▐ ℒιvιиɢ ↓ℕ Ѻʙʟιvιℴи ♛「1ST ARC」

[The Raikura]

Periodically his emerald irises drifted away from the hooded female in the direction of the victim's blood used as a tool to create the hauntingly eerie words displayed on the brick wall. When the Covenant struck the trail immediately grows cold, skilled in eliminating all sources of evidence caused it to be quite difficult for a certain red-head to trail. In fact it irritated him to no end, whether the faction was aware of male seeking for various ways to locate the Covenant headquarters for his own personnel vendetta was beyond him. Though it didn't matter if the Covenant was aware of him or not, Lucifer vowed to end them all and execute the leader in the most agonizingly, gruesome way that would make death appear to be nothing more than a luxurious gift. During his journey Lucifer had to be cautious on when to use his powers, seeing as there is someone who would willing inform the Tactical Neutralization Team of his presence.

"She'll make a good deal of that money you left her taking care of 'my mess'. I leave behind more messes than I care to remember," Hearing the female retort at his statement caused a refrained chuckle to croak in the back of his throat. Seeing as Lucifer easily gave the bartender Harper five hundred dollars without reconsidering his actions. "That shitty fan club tried to catch this girl. I merely stepped in and got them off her back. Or so I thought..." Quirking his left brow in a skeptical manner as he recalled the ones who barged into Papa's Pub and targeted the hooded female, which she revealed that she interfered with their motives on whatever reason the group pursued after the victim. "Can't really say that this could've been prevented. The Covenant doesn't pick and choose their victims, they merely target those that possess bizarre abilities," Lucifer informed the mysterious female while approaching the brick wall. Emerald irises traced the blood splattered words, seeing how the words differed from the previous scene down in New Marias.

A low growl echoed in the alleyway which briefly caused Lucifer to glance over his shoulder towards the female's direction. Displaying a sullen expression he noticed her facial features, or what he could see, showing him that the drinks at the pub didn't quench her appetite. Rolling his emerald orbs Lucifer could only predict what she would say next. "Where do you eat at in this dump of a city?" Typical. She could've ordered something from the bar, sure it wouldn't have been recommended but then again there were other locations to find reasonable food. "Depends on where you go, since you're in the bronx you're a bit limited on where to eat," For a moment Lucifer paused, questioning on why he bothered informing the female of a possible location to eat. However the more he thought on the possible locations Lucifer could feel his stomach starve itself in hunger as well.

"There's a small diner, not too far from us. Sells pretty much anything; cheese steaks, burgers, chicken, etc. Whatever you want, pretty sure they have," Normally Lucifer would've refused to inform this woman of any information. In fact anyone in particular however he found himself over the past couple months communicating with others more than he should've. Lucifer blamed the actions in New Marias three months ago, but that was a story for a different time. "Nice establishment, quaint, decent service. Just here's to hoping you don't bring any more trouble with you," The corner of his lips tugged into a smirk while he displayed a smug expression towards her. Lucifer motioned himself away from the brick wall as he decided the trail was no longer worth pursuing. The assailant would strike once more in the city and the Tactical Neutralization Team would mobilize their own units if necessary.

Inserting his hands into the depths of his jacket, Lucifer glanced at the hooded female for a brief moment before brushing past her. "I'll show you the way, starting to get hungry myself," Halting in his tracks Lucifer shifted his gaze once more to the woman. Don't get the wrong idea. You're a badass and all, but I'm not gonna pay for you twice in one day," Lucifer announced to the woman while guiding her in the direction of the diner he informed her about. The Bronx lifestyle wasn't for everyone, seeing as everyone on the corner tried to sell you something illegal or drugs in order to get a quick buck was the everyday life for the residents here. That and if you look at someone the wrong way it calls for an a**-whooping. Pretty much how Lucifer dealt with his problems in a nutshell. Eventually the two arrived at the establishment.

The scent of greasy burgers being grilled from the kitchen in filled the air. He noticed that the seats at the counter were occupied by motorcyclists focused on sharing their stories with the employees and each other. The waitress greeted the two at the door and escorted both red-heads to a booth on the opposite end. Lucifer didn't expect this to happen, in fact he intended on heading back to his apartment rather than staying out any later than usual. "All right, so tell me this. You know my name, not gonna bother to spill yours unless you want. Anyways, you know my secret. I gotta know one thing," Placing his elbows on the counter as Lucifer leaned against the tabletop. "Or am I going to find an armada of TNT at my doorsteps," Whispering in a hushed tone as the waitress brought the two menus and questioned what they would have for a drink. Lucifer requested for a mountain dew, having his alcohol consumption satisfied with the limit of today while he glanced over at this female, who's name still was unknown.

♘ ▇▇▇ C o m p a n y // Ember
♘ ▇▇▇ L o c a t i o n // Bronx -- Rush Diner
♘ ▇▇▇ T h o u g h t s // "...Wait, how the ******** did I end up here with this woman?"
♘ ▇▇▇ O u t f i t // This s**t. . .

[Escaflowdra]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxESCAFLOWDRAxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Song: Freedom

Zaira sat on the ledge of a window sill with a few business cards in hand. She sat on one of the highest floors of a hotel in the clear time of day, feeling the wind of the sky embrace her and draw the hair off of her bare shoulders. She flipped through the cards, looking over them carefully as she was only dressed in a black tank top and shorts. She moved her chocolate-colored hair away from her face, tucking it carefully behind her ear as she smiled gently. "You have so many jobs.." She said as she threw one out of the window. "Except that..." another, "and that," another, "and definitely not that." The man who she was ridiculing of lying about his job was handcuffed to the bed with a sheet tied tightly around his mouth. He bit the cloth as he tried scrambling on top of the sheets, trying to free himself from the handcuffs so he could probably push her out the window, but Zaira simply looked over to him with her sapphire irises inspecting him. "I'll believe that you actually do have a job. After all, you got us such a nice hotel room. I can't imagine the suite of a hotel being something an off-the-street bum could afford... But..." She stood up, swerving her slender bare legs over so her feet could touch the carpet. She walked over to the bed and put her hands on it, bending forward to look at him. He could get a peek at down her shirt, to which she gave a disgusted look as she crawled over and sat on his stomach on top of the sheets covering him. "... a mutt like you should be able to answer me this..." He growled slightly as she put her hand above his chest, his heart racing rapidly as a white glow started to emit from his body.

"Where is he?"

-A few hours later-

Zaira pulled her boots up to her knees, zipping them against the frame of her slender legs as she stood up and pulled her black jacket over her shoulders and put the folded piece of notebook paper in her pocket. Mission accomplished I guess. Zaira was more or less upset with the lack of details she was able to retrieve from her current DOGS victim, but she was happy for some of the things she did manage to pull from him. It wasn't like Zaira to go seducing men for information, and frankly she did not want to, but after having seen that man from Manhattan talking to the CEO directly by communicator, it wasn't something she could simply have ignored. Damn you Troy. Of course you would inform a decoy of a mindless task. But it doesn't matter what you send my way... And you should be so wise to send one of your DOGS nonetheless. Zaira had almost been killed by the DOGS more times than she had cared to recall, but each time she made sure it served as a purpose, a progressive step in moving forward. Sometimes it was hard to make something out of nothing, but this time her trip was made worthwhile. It was difficult to get special intel on those members involved with the TNT. You could know their names and face, but backstory, detailed physical information and personal information was difficult to achieve. But at least I have something now to work with. There were few people involved with TNT that would go out of their way to chase Superhumans and Gifted themselves.

For Zaira, her face wasn't put on screen or flyer, but it was known to any TNT member that wanted to accomplish the missions given by their higher ranking officers. Zaira was an obstacle course, and her death would potentially lead to the death of thousands of exposed Superhumans and Gifted. Her head was a prize, and a possible death sentence for those involved in her cause to eventually fall with her, but she had made sure that she stayed safe. These missions are starting to get a little more tiresome for me by the day. If I keep going by myself I can kiss some of my luck goodbye. Afterall, you can't encounter so many enemies without having been brought down at least once... She looked down to the concrete of the sidewalk, taking a flashback into her past of a time that she had fallen to an enemy. That man with no face. She could envision him clearly, and all his lack of detail that horrified her in her dreams. But still, she moved. Her personality seemingly would take a 180 degree turn for the better after being away from anything TNT/DOGS related. It almost seemed as Zaira was a completely different person to others than on her own, but she was good at keeping different areas of her life in check. Somewhat organized, a little mysterious, but overall positive to her friends, being those in her rebellion and those she kept close by. She quickly pulled out her phone and called Stelara Vespara, her best friend who she could always rely on. Except... for picking up the phone... Zaira chuckled to herself as she hung up, neglecting to leaving a voicemail for now. She switched to a different number, one that was not so personal, and texted Izaleth.

To: Izaleth
From: Z.
Message: Are you busy? If not, meet me in Brooklyn between Bristol Lane and Grand Ave.

She then sighed, taking a seat on the bench as she waited to see what responses she would get.

company↘「Nobody」
location↘「Brooklyn - Corner of Grand Ave and Bristol Lane」
thinking↘「---」
wearing↘「Blue tank top, black jacket, blue ribbon wrapped around left arm, black stockings with black shorts, knee high boots」

[Lovekyrafts]

XXI CAN FEEL THE STORMXXXTHE WINDS HAVE CHANGEDXXXCAUSE WE'RE WORLDS APARTXXXBUT JUST THE SAME XXXXXXX ♛
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( ★* WE W↺NT ☁❜ SURRE⇣NDER QUIETLY !! ) ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░

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▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ x♛x ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
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WANNA MAKE A SCENE;SHOW ME WHAT YA MEANXXXXXLET'S GET IT STARTEDXXXXX═══════════ ♔
WANNA MAKE A SCENE;SHOW ME WHAT YA MEANXXXXXLET'S GET IT STARTEDXXXXX═══════════ ♔

"We found and underground bunker in upper manhattan. A safehouse, a couple offering shelter to power users. We suspect it's a springboard for the rebellion, and we can't allow that. Go take care of it."

[******** bastards don't have the guts to take care s**t work like this on their own..." The silver haired young man growled as he stood above the very spot he'd been given coordinates to. Just one man, no backup, no other TNT agents. Not that he needed it. His fingers crackled with electricity as he redirected his gaze to the ground. Electrical pulses underneath the ground. Guess there really was something going on under there. Well he could probably trace the pulses through the circuits and to the entrance, but that would take way too much time. "I'm coming in..."

Lightning crackled in the air above as with a thunderous bang electricity struck the concrete ground. Several explosions later the concrete crumbled, the white haired young man bursting through the ceiling and landing heavily on the ground below. Horrified faces stared as ice blue eyes drifted blankly across the room from one person to the next. He'd seemed to have landed in some sort of dining hall; adults, parents children. For all the world it seemed like the most ordinarily thing. ...This is gonna be a pain.

And then the screaming started, people throwing up their tables, racing for the door. "Everyone out! Women and children first!" The room full of power users, seemed to burst with activity, every able body in the room suddenly turning towards him. There was no time for questions, no attempt for an interrogation, for there was only one organization that would pull this sort of stunt and they took no prisoners. A barrage of attacks came in his direction as electromagnetic static crackled at his feet. Leaping from the ground he hit the ceiling, hanging upside down and surveying the room in a qucik asessment. Eight powerpoints, two at every corner of the room, turning the entire room into a perfect metal trap. One snap of his fingers was all it took for the sparks to start jumping from the sockets, electricity jumping from body to body in an instant. Heavy voltage to the central nervous system was all it took to knock them all to the floor, motionless.

A flash of blue light shot through the hallways, lights flickering, bulbs exploding in a shower of glass overhead as the sudden burst of high voltage fried the circuits. One by one the fleeing victims were shot down with thunderbolt after thunderbolt. A blast of sudden force slammed into him, pinning him against the wall. "Sonnova..."

"You're a monster!" The teary eyed woman screamed as she threw him him against another wall with pure mental force. "You're one of us! How could you do this? How could you fight for them-?!

"Shut up." Lightning crackled, the entire wall came alive with blue veins of electricity. Like a thunderstorm the ground shook, the metal walls bending and breaking as a chunk of iron flew off the wall, bashing straight into her skull. Falling to his feet, the white haired man spat out blood. "You don't get to ask questions."

Blue flames lit the ground as one by one, every man woman and child in the building started to fall. Of course, not all of them, some would escape, some would run to live another day. But it would be a life on the run, with no safe house to hide behind it would be difficult for them to run from the Dogs forever. It was like living on borrowed time.

A thump, a rock smacked against his head causing little more than a bump. He turned, locking gazes with a wide eyed little boy. "Y-You stay back...." he stammered, holding a knife in his shaking hands. With one twitch of his fingers and the knife flew out of the child's hands and into his. Electromagnetism,; metal could do nothing against him. Ice blue eyes surveyed the shaking form before him, the frozen, tiny form of the tiny girl clinging to her brother's arm. The fear in their eyes...with a clatter the metal knife dropped to the floor.

"Three seconds. Turn around, run, and don't look back."

A shiver, before the boy gripped his sister's hand and turned around. Three. A orb of blue lightning crackled at his fingertips as hurried footsteps raced down the hallway. Two. He raised his hand, pointing his fingers like a gun at the running children.

One.

♔* ▌TIMESKIP X!!
X
GOTTAXXMAKEXXTHISXXCOUNT;XXLETSXXGOXXXXXXXX

Ashes rose from beneath the concrete pavement as Cain climbed back out of the hole he'd made, the underground bunker laid entirely to waste. The TNT would send in a cleaning squad, pick up anyone who wasn't dead, if anyone was, and kill them if they were lucky...bind them to a life of eternal servitude if they were really unlucky. Not really his problem anymore. Job was done, that was that. Now all he cared about was getting back to headquarters, back to Christelle.


