Of Heroes and Villians Chapter 2

[aires163]

The next day started just like any other, Both Kevin and Alice woke up in their respective homes. Both of their parents bought the whole story about the mugging. They started their morning as they normally would. Well, as normally as you can after having fought for your life the previous night. But things were of relative normality, and the two met up on their way to school.

"So...how were things last night?" Kevin asked his friend Alice.

"They bought it, yours?" She replied.

"They also believed me." Kevin answered.

"Makes me wonder what other antics we are going to get ourselves into today". Alice thought out loud.

"Well I would hope that their would be none. I cant believe im about to say this but, I just want a normal boring day of school today, no whacky shit what so ever!" Kevin exclaimed. "Im still sore as hell from last night."

"I wonder if that guy survived the collapse of the warehouse." Alice wondered.

"I know this is gona sound cold, but I hope he got crushed." Kevin replied.

"Cant say I blame you." Alice said as the pair entered the front doors of the school.

[Shade Leshyr]

The stale air of the hospital stung Kazzra's nose as he took in a deep breath. The room around him faded in his minds eye and there was the vixen again, her dying eyes looking at him accusingly... Kazzra slowly moved, falling into a more aggressive stance than usual. It was maddening, the face that haunted him even though she had been trying to kill him! Even in death she tortured him, slowly breaking his will to continue any of it... Bringing one arm close to his chest, Kazzra arched his other hand outwards to an imaginary opponent, waiting for them to strike.

The shadowy figure of his mind moved, a solid strike for the vulpine's chest. Leaning back, Kazzra felt the strain on his recently healed ribs and the pair that were still healing, making him grimace. What kind of pain must she have felt in her final moments? Drowning in her own blood... he shook his head, clearing it of the thought and pushed forward under the guard of his shadow-boxing opponent, a solid thunk just over the heart with an open palm strike. She had been somebody, hadn't she? Someone with a story, a history, a family that was worried sick about her? They would never know... never understand why he had killed her or why the body had been obliterated in some kind of explosion while he was unconscious.

Up...under...strike...block... movement after movement came to Kazzra as his mind wandered. Where the other two her sisters? Would they be back for revenge? Would he blame them for it? Hell, would he even bother fighting them? So many questions and no easy answers, and there was the vixen ever present in his mind... why couldn't he just blame it on King? Kazzra struck harder than he intended, overextending his arm in the raw anger he felt just thinking about the notorious crime lord... but King was dead now... no one could have survived the destruction of the Neosuns facility... not even King...

So he had killed her for nothing, King had succeeded in reaching his destination only to be taken out by someone else with an itchy trigger finger. Her death had been meaningless... Kazzra blocked a low strike from his imaginary foe and froze. There in his mind she was again, blood dripping from her mouth, cringed into a grin so twisted it made Kazzra feel sick. Style, thought, and restraint fell away as Kazzra clenched his fist and swung with all his might, shouting "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!" A loud crunching of wood and the shattering of glass snapped his eyes open.

The lingering spots of light that were the tale-tell signs of his power, hard light manipulation, floated around the remains of a chair, now practically blown in half and the window behind now composed of shards falling to the street. The headache came a moment later, and even through the medication, it made the fox double up, covering his mouth with one hand as he coughed hoarsely, a spat of blood flying from between his fingers to stain the carpet as the metallic taste filled his mouth and he sat down, the cough wracking his body for a tense minute...

________________

Drake thudded across the rooftop limply as his savior dropped him, exhausted and wounded herself from the incursion into the Neosuns facility. The reptile's head bounced off the hard roof, making him hiss in pain and bringing him out of his stupor enough to take stock of the situation. The facility was screwed, no reason to go diving back into the soon-to-be rubble after the small vial. It was time for survival. Getting up, Drake let his eyes roam to a building not too far from the current one, easily within jumping distance, and made to leave when the shifter groaned.

His head snapped to look at her, pretty banged up and looking rather weak. He snorted, turning to leave again. She was dead weight now and she was too nice for her own good... but she had saved him. The thought made him stop, grinding his teeth as he groaned inwardly. Being saved by anyone was an insult, but by a girl like her was unbearable and it left a bad taste in his mouth. If he just left now, he'd never have to worry about it... but there was a certain code that he'd stuck to for a long time: eye for an eye. Of course he also only applied it to people looking for a scrap, never people doing him favors...

A soft hum filled the air from the direction of the facility and the lizard knew he was out of time, it was time for a decision, but his mind was still in turmoil, between all the repressed pieces of his mind and the person he'd been for years. Finally with a growl, he reached down and pulled the shifter up, tossing her over his shoulder. There, now he was getting rid of a debt and she might be useful later on...

These things flashed through Drake's head as the remote crunched in his tight grip, eyes glued on the news report as he saw the wolf on the TV. The wolf that should have died with King, but here he was, standing in camera shot with a briefcase in hand. His breathing turned into raspy growls and the nurse working on the shifter eyed him nervously, edging her way out of the room, murmuring that she was going to be fine.

