Living in Fear: Fallout (Superhuman RP) [Closed]

[Little Rose Leigh]

Lilly Denell

& Leigh Denell.

Member of HERO.

You had a good girl, good girl, but didn't know how to treat her, t-t-t-t-treat her.

Being in the helicopter was rather...Uncomfortable one could say, no one was talking and the fact you could feel the tension didn't help either. Lilly just kept to herself, keeping Rosetta close to her and Rion she didn't know why everyone was being so quiet as if they were all little and were in big trouble from their parents...That was just awkward. Though when Salem finally spoke it was nothing to even do with them as he was clearly talking to his ear peace as no one said a thing to get such a reply from Salem. Finally Salem spoke to them and made it clear he was talking to them as he mentioned the new plan, they get out and meet Thomas and he crashes the helicopter. When Salem landed the helicopter and one by one they stepped out of it and met up with Thomas which only Leigh and Salem came to know but now Leigh felt she has never seen him before. Leigh was being lead to a chair that didn't look all that welcoming and Lilly had no choice but to follow as it was her sister after all though the others would be coming to the room soon after her. Laying against the chair Leigh could tell she wasn't going to like this one bit. Leigh gulped softly, this looked far from comfortable and it wasn't hard to tell that Leigh didn't want to be in that chair. When Salem did finally return Leigh didn't look all that happy at the fact she was strapped to the horrid chair, "Salem.." Leigh softly said his name as she looked scared out of her mind and she was very scared, god knows what was going to happen next because she sure as hell didn't know!

As Thomas, Salem, and Seth spoke Leigh was busy looking around frantically, "Healing? Pain, wait, what's going to happen? W-what does he mean why should he run?" Leigh was getting frantic and worried about what was to happen,
Salem.." Leigh sounded even more scared now though as Salem rested his hand on her forehead it did help calm her shaken nerves a bit...That is until Thomas began the painful and horrid process, nearly instantly she tried to pull away from what was causing her such an intense amount of pain but the straps ruined that plan and already her body was trembling from the pain. Leigh tried her hardest not to scream from the pain but for some parts she couldn't help herself as the pain got too intense but god forbid her to feel this pain without all the help she was getting to numb the pain the best they could. Leigh's nails dug into the chair as her eyes were tightly shut closed, even a few tears managed to slip from her tightly closed eyes. If she wasn't feel pain from behind her head and spine she was damn well feeling it when her memories were being forced back into her head; the feeling of her skull being on fire only made seconds feel like minutes to her. By now Leigh was nearly crushing Salem's hand that she held so tightly, she felt she was being torn apart, on fire, and being stabbed! Her heart couldn't come to beat at a normal pace from all the pain she was going through but once all the hell stopped and Thomas stopped the painful process and removed the IV and EKG from her, Leigh was panting now and still shaking quite a bit from it all.

Leigh kept her eyes rested closed as she took a moment to recover from it all though surprisingly she recovered quickly than normal..First thing she heard was Seth and then Salem's voice. Lilly on the other hand had her face covered the entire time as she couldn't bare the horrid sight of what Leigh just went through but her hands did remove from her face when Salem finally stated why he was so pissed and quiet, Seth had slept with Leigh?! "Seth...You didn't...Did you!? Did you take advantage of Leigh in her state?!" Lilly sounded surprised and disgusted, how dare he! The very moment Salem left the room Leigh finally came to open her eyes and actually sit up looking like she had just taken a nap and she hadn't just gone through hell and back. Rubbing her eyes only to actually wipe away what tears had managed to spill from her eyes from the intense pain, opening her emerald eyes and looking around she didn't know where she was but that didn't matter right now. Sitting up and removing herself from the chair Lilly was the first to rush to Leigh and wrap her arms around her in a loving manner, "Are you okay Leigh? Do you now remember who I am?" Leigh only smiled at her and placed her hand on top of Lilly's head, "Of 'course...But may you give me a moment?" Leigh looked over at Rion and gave a bit of a smile as she started to walk to her new destination, Seth. Approaching Seth Leigh didn't seem angry at first...But that was before she sent an energy blast at Seth who no doubt didn't see that coming as he smacked hard against a wall which was the only thing that stopped his body from flying even more further back; when she had smiled over at Rion she had actually copied his powers.