☁ ❘❙❚ IndifferentXXXX☁ ❘❙❚ ManhattanXXXX☁ ❘❙❚ With no OneXXXX☁ ❘❙❚ Wearing

[Salem Wolf]

"Attention passengers this is your captain speaking, we are two hours from Los Angeles and are expecting a bit of turbulence within the next few minutes. For the safety of our passengers we request everyone to buckle in, and the attendants will be coming around to assist those who need it. Thank you." Flying 35,000 feet across the grand old United States towards the destination of Los Angeles, California, Troy Winter was leaned back in his seat with the tray table carrying a small laptop with various data on it. Far from his days of being in the thick of fire with a gun in his hand, he wasn't inactive from duty and still preferred to lead many squads himself, and was always found in the gun range when not leading the company in the position he worked his way up to. Typing away on the computer through various reports, spreadsheets, and documents, an attendant came his way and informed him of the approaching turbulence and recommended he put away his laptop and buckle in.
"Is this a suggestion or are you demanding it from it?" He asked, not giving her any eye contact. The attendant blinked in surprise and replied that it was merely a highly recommended suggestion, and in all technicality all he was required to do was buckle up. Mentioning that the turbulence may cause his laptop to fall off the tray and break, and that the airliner was not responsible for damage through negligence. Waving her off after he buckled up, the attendant gave a frustrated sigh to a pain-in-the-a** passenger, and moved on to ensure the others were buckled in for the ride.

"Thank you for flying Jetblue Airlines," The captain spoke as he shook the hands of the passengers, Troy hurrying past him with his messenger bag in tow. The long-haired redhead scanned the airport as he made his way towards the baggage claim and waited impatiently for his suitcase to arrive, figuring he would have spent a couple of days in LA while on a business meeting called by one of TNT's competitors. The head of Blackwater International, another Private Military Company, not unlike the Tactical Neutralization Team, had wanted to speak with Troy about combining efforts against the growing Gifted threat. In the last few years the Gifted had become a pain, utilizing their freakishly powerful talents to cause destruction, chaos, and unrest wherever they went. Superhumans, a different type of metahuman from the Gifted, were grouped into the same boat and also believed to be a threat and the human population were terrified of them. Though as with anything, there were the supporters for superhumans but the louder groups of terrified humans won out against the not-as-loud supporters. Not many understood or even recognized the difference between Superhuman and Gifted, Troy being one of those who did, so the TNT hunted both without prejudice. He realized it might backfire in the long run, but by then it would be too late.

"Troy Winter, how good to see you again," replied the mustached young man smirking at Troy as he left the airport terminal and met with the Blackwater International President, who held the same position as Troy: head of a PMC.
"Chris Atkinson, a pleasure." Troy shook the man's hand as Chris led the TNT CEO in a dark windowed limo. The driver put Troy's bags into the back of the vehicle and the two powerful men sat in the back, the driver taking off for Blackwater International HQ.
"How was your flight?" Chris asked, making smalltalk with Troy, who didn't appreciate the formalities and preferred to get into the meat of things.
"Aside from some minor turbulence the only complaint was its length. So, Christopher, tell me about your consideration to join forces against the Gifted." Chris was a little taken aback by Troy's bluntness regarding their business, believing he would rather unwind a little before discussing such matters, but smiled as he realized now would be as good of a time as any.

"The Gifted have become a major problem, I realize the TNT can't have troops across the entire globe and I understand that, despite efforts in expansion, there are large portions of the United States alone that still do not have soldiers to protect them. Your major area of operation is, while a major hub for Gifted activity, still a limited area of activity as far as the rest of the world is concerned. Even so, New Gradia is still experiencing increased levels of Gifted activity. Sooner or later the municipalities will need someone that has better results, and should the King -- ."
"Let's be glad the King approves of our efforts, and that his voice is the most important. Just because he governs 7 billion people doesn't mean the municipalities that report to him have a bigger vote than he does. In either respect the TNT has been showing consistent results, far above the level of Blackwater's...what was it...43%? New Gradia is practically capital of the world, of course more Gifted will show up as opposed to your side of the country." Troy kept his focus on the man before him, the thick brown mustache moving as Chris spoke about the minor failures of the TNT.
"Blackwater is offering a merger of the two PMCs. Tactical Neutralization working alongside Blackwater." Troy smirked.
"The Tactical Neutralization Team is uninterested in offers of mergers at this time, I prefer to run my company with a controlling interest, unless the condition of our merger is that you step down. I wouldn't trust you on the board of directors, let alone as co-CEO." Chris fumbled his words.
"T-That's not at all what I'm getting at, Troy. Heh. Now that the TNT is a major corporation it's not unreasonable to expect takeovers to occur. Unfortunately, too, that Gifted are still prevalent in Los Angeles, which means accidents do happen. What I'm saying is...I want to merge the Tactical Neutralization Team and I am prepared to buy out your controlling interests in the company the second news of your unfortunate departure hit airwaves." Chris pulled out a weapon from a compartment on the door, Troy sitting there watching as the man scooted further away and held out his arm with the barrel pointed at the redhead's face. "How long has it been since you were in active duty? You've been CEO for about 6 years now? Skills deteriorate in such a long time."

The limo stopped, Troy glancing out the window to see they were in an alley near the bridge, most likely a quiet spot where the "Gifted" attack could occur. Threats on his life weren't uncommon, he was just surprised the most recent one was from a company president, not a Gifted or Superhuman.
"I'll have you know something, Mr. Atkinson," Troy said as he unbuttoned his black business jacket and carefully slipped it off, exposing the plain white dress shirt underneath. "I've always believed in the phrase...don't request something that you can't do yourself. Everything I require out of my soldiers, from the Dogs to the Elite, is something I can do myself."
"I too was once a soldier, Troy, I know how strenuous the demands are for such a thing in today's world. But even still, ruling a company and leading men into battle are two ends of the spectrum. You cannot possible keep up such rigorous demands filing paperwork all day."
"Six months ago I personally led the extinction of the New Gradia group called Exitium. You might've heard of them, they were Superhuman, I single-handed took down their leader who was a sorcerer. So my skills certainly aren't rusty. If you put the gun down you'll walk away. Otherwise your death will deconstruct Blackwater entirely. Think about it, not only does their President attempt to assassinate the CEO of another company, but he failed. If he can't even perform a simple murder how anyone expect their soldiers to protect against Gifted? Of course, I'll have the freedom to take over Blackwater and expand our operations. That was your concern, wasn't it? Expansion of the TNT not meeting requirements of success? I can recruit your Blackwater soldiers into the Dogs and keep them in Los Angeles." Chris was flustered by Troy's calmness with a gun waving in his face, then shook his head.
"Don't worry, I have this very well planned out, after all I have a Gifted working for me."
"I'm not worried, I am Gifted."

Troy grabbed the gun from Chris as he fired, moving forward while pulling Chris back and slammed his fist into the other man's neck, twisting his arm and pulling out a small blade that he swiped across his throat.
"Technically I'm Superhuman, but you wouldn't know the difference would you? Know thy enemy, and Blackwater has a lot of work to do in that department." Chris stared to Troy incredulously as he bled out from the neck, staining the leather seats and his pants with blood. Troy smirked as he held up his hand and dropped the fired bullet into Chris' lap, turning back to the door and opening it up, exiting the vehicle with his business jacket over his shoulder. Holding onto the door as he stood up, Blackwater soldiers came from behind the corners and pillars of the bridge, aiming at Troy. "He was prepared, just not properly." Troy effortlessly ripped the door off the hinges of the limo and tossed it like a frisbee flying disc at a soldier, leaping over the top of the limo to the other side as the soldiers opened fire, aside the one soldier who was hit in the neck with a limo door and subsequently killed. Opening the other door Troy grabbed the pistol Chris had used and slunk to the trunk, peering behind the break lights as they ceased fire. The soldiers were in tight formation as they carefully approached the limousine, the driver getting out and making a run for it, until he was gunned out ruthlessly.

Running out from behind the limo Troy took aim and unloaded the pistol's clip at the soldiers, using the confusion to dart towards a soldier taking cover and slamming his elbow into the soldier's helmet, cracking it. Grabbing his body armor he pulled the man to his front and used him as a human shield, grabbing his rifle and taking out the remaining soldiers, then pushing the last soldier down and firing into his skull.
"So where's your Gifted, Chris?" Troy asked softly to himself as he turned towards the limo to discover it being lifted into the air and tossed at him. Troy darted underneath the flying vehicle and smirked. "Nathaniel Hunter, you're working for Blackwater? How disappointing." The Gifted, Nathan, said nothing in reply as he telekinetically grabbed the limo and slammed it into the back of Troy's head, knocking him down. Troy stood up and dusted himself off, "I should have expected that, but I'll give it to you." Troy darted ahead and leapt onto the hood of the limo, jumping off of it and landing on Nathan, slamming him down into the ground, punching him in the face twice before rolling off and grabbing a discarded rifle. Troy felt the rifle ripped out of his hands by the telekinetic power, Troy then slammed into the nearby brick wall of the building. Not once. Not twice. Not even three times. Troy was slammed into the wall eight consecutive times until the wall gave out and Troy was sent into it, a mechanic's shop that seemed closed for the day.

Nathan walked through the hole and eyed the shop for Troy's body, preferably limp, a crowbar slamming into the side of his face with a loud cry as he fell down. Troy twirled the crowbar in his hand and slammed it into Nathan the moment he raised his head, knocking him flat onto the ground again.
"Stand up again and the crowbar goes into your eye, I make no promises it doesn't come out your a**." Troy growled, annoyed by Nathan's telekinesis. To his surprise Nathan gripped Troy tightly and lifted him into the air, the crowbar torn out of his hand while Nathan stood back up, staring at him with bleeding gashes on his face.
"I'm started to get pissed off." Nathan said, blinking as his vision was becoming clear again. He moved his chocolate brown hair out of his eyes and stared to Troy with his deep blue hues, approaching him as the crowbar's flat end was hovering a few inches from his left blue eye.
"You're pissed off? I'm going to be sitting through news interviews on your failed attempt at murder, and then have to fly back home. As far as I'm concerned your death is getting you off easy. Now let down or I won't be held responsible for my actions."
"You're so goddamn cocky, Troy. Always were, even as a lowly Dog. I'm insulted you think I can be so easily killed."
"Well you are notoriously bad for letting your guard down when you think you've won." To prove his point, a wrench slammed into the back of Nathan's head which dropped Troy onto the ground, lunging forward to grab the crowbar and slamming it into his eye, which caused Nathan to scream, reaching out to grab Troy's shirt. "We used to be in the same squad together, you saved my life more than once. It's a shame loyalty is a word that means nothing to me." Troy pressed the crowbar into his skull and carelessly tossed the dead body back out to the alleyway. Sitting on the curb, Troy recovered his dropped business jacket and slipped it on over the bloodied white shirt, hiding the stains. Pulling out his cell phone, he felt himself annoyed.

"When you're in the business of protecting the populace against unnaturally powered enemies, you learn quickly how to take care of yourself. It's unfortunate that Christopher Atkinson thought hiring a Gifted for his company would allow him to strong arm me into selling my portion of the TNT for his gains, and even more unfortunate that the deaths of his soldiers will linger in his memory, but Mr. Atkinson only did what a businessman does: gain leverage. Sadly he didn't count on the instability of his own Gifted soldier betraying him and leading to the fight for my life. Thankfully as you can see I'm still around, and my offer to buyout the company in this trying time has been accepted without hesitation. Rest assured the Tactical Neutralization Team is not only going to ensure Blackwater International's continued survival, but the continued protection of all people across Earth. We're leaders in an industry of protection, and we're expanding our operations to Los Angeles with the newly acquired West Coast division of the TNT."

Troy clicked the space bar and paused the video e-mailed to him about his news conference not even a few hours after the attempt on his life, flying back from Los Angeles to New Gradia. He muttered something as he put the earpiece in his ear and continued his conference with the TNT Board of Directors, explaining the next plan of action for Blackwater now that it was an acquired piece of the TNT name. After the conference and with only a half hour left until he landed back in New Gradia, he made a phone call.
"Inform Lilly and Leigh I need to see them in my office in one hour. This Blackwater incident has got me thinking, make sure they know to be there on time."

Troy made it back to the TNT HQ and slipped into a different shirt, the afternoon sun shining through his window as he sat his laptop down on his desk and rotated his neck, groaning softly.
"They better not be late," he growled as he took a seat at his chair, having not slept for a few days since the attack on his life. Between the board meetings with Blackwater, the TNT, and interviews over the incident, he had been in Los Angeles too many days longer than he wanted to, and was ready to give Lilly and Leigh their orders before getting some sleep. The moment the clock changed to the top of the hour he was pleased to hear the door to his office opening and the twins waltzing through immediately as requested. Unlocking a drawer on his desk and pulling out a file he tossed it on the desk and stood up, leaning over his computer to flip the folder open. Looking to the papers Leigh had in her hand, likely filing her report about Johnathan. He pointed to the basket of papers on his desk for her to set it there and he would read it later, which would be preferred to his long few days of activity and then finding out Lilly had killed a man by shattering his body into hundreds of ice chunks.

"I've got a problem, which means you have a problem," Troy said as he stood up straight and walked around the desk to grab a few papers from the folder, holding them up. "Gabriel Adams, you might remember him from Exitium, the group that no longer exists as of six months ago. What you don't know is that...not quite all the members were killed or recruited. Two still remain missing: Gabriel and Jin Wolf. Jin is a high priority but he's been missing ever since, if he's underground he's deep underground. Gabriel, on the other hand, he's been spotted across the New Gradia districts. I want him brought to me alive, if you kill him I'll kill you." Putting the photos down on the desk he stared to Lilly and then to Leigh. The raid against Exitium was something he led with a group of Dogs, he didn't intend for them to survive but he wasn't going to bring non-expendable soldiers against superhumans who were fairly powerful in their own right. Thankfully, Troy had successful led the soldiers into a slaughter against Exitium, recruiting two members of Exitium and killing the rest who had no interest in joining. Gabriel and Jin, adamant about joining, escaped despite Troy's best efforts thanks to Jin's "cowardly" tactics. Neither Lilly nor Leigh had been part of the attack, which was something he was sure they were bitter about but would have to deal with.

"What makes him necessary now is the recent attack in Los Angeles, if you don't listen to the news or read the paper you'll not know I was attacked by Blackwater soldiers. Easy prey, but they recruited a Gifted that used to be a TNT soldier, used to be in my squad, matter-of-fact. If Blackwater is hiring Gifted discreetly then so will other competitors, anyone who is against the TNT is a potential threat from another company. That can't happen, and now that I know other PMCs will be hiring Gifted this makes Gabriel a top priority. The reason I need him alive is because his power over ice and water is particularly useful. Speaking of ice, I expect Johnathan has been captured?"