The lizard ignored her as he worked his jaw angrily as the news changed over to some stupid coverage of the so-called heroes, complete with amateur video of the all-out brawl. Sitting back, Drake looked over at the shifter, still in the draconic form she'd used to save him. The doctors in the hospital had been.... stubborn about helping her, and Drake was sure the cops had been called a while ago. Probably waiting for him to make some dumb move, but he'd welcome the fight, anything to help him forget about the pastel color and the disgusting aroma in the air. Not like they could stop him or the shifter from getting out, so he wasn't exactly worried, even if they pulled up his record and knew what to expect, they didn't know the half of it...

______________

The silver scaled lizard girl was so focused on the newspaper in her hand that she walked into the opening door of the school full force. Shouting out, she brought a hand to her head, rubbing the already sore spot and her vibrant eyes danced as she looked up at Alice and Kevin, rapidly apologizing to the two, "Oh, I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going! I-It's just th-there's a fascinating story about the supers running around l-lately!"

She stopped, blushing shyly as they looked at her, holding up the newspaper defensively and pointing to a series of amateur photos on the front page, under the title "Heroes and Villians: Has Doomsday Come?" Each of the supers from the dock accident were portrayed, some in exaggerated dark light to make them seem more threatening and others in heroic poses, combating with King's forces or each other. The photographers had asked to remain unnamed according to a small excerpt beside the photos.

Twisting, the reptile put herself between the two, pointing at the different photos and exclaiming things like a giddy fan girl, with things like "That fox looks so cool" or "I don't know what that is, but it scares me." Her finger stopped on a picture of the daring duo of Alice and Kevin working together to save some trapped people in a burning building, sliding to Kevin's masked face, "I bet he's really cute under that mask... f-for a human I mean, well, uh- oh look at the time, I gotta go!" Dropping the paper, the reptile ran off down one of the halls, blushing vibrantly...

[Bartholothemewt]

The cat sat quietly on his bed. "Alright then," he thought "You can do this... just need to focus..."
His bedside table, normally (obviously) next to his bed, was now across from him. Completely clear of everything except an empty can of soda sitting on a cut piece of tire. On the wall behind the can, another bit of cut tire lay propped up against the wall.

"Alright... Just think it..." He aimed an open palm at the can, "You gotta control it..."

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning sprung from his palm, hitting the can directly. The can tipped over. "Success!"

...

Jack, the cat, isn't the kind of person you'd think "out of the ordinary". Sure, he's a bit tall and has a bit of chub, but other than that he looks completely unsuspecting. He takes after his father, appearance-wise, and every other male in his family. He tends to wear t-shirts from his favorite obscure bands, feeling it made him unique. At school, he tends to dis-connect himself from everyone else by listening to his music. He's usually quiet and respectful, but around his friends, he's sarcastic and strange.

Being at the "Event", Jack never really thought he had any "side-effects" from the exposure. However, he steadily became aware of his power after a few days of an undying ipod and strange shocks his friends received from him. When he realized his Electro-kinesis, he made it his goal to control it. What to do with it? He didn't know, but he had one idea for it...

[aires163]

"For a human huh?" Alice said as she picked up the paper. "Looks like Cindy and Paul got their story thanks to us." She said referring back to the two reporters they encountered at the hospital...are you blushing!?" She asked.

"Whats it to you?" Kevin replied as he began to walk off to his first period class.

"Hmpf, looks like I have some competition..." Alice said to herself

"Oh please as if he would ever fall for YOU of all people!" Said a student who was listening in on Alice.

"Oh great...you, Jenny...would you kindly FUCK OFF before I rip your eyes out!" Alice replied with a snarl.

"You better watch what you say Alice! Otherwise someone you care about might get hurt!" Jenny threatened.

"And whats that supposed to mean!?" Alice replied.

"Thats for me to know and for you to find out!" The husky replied as she began to walk away."

"What the hell was she even talking about?" Alice asked herself as she made her way to class.

[redwolfmoon99]

The wolf observed the office hall around him, or at least what remained of it. Most of the glass windows had been shattered, bullet holes were everywhere, coplementing a few broken wall sections, and some parts of the office were even engulfed in flames. To top it all off, dead guards littered the place amid all the debris. Judging from the aftermath, the luxorious office hall, which made up the uppermost floor of the LeicesterCorp Main HQ, seemed to have been attacked by a ruthless army. An army of one.

"Heh, not bad. Not bad at all..." Raigen assessed his handiwork. He was a white wolf of about 18 years, with a lean figure and clad in a long black leather coat and a pair of black combat pants.

suddenly, he was alerted by the sound of a firearm being cocked behind him. He spun around only to come face-to-face with the barrel of an UMK MkIV submachinegun. Its owner, a brown-coloured otter, was one of the few guards that had survived the assault. the other survivors had simply fled. Behind him, directing a Bullhammer MkII revolver menacingly at the wolf, stood a well-built raccoon in his late 20s, clad in a black business suit.

"So you're Edward Leicester II, huh?" Raigen remarked casually. "Chairman of LeicesterCorp? Nice meeting you."

"Skip the bloody formalities. You're the wanker who's been assaulting all my operations these past weeks, aren't you?" Leicester spoke with a noticably British accent. "I know who you are. You're working for Blacktower!"

"Figured it out by yourself, huh? Good for you."

"You made a grave mistake coming here, one you'll pay for with your life. Prepare to die, you bloody bastard!!"

Leicester discharged his revolver towards Raigen's spot, but the mercenary was no longer there. Its as if he just vanished into thin air.