By now that friendly look on her face vanished entirely, grabbing Seth by the collar of his shirt and lifting him up by it she slammed him hard against the wall once again, "I hope you're happy, Seth..Not only did you win at something in life like losing your virginity you took full advantage of me in a weak state of mind and memory..." Leigh quickly turned her body only to have Seth thrown over her shoulder and forced against the ground on his back which nearly cracked the floor under him; Leigh wasted no time as she sent her foot down on his chest painfully, "To think you actually got laid only for you to get off and RUN away right after? Way to leave a girl hanging, next time at least ATTEMPT to get her off." Stating that she huffed at Seth, "How very disappointing, Seth. You aren't suppose to take advantage of your team mate, you're suppose to protect them. You even lied to me about what happened to my memories. Tell me how THAT is HERO material when you behaved like a good boy while at the TNT and did what they told you to?" By now Salem had just walked into the room after his talk with Thomas, Leigh now wasted no time to meet up with Salem and nearly tackle him to the ground with her arms tightly wrapped around him, "Salem!!" Leigh hugged herself tightly against him as she buried her face into his chest, "I'm so sorry, I would have never have done that with Seth if my memories hadn't been messed with!" Quickly she apologized as she honestly wouldn't have done such a thing with Seth if the TNT hadn't touched her memories.

Lifting her head up to look at him she gave Salem a very little amount of time to talk as she quickly caught his lips with her own in a very forceful yet passionate kiss. Lilly couldn't believe all she heard and seen just now...Seth...Leigh...Buh..?! Lilly walked up to Seth who was still recovering by breathing right now as he'd need a moment to get up from what Leigh had just done. Lilly looked down at Seth with a very pissed off face, "I can't believe you, Seth! Taking advantage of Leigh like that! That's disgusting, you should feel ashamed! And the fact you behaved at the TNT!? What is THAT about? You don't care about HERO? While you were being a good boy living up the life in the TNT the rest of us were going through hell! Were you enjoying yourself so much you felt you should score since Leigh wouldn't remember anything about Salem and he'd be dead and you'd be in the clear?" Lilly huffed in anger, "That was a traitorous move." Lilly left Seth as she felt staring at him would make her want to get violent as she made her way back to Rion and Rosetta who was currently staying behind Rion as she didn't feel comfortable with everything that was happening as she kept a rather tight grasp on her father's hand.

You had a good girl, good girl, girl, but you couldn't keep her, k-k-k-keep her.

[Salem Wolf]

Seth Lucas
The Sarcastic Gamer

Just your average, ordinary nerd...

A blur. Almost a blur. Seth couldn't believe how he'd ended up sleeping with Leigh, blindly following the TNT's orders like a trained lapdog just to protect the people around him, but did they care? Seemingly not as much as he'd like to imagine they did - granted, while following the orders of the TNT did not include sleeping with Leigh, it did make for a nice bonus, at least until everything else came about. He'd gone on to leave the complex, following HERO blindly onto the helicopter after setting up their escape, and didn't bother to, until this very second, think what they would do to him when the truth came out. Seth had indeed gotten himself into some amazingly deep s**t and he was not sure how to possibly get out of it - did he leave them? Suck it up and take the consequences like a man? Or...or...no, that was not right, killing them would solve nothing, and - no, why? Seth couldn't believe such a thought would pop into his head, but the images - so real, so graphic - and only one he'd leave alive: Leigh.

Snapping to reality, Seth could practically see their bodies littered around the cavern, it was a horrific image he never wanted to have again. He'd practically ignored most of Thomas and Salem's revival of Leigh's memories, the only thing he'd had done had been gripping the hard drive a little tighter than Thomas expected, but he relinquished control and hoped it failed to work. Something about Salem and Leigh was like magic in motion: the two of them never ******** failed to do whatever they ******** set their minds to and it was like the two were made of ******** good luck; the smallest chance for success brought out the most spectacular ******** accomplishment, and it pissed Seth off. Thomas cited that Leigh had such a small chance of not just gaining her memories back, but being completely fine afterwards, and what happened? ******** luck struck again and not only was she FINE but she was WALKING, Jesus Christ, could they fail just once?