Grabbing the paper from the basket that he told Leigh to put there, Troy quickly read through the report and stared to Lilly. "He's dead? He wasn't supposed to be dead, Lilly. I wanted him alive!" Troy growled and then exhaled slowly, "bring me Gabriel, alive, and you'll be forgiven for your obvious mistake. You're just lucky Gabriel can do what Johnathan could, except better. Gabriel was last spotted in the Bronx, you are under strict orders to keep your powers hidden from human eyes. Here," Troy handed Leigh a photo of Gabriel that would show her what he looked like and a recent location he was spotted from. "You have my orders, now get out of my office. If you kill him don't bother coming back." Troy glared to the twins and waved them off, replacing the folder in his desk and locking it again. As the twins walked away he called to them, "keep an eye out on other Gifted or Superhumans in the Bronx. Gabriel is high priority but you should be keeping up public appearances of exterminators of any threat. If you come across anyone else besides Gabriel keep me informed. I'll be catching up on some sleep but I'll have my secretary wake me if it's important."

Letting the twins leave with their orders, Troy approached his couch near the bookshelf and fell onto it, looking at his watch and groaning at the prospect of the meeting in two hours, which meant he would only be getting in a short nap before discussing future events with his clients.
"Hopefully he has good news about that project," he yawned gently, letting himself get some sleep.

→ Location: TNT HQ - Troy's Office ↔ Company: None ↔ Outfit: Business Outfit ←

[Salem Wolf]

It wasn't the chill, it wasn't the locations, it wasn't even the desolateness of the situation, the worst part about being homeless was the lack of food. Just six months ago he was living the high life part of a not-so-clandestine group of superhumans led by a sorcerer who, at this point was either dead or in hiding, and the rest of his friends-slash-family were either dead or defected to the Tactical Neutralization Team, which didn't bode well for the last surviving member of Exitium. It didn't matter who they were, or who they had been, because now they weren't even a small column on page 14 of the Sunday paper. Gone were the days of living in his own place with food or comfort, he didn't even have a person to snuggle up to unless he wanted to get close to a man who stank worse than a dead skunk. But he had to remain in hiding as long as Troy Winter was in charge of the TNT, the man who led the assault on the warehouse they'd called home. Being homeless really wasn't very fun, but it was less fun wondering if the TNT were still after him. Gabriel Adams, the ice/water manipulator of the deceased group, had managed to escape Troy and his soldiers and gone on the lamb, though he couldn't say this was a better alternative to being dead or part of the PMC. "Can't even afford a cup of coffee, I'm calling bullshit on the price of life." He muttered as he looked up to the broken mirror he was in front of, carefully shaving off the stubble with a sharpened piece of ice he'd formed. "Damn it, should have joined the TNT when I had the chance, at least I could be eating...something. Chicken, god I want chicken. You never really appreciate what you have until its gone." Gabriel flicked the ice razor and felt his chin, clicking his tongue. "You handsome devil. Homeless, but handsome. Really kills the second dates. 'Lemme take you back to my place, don't mind the rats.'" Shrugging, Gabriel looked back to the dilapidated bathroom in the abandoned soon-to-be-demolished apartment complex he was temporarily staying at, then returned to the room with the sleeping bag, falling face first into it with a hard thud.

"Ugh," he groaned, rolling onto his back as he stared to the rotten ceiling above him. "How did you survive so long on the streets outside of Exitium, Faith? Guess you didn't survive so long inside Exitium either." He exhaled sadly, "you weren't supposed to die, and Exitium wasn't supposed to fall. If our fearless leader wasn't such a coward...well if wishes were fishes I'd be eating." Gabriel closed his eyes and thought back to the day Troy and his team had struck Exitium. The group itself had been fairly harmless, just a bunch of superhumans who had no where else to go, usually the depraved and sadistic sort that no one else wanted. Jin, the leader of the group, usually took them in, trained them, made them function and then raised some hell, but it wasn't without purpose or reason, it just seemed like chaos for the sake of it. But for all the bad that Jin was believed to be he'd taken the time to teach Gabriel how to control his powers, made it so he could live a normal life. Even if the rest of his life he'd been a terrible monster, Gabriel knew first-hand Jin wasn't so heartless. "Okay, I'm starting to miss Jin, now I really am losing my mind." Gabriel stood up and took a stroll down the broken staircase to the ground floor, leaving the apartment complex and heading deeper into the Bronx.

He sighed as he rounded a corner, still hearing Troy yell out commands to his soldiers, and the gunshot that took the life of...a friend. 'If only you hadn't been so ******** stubborn, Faith.' He thought as he found a small playground and took a seat on the bench, looking to the empty swingset swaying back and forth in the wind. "That's enough goddamn reminiscing, I need something to eat." Gabriel said as he heard his stomach growling, looking up to the sky as he had to wonder when his last real meal was. Groaning, he knew that he had somewhat of an acquaintance around that he could bum a meal off of, even if it wasn't very welcomed, though this 'friend' of his lived in Manhattan, and that meant being in the same district as the TNT HQ. It wasn't ideal but it was a good chance at getting something to eat without much risk, and as soon as he had what he needed he would snake his way back to the Bronx without raising a fuss. At least here no one gave a s**t about him, and that was what he needed right now, at least until he could figure out a way to kill Troy. Though, Gabriel wasn't so sure he was a murderer to begin with, though after what he did to his family that was a good enough reason to try.

Gabriel had difficulties getting to Manhattan without any money for a bus ticket or taxi, but he made his way across the city without anyone giving him a second glance, and it didn't hurt that he blended in with the rest of society. At least he was wearing clean enough clothes, which didn't paint him as homeless, though the hunger in his stomach was sure painting a big enough picture for him. Eventually he got to the destination and made his way up the apartment building to the apartment he was seeking, finding it locked.
"Well I didn't want it to be too easy," Gabriel muttered as he stuck his finger against the keyhole, freezing the lock and twisting the knob hard enough to hear the loud crack. Opening the door, Gabriel walked in and shut it behind him, approaching the fridge and pulling out a box of pizza, hungrily eating the box without hesitation. "Oh God thank you for this pepperoni bliss. Mmph, so tasty. Oh s**t chocolate milk? Don't mind if I do~." Gabriel grabbed the half gallon of chocolate milk and immediately began downing it, tossing the empty container into the trash as he turned to hear the door open and a gun pointing towards him.
"Gabriel what the hell are you doing here?!"
"Salem! I stole your food, hope you don't mind." Salem Wolf, black-haired TNT soldier approached Gabriel with a snarl in his throat as he checked the fridge.
"You ate all my pizza?! You cocksucker."
"Trust me, if I were a cocksucker I'd have a sugar daddy, I wouldn't be stealing food from you. You're out of chocolate milk, bee-tee-double-u (BTW)." Salem turned to glare at Gabriel, growling.
"I can see that. You need to go, you shouldn't be here to begin with. If someone from the TNT shows up for any reason we are both ********]

Gabriel backed away from Salem and shook his head,
"you owe me. You always promised you'd keep Jin from appearing on the TNT radar and thanks to your neglect I'm the only one alive and I'm pretty ********' homeless right now. You have a nice apartment, you got a warm bed. You know what I sleep in? A building condemned, even other homeless don't live there. Throw me a bone." Salem groaned and put his palm on his forehead,
"A-Alright fine. There's some cans in the cupboard you can take."
"I need a can opener."
"You..." Salem paused, ""you can use your powers I'm not giving you a can opener."
"God you're cheap." Gabriel raided the cupboards for some canned food, piling it up in a bag and raiding the freezer, throwing some frozen chicken into the bag despite Salem's protesting. "How are you still single you're obviously a great catch." Gabriel muttered in sarcasm, Salem leaning against the kitchen counter.
"Alright that should last you a few weeks if you portion it out, you need to go before our asses are both in s**t." Salem crossed his arms as he watched Gabriel raid some more of his drawers, taking some theater-sized boxes of candy he'd stashed.
"Oo Sour Patch Kids. I miss those. Skittles, this'll taste great with my homelessness." Salem rolled his eyes.
"You're really milking this."
"I wouldn't have to if you'd made sure Troy didn't see Jin as a threat." Gabriel took what he needed and started walking towards the door, "you know, say what you will about your brother, but he wasn't as bad as everyone thought."
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Everything he did he did for his own benefit, the only reason he helped you control your powers is because you're useless to him if you couldn't. Jin wasn't nice and he certainly wasn't giving, he was in it for himself, you and the rest of your dead friends were just too easily fooled by his act. I don't condone Troy raiding your little crazy club, but I don't blame him either. The only reason I don't turn you in is because I feel sorry that he tricked you into following him." Gabriel flipped Salem off as he walked out the door, making his way back to the Bronx to stay out of the TNT's district.

Back in the Bronx, Gabriel returned to his dilapidated building and stashed the food he took from Salem, munching on the Sour Patch Kids he'd taken and stared out the broken window to the poor people below, wondering where to go when an idea hit him, pulling a card out of his pocket.
"Fun isn't hard when you've got a library card, might as well get some internet time in." Gabriel took off for the nearby library, using his library card to get an hour of internet time and taking a seat by one of the old CRT monitors and old-a** computers they still used. Checking the recent news, he scoffed as he read Troy's recent survival against an assassination attempt. "What a ********' shame," he grumbled, figuring that he might as well take a look at some options for making sure Troy got his. After several minutes browsing some not-so-family friend Google searches, he came across a single website that raised his eyebrow.

"Dax McLain...hm."

→ Location: Public Library - Bronx ↔ Company: None ↔ Outfit: Casual Clothes ←

[Escaflowdra]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxESCAFLOWDRAxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Ember had certainly landed in the middle of something interesting, but she could have been better off not knowing who the victim was. Just another person I've let down now... was all she could think of when she looked at the ashes of what was once a shy young woman with with a whole future ahead of her. To be cut so short for being something she never asked to be, not given a chance in either case that Ember could see, maybe it was just her own curse. For Ember to think that anybody she came near could have caused this was a stretch. Sure, she had people looking for her, and never the good kind, but it wasn't as if the girl was something of primary importance to her and her well being. To know that it wasn't TNT but a member of the so called Covenant was a rather annoying discovery. Two groups working to destroy the Gifted and Superhumans in the same city? I feel like I'm going to be getting into more trouble than I can handle. Wait.. what the hell am I saying? This is what I came here for. To put those damn dirty monsters in their place... As she took in the last sight of the young woman's remains that began to disappear, she heard the rather annoying voice of the young blonde-haired male that led Lucifer to this spot. It was actually quite pathetic. To call her something that she wasn't was purely arrogant. He wasn't looking at the details of the situation at all, or even her responses. She was curious, asked questions, gathered information. Sure she was quiet and all, but that didn't mean she looked like a total enemy... did it? If I feigned more emotions, I would look like a fool. If I was the real enemy, I wouldn't have wasted a second taking them out in my descent. But whatever.

When Lucifer had dismissed the boy she was rather pleased to see him dashing away with his tail between his legs. It may have been a sorry sight, but she could at least have some peace from his hyperactive personality. He then turned to her and spoke about leaving Harper with a mess, asking what her 'deal' was. Though Ember was only slightly used to slang, it didn't take her but a few seconds to realize he was wondering what happened with the brutes and why they were after her. Picking and choosing words... That's how it always is. Ember only chuckled to herself as she wasn't about to tell this man exactly what she had done. More or less cover everything enough so he would be left with a decent explanation about the event. "That shitty fan club tried to catch this girl. I merely stepped in and got them off her back. Or so I thought..." As much as Ember didn't want to admit that her attempts to save this girl had all been for nothing, she could at least show that this girl was worth something. Whatever those brutes and the Covenant members wanted her for, she was obviously valuable. She turned her eyes back to Lucifer as he spoke, "Can't really say that this could've been prevented. The Covenant doesn't pick and choose their victims, they merely target those that possess bizarre abilities," Lucifer informed the mysterious female while approaching the brick wall. He took his observation of the wall. Just pull out those mobile things and take a picture alread-- but then her stomach growled. Her eyes widened slightly at the sound as her right arm quickly covered her stomach. Her face wouldn't show it, but she was slightly embarrassed.

She cursed herself for not having gotten something to eat first, then inquiring from Lucifer where she could probably grab something. He rolled his eyes, though she gave him a stern look as she waited for him to sayin something other than acknowledging her stomach's noises. "Depends on where you go, since you're in the bronx you're a bit limited on where to eat," he then paused with an odd look on his face, as if he was contemplating or thinking about something out of nowhere. Well that doesn't really answer my question, she frowned slightly as she was just about to give up and go searching for herself. But then- "There's a small diner, not too far from us. Sells pretty much anything; cheese steaks, burgers, chicken, etc. Whatever you want, pretty sure they have." Ember was pleased to have an actual answer, not knowing that he was the kind of gent that would normally ignore pretty much anybody and everybody. "Nice establishment, quaint, decent service. Just here's to hoping you don't bring any more trouble with you," he gave her a smug look. Now that was her cue to roll her eyes with a dry joke, but she gave a small smirk as well. She opened her mouth, about to inquire which was she should go, but only a few seconds and he was already brushing past her. Rude she imagined as she felt her blood boil a little at the immediate assumption he was just leaving, but she heard him speak, "I'll show you the way, starting to get hungry myself." Well that's different, Ember thought as she turned around to face him.

He stopped, causing her to stop and raise a brow. "Don't get the wrong idea. You're a badass and all, but I'm not gonna pay for you twice in one day." Ember couldn't help but laugh a little at the absurdity of it all. She had argued at the bar she was paying for herself and didn't get the chance to, and now he was going to make her pay? This is such a weird place, she thought with a small smile on her face. Of course she wasn't expecting him to pay, though she would take the 'badass' compliment and pocket that. She followed him, looking side to side at the different people they were coming across. A lot of unhappy and unfriendly faces. Almost feels like home but without all the crime. It seemed that the Bronx was the roughest part of the city, and aside from all graffiti on the wall to the multiple sirens you could hear every other few blocks, you really had to hold your own here. Ember was more or less determined to complete her tasks, and not worry too much about stepping into other people's conflicts. Saving one girl is fine, but I'm not capable of being anybody's hero. And she knew it. Eventually the two arrived to the establishment, the scent of something juicy and meaty smacking Ember's senses hard. W-What is that smell? It was to Ember's delight that she took a look at where some more of that similar scent was coming from. It was a burger, but Ember wasn't familiar with those. She simply stared at the wrapper and saw the word cheeseburger labelled on it. I want that, she said to herself, determined that she was going to get what she smelled when she first walked in.

