes-Benz wearing over ear headphones, she sighed, wishing it was her parents at the wheel today. They were both away on a business trip in Kyoto and as such, the chauffeur drove her to school today. Clarissa would want nothing to do but to travel to Kyoto with them, but she was recently missed a bit too much school on account of having several bouts of minor illness. Of course, it was only assumed that it was just a bad year for getting sick, but Clarissa knew why she was getting sick. Just stepping out of the car reminds her why. With superpowers, Clarissa feels just as useless as before, if not more so by being able to do something to them but being unable to do so. Crossing her fingers, Clarissa went to a courtyard to read a new novel she picked up the other day. It was a small part of her that hoped that maybe they wouldn't show up, that they wouldn't bother her just for today. Unfortunately, her hopes were dashed when she saw them, hanging out in a group gossiping about how fake this one girl was being or something like that. Very unimportant shit. It soon became important, however, when the group spotted her. They hovered over her, almost looking as if to have a friendly talk if it weren't blatantly apparent to Clarissa what they'd do. With her headphones blaring music, Clarissa tried her best to blot them out, only to have the raven haired girl, Nadia, yank the headphones off of her head and exclaimed, "It's rude to be ignoring us when someone is talking to you, Clarissa."

The poshest one of the group, Madeline, scoffed and added, "Yeah, what kind of barn were you raised in?"

Clarissa said nothing, and only looked down, pretending in vain for them not to exist. Nadia picked her head up and said, "When someone is talking to you, you look them in the eye. Did your parents not raise you right?" Her last remark was said in a mocking tone.

"P-p-please leave me alone."

A third girl, Jeanette, replied in a faux pleasant tone, "But we've only just graced your company. You don't wanna run away now when we're having fun."

Alex arrived at school rather early. As Christine's mom worked as a chef at a small Italian restaurant with her husband, Christine always got here earlier than most. The two were mostly quiet as they walked the familiar halls of the high school; mostly because Alex was still half dead from waking so early.

"So where do you want to hang out? Lunchroom?" Christine was initiating conversation as always. It was all Alex could do to nod sleepily, and follow her friend. That all changed of course, when she caught the tail end of what seemed a harmless comment, but she could practically feel the spite dripping from it. It was coming from one of the small courtyards from what she could hear.

"Hey Chris, give me a sec. Thought I heard something. I'll catch up." With a nod, Alex excused herself, and headed toward the commotion. Sticking to the wall, so as to stay out of sight, she spotted a group of girls hounding another; closer inspection revealed the victim to be Clarissa--or as Alex knew her, Aereo, another one of the Wards. She didn't recognize most of the aggressors, but Madeline--Her Highness as Alex mockingly called her with Christine--stood out like a sore thumb. If she was here there was no mistaking what was going on, but Alex decided to watch for a bit longer. Clarissa didn't seem to be fighting back, so perhaps they'd get bored.

Madeline giggled. "I am being quite nice. It's only fitting that you should repay the favor. Now, we both know that I'm not the best with history. Would you be a dear and help an old friend out?" Without prompting, Madeline dug into the backpack of Clarissa and combed through her stuff.

Clarissa meekly protested, "H-hey, leave my stuff alone."

Madeline smirked, "What, you think that people care about some wannabe from the ghetto? I really am being quite merciful, and I'm not appreciating how you're treating me." She frowned.

"Alright," Alex spoke up as she walked into the courtyard, "you heard her, Madeline." Crossing her arms as she approached the shorter girl, Alex continued, "put down the backpack and go be a prick somewhere else." This wasn't the first time she'd butted in on Madeline, so it surely wasn't going to be that easy, but it was worth a shot. Glancing at the other girls, she mentally braced herself for how bad this could go; it didn't matter to Alex either way.

The shorter girl replied and feigned outrage. "Ugh. Did you just hear that? Calling me that word." As if she was truly the taller one, Madeline replied in a condescending tone, "Listen, maybe you don't really get how things work around here, but you don't talk to me that way, capisce? I think you would be best not to get involved, skeleton."

Alex feigned horror in her expression, and in a mocking tone replied, "oh no, she called me a name! Whatever shall I do?" Getting serious again, Alex took a step closer to Clarissa, getting between her and Madeline. "Listen, I don't care what you call me. I just can't stand people that prop themselves up by pushing others down. Understand?" She was nearly on top of Madeline at this point, and continued, "so if you're going to pick on someone, pick on someone that can take it."

One of the other girls replied, "Pssh, you're gonna stand up for her? You a friend or something?"

Clarissa mumbled, "You were."

Clearly hearing the remark, the other girl replied, "I'm sorry, did you say something, Clarissa? Can't really hear you all that well. Why don't you speak up?"

Clarissa didn't speak, and didn't say anything more. Madeline added, "You know she won't, Janice. The little girl is too spineless."

It was obvious words were not working. This was more antagonistic than she'd thought, only solidified when she hear Clarissa's mumbled comment. Once Madeline had finished, Alex spoke up, "are you done now?"

Just as she was about to speak Alex's palm struck her. It wasn't anything hard--barely enough to move Madeline--but the resounding smack was more than clear. "I'm not going to say it again. Leave. Her. Alone."

Madeline cried out, histrionic and incredulous at the slap, though obviously not actually hurting based on the insincere delivery. "Wh-how dare you? You are not the boss of me!"

Alex simply stood there, feet planted and arms crossed, glaring daggers at Madeline. Daring her, no ASKING her, to try to push it harder. She'd enjoy punching Madeline in the gut for once. Thankfully the other girls were mostly just staring; Alex hoped they thought she could take them all, even if she actually couldn't. Not without using her powers anyways.