"Show yourself, you motherless coward!! Come out and face me like a man!" Leicester yelled in anger and frustration as he spun around in vain trying to locate the wolf.

"I'm right here." a voice sounded. The raccoon turned to face the position of the voice but instead was met by the otter guard who was aiming his SMG towards him.

Before he had a chance to react, the otter emptied the entire clip contents of his SMG into the raccoon's torso. His body riddled with bullets, the raccoon was dead even before he hit the ground. With Leicester no longer a threat, the otter pulled out his sidearm, an APP-3 handgun, aimed it towards the side of his head, and pulled the trigger. As the guard slumped to the ground, dark red smoke seemed to immediately discharge from his body. The then smoke swiftly materialised into a solid Raigen once more, next to the guard's corpse.

the mercenary stretched out his arms for a while before pulling out a smartphone from his pants pocket. Strolling over to the raccoon's bloody, bullet-riddled corpse, he then proceeded to take a few snapshots of Leicester before sending it to his employer for verification. Less than a minute later, as expected, his phone rang and the mercenary immediately picked up the call.

"Agent 47, thank you for your service," a voice sounded from the other line. "As promised, payment has been deposited into your account."

"Nice." the wolf remarked. "So, got any more work for me?"

"I'm afraid Blacktower Associates does not require you expertise at the moment. However, we will contact you as soon as the need arises."

"Yeah, sure. And remember to tell all your friends." Raigen said as he hung up.

Now with no more distractions, Raigen surveyed the aftermath around him once more, taking in the scene of destruction one more time before turning to leave.

"Ever since I got these powers, things have gotten a whole lot more fun..." he thought.

((This is my first RP, so I hope it turned out okay. ^^))

[Buzzwolf]

The sudden yell, and crushing of wood and glass brought nurses hurrying into the room, a pair of the pink furred bunnies trying to help the vulpine as another hurried to check the monitors attached by colorful wires to the vulpines body.

the one wearing the mark of a head nurse adding what appeared to be a pain killer to the boys IV bag, the drip slowly dulling the pain of the blood wracked cough as the other two to urge him to lay back on the bed, only leaving his side to the shooing of the white furred fox from his first visit, a little whispering back and forth and the pink lupines hurried from the room as Sasha sat on the edge of the bed beside the fox, idly tending the IV drip as she waited a few moments for his mind to settle a bit.

As she gently set a hand on his shoulder, a mental flutter would reach his mind, calm, soft and soothing to his troubled mind, even as she spoke, her voice felt melodious to his ears like a small child might find comfort in a mothers voice "...I know words mean little in these kind of situations...but it wasn't your fault," her soft blue eyes watching for any signs of tramua on his face as she spoke "she didn't leave you with any choice..."
______

The pale shredded tiles of the ceiling was the first things to grace the shifters awareness, the sharp, sterile scent bringing her fully to conciousness as her eyes flickered open, the iris's flickering between a blue, a violet and a gold color as her body began to slowly shift back to it's smaller vixen form, teh long draconian tail pulling back up partially under the sheets as it widened with the soft dark fur of her 'natural' form as she referred to it, her slendering legs kicking off the opposite side as she pulled herself up into a sitting position, the long deadly claws her draconic form beared, sinking back under the soft fur, her hospital gown, once far too large, draped over her small body like an overly large sheet, the front lifting as she resumed her 'womanly' form, the cloth lifting a few inches from her ribs with the addition of the soft flesh, her muzzle shrunk and stretched, the tall vulping ears sprouting from beneath the dark black hair that now fell around her shoulders

Her bright eyes, the iris's settling on a beautiful dark blue sapphire color, darted around the hospital ward worriedly, the monitors suddenly letting out their warning as the sensors flatlined, the vixen pulling the sensors from her body hurridly, and hopping to the floor, the light clicking of her small claws echoing hollowly around the sterile room.

Her eyes suddenly fell on the Komodo, and she froze, her minds gears still turning trying to put the events back together, his part eventually seeming to click into place as her head snapped toward the door, then back to him "We need to get out of here! we're not safe here, they watch the hospitals!" she looked around at the ceiling worriedly as she stumbled off the bed, her footing not quite yet solid, and stumbled into the end table, knocking it over as she scrambled for a hold, still frantically trying to head for the door despite herself

[Shade Leshyr]

Kazzra could do little to resist the nurses as they helped him back into the bed, the fellow vulpine putting a pain killer into the IV, slowly lessening the pain in his healing ribs. It was almost maddening to be unable to see enough through the pain to wave the lupine off as they practically fought over who got to wipe the blood from his mouth and hand, chatting at him in their chipper voices like everyone came in the hospital with his condition TWICE in the same day... how stupid did they think he was? He wanted to be angry, but his rage was tempered by the knowledge that they were just doing their job and trying to get him to relax. Never the less, Kazzra had to bite back a sigh of relief as the two were shooed out of the room by the one person in the room he felt he could trust, if only a little.