"Hello!" A waitress greeted the two at the door which caused Ember to flinch. She thought this was one of those walk-in, order your s**t, find a seat places. For the Bronx, she didn't think she would be escorted anywhere that was short of a dark alleyway filled with filthy criminals. But she took her seat at the booth as asked. She passed by some rather heavily dressed guests, wearing leather, guns on their holsters, talking and sharing stories that were beyond Ember's lack of interest. Ember didn't expect this to happen, especially after meeting Lucifer from a murder scene. She had only inquired him on where to go, but it was a nice gesture. She couldn't do much about it, but took her seat in the booth and rested her legs crossed the long ways with her back towards the window. It took away the opportunity for anybody to try and sit next to her as well as making her feel more comfortable. "All right, so tell me this. You know my name, not gonna bother to spill yours unless you want. Anyways, you know my secret. I gotta know one thing," Placing his elbows on the counter as Lucifer leaned against the tabletop. "Or am I going to find an armada of TNT at my doorsteps," he whispered in a hushed tone. Ember peeked out from under the shadow of her hood, some of her fire-colored bangs slipping out in front of her face as she stared at him. "From the looks of how hard you were taking in the 'evidence' earlier, I'm going to assume that you're kind of like me. Meaning you don't waste anything. Well, I don't waste my time. Meaning, if I was in any way associated with the likes of them... you wouldn't be alive. Not after the things I've seen." She whispered some of it back to him, what needed to be kept between the two, but then she recalled him saying he had to know a secret. A secret? I don't know. Any kind of secret is a secret for a reason.

"Ember." Fair enough she thought to herself as she looked at him. "My name... is Ember." That was all she wanted to let him know as she then ordered her food. She looked back at Lucifer as they got their food thankfully quickly. She unwrapped her cheeseburger and started eating, not really making much eye contact with him as she did. "Mam' I'm so sorry..." the waitress approached as Ember took another bite, "But with out security cameras we cannot allow people to wear helmets, hats or hoods. Would you please remove yours?" She widened her eyes at the lady with the ******** look but frowned slightly. "I... I'd rather not." Ember glanced at the woman and then back to her meal. "I-I really have to request that you do..." Ember growled slightly. "Then I'm out o--" she replied until suddenly there was a loud crash through the window. Smoke filled the air as Ember leaned back, the glass spreading all over the the diner. Then through the fog two figures could be seen. One of them that took no time in starting to attack Luci, immediately shooting a barrage of bullets at him. Kyoko had signaled him to leave Ember in her hands, since they'd both witnessed the twos encounter in the alleyway earlier. Tracking them down was easy, but now the real fun was about to start. Ember's emerald irises peered through the smoke as she witnessed a the slender figure of a woman emerge from the fog, her ruby-red locks falling to the surface of the table as she put a hand on her hip. The hum of a machine could be heard, to which Ember rose a brow in curiousity, but soon she was distracted from her thought as she heard a voice, "Welllll~ Looks like I found some lunch!" The girl's hand swiped down and took the remaining hamburger from Ember's hands, the woman sitting on the table directly in front of her as she crisscross-applesauced her legs while eating the rest of the burger. "So. You're Ember huh?" The girl said as some of the food slipped from her mouth.

Ember gave the most puzzled look on her face as she watched the girl eat her food in front of her. "b***h, is it?" Ember asked with a growl as she threw a single punch at the girl, having her hand get caught by the girl's other free hand. Ember was shocked when she realized how much strength this girl had in her arm. "Actchually -- Pwahh oh god that's good -- it's Kyoko." Ember growled as she heard the hum of machinery grow stronger. What the hell is she? Part android or something? Suddenly Ember's arm was yanked as she was thrown out the front door. Ember neglected to cover herself for anything as she took the door off its hinges and onto the street, where nearby cars were smacked by the collision and forced to crash into the closest buildings or light poles. Ember took the door off of her as she managed to stand up rather quickly, but then widened her eyes as she felt the cool breeze ruffle her m-my hair. My hair! Where the hell is my hood?! Ember looked along the ground as Kyoko approached. "Is this what you're lookin' for?~" Kyoko purred as she showed Ember the black hood. Ember growled hunching down and taking no time to lunge at the woman, but was surprised to see her dodging so quickly, moreover matching her speed. S-She's-- Ember widened her eyes when she felt the impact of a kick to the stomach send her flying down the street, another car's windshield broken by her body. Kyoko stood soon on the hood of the car, her steel heels denting into the car hood. "Woo they weren't kidding when they said your hair looked like the color of fire! You're like a walking match-stick. Slender frame, orange hair. Maybe... we should make the fire real?" Kyoko asked as she faced her open palm at Ember, summoning enough fire in her flamethrower to possibly incinerate the woman. However as Kyoko laughed in joy, she stopped the flames after a while to find that Ember had not burned, and sat perfecty unharmed behind her own shield. "You don't know much about me, do you?" Ember spit as Kyoko tried to move forward but felt her steel heels get molded into the frame of the car hood. "W-What the hell?" Kyoko looked down to see her new boots ruined. "I can't move!"
"...Good."
"You think this is funny? You know how much money I paid to get these! Ugh I could have used that to buy a mini fridge for myself in my bathroom!"
".... Uhh--"
"Don't give me that look. When I'm hot-tubbing I like something to snack on."
Ember gave a no-s**t stare. It didn't take longer than two minutes of having encountered her to see that she clearly had a love for food. Suddenly he heels of the boots snapped as Kyoko twisted her body. She swiftly kicked Ember hard enough to cause her to crash head-first into a brick building, impacting it with a skull-smashing sound that she would have died if she were human. Ember laid amongst the rubble as she felt a daze hit her and she couldn't move. The darkness around her vision closed in the closer Kyoko came. T... That kick did... did... Ember's thoughts were unfinished as she rose a hand to put a barrier between her and Kyoko, but it flickered from the weakness of her magic. "W...What did you do to me?" Ember asked as Kyoko came close. "Secrets are secrets for a reason."


company↘「Kyoko / Lucifer is down the block getting whooped probably」
location↘「Bronx - Outside the diner」
thinking↘「I feel strange...」
wearing↘「Black jacket, hair tied in bun and hidden by hood, jeans, flats, assorted blades」

[Salem Wolf]

"It'll cost you thirty-two hundred, sixteen hundred now and sixteen when the job is done. I get you in, let you take the shot, and I get you out. That's what the payments are for. I make sure that you live and you're not linked to the scene. No counter-offers, no negotiation, a quick 45 minute job and you're home in time to think about what you've done." He leaned forward with a smirk, his blood red eyes staring at a man with thinning hair looking away nervously behind horned-rimmed glasses, pushing them up. The man counted out sixteen one hundred dollar bills and handed them to the assassin, Dax McLain. "You're a dirty little boy aren't you? Do you hire killers often or is this your first time?" Dax stood up and rolled the bills up, slipping them into his pocket with a grin. The visibly shaken man shook his head, muttering something about his first time doing this. Giving him a little laugh, Dax took the pistol off the table and handed it to the man, who was unprepared for its weight. He held it shakily, not giving it a good look as Dax slapped him on the chest with the back of his hand, causing the man to drop it. Eying the guy as he bent down to pick it up, Dax rolled his eyes, "there's one unmarked bullet in there. One. You don't get your nerves together you'll miss your shot, if you miss the only way to kill him without being traced is by beating him to death. It's more fun but you look like a b***h, so I don't think you have the guts. C'mon, sooner we get this done the sooner I can move onto my next contract."

It was the night before Troy left Los Angeles, a cold chill gripping New Gradia as the streetlights illuminated the sidewalks. Manhattan was brilliantly lit in the distance as usual, but Queens was notorious for its low lighting at night, mostly suburban homes and the location of Dax's contract with the shaky man. They walked through the streets of Queens until finally coming across the location. The man's name was Terry, just a single parent that no longer had a kid thanks to the contract's target, he'd contacted Dax because as an assassin he could assure this whole thing would be done cleanly without being linked back to him, he didn't want to be branded a murderer even if he was going to be. Dax had been told the whole story, despite neither caring nor needing the details, but needless to say the man didn't receive a discount on his assassination. He didn't care why, he just cared if he could get paid for it, and presumably since the man had half the money ready he was able to do just that. As the two approached the home Dax picked the lock and pushed his client into the home, following after him as they approached the bedroom. Dax watched his client turn on the bedroom light and argue with the target as he leaned against the wall, pulling out his cell phone and playing a game.
"Run you little hedgehog b*****d," Dax grinned, playing his video game as the two men continued their argument and suddenly began fighting one another. Dax kept nonchalantly playing his game until he reached the end of the level, putting his phone in his pocket and grabbing the target by his hair and pulling him off his client, throwing to the bed.

"Well, shoot him!" Dax told his client as he watched the man in horned-rimmed glasses shakily aim the gun towards the man. Sighing, Dax approached the man from behind and grabbed his wrist, holding his aim steady, "fire. We don't have all night, the gun is quieter than you are." The target realized his chance and lunged for the men, a silenced gunshot firing a bullet into the man's skull. He dropped easily, Dax pulling the fired pistol from his client's hand and looking down, "woo that was beautiful! Nice shot." Turning to his client he saw him slide against the wall and pull out a cell phone, muttering something about what he'd done and needing to turn himself in. This made Dax grimace, pulling out a gun of his own and firing it into his client. "Welp, there goes sixteen hundred I won't have. Never go full retard, you just went full retard! I am so ashamed." Putting the gun back in the holster, Dax snapped his fingers as a flame ignited on his thumb, blowing the small ember to the feet of his dead client, a fire spreading from the carpet to the bed. Dax left the home and quickly made himself scarce as the home caught fire, burning evidence of his appearance and leaving himself anonymous once again.

Throughout the night Dax had returned home, got dressed, went back out for a night on the town, completed a contract that he would turn in later, went back home and gone to bed. With his $1600 in cash scattered on the bed as he slept on it rather carelessly, he woke up around noon to a phone call coming through his cell phone. Groaning, Dax picked up the pillow and tossed it onto the floor like a child, reaching for his cell phone.
"Rick's Baby Emporium, if you've got babies Rick's got room. How can I help you?" Dax yawned loudly and sat up in bed as he heard the voice of one person in the world that didn't let his attitude or actions fly with.
"Daxter McLain!" His mother spoke loudly, his eyes going wide in surprise.
"Ah s**t, sorry I didn't know you were calling, my brain wasn't on." He slapped his face with an audible sound.
"A house caught on fire last night in Queens, two bodies inside. Investigators are calling it a murder-suicide. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?" He sighed.
"Do you know how many fires are started in a day? Someone dies in Uganda is that my fault too?" Daxter stood up and started collecting the money, discovering one bill missing until he pulled it out of his boxers.
"We just want to make sure you're not doing anything that could get you in trouble." His mom told him as she sighed softly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to accuse you of anything."
"Mother, jaywalking could get me in trouble. Trust me there's not a thing I can do that'll stop me from getting in trouble. I am constantly in trouble. Trouble just follows me! Trouble is sounding weird to me now. Trouble trouble trouble. Trouble. Trrrrrroooouble."
"Stop that."
"Sorry. Point is, since your son is a notorious tro...er...problem maker, it's going to follow him. I'm a big boy! I don't need my parents checking up on me making sure I'm fine. Believe me, I can handle living on my own I've been doing it since I was 15." Daxter counted the money to make sure it was all there, then set it on the nightstand while taking some clothes from his dresser into the bathroom to prep a shower.
"Melody's boss's son works for the Post Office, I'm sure she could help get you a respectable job, put in a good word for you."
"Ahhh, I'm not really into blue-collar work. Look I'm fine, everything is fine, fine fine fine. I really need a shower I gotta drop off a package later so I gotta go."
"You better be over for dinner on Friday, your mom is making your favorite so if you don't show it's going to break her heart and I'll kick your a**." Daxter blinked.
"And everyone wonders what the ******** is wrong with me, just take a look at my parents! Don't worry, I'll show up this time." Daxter sighed as leaned against the bathroom sink, waiting for his mother to stop bothering him.
"That's my boy. We love you, we'll see you Friday."
"Yep yep, love you guys too. Buh-bye." Hanging up, Daxter was quick to toss his phone onto his bed from the bathroom and take a shower.

After his shower, Daxter made his way into Manhattan by bus, as his regular mode of transportation had been hit by a taxi during a chase when a contract had gone wrong, and thus he relied on public transportation while his bike was being repaired. With a pit stop that allowed him to deposit his cash into a bank account, he made his way into Manhattan near the upscale shops waiting for his contact to arrive. The mission he'd completed last night had been a simple espionage mission, retrieving information that was now in a sealed folder tucked underneath his arm. While he waited, Daxter pulled out his cell phone and continued the game he had been playing last night, the familiar blue hedgehog darting across the screen. Leaning against the store's window, he frequently looked up from the screen to watch people walk by. Eventually someone pulled the folder out from underneath his arm and dropped an envelope by his feet. Picking it up he put his phone away and slid his finger underneath the flap, opening the envelope to discover the previously discussed fee all there. He wasn't really wanting to go after the guy for shorting him, which would just be rude to begin with.

Daxter went straight to the nearest ATM and deposited his cash into his account, since the ATM was closer than his bank at the time, then turned his attention to Manhattan. The world was his oyster, he had nothing on his plate at the moment since his emails seemed quiet, and no one was requesting the need for a murderer, a bodyguard, a spy, or any kind of sensitive job done. Since he had plenty of money in the bank now, he figured he could go check out the local shops for some good deals that he could fill his apartment with. Pawn shops, thrift stores, resale outlets, a lot of them had hidden gems that could catch his eye or just used to turn a profit. He didn't always shop for himself, not everyone needed a guy who dealt in less-than-legal means of acquiring information or taking people out, so when he wasn't busy updating his mostly-ignored blog, he found rare nerd-related items and sold them. His latest sell was a near mint plush doll that sold for a solid forty bucks featuring a once-popular 90s video game mascot. He had fun with his life, that's what mattered.

Walking through the various shops looking for things he could resell or be interested in himself, he had to admit the pickings seemed slim. Daxter kept angrily muttering to himself at how retarded it was that he couldn't find anything that would be good for him.
"Can I help you with something, sir?" Asked the attendant as Daxter was peering through the glass case.
"No," Daxter muttered, continuing to peer through the various video game cases, "go away." Ever friendly, Daxter's attitude had effectively made the attendant walk away. Annoyed by his lack of finds, he took off to the sidewalk and went into a thrift shop down the block. Heading inside, he noticed two employees talking about some woman who never buys anything. He grinned to himself while watching the brown-haired woman exiting the dressing room, thanking the employees for letting her test out the merchandise. If looks could kill the icy daggers of the employees would have ripped her to shreds. Daxter laughed, approaching the female clerks,
"excuse me, I couldn't help but notice how you don't get paid enough to deal with this bullshit." Grinning still, Daxter leaned against the counter after the woman had left. "Tell you what, for twenty bucks apiece I'll make sure she never sets foot in your store again. Customer like that just needs to be told off, and since you can't do it I will." The girls looked at one another and handed Daxter forty bucks, him pocketing the money and taking off after the customer who had left before he'd reached the girls.