Salem went to talk to Thomas, upping the sound around them allowed Seth to hear them pretty clear, but the information wasn't relevant to anything Seth really cared about, besides, Leigh was approaching. Lilly had said something, right? Seth was too mentally panicked to hear her, he practically froze when Leigh gave a glance to Rion and before he knew it his back had struck the nearest wall, thrown over Leigh's shoulder, and if the actual PAIN wasn't bad enough, she had to mock him sexually? ******** b***h, Salem was just as much of an a*****e so they seemed goddamn perfect for one another. Yeah, mock a virgin about his (lack of) sexual prowess, cause that's such a hard feat to mock. And if the wall to the back, thrown over the shoulder (and need he forget to mention) the foot slamming into his chest, she abandons him as quickly as she fought him and goes off to give Salem the biggest hug the b*****d ever had in his life, ******** them both. No one bothered with his side of the story, all the killing, the suffering they caused, and one sexual encounter was enough to brand him some kind of traitor? Bullshit, he'd been pretty useful to HERO, they couldn't treat him like this! Why the hell wasn't there a noose around Salem's neck?! He had been working both sides, no one questioned very deep on his loyalties and they sure as hell were quick to still follow his orders, no one ******** thought he might still be working with the TNT? A several thousand soldier inhabited underground heavy-security-based complex and they escape? And what the hell was the Kaito thing about? No one questioned that Salem might be with the TNT still after the way Kaito completely allowed them to pass without so much as a "go away"?! And here he was being castrated by Leigh, and here came Lilly to add to it? ********.

Salem had finished his little deal with Thomas, whatever he had said to the human was over now, and didn't much matter, really, anymore, because now it was all on Seth. Leigh had approached her black-haired boyfriend, nearly tackling him, a bright smile overcoming Salem's face, kissing her forehead lovingly as she buried her head into his chest apologizing for what she'd done, of course, Salem didn't hold her responsible,
"Hey, no apology needed, not your fault! You didn't know anything about me, though you seriously owe me for putting up with your cute pain-in-the-a** during that time." He chuckled lightly, the smug little ********. Seth was pissed, all he got was pain, Salem got loving? ******** b*****d. Salem held Leigh tightly in his arms, kissing her again on the forehead,
"Of course you, ahem, mentioning what you did about Seth really helped." He was joking, or was he? Oh sure, another virgin comment on Seth's behalf, they were really laying it on thick with him today. Yeah, maybe he deserved it a little, but what Lilly decided to do to him would bring him over the edge.

Seth coughed, laying his back to the floor without bothering to stand - someone would just push him back down. Lilly put in her two cents: he was a disgusting person, should feel ashamed about himself, working with the TNT to keep them safe (not that anyone cared to hear his side or reasons), he suddenly didn't care about HERO, somehow they started to assume he went through no little hell of his own, he took advantage of Leigh and Salem would die and he'd be free and clear to keep scoring? And now, oh, this was the last straw: a traitor?! A TRAITOR?! No no no no no no no! That...was not right. Seth stood up, his back to the wall...he would definitely be angering the already violent lions and lionesses, he wanted to keep his life as long as possible. But what would he do afterwards? ********. Would he keep his silence, let them think what they wanted and he was nothing but a selfish b*****d who did nothing for them? Or speak his mind, piss them off, and let his brains be smeared all over the walls? Latter, if he was going to die, he'd have a chance to speak his mind.