She didn't say anything, ask him any questions, but let him lay there, trying to sort through the turmoil in his mind. The soothing touch of her hand raced through his mind, banishing his inner demons for the moment, making him able to focus on her and her reassurance, but his response was to shake his head and sigh, "They never do, do they?... King didn't give me a choice and he broke me like a twig... She didn't leave me any choice and she's dead now, by my hand... I killed her... I've never killed anyone... Sure, I've fought people, been brought to the verge of death myself, but I always thought... I never wanted to... what makes me any different from them now Sasha? I... I murdered her... I wanted so bad to...to get to King, to stop him that I didn't... I didn't hold back... she was in the way of me getting to King and I didn't think... what if... what if I do it again? What if Jack loses it again... will I kill him? Or if the others... what if the others g...get in the way? Will I kill them too?"

He turned his head to look out the window, staring at the city as it was bathed in the sunlight of morning, an empty expression on his face, "I... I was a stupid kid Sasha.... I watched those cartoons, just like everyone else... the good guy always won in the end, he made the city safer... I wanted to do that to... I wasn't special, I just wanted the city to be safer... the first time I stood up was the hardest, cause the guy tried to make me sit down... I won... I got big-headed, thought I was unbeatable... I took martial arts to get stronger, just like the heroes in the cartoons trained to get stronger, and for a time, I always won, cause i always made the other guy lose his cool, he made the mistake and I exploited it, brought him down because of it..."

Kazzra turned away, looking down at his chest and gingerly touching it with a cringe, "Then one day, I pissed off the wrong person... he got all of his buddies together... waited for me to be alone... then they jumped me, hit me with chains, clubs, rocks, any weighty objects they could handle... then, so I couldn't tell anyone... the kid I attacked pulled out a gun... and shot me... three times... and left me for dead... hell, anyone else would have been dead, but I held on, felt compelled to hold on to that last string of life as everything was fading around me... I don't know the whole story cause I woke up in the hospital a couple weeks later, barely alive... I remember trying to call out, but no sound came out of my mouth. I remember struggling to get a grip on the ground, trying to drag myself out of the alley so someone would find me..."

His attention returned to her face, begging her silently to understand what was going on in his head as he relived the moment, "I was just about to give up, ready to just die there, when I felt someone take my hand and that simple touch made my heart need to keep pumping, my mind need to hold on, willing my broken body to hold on, and it did, but... my mind... whoever it was... took it...I know it sounds stupid, but they took it and held it close to their own... I felt safe and I waited there fore what only seemed like an hour before I knew I had to go back... I left... and woke up... broken...useless...and little more than half-alive. I stopped talking to people... withdrew into myself, feeling like I'd... failed somehow... every classmate around me... I'd failed them somehow... that little... cretin was still out there, shooting people like he'd shot me and there was nothing I could do, he'd made sure I knew that. Shot me, then skipped town, went underground like a sewer rat..."

Kazzra lifted his hand slowly, shaking a bit as he clasped his hand into a fist, "Then the accident happened, I got a second chance and with it, this power. I had become the hero in the cartoons, my self-confidence returned and I felt ready to take on the whole damn world. King entered the picture, I had my enemy, the one I HAD to defeat. I met him that first time and he and I went head to head and I did something I'd never seen any of the cartoon heroes do the first time they fought the main villian: I landed a blow, rocked his world! He beat me, but I knew I had to take it in stride, find him again and beat everyone in my way to him... and... well... I'm sure you know the rest... and here I am, in the same position I was in when I got shot... only this time... it's worse... because this time... I was the one that moved in for the kill... I became that... that kid... all in the name of some self-righteous justice... and why'd I kill her? To get to King... but he's dead too... blown into oblivion because he got where he was heading... and I couldn't stop him... some hero I am, huh?"
__________________

Drake's head snapped up as he became aware of movement from the bed, blinking levelly as the shifter sat up, looking around like a frightened doe. He cursed silently to himself as she shifted back into what he guessed was her normal form and thanked the hospital for not putting cameras in the rooms like this one or they would have been in serious trouble, but he couldn't have her rushing off like this. Without moving, the lizard idly gave a mental command and two shadows popped up from under the bed, solidifying into a pair of jet black tentacles, one securing around her waist to steady her and the other around her shoulders to ease her back toward the bed as his harsh tone sounded out, "Don't be stupid, you're not in a position to go anywhere, now lay down before you hurt yourself."

Overriding her protests, the reptile gently, but firmly made her get back in bed, not wanting to have to explain any new bruises or cuts while he was the only one in the room, "Get back in your draconian form before one of the nurses walk in," he hissed urgently, "it was hard enough explaining why I couldn't give them your identity, much more if you change identities on them! Besides, negotiations for your... treatment... were rather vocal and if you try charging out of this hospital in a medical gown looking like the devil is after you, I'm either going to have to kill the entire SWAT team probably waiting in the lobby or go to jail. You're safe for now, as long as you don't do anything stupid, I haven't just been sitting on my thumbs this entire time shifter! Sitting where I am right now, I have a good feel of all movement three floors up and three floors down thanks to all the shadows, but if you make me move, I'm going to lose all those connections!"