Outside, he noticed the woman in the distance heading away from the shop, Daxter walking along after her until he finally caught up to her, whistling after her. He approached her and, to his surprise, grinned at her appearance.
"No way, Sunnie Grace I'll be damned!" It wasn't really surprising that he would know her as that, since he was into the pop culture stuff. "Damn it if I knew I'd be running into you I'd have brought my Sixteen Magazine with you in it." Beat. "I'm kidding I don't actually own that magazine. But to actually meet you is so sweet. I'm Dax." He held out his hand, grinning still, "you're not going to a gig or something are you? I could give you a ride in...uh...my sweet taxi..." He turned to the street and whistled loudly, a taxi slowing down and approaching the curb. "I'll take you where you need to go, besides there are some more thrift shops in Brooklyn I wanted to check out and I'm sick of walking." He hoped she would consider his offer to pay for her taxi ride to her modeling gig, or wherever else she wanted to go. Of course, it was just as likely he might be off-putting too.

→ Location: Manhattan ↔ Company: Stelara (as Sunnie Grace) ↔ Outfit: T-Shirt and Jeans, hidden weapon ←

[Leigh Warren]

Leigh was the first to reach her room as she was excited to finally get a chance to lay on her bed and relax for a bit, everyday there was always mission after mission which left zero time for boredom or relaxation for that matter. "Ahh~ bed! You look so inviting! And you're all mine!" Still holding the papers she needed to file out she gave no attention to them as she simply merely held onto them before throwing herself onto her queen sized bed she had personally bought. Laying face first against the comforting bed she only got a moment to relax before exhaling a long and loud enough sigh to have someone think her life was coming to an end. Flipping over onto her back she forced herself to acknowledge the papers in her right hand. "I hate you.. We're enemies, you know that right?" Talking the papers she had written on them more times than she could honestly remember. "Why can't you fill yourself out? My time is precious! Troy will be back and then it's just.. Do this! Don't kill this person! Go to this place and get me this! But don't expect me to say thank you!" Changing her voice to sound much lower than her own she did an awful impression of Troy. Adjusting herself to sit up she knew she had to fill out the papers as soon as she could just for the sake of not needing to look it them anymore.

It took roughly around twenty to thirty minutes to fill the papers out, for other soldiers it took longer but both Leigh and Lilly had many years of experience filling and filing out the papers.. in fact, Lilly was always the first one to finish writing her report. Another dreaded sigh escaped past her lips. "I don't understand that girl.. it's like she enjoys filling out paper work." She had asked her sister before to fill out her own papers but seeing how that was..well, against the law pretty much meant that there was no way in hell Lilly would ever do it. After it felt like forever she had managed to fill out the stupid papers and happily hand them in only to find Lilly standing there tapping her right foot with both of her hands on her hips. "...What did I do now?" Leigh knew that face all too well and that meant she obviously done something wrong that her sister didn't like. "Did it honestly take you this long to fill out the papers? I've been standing here for at least 15 minutes." Wait, why was she..? "Well why the hell would you do that? If you wanted to see me..our rooms are right next to each other." Leigh had stated the obvious but Lilly only rolled her eyes before snatching the papers out of her sister's hand and handing them in for her. "I know it doesn't take you this long to fill out these papers.. you outta know them better than the back of your hand."

The problem with having a sibling who enjoyed her work meant at least being scolding once a day about something that could have been done 'better'. "No, because unlike YOU I like to have a life and do other things than just...work." Lilly huffed as she took a moment to glance away from her sister. "I like to do other things, too!" The look on Lilly's face made it pretty painfully obvious that she was actually trying to think of something. "You poor thing." Leigh only shook her head before placing her right hand on top of her little sister's head. "Don't worry, big sis will help you find an interest outside of work." Leigh knew all too well that her remark about being the bigger sister would cause Lilly to react preciously the way she expected. Lilly swatted the hand off of her head before folding her arms across her chest. "Oi! Would you quit it with the 'big sister' crap! You're only older than me by two minutes!" "Preciously, older by two whole minutes." Before Lilly could even say a word she quickly found herself in a bear hug in which Leigh refused to let her go. "Y-You're crushing me..Whathehellareyoudoing." Leigh continued to keep Lilly in her grasp as she began to waddle back towards their rooms. "Wh-what are you doing?! Let me go! We look ridiculous! People are staring! Leigh?..LEIGH!"

Lilly had made a fuss and complained the entire time but Leigh had managed to get her sister into her room but not before tossing her onto her bed. "What the hell was that?! You ignored everything I said and brought me to your room?!" Leigh stood there with her right pinky in her ear slightly wiggling it. "You better not have destroyed my eardrums. Tsk, so noisy." As Lilly tried to get up she only found herself tackled back onto the bed with her sister clinging onto her. "H-hey! Now what are you doing?!" Leigh continued to ignore Lilly and her cries for help as she forcefully snuggled her sister. "Be quiet, you're too noisy.. It's been forever since we cuddled like this." Lilly had no idea what had gotten into her sister, had she finally snapped and gone crazy? Nah.. it'd take way more than stress alone to do that. Lilly could only sigh in defeat as she looked over at Leigh who looked.. asleep? Wait, what.. Was she really that exhausted? Ahh..looks like it can't be helped..

"Leigh Warren, Mr. Winter wants to see you in his office. Repeat, Mr. Winter wants to see you in his office." The intercom attached to her wall was loud enough to startle the two awake. "Wah!" Both had been startled by the sudden loud intercom in which the two jolted up only to clash heads. "Oww!" Both groaned in pain as they rubbed the spots they had collided. "A-ta-ta-ta...jeeze.. Go figure, once I feel at peace this guy shows up!" Leigh growled in annoyance from the throbbing she felt from her head and the fact her moment of peace had been ruined. Lilly still seemed out of it but once realizing what the announcement had been about jolted out of the bed at record speed. "He's back! Come on, we can't be late." Eager as ever.. chh, it annoyed Leigh to no end seeing how easily Lilly would react to the very name of Troy. How did this happen? No, that didn't matter.. destroying it is what mattered. Leigh rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she slowly dragged herself off of her bed. "I was having a good dream, too... not to mention the cuddles were great." Grinning towards Lilly who only responded by opening the door and already head in the direction of Troy's office. "Oi! Wait up!"

It took less than a minute for Leigh to catch up to Lilly who was walking in fast strides in a memorized path she knew all to well. "Eager as ever I see.." Lilly only gave a single nod. "They probably sent the exact same announcement to my room..but, I wasn't there." So she was a bit jealous that she hadn't heard her name? No doubt they said the exact same thing in her own room! Once they made it to his office they both took a deep breath.. entering Troy's office was like entering a dragon's dungeon. You never knew what to expect and not knowing wasn't nearly as scary as seeing Troy angry. Both waltzed in perfectly synced as they stood several feet from his desk, their arms folded behind their backs while remaining silent. "I've got a problem, which means you have a problem," Lovely, the perfect way to say hello. Neither of the two said a word as Troy continued. "Gabriel Adams, you might remember him from Exitium, the group that no longer exists as of six months ago. What you don't know is that...not quite all the members were killed or recruited. Two still remain missing: Gabriel and Jin Wolf. Jin is a high priority but he's been missing ever since, if he's underground he's deep underground. Gabriel, on the other hand, he's been spotted across the New Gradia districts. I want him brought to me alive, if you kill him I'll kill you."

Seriously, how the hell did Lilly find this guy charming? Leigh hated to ever be threatened and this guy tossed it around like it was nothing and not to mention the two wanted to go on that mission but were turned down which left a bitter taste in both of their mouths. "What makes him necessary now is the recent attack in Los Angeles, if you don't listen to the news or read the paper you'll not know I was attacked by Blackwater soldiers. Easy prey, but they recruited a Gifted that used to be a TNT soldier, used to be in my squad, matter-of-fact. If Blackwater is hiring Gifted discreetly then so will other competitors, anyone who is against the TNT is a potential threat from another company. That can't happen, and now that I know other PMCs will be hiring Gifted this makes Gabriel a top priority. The reason I need him alive is because his power over ice and water is particularly useful. Speaking of ice, I expect Johnathan has been captured?" The news about Troy being attacked in Blackwater only brought Lilly to grow a bit tense at the news but showed no further signs, Leigh showed zero to begin with but it was her job to not only handle the orders given to them by Troy but to also become his shield when trouble hits.

The papers the two had filed out had already been put on his desk and once he started flipping through the papers and skimming what information they had written. "He's dead? He wasn't supposed to be dead, Lilly. I wanted him alive!" Oh s**t, he thought Lilly was the one who punched Johnathan into a million pieces? Lilly was obviously shocked that he had mistaken her as the one who had screwed up. Rule number one, in the dragons den you do not speak up unless given permission. Leigh couldn't even correct him and tell him it had been her. Lilly could only stand there without saying a word as she was falsely accused of Leigh's mistake. "bring me Gabriel, alive, and you'll be forgiven for your obvious mistake. You're just lucky Gabriel can do what Johnathan could, except better. Gabriel was last spotted in the Bronx, you are under strict orders to keep your powers hidden from human eyes. Here," Leigh grabbed the photo given to her that was of Gabriel Adams, he wasn't sore on the eyes. "You have my orders, now get out of my office. If you kill him don't bother coming back." And just like that, they were given the wave of leaving. As they turned to leave Troy spoke up once more. "keep an eye out on other Gifted or Superhumans in the Bronx. Gabriel is high priority but you should be keeping up public appearances of exterminators of any threat. If you come across anyone else besides Gabriel keep me informed. I'll be catching up on some sleep but I'll have my secretary wake me if it's important."

With that being said the two left without saying a word, it wasn't until they were several feet from his office did Leigh feel her head get smacked hard. "HEY! That freaking hurt.." Clenching her teeth in pain she knew the reason why Lilly had done it. "Did you seriously write down that it was ME who punched Johnathan into a million pieces?!" Lilly was livid. "Of course not! I wrote my name!" Leigh hissed while rubbing her head that had now gained a second hit in the past half an hour. "He just skimmed! So don't blame me! It isn't my fault mom gave us both names that started with an L!" Lilly was now sulking. "Now he thinks I'm incompetent... Just like my sister." Purposely she added the last part before hanging her head. "Hey!" Now Leigh wanted to return the favor and smack her sister upside the head..but she had been punished enough by getting scolded by someone she admired. "Jeeze, just forget about what he said. We have a mission now and the sooner we get started the better. Gabriel Adams is our target. Let's get what we need and leave."

Driving a regular everyday looking car given by the TNT Leigh was pleased they didn't have to take transit to get here but come on.. this car just felt like she was suppose to be some 40 year old who has an office job with the name 'regular Joe'. Well, seeing how they were in the Bronx you wouldn't want to bring a nice looking vehicle here unless you want it to either get stolen, taken apart, or asked to be jumped. Parking the car in random parking lot she had chosen but would remember Leigh and Lilly both exited the car dressed in black leggings with jean shorts, each wearing their own personally picked t-shirt with a denim jacket, they wanted to blend in and their TNT skeleton suits would make them stick out like a sore thumb. "Well s**t, looks like we have a lot of land to cover..What a dump." Lilly took a moment to think as to which way they should check out first. "I think we may have to split up." Just as soon as that idea was spoken Leigh quickly crushed it. "Not a chance, I don't feel comfortable having you wander these parts on your own." Lilly shook her head while lifting her arms. "Do you seriously see me as some little girl who can't take care of herself?" Leigh simply shook her head while remaining calm even though Lilly was currently raising her voice at her. "I never said that, I just said I don't want you wandering these parts alone. Listen, we are stronger together than we are apart. Okay?"

By putting it that way Lilly couldn't really say much but mumble some things here and there but it was decided the two would remain together. For now they crossed the street while looking around the dump they called the Bronx. Even though the two looked ordinary they always had connections of keeping in contact with the TNT as they wore earpieces that were hidden behind their hair. "This is going to take forever." The Bronx wasn't some small place to try to find a superhuman in hiding. Walking along the sidewalk it was hard not to make a disgusted face by how poorly the place was intact. Carefully Leigh handed the photo to Lilly. "This is who we're looking for. Not bad on the eyes, eh?" Lilly wasn't surprise to hear such a remark come from her sister. "I'll admit, defiantly isn't the worst I've seen." Handing the photo back to Leigh she quickly tucked it away in her back pocket as they scouted the area.

✖Location: Bronx.
✔Company: Themselves.
✖Mood: Alert but still sulking mentally. / Ready to get her hands dirty.
✔Wearing: Black leggings with jean shorts, t-shirts with a denim jacket.
★Note this colour, when used it means both girls are talking at the same time.

[The Raikura]

Emerald irises focused intently on the mysterious hooded female across the table from him. For a moment there was a temporary pause, the atmosphere viewed from an outside perspective would classify this as unsettling. Arching his left brow in a skeptical manner as he noticed her vibrant fire-coloured bangs revealed from the hood that shadowed her expressions. Locking gaze with her brilliant emerald irises that matched in comparison to his own. "From the looks of how hard you were taking in the 'evidence' earlier, I'm going to assume that you're kind of like me. Meaning you don't waste anything. Well, I don't waste my time. Meaning, if I was in any way associated with the likes of them... you wouldn't be alive. Not after the things I've seen." A ghastly smirk lifted the corner of his lips when she informed him that the two happened to be similar. Lucifer couldn't exactly deny what he's seen so far from her relentless attacks and destructive ways when encountering a nuisance. The way her voice was, radiating the truth as he noticed the fiery aura that remained unchanged when the two spoke. The scarlet haired male gestured his head with a silent nod, deciding to end the subject of whether he should be suspicious of the mysterious female as he removed his elbows from the surface of the white tabletop. Leaning against the cushioned seating a sigh of relief exhaled from his lips while he briefly glimpsed over at the approaching waitress.