Suddenly, Seth found himself without a voice, he didn't know what to say, anything he tried would just squeak out like a little mouse. No, this wasn't right! He had a lot to say, he needed to find his voice,
[********] Squeaked, just as expected, two little words barely able to find their way out of his throat. The feeling that Salem had, when speaking when it probably was best not to, a tingling in the chest/lungs, Seth felt it, let it be, though? No.
"Like you're all so ******** righteous and Godly. The hell's wrong with you all?! Think I didn't suffer anything there? La de da having a good ******** time? All of you can kiss my a**! I did what the TNT wanted because they threatened to kill of Rosetta and Kara, but I can ******** see none of you seem to give a s**t, cause one goddamn mistake and suddenly I'm a traitor? ******** off! Salem was barely challenged when he turned out to have been with HERO and the TNT AT THE SAME GODDAMN TIME. All I ******** did was let my horniness take over, but you were practically handing sex to me, Leigh, don't act so innocent! I-I-I-I mean you ******** kissed my forehead, wanted to take it away! You snuggled up to me! I TRIED to act the little 'oh oh better not do this' but the way you practically shoved me in there the hell could I resist?! I mean Jesus Christ, there's only so much a guy can do when the girl is throwing herself at me! And what was I supposed to say!? 'Hey, no thanks, your real boyfriend is out there waiting for you!' Not a chance, I wasn't to mention anything about Salem being her boyfriend. And seriously? All on me? Again no one mentions Salem, who Kaito practically let walk out of the complex without so much as a '********'! You're all so quick to judge me but Salem is somehow inept from this whole thing!? No one thinks, a second, a goddamn second, maybe Salem is still playing us for idiots?! But no, it's okay, long as he doesn't ******** KILL US it's okay, because he didn't have one tiny moment of weakness and sleep with someone else's girlfriend! Hah, ******** you guys, seriously! I mean sheesh! I follow a few orders to protect people and Salem does it for fun and it's okay, because he's," It was clear at this point Seth became heavily sarcastic, antagonistic, his anger-filled voice filled with a fake happy tone which mocked Salem openly,
"The Amazing, Spectacular, Uncanny, Incredible, Ultimate Salem ******** Wolf?! Yeah! I see, somehow he shits rainbows and gold and it's okay whatever wrong he does, or the fact I DID keep the hard drive with Leigh's memories despite this utter bullshit, and helped the tweens and everyone else secure a way out. But ********, nope, my good deeds are overlooked. The hell happened in Africa with Kaito, Salem? You eat a goddamn baby? 'It's okay', everyone will say, 'you're the amazing Salem! But hey, look, Seth is having sexual thoughts, hang him!' Man, you guys are so biased it isn't even funny. Lilly suddenly found herself a real high horse, because despite practically wanting to kill Rosetta with a draining power, no one cares! Or Rion? It's cool, she almost killed you bro, but it's cool, right? And wait, why is Troy alive anyway? I mean stabbing one of us in the back, LITERALLY, wasn't enough? He's gotta sleep with one of your girlfriend's before he can be declared legally dead to you? Huh, funny. I did damn well enough for all of you, you might not see it now but I really ******** put my neck out on the line for all of you more than once, and this is pretty much my death sentence because of my weakness? I ******** Leigh, yes, I admit it, it felt DAMN GOOD and I'm GLAD not to be a virgin anymore, but I made a mistake, alright!? A MISTAKE! Not like Salem, Leigh, or anyone else has ever admitted a mistake. 'No,'" Suddenly Seth shifted into an open mocking of Salem by trying, but failing hard, to mimic his voice,
"'I nearly handed you guys over to the TNT a few times as Vector, I probably still work with the TNT, but I don't need to apologize, just deal with it and if you're reeeal lucky maybe I'll let you guys live when the TNT captures us again!'"

Seth, now, finally, remained silent. He'd ranted long enough, now it came time to see what the hell everyone was going to do to him now that he managed to get all that off his chest.

...with an electric personality.

[Adorkable Monster]

╔══════════════╗
Alik Toddson
╚══════════════╝

〖Malware〗

Alik frowned slightly as his words fell out of the air, not reaching Ryx's ears. He knew what this was a chance for, it was not his own need for altruism that drove him. Rather it was the perfect chance to be a part of something he realized greater potential for than it seemed Ryx himself saw. Now that he was gone from under the researchers supervision and experiments of his pasthe could easily hide under Ryx's wing. He would use this. And if he did, he was sure he would have no interference, and no limitations to what he could do.