Closing his eyes, he took several tense breaths before fixing his steely gaze on her, "If you think it's so important to move out, at least wait until you can walk a straight line without looking like an alcoholic or we won't make it to the elevator without a problem, then we'll come up with something, but for right now, you need to look like a dragon..." His tentacles released her gently, sliding back under the bed. The shifter wasn't one to be frightened of just anything, she'd made that clear during their first meeting, but like he'd told her, she wasn't ready to go anywhere and he'd be aware of any nasty surprises heading their way. It was a very fine art, one he'd been practicing for close to 12 hours now, working the vibrations in his far reaching tentacle mess out as either voices, footsteps, or some other noise, which was pretty damn hard, but he could at least tell when a set of footsteps was moving with a purpose, or if a voice was tense and in which direction it was moving... yeah, he'd know if things where about to hit the fan, but being able to do anything about it was the question... plus, he himself was nervous. Ever since arriving, he felt like something was trying to get in his head, worming its way through his thoughts and he didn't like it... after everything he'd been through in the last 36 hours, he wasn't about to write it off as paranoia and was more ready to accept the thought that someone in the hospital was watching him... very closely...
_____________________________

Stupid, stupid, stupid, Meira berated herself silently, staring at her desk, you sounded like such a fan girl! Looks good for a human, how's that supposed to make him feel? You practically said humans were ugly on a general rule of thumb, way to go! She laid her head on her desk miserably, wondering if there was any way to salvage that mess if she saw the boy later in the day... come to think of it, she was sure she'd seen him in a class with her somewhere... which one was it... The realization hit her just as Kevin opened the door, walking into the classroom with Alice on his heels.

Oh no, she thought, starting to panic inwardly, hiding her face, and it's still fresh in his mind, he's gotta be totally pissed! Well maybe if I just stay over here out of his way he won't notice that we're in the same class! Yeah, just mind my own business, far away from- "...and Miss Asguard, it appears your project buddy is once again in the hospital, what a clutz, am I right class," the teacher asked good-naturedly, receiving a chuckle from the class, "Kevin, Alice, would you be so kind as to let Meira work with the two of you today, I'm sure she'll be an excellent addition to your group." ...Crap

At a gesture from the teacher, the fidgeting lizard moved stiffly over to sit so that Alice was between her and Kevin, fearing that he might try to start something out of indignation....

[aires163]

Alice looked between the two, She noticed Kevin was looking the other way, a slight blush on his face. She then turned her head to look at Meira and noticed her reaction was much the same. "Let the shipping commence!" She thought to herself as she smiled and giggled a bit. "So...where should we start for today's lab?" She asked as she looked between the two.

"I will go get some test tubes and stoppers!" Kevin said as he left in a rush.

"Want to come help me set up the Bunsen Burner? I can never figure out how to get the damn thing to work." Alice said to Meira as she got up from her seat. "Although I couldn't help but notice...you seem to like Kevin, correct?"

From across the room they were being watched by a rather spiteful husky.

"That stupid bitch, when I have my way she will be the first to go! Soon, every man in this building will be under my thumb, and there's not a damn thing they can do about it!" The Husky thought to herself.

"Jenny, did you even hear a word of what I just said?" One of the husky's lab partners asked.

"Wow great job there guy! Not only did you manage to make yourself look like a fool in front of your friend, but you also made yourself look stupid in front of one of your fans!" He thought to himself as he walked across the room. "Ok, just calm down, your getting ahead of yourself, granted you made it look pretty clear that you were nervous, but you didnt make that big of a fool of yourself. wait a second...what was I even doing over here? Oh right! The test tubes and the stoppers. They should be riiiiight HERE!" He thought as he dug through one of the lab equipment containers at the back of the room.

[redwolfmoon99]

"Alright, I'm here. What now?" Raigen inquired through his phone as he stood in the middle of the hospital lobby with a bulky, purple gift-wrapped package under his right arm and a metallic black briefcase on the floor beside him.

"Your target is Jason Irving, a high-ranking politician with ties to a multinational criminal syndicate. Our sources have confirmed that the dingo is in the hospital currently undergoing treatment for a head injury, presumably in a room with the numbers '2711'." a voice on the other end of the phone briefed the mercenary. "We would advise you to exercise caution as we have reason to believe he has a private entourage of bodyguards with him disguised as patients and hospital staff."

"Heh, don't worry. I like a challenge..." Raigen remarked as he hung up the phone and slipped it into his pants pocket, before picking up his black briefcase with his right hand. Surveying the lobby, a group of policemen caught his eye. Not just policemen though, they're armed SWAT officers, too.

"What the hell are the police doing here? Are they on to me? Or is just a coincidence? Looks like this is gonna be a whole lot more fun..." the wolf thought as he walked through the crowded lobby. "First things first, I need a distraction."

Just then, he noticed a green-coloured lizard in a janitor's outfit entering the staff elevator at the far end of the lobby and a plan quickly formulated in Raigen's mind as he made a quick beeline for the elevator. Managing to slip in just as the doors were closing, he immediately pressed the 'Basement' button in the elevator. Before the startled janitor could protest, the mercenary swiftly possessed him.

As the elevator arrived at the hospital's basement floor, Raigen stepped out in his borrowed form, still carrying his briefcase in one arm and his package in the other. The lizard strolled through the basement corridors, passing a couple of unsuspecting security guards along the way, until he came to a large metal door marked with the words 'Main Power Room' and 'No unauthories personnel allowed'. Discovering the room was locked, the lizard shifted through his collection of janitorial keys until he finally found one that fits the room's lock. Upon enterintg, the janitor found himself in a large room filled with power boxes, electrical equipment and large power lines that connected to the National Power Grid.