"Ember." His lips parted though no noise emerged from his throat. Shifting his gaze back towards the fiery-maned female as she stated a name. "My name... is Ember." A slight noise croaked in his throat, realizing that was just about the only thing she would bother revealing to him. Then again Lucifer didn't care so to speak. She basically knew his name and what his purpose for being in the Bronx along with information that was on a need to know basis. The waitress held the plates steadily at hand, a basic cheeseburger for Ember and for Lucifer, well he ordered a cheese steak with jalapenos and pepperjack cheese. She appeared focus on her meal than anything else, leaving small talk definitely out of the question with the unwavering atmosphere. Lucifer wasted little time on devouring the entire foot long, slowly savoring the delicacy of the golden crisp fries basked in salt as he noticed the female waitress returned to the table.

A puzzled expression displayed on his face as he noticed the female's hesitant reaction. "Mam' I'm so sorry..." Lucifer glanced over from the female to Ember who continued to consume her cheeseburger. "But with out security cameras we cannot allow people to wear helmets, hats or hoods. Would you please remove yours?" Sighing in irritation Lucifer leaned against the table while suspiciously observing the female. "I... I'd rather not." Ember retorted in response to the employee while she continued to persist in the matter. "For ******** sake, you've got to be kidding," An irritated growl croaked in his throat, his chewing becoming erratic in annoyance "I-I really have to request that you do..." Once again, stereotyping just because she's wearing a hood. Keeping his thoughts to his self while lifting a fry to his lips.

BOOM!

A sudden explosion disrupted the quaint atmosphere of the diner. The screams and panic of the innocent bystanders filled the air while smoke clouded the entire establishment. Glass scattered across the diner, many of the civilians were injured from the detonation. Two silhouettes appeared in the midst of the clouded smoke and immediately opened fire in Lucifer's direction. Crunching down on his final fry the scarlet-maned male maneuvered himself from the storm of bullets. One of the bullets grazed his left cheekbone which caused a scowl to display on his facial features while he found himself cornered. Lucifer realized that these weren't ordinary bullets. No. These bullets were solidified cosmic energy bullets which singed his skin. Growling in a low pitched tone the silhouette rushed at Lucifer and delivered a fierce knee into his sternum. Enduring the impact wasn't hard though the shockwave that followed caused his equilibrium to be thrown as a pulse of cosmic energy hurled him out of the diner.

The crimson-haired male's body was airborne for a distance of a block and a half. His body descending to the ground, impacting the asphalt of the road as Lucifer rolled for a few feet until he halted completely. Groaning in pain Lucifer placed both palms on the asphalt as he steadily elevated himself from the ground. Orange shards spilled from his trademark shades which caused a snarl to escape his lips. Directing his gaze to the silhouette pursuing him, the assailant's appearance started to become clear while Lucifer focused on him. "Well well, didn't expect Ember to have any acquaintances," a voice announced with a haughty tone as footsteps walking on the asphalt echoed. A male with jet-black hair and crimson streaks wielded dual pistols that radiated an orange hued glow fueling the barrel instead of ammo.

"Lucifer ain't it? Such an a*****e to your friends, poor blonde didn't deserve that," murmuring in a hushed tone while aiming for Lucifer as he elevated himself from the ground. Without hesitation his index fingers squeezed the trigger. Two cosmic bullets pierced into the backside of Lucifer's hand which caused him to grunt in pain, clenching his teeth while glaring at the male with malice. "Keep getting up and I'll turn up the intensity of the bullets and pierce through your body," The dual coloured mane male informed Lucifer. His black eyebrows knitted together as he noticed the azure energy channeling from the tips of his fingers and surging throughout his body. "Ah, there's that power from earlier," Referencing from when Kyoko and himself were lurking in the shadows. This superhuman named Lucifer possessed knowledge of a group known as the Covenant. A name, unknown to Clyde but if it was necessary Troy would've relayed the information if there were a threat.

The azure cosmic energy in his core started to accelerate throughout his entire body. Anger amplified the azure aura surging through his body as he elevated himself to his feet. "Save yourself the trouble and just stay down, we're only here for Ember. You on the other hand, well you just happen to be an extra," Speaking in an emotionless tone of voice, carefully observing his prey while he noticed the crimson-haired male continue to struggle to his feet. Lucifer's fingers curled into the palm of his hand, the sound of his bones cracking in a disturbingly loud echo. "Idiot, just die like the -- !" Clyde's jaw clenched from a fierce fist delivered by Lucifer, the strength enforced by his burning azure aura as it caused the TNT soldier to skyrocket across the block in the direction of the diner.

With a heavy thud Clyde's body impacted the asphalt, cracking the surface beneath him which matched the shape of his form. The punch threw his equilibrium off balance as his crimson orbs spiraled in separate directions as pinballs in a pinball machine. The nerves of his body cried out excruciating distress. "Ugh...like being run over by a steamroller," the soldier murmured in a hushed voice as he noticed the silhouette of the target approaching. Lucifer sneered at the sight of Clyde, his right hand grasping onto the fur rim of his jacket and hoisting him into the air. What the ******** do you want." His lips curled into a snarl, emerald irises piercing through the body while trying to interrogate the male clearly younger then him. "Wouldn't you like to know --!" Lucifer delivered a heavy headbutt into Clyde's face dead center, reeling from the recoil though noticed that he drew blood.

"Rookie mistake," Lucifer announced to the male as blood smeared his own face from the impact. It was quite ironic. He questioned if the Tactical Neutralization Team would arrive and what do you know, here they are. Dragging the soldier fading in and out of consciousness to the scene where the two dispersed. Wincing slightly as the scorched marks on the back of his hands, Lucifer delivered another fist with his left hand. [******** b*****d," In the distance he noticed a feminine figure approaching Ember nearly buried among the rubble. "Hey b***h," Reeling Clyde back with ease, his azure aura spiked intensely while the asphalt cracked beneath his feet. "ORAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Launching Clyde in the direction of Kyoko as the two bodies would collide heavily and send the assailants flying.

Lucifer quickly dashed in the direction of Ember, moving the debris away from her form while hoisting her to her feet. "What the ******** Ember, I don't even know you for a day and you bring them after me. Some friendship," Murmuring in a hushed tone, Lucifer noticed that the two quickly regained themselves. "Guess I underestimated him Kyoko," Clyde announced to the female while his pistols vanished into thin air and materialized into a rocket launcher, aiming directly for the two. Aiming for the two Clyde managed to get a lock on the targets. Without hesitation Clyde fired the RPG, watching the rocket spiral into the sky towards the two. The rocket detonated the moment it was within proximity causing a cloud of smoke to shroud them. A smug smirk lifted the corner of his lips until that overconfidence faded.

Lucifer casted an azure barrier to shield them from the incoming projectile, the impact wavered the shield but he managed to withstand. "There's not exactly a place to run in New Gradia, seeing as they're establishment is in the city. So unless you have some idea, guess we're ********] Informing Ember of the situation in which she would be already aware of.

♘ ▇▇▇ C o m p a n y // Ember, Kyoko, Clyde
♘ ▇▇▇ L o c a t i o n // Bronx -- Outside Rush Diner
♘ ▇▇▇ T h o u g h t s // "We're prolly ********]
♘ ▇▇▇ O u t f i t // This s**t. . .

[Ryo Sho Sen]

"Now, lets see" Stelara stopped on the sidewalk, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she tried to decide on her next destination. There was a rather remarkable shoe store just a few blocks away, although at the same time she was getting hungry. And when an Artaxian got hungry, it meant that a feast was in the immediate future. Her body wasn't like that of a normal human, she required much more energy to function properly. Her food intake was at the least 6x higher than that of your average earthling. She might be a nightmare for retail shops, but she was a restaurants dream. Suddenly her stomach made a rather beastly sound, as if to answer her dilemma for her. " Well that settles it" she chirped happily, starting to walk again.

She didn't get to far though before her phone suddenly started to vibrate from deep insider her white fringed purse. However Stelara wasn't exactly known for her organization, so of course she had to dig around in her purse for her phone. Of course by the time her fingers touched the sleek device, it had already stopped. Sighing Stelara looked at the screen, seeing that it had been Zaira. Hmmm, wonder if it was super important... Stelara wondered to herslef, getting ready to call her friend back. But before she could click call, an excited voice came from just behind her.

"No way, Sunnie Grace I'll be damned!"

Turning around Stelara saw a dark haired boy grinning wildly at her. That right, ever since Jace had helped her create this alias people seemed to stop her on the street quite often. Some people wanted to take their pictures with her, while others wanted her to sign things. Humans idolized the oddest things in her opinion, but she was always happy to oblige none the less. Flipping a lock of brown hair overher shoulder Stelara just smiled and waved "Hello"

"Damn it if I knew I'd be running into you I'd have brought my Sixteen Magazine with you in it, I'm kidding I don't actually own that magazine. But to actually meet you is so sweet. I'm Dax." he said excitedly, holding out his hand. "Sunnie" she said, shaking his hand., "you're not going to a gig or something are you? I could give you a ride in...uh...my sweet taxi..." which he easily summoned. "I'll take you where you need to go, besides there are some more thrift shops in Brooklyn I wanted to check out and I'm sick of walking"

"Well I actually already finished my photoshoot, so I decided to check out the shops while I was in the area. Buuuuut, I am getting a little hungry" she claimed, tilting her head to the side in a manned that Jace had told her to do, because it was 'cute'. That was what Sunnie was known for, her bubbly 'kawaii' personality alongside her provocative figure. " You could take me to lunch" okay so she wasn't suppose to get in cars with stranger, but Stelara could handle herself in most situations. Besides...she was really really hungry. And if she could get him to buy her lunch, that was one less meal she would have to purchase herself.


❏ █ ▌{ S» » COMPANY :: Daxter
❏ █ ▌{ S» » LOCATION :: Manhatten
❏ █ ▌{ S» » THOUGHTS :: I''m super hungry....also...I should still call Zaira back soon
❏ █ ▌{ S» » WEARING :: Sunnie Grace! - purple shorts, silver sequin crop top, gladiator sandals
 

[Salem Wolf]

Gabriel's computer time went without issue, with no real purpose or goal in mind except to kill some time before he went back "home", after all the only thing he had to look forward to was whatever food he bummed off Salem and sleeping on some lousy futon mattress. He wished he had a moment to look up some sexy women, but the library wasn't anywhere near quiet enough for that, with people walking past him every so often. Gabriel might've been a flirtatious pervert, but he had some dignity and standards, neither of which involved him whacking it to internet porn in a library. Sadly with his homelessness and inability to get a job anywhere (which would lead to him being back on the grid, and thus the TNT able to track him) that meant prospective dates were few and far between. He would usually rely on boasting and generosity to get a girl interested in him, but frequenting the bars meant paying for drinks, and without a job those drinks were difficult to pay for, so internet women had to be the extent of his pleasure lately. Unfortunately, that was just about as difficult to get as internet alone time at a public library, so needless to say he was a little frustrated, and as long as the TNT wanted him dead that wouldn't change.
"Damn it, I need an outlet!" Gabriel slammed his forehead on the keyboard as a young woman walked past. He looked up and grinned to her, "sup baby?" She only paused to look at him for a moment, then kept walking. Gabriel turned back to his computer monitor and stood up, going to the help desk to grab the pages he printed out.

"That'll be 40 cents." The librarian said, putting the stacks of printed pages in front of her, looking to Gabriel with a bored look. Gabriel leaned forward on the desk and stared down to her, unimpressed by the paper printing policy.
"Let's cut the chitchat honey, you don't get paid enough to put up with a bullshitter like me. I have a nickel in my back pocket I picked up off the ground, so I'll owe the other 35 cents later or you can start up a tab. Either way, I am walking out of here with my papers and without paying this ludicrous fee." The librarian blinked before sighing and sliding the papers forward, letting him walk off with them without paying, which he would have done regardless. If he had to take them and walk out without permission that's how it would have gone down. Gabriel left the library with his papers stuffed in his pocket, wandering back out into the streets. Wondering what he could do next to kill time, considering his entire life at this point was just to kill time, Gabriel leaned against a wall before he heard the echoes of a loud explosion in the distance. It caught his attention, looking up to a plume of smoke reaching the skyline, and it intrigued him. "Shouldn't be a reason in hell I check that out but damn it if I'm not bored."

Rushing off towards the epicenter of the explosion, Gabriel raced through the streets with his jacket whipping in the wind, sliding to a stop as he came near the sounds of gunfire. Finding an alley with a fire escape he could climb, Gabriel made his way to the top of the roof to get a clear view on what was happening below. A diner was caught in smoke and gunfire with what clearly looked like TNT Dogs after someone. "There's no way in hell I'm sticking around, this isn't my scene." He said softly, crouching down and hiding behind the lip of the building. It surprised him to see the red-haired TNT Elite fighting with another fiery-haired woman, throwing her into the street and engaging her in combat. Two hot women fighting was exciting, but this situation was a lot more dangerous than he was going to want to intervene with, back "home" he had some snacks and dinner he could eat, if he needed entertainment he had some magazines he'd read a dozen times. He stood up and turned his body away from the fighting, the TNT Elite kicking the Superhuman/Gifted into a nearby wall. He heard the bone-shattering crunch and took a single step forward. It was the moment that another TNT Elite arrived, capable of materializing weaponry and firing a rocket at the two Gifted/Superhumans that Gabriel shook his head and wondered if they'd survive. 'It ain't my problem, no reason I need to get back on their radar.' The fire-head was Ember, judging from her partner's reaction to luring TNT to them, Kyoko was the other redhead and the TNT Elite. That left the men's names unknown, but he didn't need to know them. Seemed like the TNT Dogs and Elite were honing in on the two supers.

'I bring people like you in to protect them from the dangers of the outside world. I train them, give them refuge, and they repay me in kind by growing stronger, groups like the TNT only ensure to create a world of weakened cattle ripe for slaughter. The few exceptional are lost in the herd, I make sure to weed them out.'
'Sounds oddly heroic for a guy with a reputation like yours, Jin.'
'You'd be surprised what popular perceptions can permanently change the way a person is seen. It's the aspirations you desire to become that can change them. When I die everyone will perceive me as a monster, but it'll be people like you who know better. What do you want to be remembered for?'

Gabriel grumbled and turned back to the scene of the two supers about to be killed by the TNT Elites, then shook his head. [********] Gabriel hesitated but pushed forward and leapt off the building, landing with a thud in a crouched pose, expanding deadly ice spikes from the center of impact, impaling the various soldiers that had gone with the Elites. Gabriel stood up to look towards the group of Elites. 'Alright Jin, here's hoping that training paid off.' Immediately he froze his arm and tossed out icicles to impale Kyoko and Clyde with, darting towards Ember and Lucifer and separating them between a large ice wall. "More Elites will be on the way, so unless you wanna get spanked by 'em we better be running." Gabriel formed the ice wall between the supers and TNT Elites, which would buy them a few minutes, hopefully no one TNT Elites would arrive, say the kind of redheaded twins searching for him in the first place.