Still, having his suggestion have to be repeated by the Father(speaking of which he still had never gotten the name of this man), was a slight to his pride, even though logically he could see why Ryx would have better things to pay attention to. In that sense, he still remained a semblance of a child. He mentally shrugged as this thought crossed his mind. There was one difference. He wouldn't be the child that demanded attention for every act. He would stay close enough as it was being a shadow. He didn't want the world to see him, know what he is and hand him hatred instead of reward. That was what the outside world was to his mind, a place full of danger and hatred. He knew it couldn't be true for everyone, but you couldn't trust your standard edition human.

He took his seat in front of the computer and scowled at it height. He used the armrests to pull himself up higher and sat up on his knees, his legs extended fully from the hips. Pulling the key pad towards him and then to the side of the desk, so it wouldn't get in his way. the father left, leaving just the two of them in the basement. He felt a small punch of guilt in his stomach. he would be going back upstairs to continue dragging boxes down to his bedroom, all of them waiting for him to go through them. He knew it must disappointed that he would be like Ryx, much more so enraptured by numbers and the workings of machines and computers than in the surrounding world and those who inhabit it.

Ryx spoke and he lifted out of his thoughts to hear a question directed towards him. He didn't need any third party to repeat it to him, he heard and understood the first time, despite all of his mental distractions. He shrugged, letting the silence wrap around him as he looked over all the hundreds of information he had on his own ability, and attempted to reword all of that into a single vague sentence. It was a difficult task, as any way he could think to word it, could imply another.

"I am a... My cognitive ability gives my Technokinetic and Technopathical abilities a far greater rise than alone." He bit his lip roughly, and ignored the sparks of pain created by his sharpened child's teeth. It wasn't what he'd asked, but it still answered his question well enough. He was intelligent enough to figure out what his question was trying to find out. By linking both a power and his intelligence(both not formally proved even at that point), he was asking if his intelligence stemmed from a more obvious ability. This goaded him to add, "My power is not the 'root' of my thought, even though they are closely integrated. What about you?"

His focus was completely off of the computer now, as he lowered on his pockets, turned completely to face Ryx. He was watching him now, trying to gauge his thoughts, analyze his reaction to this crucial information. he could see a few more common reactions. He could perceive it as a threat, a boy who could wheedle around in his own inventions without interacting with any input hardware, a boy who could conceivably surpass him in a matter of months with his rapidly expanding mind. He was already noticing possibilities Ryx had not seen in his own grand invention. On the other hand, he would see how much he could do with his ability, how he could see the whole picture of programs by the basic binary, run it through his head and see what certain combination would do, before they were even tested into the real world. He could see a curiosity, and want to know more information. Maybe his curiosity would be much like that of the researchers, or maybe it would drive Ryx to stretch Alik's full potential, to see the full extent of what he could do. Whatever the result, It would be obvious as soon as it happened.

“I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.”

[Little Rose Leigh]

Lilly Denell

& Leigh Denell.

Member of HERO.

You had a good girl, good girl, but didn't know how to treat her, t-t-t-t-treat her.

Leigh continued to hug Salem tightly, she was very happy to have her memories back in order but thank god for Salem's healing ability or Leigh would no doubt still be laying on that horrid chair. Leigh wasn't aware of Seth's actual feelings, she had only seen the experience as being used. Who knew what Seth was even thinking right now, Leigh, Lilly, and even the other wouldn't even know, no one here could read minds...Sadly. Lilly was still pissed off to have found this out, she couldn't believe Seth but she didn't understand or see things his way, she just saw it as him taking advantage of her sister and the fact the two of them are twins didn't help Lilly at all. What was to come next neither Lilly or Leigh saw this coming, Seth was speaking up and he wasn't speaking happy but who could blame him? Leigh said nothing at first but when Seth took things too far and stated she practically handed it over to him AND did the work FOR him. Leigh was not impressed nor anywhere near HAPPY about such a rude remark! "I'm going to stop you right there...Seth." Leigh's tone of voice was mad, enraged, upset, and clearly far from happy by what he had just said, "You crossed the line right there, I for one had no idea who my own sister or child was and here you're stating this?" Seth should be very worried now by the very facial expression on Leigh's face - pissed off beyond belief. Leigh took advantage of everyone around her, how? Well, one second she was with Salem and the next she was right in front of Seth thanks to Rion once again.