The lizard dropped the items he was carrying in the middle of the room and then stuck his hand into one of the power boxes, causing an enormous amount of electricity to flow through him. This did little to harm the electrical equipment, but severely electrocuted the unfortunate lizard and ejected Raigen out of his body. The wolf then casually walked towards the items he had dropped earlier and opened his briefcase. he armed the high-grade M-28 UR-DED explosives contained in the briefcase and then picked up the gift-wrapped package beside it, before turning to leave.

"Thanks for the help." he said to the lizard's charred body before leaving the room. Outside, he again crossed paths with the two security guards from before, but the mercenary quickly dispatched them with his trusty combat knife. Using the elevator he rode in earlier, he exited from the basement floor to the hospital's 8th floor. He explored the floor for awhile until he noticed a door marked with the numbers '2711-E'.

"That's gotta be it." the wolf thought to himself as he approached the room and produced a detonator from inside his coat. As soon as he activated the detonator, the entire hospital was rocked by a loud explosion and the entire building was bathed in darkness for a brief moment before the hospital's emergency generators kicked in, switching on the emergency lights and keeping vital medical equipment alive.

As patients and hospital staff alike rushed about in panic around him in the ensuing confusion, Raigen ripped open his package to reveal an FR-27 SFR Combat Rifle. Armed and ready, the mercenary kicked open the door marked '2711-E' and burst inside the room, expecting to be confronted by a dozen armed bodyguards. Instead, the occupants were a Komodo dragon and a vixen.

"Shit," the wolf exclaimed as the two looked at him in surprise. "Wrong freaking room..."

((Yeah, my attempt to cross my character's path with Drake and the shifter's. I hope this is okay..))

[kylel]

"The air is cold this morning". Jake thought to himself standing on top of the abandoned gym.

"To early for much traffic, sun still hasn't risen, perfect day for training." He said while looking over the edge of the old gym.

Gets a running start and falls of the building, suddenly opening his winds and soaring upwards, "YEEEE HAW. Man I love these things." pulls a remote out of his pocket and presses the button, a ceramic disc flies upwards from the gyms roof Jake easily dodging it, and another and another.

"How about a little more of a challenge." Pushing the button as quickly as he can. Then, suddenly 20 disks fly up two words him, easily dodging the first few, one of them manage to hit him in the shoulder, but he keeps on going, smashing the next few with his fists and his feet.

He flew back-down to the gym and walks into his room and opens the medicine drawer, bandages up his bloody knuckles and pops his shoulder back into place.

"Damn that hurt. Got to learn to move quicker at least my reflexes have been improving." He said while putting on his jacket."Think Il will go for a walk downtown.

While walking alone someone walks up besides him. "Hello Jake we have been watching you".

"Who are you and what do you want, if you have nothing interesting get out of my face."

"Ohh, but I do, I want you to do something for me, I will pay greatly, you can fix up that old gym of yours, maybe even get it running again."

"Tempting what do you want?" Turning towards the man.

"Well I need you to well take care of someone for me, someone of importance."

"You want me to murder someone no deal I don't care what you have to offer no deal now get out of my face and I don't want to ever see you again.

"Ohh, but it's not up for discussion." the strange man pulling out a knife to Jake's neck saying back up into that alley, no sudden movements you hear." Jake obediently walking into the dark alley. "Perfect he thought." Soon as he walked in, he disappeared in the darkness.

"Where'd you go I said no sudden movements." The man said looking all around.

"Ohh, but it's not up for discussion." suddenly reappearing grabbing the knife and putting it to the man's throat."

"See you don't want to murder anyone, but here you have a knife at my throat."Jake drops the knife and Quickly jabs the man in the head.

"I don't want to see you anymore do you understand." Jake then takes flight to only see smoke rising in the distance, as he approaches the gym to his surprise it was ablaze.

[Buzzwolf]

"You'll do what you have to" she spoke softly, setting a gentle arm around his shoulder "that's what makes you the hero, making the hard choices no one else can" She smiles "Don't let him get to you. it's his long game, making the heroes doubt themselves, the good becoming bad because they were forced to blur the line…corrupting their minds."

"He forced you to fight, putting an entire corner of the city up as hostage if you chose otherwise…Volt was a very dangerous person Kazzra, she didn't' leave you any option, she would've killed dozens of cops if they tried to bring her down, and even more as authorities tried to find a way to contain that kind of power. for one death…look at how many innocents you saved, for one monster that the ones unlike us aren't ready for"

"These companies are opening the worlds eyes to this far too quickly, Kane, king, neosuns, Pharcomm…it's come too rapid…people are going to change, unfortunately for the worse more than likely…people will fight back, and supers will rebel…more will die before this game is over….you will be no different than those that will soon find themselves fending for themselves…"

she sighed almost imperceptibly "Don't get your hopes up yet that this is over…I have a sinking feeling that we've yet to see the end of king…"
______

Considering the condition the shifter was in, even to the shadow coils, she put up a good bit of resistance, but ultimately failing as she was returned to the bed. his argument made little sense to her panicked mind, but the command stuck and her body began to slowly shift back to her draconic form, beginning at her tail and working up along her body.

She knew he was watching, she could tell all too well how much he despised having saved her, standing guard and watching out for others was something that was far from natural for him.

just as she was starting to trust him to watch over her, the room shook, a small bit of dust falling from the old ceiling tiles as the explosion shook the hospital. her eyes snapped wide open, her shift halfway completed back to her larger dragon form, hidden beneath the hospital bed blankets as the man kicked the door in, rifle held at the ready.