→ Location: Bronx - Rush Diner ↔ Company: Ember, Clyde, Kyoko, Lucifer ↔ Outfit: Casual Clothes ←

[Salem Wolf]

After the meetings with his clients he was glad to have the extra money deposited in the bank, and that meant a day worth of thrift shopping to entertain himself with until the next contract or all-nighter of a new video game he would undoubtedly buy. But right now the thrift shops were supposed to be filled with hidden gems he would want, sadly he wasn't finding anything and it was annoying to see nothing of interest. At least let there be a neat ceramic animal he could put on his shelf or something, but not even that. Clothes racks were always ignored by him, jewelry cases were never glanced at, and unless he was interested in an old VHS movie he wasn't feeling anything he found. Daxter shrugged in his uneventful shopping and took off for the busy Manhattan sidewalks, deciding to check out another shop nearby that had always given him good results, but before he could do that overhearing the problem with the teenage girls and their customer that never bought anything intrigued him, and he offered to solve their problem. Taking off after the customer which distracted him from his mission of thrift shopping, Daxter was surprised to find that this wasn't some ordinary rude customer: it was Sunnie Grace, model extraordinaire!

It wasn't Sunnie Grace specifically so much as it was meeting a celebrity, he kept up with the celebrity gossip and news, not necessarily because he enjoyed it but because he had a lot of down time and reading magazines, blogs, and browsing websites kept him entertained between long hours of video games, TV binging, and those 1-2 hour long contracts that paid him more in a day than most people made in six months. Other people had blue-collar jobs, white-collar jobs, or worked some form of retail, but Dax worked a job that was quite technically...illegal. In fact it was illegal. Thankfully for him, his various entertainment kept him sane, though what degree of sanity he held was up for debate.

Dax was never going to pass up an opportunity to offer a ride to a celebrity if he ever met one, he figured one good deed would get him remembered, then maybe exchange phone numbers, hang out, be friends, before he knew it he had a best friend who was rich and famous. That kind of power went beyond the power of his Gifts, that opened doors into Hollywood, into TV, or just getting him favors that could push a career into screenwriting. Not a lot of people knew Dax, in his spare time, was something of a writer. If he could get one screenplay produced that would be something he could knock off his bucket list, especially considering he only had about 5-6 years left to live, thanks to being Gifted. So giving Sunnie a ride meant he could be her friend, and then escalate from there. Exciting!

"Well I actually already finished my photoshoot, so I decided to check out the shops while I was in the area. Buuuuut, I am getting a little hungry," she told him, Daxter smirking as he hailed a cab for them. She shook his hand after his introduction and she introduced herself back, which was unnecessary because he knew her, but she didn't wave him off so that was a good sign. He always heard that Sunnie was a polite person, he just didn't know how polite. She tilted her head to the side which Jace taught her, and indeed it was cute. 'Holy hell this chick is just like an anime character. Sweet Jesus don't let me down.'

"You could take me to lunch" she told him, which was a surprise. He expected to give her a ride, hell he mostly expected a 'hell no' from her, but lunch? That was even better! Swinging his arm out to direct her into the back of the cab, Dax darted around the other side and got into the back, once the two were situated he had to think of where they could go to eat. All his usual places were greasy dives that wouldn't be suitable for TV, let alone for a celebrity, and a sandwich place seemed lame. Buffets were always a good bet for him, but this was a lunch event between him and Sunnie Grace, you don't take someone like that to an all-you-can-eat buffet...though if he knew what her appetite was the way it was he would have decided on that. There were fast food places but that didn't seem very...upscale...for a model. But the upscale stuff seemed too much like a place you'd take a date, let alone someone you just met.

"Are we going or...?" The cabbie asked, Daxter leaning up between the seats to look at the cab driver.
"Just drive." He said with a glare, leaning back as the idea of a place to eat hit him. What else was more middle-class without seeming like a date than an All-American eatery? "Roman's on 42nd."
"You mean the hamburger joint?" Daxter blinked, looking to Sunnie.
"It's a lot nicer than you think." He looked through the rear view mirror to the cabbie, "just drive. You aren't getting paid by the word." Honestly, sometimes cabbies just had to ruin the surprise. Dax leaned back in the seat and looked over to Sunnie.
"Soooo," he had never spoken to a celebrity before, he wasn't sure what to say. "Oh man, this traffic. It's murder, haha. Murder. You know, like the...uh..."
"You sound like a real suave gentleman."
"Shut up."
"Oh look, we're here." The cabbie parked the taxi and Daxter tossed the money at the guy.
"You're a d**k. I hope you sleep soundly knowing you are a huuuuge d**k." Escaping the cab, Daxter slammed the door and looked over to the restaurant, leading Stelara/Sunnie inside.

"Welcome to Roman's, probably the best hamburgers ever. Sit down, eat, let's discuss things like...uh...your career! Mhm, tell me all about your career." Sitting down to order, Daxter looked through the menus so they could begin having lunch together. It wasn't every day that he got to have lunch with a model. "Soooo, what makes you thrift shop? You're probably rich! You could shop at...uh...Target! Man I love Target, you been to Target? It's like a target for my needs. Haha...ha." Daxter wasn't sure what to say to Sunnie, he'd never met a celebrity before. At least it was time to order as the waitress came around to their table.

"Half pound double bacon burger, fries on the side and a coke. Make the burger medium. Mmm...burger." Looking to Stelara, it was her turn to order.

→ Location: Manhattan - Roman's Hamburgers ↔ Company: Stelara (as Sunnie Grace) ↔ Outfit: T-Shirt and Jeans, hidden weapon ←

[Kobaccas]

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A long slime finger tapped the glass showcase counter as he contemplated the quality of the two daggers set before him. Both seemed of fair quality. The metal was nick free and the hilt was simple black leather. All in all the two appeared to have never been used except for the blood that covered them. Looking up, Reaver studied the boy that stood in front of him. He continually rubbed his arms like he was chilled. Reaver knew that was not the case. He never turned the AC on. One might as well throw money down the street. His store, the Gilded Lily, was nestled between an cafe and an decrepit apartment building located near the heart of the Bronx. Both neighbors shaded on story shop, free AC.

The boys nervous. Why?

Reaver picked up one of the daggers, the blood nearly dried, and rolled it smoothly in his hands. There’s no way the boy had the balls to stab someone with these. Placing it down next to its bother, Reaver settled on an price. “I will give you 40 for both.” He stated.

“What! The worth more than that! I’ll...I’ll go elsewhere you crook!” The child yelled back, his voice breaking in the end. Reaver frowned, he was not going to be disrespected in his shop by some boy on the verge of pissing himself.

“You have no business here then, boy. Go elsewhere and try to sell them. I am the only pawn shop in the Bronx that buys weapons without papers. Plus, there's your nerve of trying to sell me two freshly bloodied weapons.” Reaver stated, picking both blades up and handing them back to the child by the hilt.

Shame washed over the boys face as he lowered his head. Oh, sweet defeat. Reaver enjoyed the look in the boys eyes.“No. Your...your right. 40 is a good deal.” The boy said as he stared straight at his sneakers. Reaver popped open the cash drawer and withdrew the money. The boy was right, the two were worth more but Reaver wasn't trying to make a friend, simply he knew he boy would never return. His customers came far for his blackmarket trade. There wasn't an weapon or rare item he hadn't been able to lay hands on and most of his sales had no paper trail, just the way his customer liked it. And on the side, he sold information. All he had to do was ask how much and secrets fell from tight lips.

“What do you know about these two daggers? I make it a point to know some of the history of every item that passes through my doors.” Reaver handed the boy the cash. Uneasy hands grasped the money and looked up at Reaver for the first time.

“I...I found them in some alley. Thats all I know, I swear. I was just taking a shortcut when BAM I found two...daggers and some blood. Look a fight took place.” The boy looked at the cash, flipping through the bills like hed been short changed.

“Where was this alley?”

“I don’t remember. It was near some bar.” With that the boy turned and left, the door tingled softly as the door swung open. Reaver looked out the front of his store, the sun rarely visible in the Bronx always gave this place the feeling of anticipation, like a storm was about to hit.

How odd.. Fights happened regularly in the Bronx but rarely does one happen where no one knows nothing. By noon, Reaver knew every fight and murder that happened during the night and early morning thanks in large part of his runners that he paid. The victors, the losers, victims, and why. But he knew nothing of a fight involving these daggers.

Running his fingers through his long deep purple hair, Reaver decided it was time for a walk. “Sota, came here.” He called to his part timer. He watched as the young youth came through the back door. “I’m in need to stretch my legs. I will leave you in charge. Clean both these daggers and have them in the case before in return. And do remember to not sell anything below the final set price, understood.” He watched as the strawberry blonde nodded before setting to work on the dagger. Reaver smiled as he pushed through his store glass door.


↘ //location: Alleyways of the Bronx
↘ //company: None
↘ //event: Just a nice stroll
↘ //thinking: Lets see what secrets the streets will whisper to me today
↘ //Wearing: The Usual

[Escaflowdra]

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Getting to the restaurant was quite a trip, especially since Ember was just coming down from the small jitters of being in the bar fight to find the 'saved' girl dead and turned to ashes. She stared at Lucifer's back on the walk there, though her eyes could see other children and adults in her peripherals, it never distracted her from her main thoughts. I wonder why he's taking me with him. Though it was a little beyond Ember's imagination to imagine that there was somebody in the world that was actually interested in getting to know her, she could at least safely assume that Lucifer was not out to get her. After all, he'd seen enough of her and people after that she spelled out trouble, yet he stayed. Her emerald irises glanced at his back that was looking rather small though she was trailing not too far behind him as she pondered on her own thoughts. I wonder how long it's been since I've been somewhere with somebody. Too long I guess... since I don't even know how to act or how to say anything. Though, judging from his mannerisms and speech, I'm pretty sure he's a straight-forward guy. Not too hard to be straight with somebody while neglecting possible feelings being hurt. He's tough. She liked that she could talk to him and he didn't show signs of discomfort or anything so far, but once walking into the restaurant she realized she would have to be sitting by him in some way, and that would leave them being company to each other. Having a crime scene to talk about was one thing, talking in casual conversation was something entirely different.

When she gave him her name, there was some hesitance behind it. She didn't trust a lot of people, but he seemed to be against the TNT and this new 'Covenant' gang she learned about. It was just a first name. It wasn't like he had seen much of her face or hair to put it with her name. They didn't exchange numbers, they didn't visit each other's homes. I just need to loosen up. I know I'm supposed to keep my secrets but it's not like I'll get stalked by a comrade. Ember blinked her eyes as she consciously started to think of Luci as a comrade in all this, though she wasn't sure why. Was it natural that in a time with Gifted and Superhumans being exterminated that they would band together unconsciously for fighting against a threat to their kind? Ember scoffed, just a little. There were some superhumans that didn't think like that, that gave into their weaknesses and joined the military. But he's not. I just need to give somebody a chance. Ember, in truth, had been alone for so long that it was actually nice to hear somebody else's voice other than her own, even if it was the frustrated growls of a man she just met. Beggers can't be choosers. She smiled slightly as she started eating her meal. Then came the fun part. She was being put on the spot in front of him by a waitress that requested that she take off her hood. It was one thing talking to Lucifer and letting him know her name, but she didn't need any possible other enemies in the restaurant to recognize her flame-colored hair. As far as she was concerned, her hair was practically a giveaway. People had to go through crazy dye-processes to get their hair to look like anything in comparison to hers, and that made tracking her in public easy for being public enemy number one.

So she declined. She was ready to jump from her seat, bid her time not being alone for once farewell on the account that her life sucked and she couldn't enjoy one simple meal without the trouble of revealing her identity, but then a loud crash came. BOOM! The screams of innocent bystanders filled her head and caused her to wince slightly as she brushed some of the debris and glass off of her person. Well this certainly can't be good... And she was right. It was TNT. Kyoko stood tall as she looked down at Ember, a small hum in the back of her throat as she was back to back with Clyde. She was lucky to be partnered up with a guy who could hold his own, or so she'd seen in the past times they ever went on missions together. It was better than being paired with the twins for now, seeing how Troy was out of town for a bit and Lilly was kind of mopey. It wasn't like Kyoko wasn't there for them, but the whole relationship with Troy kind of bugged her. She personally didn't care for that man much, seeing how he was practically a ladies magnet. How Leigh and her resisted was up the the simple conclusion that they were alike. Who needs a guy that uses women and people? Kyoko was more alongside Leigh on the boat of 'Troy is a d**k' headed to 'Don't Give No ******** Island'. It was nice. However, Kyoko took her mind off of them as she focused on the main objective. Take out Ember and her newly acquired boy toy. Hearing Clyde waste no time in assassinating Lucifer was a good sign of getting the job done quicker, but Kyoko did not as... well hell. They were in a burger joint? Ahh god I need something to eat. And there it was. In the hands of her enemy was a buger sent as a sign from god that her hardwork and deeds would be rewarded with the tendermeat topped with melty cheddar and -- I need this. So she sat down, seeing that the dragon girl was not at all amused by her sitting in front of her, let alone swiping her food and eating it in front of her face.

Ember looked at Lucifer from around Kyoko as a male with black and red hair began shooting at him, grazing the skin on his cheek and causing him to growl. Ember would have helped if it were just one, but no. There was always more than expected. She looked back into the eyes of Kyoko who criss-cross applesauced her legs to sitting in front of her, looking into her pale red eyes mixed with the colors of a sunset. "So. You're Ember huh?" The girl said as some of the food slipped from her mouth. Kyoko grinned as she heard Ember's reply as "b***h, is it?" Cussing is a no-no for Kyoko. I guess not everybody knows table manners~ Kyoko simply moved her body slightly from being hit by the angry punch Ember had not coordinated at all due to frustration. She went a little further to grab Ember's fist and holding it with her free hand, the burger in the other as she smiled while eating. Kyoko's arm was stronger than what her figure appeared to be, but Ember didn't realize how modified Kyoko's body was due to a special suit underneath all her clothes. "Actchually -- Pwahh oh god that's good -- it's Kyoko." Ember growled as she heard the hum of machinery grow stronger. What the hell is she? Part android or something? Kyoko narrowed her eyes behind her seemingly innocent smile. The humm of machinery seemed almost impossible to recognize, if you were just human, but with Ember taking glances at her arm, Kyoko could tell she was more than just eye candy. Ember had dragonic senses and could probably hear some of Kyoko's secrets. I can't have that now can I? Kyoko smiled as she yanked on Ember's arm and threw her out the front door.