Leigh by now had grabbed Seth by the collar of his shirt and had his back against a wall in a very uncomfortable fashion, "You clearly said more than you should have, not only did you say such bullshit about ME but now you're questioning Salem? If it wasn't for him we'd still be back there, most of us probably dead and without memory working for the god damn TNT!" Leigh was quick to send her knee up into his stomach before letting him drop to the floor to catch his breath which would take some time as she knocked the wind right out from him, "Look around you, Seth. We're all suppose to be a damn TEAM just to get by day to day!" Leigh grabbed him by the collar of his shirt once again only to shove him onto his back and her keeping him pinned there with her knee against his stomach, "You best watch your mouth from now on, even after what happened we're still a team, you got that? So since you so called protected Kara and Rosetta I'm going to simply try to forget what happened between you and I, understand? ONLY because you protected the girls.." Leigh lifted herself off of Seth and gave him some space to actually BREATHE. Lilly had already covered poor Rosetta's eyes from the scene in case it got a bit too violent but that wouldn't matter now after what Seth stated. Lilly had never been so upset in her life that she actually left Rosetta and Rion, "The HELL you just say, Seth?!" Lilly was actually YELLING rather than talking in a calm fashion, he had stated such things that hurt her so much she wanted to snap his neck for just bringing it up.

Lilly walked up to Seth only to send a hard kick into his side which even surprised Leigh of all people, "Lilly! Calm down!" Lilly wasn't going to simply calm down after that! Leigh stopped Lilly from sending another hard kick to his ribs, "Let go of me, Leigh! I'm going to tear him a new one! How dare he say such thi-" Leigh covered Lilly's mouth as she kept her in some body lock to keep her still, "You really want Rosetta to see you like this?! You're scaring her now calm down!" Lilly had to take a few deep breaths just to bring herself in a state where she could control her anger though it didn't help as she had a freaking shield pressing down on him to keep him squished to the ground! "Lilly! Cut it out right now!" It took a minute but she finally rid of the shield only to used those wonderful stairs they came down to go for a little walk so she didn't end up KILLING Seth for stating all those things that greatly upset her. Leigh exhaled a sigh as she rubbed her forehead, the TNT clearly did one thing right.

You had a good girl, good girl, girl, but you couldn't keep her, k-k-k-keep her.

[Rion Galford]

Rion Galford

I feel it deep within; it's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I feel like a monster.

Rion still seemed rather out of it, even after everything was going on around him. Apparently Seth was taking fire from all sides for something that happened between him and Leigh. While he understood the reason everyone was so pissed off, Rion couldn't help but think there was worse things he could have done. After all, Salem was working with the TNT and HERO at the same time, and it was because of him that Troy had been changed for that brief time... even though Troy later decided he was not needed in HERO, that was beside the point. Yes, Seth took advantage of Leigh, but there were much worse things he could have done, and what he said was true; had it not been for him Rosetta and Kara could have died. He finally looked over after everyone had their outburst and took shots at Seth both physically and verbally. It was at this time, after Lilly left, that he stood up, walking over to Seth and standing over him. He said nothing, only looking down at him for a moment, before reaching down and helping him up, but before Seth could say anything Rion calmly said "Sit down, please...". It was clear in his voice that he was tired, or exausted, or something... he sounded wiped out emotionally for some reason.