Her body was already in motion before her mind caught up, diving off the bed using her powerful draconic limbs, already her tail wrapping around the first weapon of opportunity, the bed itself, and hurling it at the man in the doorway, knocking him back out into the hallway and taking a section of the wall and doorway out in the process, the same motion carrying her toward the komodo, intent on snatching him up, and making her exit out the window…if not for her barreling into the wall, missing her mark because of a body wracking coughing fit, taking the reptile into the wall in a heap with her. "…They've…come to finish it…we have to get out of here…"
______
"--this fifth killing of whats been dubbed by locals as the 'ArkAngel Killings'" The vixen anchor read from the prompter, the screen shifting over to a gruesome scene of the dead man, pinned to a wall with his arms spread wide, iron spikes holding the man in as if pinned to a cross, suiting considering the double bar, one at shoulder height, where the mans arms were pinned up, the second spreading about a foot out on each side from just below alignment with his chest. the fabric of the mans clothing shredded across the chest, the words 'False God' gouged into his chest, his head hung limp, a trail of blood marking the wall, large gouges across the mans body making it clear he'd very quickly died of blood loss with the amount of blood pooled at his feet. "We would like to take a moment to warn parents of the graphic nature of these images," she said before the images crossed the screen "They are not for the faint of heart, nor the young. we urge caution in allowing your children to see the next bit of footage"

"Authorities have yet to release any details on the identity of the killer, and witness reports simply describe him as a 'man in a cloak, and a wide brimmed hat, carrying a large bladed weapon', beyond that is unknown"

"Authorites urge citizens to report any unusual activity to the police as soon as they see it, and if you see a man fitting this description, stay clear and call the authorities immediately." The vixens male wolf co-anchor spoke, finishing the report before cutting once more to weather

[Shade Leshyr]

Kazzra sighed and reached up to scratch his head. What Sasha was telling him made sense, and it soothed him slightly, but inwardly he knew it would take his some time to get over what he'd done, justified or not. Then a few things she had said began to really sink in and his hand slowly came to a stop, "Wait," he said quietly, turning his gaze toward her, "how exactly does Neosuns play into all-" A rolling rumble from far below cut him off as the lights went out, a few seconds passing before the emergency lights began to glow dimly.

"...I'm guessing this is not normal procedure around here?" the vulpine asked as he slowly began to try and form what little light there was around him...
____________________

Drake silently cursed as he felt his large web of shadows backlash upon him from the loss of control, tearing up a good portion of the walls, floors, ceilings, and inner workings of the few floors around the room. Grabbing the shifter, Drake used his tail to flick his chair back up and set her in it, "Stay here, I'll kill him and whoever came with him..." One good thing about the mass loss of power in the building was that there were no cameras to watch him...

The angry lizard stepped into the hall, the eerily lit hallway giving him more than enough shadow to work with as twin tentacles yanked the bed away from the would-be assassin, another pair shooting out to lift the fool into the air, one wrapped securely around his waist, the other securing around his neck. Drake himself picked the gun up from where it had fallen, hissing in distaste as he unloaded the weapon, noting the rather militaristic origin, "The least you could do," came the growling hiss, "is fight like a man assassin... and you were very...very... correct about choosing the wrong door."

Slamming the wolf against the floor, Drake geared up to delivery a kick to the wolf's spine... but much to his inner displeasure, it appeared someone was watching them, as the clapping indicated. A rather sickly looking dingo had come out of the room next to the shifter's, surrounded by more bodyguards than Drake cared to count, "Bravo, bravo," the canine congratulated Drake, "I dare say that you have single-handedly brought down th-"

Drake's eyes blazed into the dingo with a blood craze as the dingo found himself impaled upon his own shadow, suspended off the ground, "I am not here for your enjoyment mutt... at least this assassin wasn't stupid enough to come after us, but you would have been better off to stay quiet and out of the way... you would have lived longer than you have by interrupting me..." the lizard's eyes flashed as the bodyguards broke free of their stupor, reaching for their weapons, but Drake was on them before their hands had reached the pistols, lashing out with fist and shadow as he took out his rage and bloodlust upon the poor fools, their limbless, broken bodies falling to the floor in the wake of his madness.

Stepping back into the shifter's room, Drake scooped up the half-morphed vixen bridal style as a shadow lashed out, wrapping around the wolf and dragging him into the room roughly, "We're leaving. This wolf is coming with us so he can give me a good reason why I shouldn't tear him apart." Picking up the chair with another tentacle, Drake threw it at the window, smashing the glass before stepping out into the morning light, stretching a tentacle out to the adjacent building, lifting the three of them over the street to the roof in a rather Doc-Oc way, "Shifter," he hissed, getting her attention, "is there anywhere safe to get you looked at?"

______________

Meira bit back the desire to call Kevin back and explain herself to him, mistaking his rush as wanting to get away from her because he was mad. Instead, she started helping Alice, the unlit bunsen burner in her hand... then letting out a quiet yelp as Alice asked her if she liked Kevin. Fidgeting with the bunsen burner, Meira stammered out, "W-well, h-he's, uh, w-well I-I mean h-he's c-c-cute I g-guess, I m-mean not guess, I-I mean for a, u-uh... jeez it's hot in here isn't it? Now where's that lighter?" She ducked down into the cupboard, feigning searching for it as she collected herself.