Ember hurled into a nearby building while Kyoko stood up from the table she was sitting on to look outside and see Lucifer fighting with "Clyde..." Sure, Clyde was her partner for this mission and they would no doubt have the ease of taking these two Superhumans out, but Kyoko couldn't deny that she was just a little worried that he would need back up. Ember was a big enemy, but there was no doubt that if Lucifer was Gifted, it would make this battle a lot more difficult. But was he? She turned on her heels, deciding to take care of Ember. She walked outside and saw the woman's hood on the ground, kneeling down and picking it up as Ember rose from the debris. Ember looked along the ground as Kyoko approached. "Is this what you're lookin' for?~" Kyoko purred as she showed Ember the black hood. Ember growled hunching down and taking no time to lunge at the woman, but was surprised to see her dodging so quickly, moreover matching her speed. You're going to have to do better than that to catch up to me baby~ Kyoko grinned as she had caught Ember off guard, sending a direct kick to her stomach that made the girl fly down the street. Kyoko stood soon on the hood of the car, her steel heels denting into the car hood. "Woo they weren't kidding when they said your hair looked like the color of fire! You're like a walking match-stick. Slender frame, orange hair. Maybe... we should make the fire real?" Though the files on Ember were limited, Kyoko made the mistake of neglecting to think a dragon could have anything to do in resistance to fire power as she foolishly coated Ember in her own crimson flames. However, when the flames started to die down she realized her attempts to burn the girl were a complete waste of time as her heels were molded to the frame of the car. "You don't know much about me, do you?" Ember spit as Kyoko tried to move forward but felt her steel heels get molded into the frame of the car hood. "W-What the hell?" Kyoko looked down to see her new boots ruined. "I can't move!"
"...Good."
"You think this is funny? You know how much money I paid to get these! Ugh I could have used that to buy a mini fridge for myself in my bathroom!"
".... Uhh--"
"Don't give me that look. When I'm hot-tubbing I like something to snack on."

What a pain-in-my-a** brat! Well I got another trick up my sleeve... Ember gave a look of sarcasm but Kyoko was thinking on her feet. Suddenly the heels of the boots snapped as Kyoko twisted her body. Ember didn't expect the heels to detach because they were too molded to break, it almost looked as if Kyoko broke her heels straight off her actual foot! She swiftly kicked Ember hard enough to cause her to crash head-first into a brick building, impacting it with a skull-smashing sound that she would have died if she were human. Ember laid amongst the rubble as she felt a daze hit her and she couldn't move. The darkness around her vision closed in the closer Kyoko came. T... That kick did... did... Ember's thoughts were unfinished as she rose a hand to put a barrier between her and Kyoko, but it flickered from the weakness of her magic. Kyoko looked down to her feet and lifted one behind her slowly, seeing the wires spark slightly. Indeed, her heels had been broken off and detached, but she didn't actually have heels. They're not going to be happy about that... Kyoko said as she balanced herself while walking, the loss of her heels on her feet only throwing her slightly off balance. "W...What did you do to me?" Ember asked as Kyoko came close. "Secrets are secrets for a reason."

"Hey b***h," Kyoko widened her eyes as suddenly she heard--
"ORAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Kyoko's side felt the strong impact of Clyde being tossed into her and causing the two of them to fly part way down the street. Ember winced as she looked up with hazy eyes, seeing Lucifers crimson red hair coming from fuzzy to detail as he moved the debris off her. "D-Damn..." Ember muttered as she felt the sting of poison rock her body, causing her to be limp. It felt like poison, but she wasn't sure what it was. Lucifer hoisted Ember back onto her feet as she clutched onto his sleeve, using him for support as she squinted her emerald eyes to try and refocus the clarity of her ******** up vision. "What the ******** Ember, I don't even know you for a day and you bring them after me. Some friendship," he murmured in a hushed tone. Ember growled slightly with a pained grin on her face. "Fr-Friends huh? Think you can handle me enough to call me a friend.. you gotta be crazy." But she wasn't going to argue much. Meanwhile Kyoko winced, picking herself up on her elbows and looking at Clyde as his head rested on her stomach. She felt a heat rise on her face as she gritted her teeth and looked as his face, the blood still fresh, and looked up at the two who caused all the trouble. She picked up Clyde and moved him carefully off of her, pulling out her communicator. "Leigh, Lilly, we need back up..." Kyoko narrowed her eyes as she regretted having to ask for more help while they were probably on a mission, "Guess I underestimated him Kyoko," Clyde announced to the female while his pistols vanished into thin air and materialized into a rocket launcher, aiming directly for the two. "Ya think?" Kyoko said with a slightly scoff, the communicator picking up the noise and the static of their fight and echoing it to Leigh and Lilly. The sound of the rockets spiraled as Kyoko rose the communicator to her lips.

"There's not exactly a place to run in New Gradia, seeing as they're establishment is in the city. So unless you have some idea, guess we're ********] Ember looked up at him as he shielded them from the rockets with an azure barrier. [******** if I know where to go... I barely know anything about t-this city. But they are why I'm here." She said as she looked down, trying to think with the little time they had. "It's Ember Dusk. We caught sight of her with another Superhuman. Possible ally but an enemy regardless---" but Kyoko stopped talking as the smoke of the blocked rockets came out of view and a wind pushed the smoke away for them to get a view of another man entering the scene. Holy hotness, she widened her eyes at the look of the man with cloud gray hair and ice blue eyes. But after staring for a bit she felt it click, "Th-There's another guy." Spikes of ice rose up. "Uhhh he's got some ice," Kyoko explained to the twins over the communicator as she watched the attack on her and Clyde starting to take place. "Gray hair, blue eyes. D-Don't ask me about how awesome my vision is--" But then she watched as he spread the spikes and got rid of the DOGS back up that came as security for the Bronx area. "D-DAMN!" she hung up the communicator and avoided being hit by the icicles headed their way. Ember was slightly amazed by all of what was happening, her vision clearing on the man with gray hair that was fighting off the TNT. A large wall of ice appeared shortly after, then seeing him turn to her and Lucifer. "More Elites will be on the way, so unless you wanna get spanked by 'em we better be running."

Kyoko stood up from the icicles that had tried to do damage to her and Clyde, but balanced herself with her partially damaged feet to glance at the wall of ice. "Man I could go for a snow cone right now." She picked her left ear as Clyde gave her a possible glare for her dumb joke, but she grinned. "I got this.. Just follow my lead." My pain nullifiers for the damage done to these legs will eventually go, and that pain will not be good. I can't keep fighting if I just sit here and stare. Ember's close to being paralyzed by that poison, and we need to exterminate these other two as soon as possible. Got to move... NOW. Kyoko faced her palms downward as she used the fire blasts from her hands to send her into the sky. She flipped over the ice wall, radiating a large blast of heat to weaken that wall for Clyde to break while she sent a downward kick to separate Gabriel from Ember and Lucifer. She wasted no time, using her impossible speed and pressing off the toes of her feet to lunge at Gabriel and grab him by the collar, flying with him from being behind the ice wall to being on the street concrete. They landed with her sitting on his stomach, holding his collar, "Oooh you are so cold! Want me to warm you up baby?~" She grinned as she coated her hands in fire to burn his collar. He was pretty damn sexy, then again Kyoko was notorious for being a little flirtatious. She only got a good look at his face and eyes for a few lingering seconds until Ember blasted her with fire. Kyoko fell on her a** and grinned at Ember who staggered and then fell. Her 'poison' was a homemade recipe. Not so lethal as it was of draining a person of all their energy and causing their body to lock up for extended periods of time. She had to used extra dosage for Ember, being a dragon. With Ember falling and panting, sweating from exhaustion, Kyoko rose back to her feet and looked at Gabriel. "Come on, make me shiver~"


company↘「Ember & Luci vs. Clyde, Gabriel」
location↘「Bronx - Outside the diner, lovely weather by the way」
thinking↘「Ice Ice Baby」
wearing↘「Mech Suit under clothes, wearing short shorts and high knee boots to hide things, the suit is basically invisible, red cherry tank top」

[Leigh Warren]

The search for Gabriel Adams was far from lively as both Lilly and Leigh continued to casually waltz through the block contemplating their next move. There were building that were being condemned and partially torn down. The problem was there were too many hiding places, he could be anywhere. Lilly continued to look to her right side as Leigh looked over to her left side. "We're going to be out here all night. Why must they hide? I hate it when they hide." Leigh was the first to complain about the whole hide-n-seek mission, this was worse than a needle in a hay stack. Lilly shoved her hands in her denim jacket while giving a light shrug. "It wouldn't be fun if it was easy now would it?" A small grin tugged at her lips at her own remark. Lilly felt the gun holster around her shoulders that was hidden beneath her denim jacket rub against her sides. "It is only going to get harder if we're stuck out here past sunset." With that awful realization Leigh flicked her hair in annoyance. "Thanks for that update, Lilly. Like I really needed that thought on my mind." Though the two dressed in regular every day attire neither of them came on this mission unprepared. Troy had made it clear that they were to hide their powers from human eyes.. so were they honestly expected to know when a normal human was strolling these parts? It was a safer bet to assume they just weren't allowed to use their powers in general to play it safe. Their ear piece was for communication purpose as they were only armed in two regular ordinary hand guns. It was way more fun to fight with powers but Troy loved to ruin anything fun.

Just as Leigh opened her mouth to talk about changing their strategy a loud explosion had brought both of their attention North-East of where they were standing. "The hell was that?" Both girls looked at one another before each of their communicators carried the voice of their friend and fellow soldier. "Leigh, Lilly, we need back up..." No way, was Kyoko really in the same area? "Ten bucks says she's the reason for that explosion." Lilly had a feeling.. when Kyoko ventured about it was never a surprise that large explosions followed her. "Ten bucks says you're wrong." Shaking on their bet they knew exactly which way to head as smoke polluted the air several blocks away from where they stood. While rushing over towards a nearby building that created a very small alleyway the two of them used their parkour skills to push off each sides of the building to climb up the brick building until they were able to reach the ledge of the building and climb up to the rooftop. "This is seriously bullshit, why the hell do we have to hide our powers? If people don't like it they can go screw themselves sideways." Adorable as ever. Thanks to the shitty layout of the dump they call the Bronx it would be a breeze to get to the location even without their powers; roof tops were only several feet from one another at most.

Kyoko continued to inform the twins about the current situation she was in while describing a male figure that had gotten involved in her mission. "Uhhh he's got some ice," No freaking way, there were other supers/gifted that had that power.. right? Leigh clicked her tongue while rushing onto another roof as she rolled and ran for another rooftop with Lilly right next to her. "There is no ******** way.." Leigh muttered to herself as she wouldn't be able to believe the chances. "Gray hair, blue eyes. D-Don't ask me about how awesome my vision is--" "Sounds like our guy." Lilly sounded pleased by the description but both girls felt slightly tense, was Kyoko okay? It took them under five minutes to arrive at the scene as they stood on the rooftop that gave them a perfect view of the situation. "What the.." Leigh hadn't expected so many people but one person stood out above them all. "Called it." Great, now she owed Lilly ten bucks but that was the least of her problem. "The ********, they're using their powers." Making sure to keep her voice hush she didn't want to lose the element of surprise. Freaking Troy, was he really trying to make their lives harder? Obviously Kyoko and Clyde didn't get the same damn order to hide their powers from human eyes!

"Looks like we arrived just in time." "I still can't believe the chances.." Seriously, not only had they found Gabriel Adams but Kyoko and Clyde had actually been the ones to catch sight of him. "Let's move before he tries to make a run for it." With that being said they two jumped from the roof only to land in between Gabriel Adams and Kyoko. "Sorry to keep you waiting," The two apologized to Kyoko and Clyde without looking at either of them as their full attention was on Gabriel who was currently recovering from Kyoko's assault. "Gabriel Adams." So this guy could control ice, huh? Hopefully things would go much smoother and accordingly unlike their experience with Johnathan. The twins carefully scouted the area while keeping a very close eye on their target, there were more bodies here than expected. "Who are they?" Briefly Lilly turned her head to glance over towards the the unknown female with orange hair and the male with red hair. "Heh.. hey Leigh, that guy totally looks like a male version of you." "He does no-...okay, a little bit. Oi, Kyoko! You and Clyde best make sure neither of those two get in our way! We got orders from Troy to bring this guy in," Referring to Gabriel both Lilly and Leigh fixed their full attention onto the ice user. "No one is to interfere."

"You are to come with us," Neither of the two expected Gabriel to willingly come with them. "Willing or not." Now how would they kick things off? By the looks of how obliterated the area had become it seemed a good explosion would living things up. "I want to break him in." "You can't, we have to at least bring him back alive." Did Troy plan on using this guy? "Tsk, always ruining my fun." Giving little to no warning the two bolted towards Gabriel, Lilly headed towards his left side with Leigh going for his right side. Leigh went for a leg sweep to knock Gabriel off balance as Lilly removed only a single handgun from its holster as she aimed and fired for his shoulder. If Troy wanted this guy alive that meant he wasn't going to be an easy target to bring back to HQ, they'd expect their target to be strong at least to put up a good enough fight. It was time for the two of them to get Gabriel high on the defense, they needed to leave him little to no time to think up a way to escape. "Combo A!" Lilly said nothing as she placed her gun back in its holster in record breaking time. With Lilly and Leigh already being on each side of Gabriel he'd soon find himself under heavy attack as both of them perfectly synced their attacks up; for now they kept everything to hand to hand combat. Both sent a high kick to his upper abdomen then down to his lower abdomen, in between kicks they'd send several punches toward his face before twisting their bodies to send another high kick towards his head.

For now they were merely toying with him, they wanted to get a better understanding and reading of what exactly this guy could do. Both twins went down for another leg sweep, it wouldn't be long before Gabriel used his power to get the two of them off of him.

✖Location: Bronx.
✔Company: Gabriel, Kyoko, Clyde, Lucifer, Ember.
✖Mood: Curious. / Curious.
✔Wearing: Black leggings with jean shorts, t-shirts with a denim jacket.
★Note this colour, when used it means both girls are talking at the same time.