Instead of being flustered, Madeline smirked and replied, "Go ahead. Beat me up. It's not as if I can't make your life a living hell or anything. I could sue you for all that you're worth. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"I think you misunderstand. I don't give a shit what happens to me. But my friends? I'd die for them before backing down to a pig like you." There was no mistaking the seriousness in Alex's voice. She meant every word down to her core.

Clarissa, having been looking down the entire time, looked up to face Alex properly for the first time. Everyone else apart from Madeline was flustered and tense, not expecting kickback. The different sides seemed to stare each other down, waiting for the other side to buckle. This time, it was the bullies' side that buckled. Madeline stared at Alex's fierce gaze, and turned to face Clarissa, the rest of her posse and then back to Alex. "We aren't through here. You have no idea what kind of shit you're getting into. I'll humor you, Alex." She sighed as she said to her friends. "We'll worry about these two later. Come." She and her friends backed off from Clarissa and turned to leave.

As soon as the group was out of sight, Alex grinned. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. She sat down next to the person she'd been protecting, and said, "Hey, you alright? They didn't hurt you did they?"

Clarissa looked up at the blond girl, shocked to see none other than a fellow Wards. She immediately ducked her head back down, feeling that it was extremely embarrassing to be bailed out by your coworker instead of being able to save yourself. "N-no. I-I'm fine."

"Alright good." Alex saw how nervous Clarissa was, and added, "and apparently we go to the same high school too. I've seen you at 'work' a couple times, but this is my first time running into you here. How long have those girls been hounding you?"

Clarissa mumbled, "S-since this year." She clenched her fist in pain. "Ever since…"

It was obvious whatever had happened was paining Clarissa, if anything, it reminded her of her own feelings when she thought about her mother. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine," she replied. She knew how hard it could be to relive trauma like that. "I can help deal with those bullies if you want. I was being serious before."

The orange haired girl replied, "Y-you don't need to do this. It never works out being friends with anyone…"

Alex furrowed her brow. She'd heard what Clarissa had said about Madeline, but she hadn't really thought about it. "I'll be honest," Alex said, voice gentle, "I can't begin to guess how you feel. But I'm not like that. When I make a friend, it's for life. And I'd do anything to keep one."

Clarissa replied, "I really appreciate the offer, but I just...I just…"

Alex scooted a bit closer to Clarissa, concern apparent on her face. "I understand you're going through a tough time, but… Y'know it's easier when you've got someone you can rely on."

Clarissa said nothing, only nodding limply in reply. She bit her nail, still very nervous about even talking to Alex outside of work. It's all so much easier with a mask and a bold persona to hide behind. "You would really want to support me? But I'm just so pathetic. I could easily knock out those guys but here I am…"

"Listen…" Alex mentally braced herself for what she was about to say. "About a year ago, I watched my mother die in my arms. She died protecting people, myself included, and I'm not about to waste that on myself. I'm alive right now to help other people." She mentally steeled herself as the emotions started flowing in, forcing herself to keep talking. "So when I say I want to help you… I really mean it, with all my heart."

Clarissa quietly said, "I had no idea your mother died. I'm so sorry."

Alex nodded. On the outside she appeared calm, perhaps a bit pensive, but inside was a raging storm of emotions. She took a deep, albeit shaky breath as she pulled herself back into line, forcing

the tears she could feel back down. "I'm not about to force you into anything. If you'd rather take this on alone that's okay. But I can be there for you, you just need to say so."

Clarissa put her right hand through her tousled hair, and closed her eyes, thinking about the offer. So many conflicting emotions, ranging from doubt to cynicism to the desire to have a friend. With the conflicted emotions apparent on her face, Clarissa replied with a meek nod. "I need help."

Alex smiled at Clarissa, faint as it was. Look at us she thought, the two most powerful people

at this school, reduced to sobbing teenagers. She put her arm around Clarisse's shoulders, and added, "if you need anything, just let me know. No matter what, or when, I'll be there for you."

Clarissa flinched at Alex's touch but relaxed as it was clear she was comforting her. "Thank you so much. I don't feel so ill anymore."

"So do you usually hang out here outside of class? I can come during lunch. I'm sure they'll be back with a vengeance."

Clutching her book bag, Clarissa replied, "I prefer the library. Much harder to make a scene there." For anyone else, it might be sad that the library was a place of refuge, but it suited her just fine.

"That's good. I'll find you there then." She removed her arm and made to stand before an idea popped into her head. "Say, I've got another friend waiting in the cafeteria I'm sure you'd like, if you want to come. It's alright if making one friend is enough for today though." A sly grin made its way to Alex's face; it made her feel better after such a heavy conversation.

"I'm, I-I'm not sure. I mean I would really love to but I'm don't know if she would like me…"

"I'll let you think about it, how about that? You can meet her at lunch, I'm sure it'll be fine." With a genuine smile, Alex stood and waved to her new friend, heading off to the lunchroom. Her head was buzzing with ideas on how to explain it all to Christine; but that was an issue for when she got there.

[Other OPEN] Capes [M] [IC]

Serious Punch!

How did this even happen?

Reza & Maryam Shirazi || Freefall & Bombshell

Smile for the Camera II

The Champion of Chaos

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Me but more fabulous

Magical Senpai and god of the closet.

Serious Punch!

The Champion of Chaos

How did this even happen?

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Me but more fabulous

The Champion of Chaos

[img]http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/icon/712.pn

Serious Punch!

Me but more fabulous

Holy Kipper!

Serious Punch!