Inwardly, Meira was berating herself, but there came another voice. One that had come in flashes ever since that day at the mall... You'd be making it less awkward if you just said what you were thinking without tripping over your own tongue. Freezing for a moment, the reptile focused on trying to place the voice... but it still eluded her, hiding somewhere within her own thoughts. Biting back a sigh, Meira rose, setting up the bunsen burner as she tried not to make eye contact with Alice, "Well I... I always figured you and he were intimate- I mean like boyfriend-girlfriend, not like... well... that."

Smooth.... real smooth... Meira quickly lit the bunsen burner and adjusted the flame...

[redwolfmoon99]

"Great, just great. First, I burst into the wrong room. Then, I get a freaking bed thrown at me. Now, this bullshit..." Raigen muttered to himself as the Komodo dragon carried him and the vixen towards the building opposite the hospital. He tried to think of a plan, but couldn't find a suitable opportunity yet.

"This is not my day.." the wolf sighed. " But still, I guess I've been through worse..."

"Shifter, is there anywhere safe to get you looked at?" the Komodo dragon turned to the vixen as they reached the building's rooftop. Seizing this chance, Raigen quickly pulled out a Buzzkill TND stun gun from his coat and fired it at the distracted lizard. As the stun gun dart inserted an incapacitating 500,000 volts into the Komodo's body, the shadows he manipulated dissipated, dropping both the wolf and the vixen he was carrying onto the rooftop floor.

As he landed on his feet, Raigen swiftly reloaded the Buzzkill TND stun gun and produced a Hurricane TMP-18 machine pistol from inside his coat. With the Buzzkill in his left hand and the TMP-18 in his right, he aimed them both at the Komodo dragon and the vixen who was trying to help the stunned lizard back up on his feet.

"Alright, now its time for some answers." Raigen addressed the two while still keeping his weapons trained on them and his reflexes alert for any more 'surprises'. "Who the hell are you, and what the fuck happened back there!?"

[kylel]

Jake wakes up not remembering a thing after he ran into his gym to try to save it."Where am I." He thought out loud."

"Ohh already awake, that's good news, and you are also at the hospital, you were in that burning old gym passed out when the firefighters saved you." A young nurse said."

So what's the matter with me." Jake said while thinking the worst."Ohh well you had smoke inhalation, and you also had severe burns."

"what do you mean I had severe burns?"

"Oh well you have been here for four hours now and already all of your burns are healing at a rapid rate, it's the fastest I've ever seen someone heal like this before. By this rate your burns should be gone by tomorrow morning."

"Ok well did you do anything else to me while I was unconscious, x-rays anything." Jake said worried about what they might find if they did."

"oh, the doctor was actually just about to take you for a x-ray, just to see if you have any more damage inside your body from the smoke. You were in there a long time before we found you. But surprisingly we found you we expected a lot worse, but your body seems to have fallen in the right place where when the building collapsed all the pieces fell around you. So you were quite lucky to be found the way you did it could have been a lot worse."

"Sorry lady no deal, I am not going for a x-ray, I well half to go." Jake said while sitting up getting a little bit dizzy, then standing up almost falling over, but grabs on to the bed railing for support.

"You can't go you need your rest, and besides we need to know your information first to put on file, we found a wallet on you, but it was burned the only words we could make out was Fang and Ride. Are those your names?"

Jake thinking to him self he needs to change his identity because he docent want that guy and whatever organisation coming after me, I also have a hunch that this was they're doing to my gym, so."Yes my first name is Fang and my last name is Ride." Fang Ride, I like the sound of that.

"Ok well we have your name we just need a bit more..." She was cut off by Fang leaving the room and walking towards the elevators." Danm it top floor this will be a ride down."

"Wait! You can't leave" the nurse said while running up to him. Suddenly the building shook, like something has exploded."The buildings coming down." someone exclaimed, and then panic everyone rushing to the elevators and the stairs, trying to get down as quickly as they can.

Fang looks over at the nurse. "Your coming with me." Picking her up and running towards the window at the end of the corridor, smashing through and opening his wings, getting the nurse to the ground in safe distance.

"oh umm thank you umm Fang." But it was too late he was already off back to the hospital top floor. Going back and forth saving as many people as he can before the building collapsed.

[aires163]

"Well, we kind of have an open relationship. Nothing is really set in stone for us other than us being friends. You know, if this were some cliche high school drama, I think this is the part where I would tell you step off my man!" She said as she began to giggle a little. "But as far as I'm concerned he is fair game. But tell me, how did you realize he was the one in the paper?" She asked as she looked Meira in the eye.

"Hey girls I'm back!" Kevin said as he placed the rest of the equipment on the table. "Huh, looks like we are the first ones to get set up!" A small smile forming upon his lips.

"You feeling alright Kev?" Alice asked as she turned her attention to him.

"Yeah I'm fine, why do you ask?" Kevin replied

"I never seen you smile at this hour of the day!"

"Speaking of abnormal occurrences! I dont think we ever spoke to one another this year!" Kevin said as he held his hand out to Meira for her to shake it.