"First off... Yes, I'm disappointed at your actions, but it's as you said; a mistake. A mistake that can't and won't happen again. I'm happy you got laid and all but that was probably not the best circumstances to have your first time if you get my drift..." He said, giving a chuckle and smiling, before his face grew rather serious. "... I also want to thank you for keeping Rosetta and Kara safe for us... but other than that, everything else was way out of line... do you want to know why I didn't kill Troy?" He said, staring at Seth with eyes that were as equally tired as his voice. "I had to stop myself... I was becoming something I didn't want to be. I had literally beaten Troy into a pulp... any normal man would have died. Had it not been for the fact that Troy copied my powers he would have died. I could have finished him there, watching as the ******** of flesh and bones that was left of him reformed and came back together... but I couldn't bring myself to his level... Not after he told me where Lilly was being held... I just couldn't do it, not yet anyway... now, the guy I found in there trying to have his way with her wasn't so lucky... not even I could stop myself from stomping a mudhole through his skull after seeing how close he had come to touching her..." He said, explaining to Seth the fate of that soldier named Kain.

"... What I'm trying to say is... I can forgive you. The others might not want to now, but eventually they'll see in retrospect that what you did was nothing in comparison to what Troy has done, though I'd expect Leigh to be pretty pissed more than anyone... as for Lilly, you didn't see the shape she was in back there. I thought the Lilly I knew and loved was gone forever... replaced by something completely different, but I didn't give up on her, and I'm not going to." He said, before stretching his arms and heading to the staircase that Lilly had gone up. "That's all I've got to say... though when you get a chance, my advice would to be to start apologizing to everyone, especially Lilly and Leigh. I'd hate for you to be the first guy Lilly ever has a grudge against." He said, giving a little smirk to his friend before heading up the staircase to find Lilly.

I hate what I've become; the nightmare's just begun.
I must confess that I feel like a MONSTER

[Little Rose Leigh]

Lilly Denell:

Member of Hero.

If this is the end...The only regret I have...

Lilly had no idea where she was going or where she was even located, all she knew was she was upset about what Seth sad and it wasn't some moping upset, he had done something she had never seen coming. There was more than she thought ways to go in this new area they'd have to come and call home for now, Lilly couldn't even come to bother about finding a room to hide in. By now Lilly couldn't even come to see clear as her eyes seemed always filled with tears, she felt her chest growing tight and her face becoming warm as she found herself in a corner or who knows where, a place where no one was which is all she wanted. Falling to her knees with her hands still covering her face Lilly as she couldn't come to help herself as her forehead rested against the two walls. Her knees rested close to her chin as she didn't even try to remove the strands of crimson that came to fall in front of her face, the very few things she was ashamed of Seth had stated out loud and announced it to the world, not the entire world but the only people Lilly ever stayed with now knew and Seth had made her sound like some monster! Lilly couldn't stop herself from crying, she felt ashamed of herself and felt like she couldn't come to face the others now that they knew of something they had no idea of and now Rosetta had to be reminded of that?!

The fact Seth said that with Rosetta beside her didn't help her any if at all, she felt like she could become sick from the whirlwind of emotions in her stomach. Little did Lilly know that Rion was even coming to find her, there was more important things to do than find her. Wiping her eyes repeatedly it did little to nothing as the tears continued to flow, she felt the anxiety of it all, the emotions and the horrid memories of what she had turned into in the TNT. By now Lilly removed her hands from her face as she placed her hands on top of her head as she sometimes had to gasp here and there for air she'd forget to breathe being so caught up in her emotions. Lilly had felt bad about herself before but now? She felt she could no longer see herself the same every again, she was some sort of monster. It wasn't until she heard footsteps did she move her hands to cover up her mouth to hush herself in hopes the person who was coming would go else where but with her luck Rion had found her and he wouldn't be leaving her and she knew this..Well, when she finally was able to peer over her shoulder and through her blurry vision see it was Rion, "I'm fine, go check on Rosetta.." Lilly tried her best to sound like she hadn't been crying but it was clearly too obvious to hide, she still tried to wipe her tears away but the more her mind focused on what had just happened the more tears spilled from her blue eyes. Standing up she continued to try to wipe her face dry from her own tears though she still refused to face Rion, "Honest, I'm fine..Please go check on Rosetta..." By now Lilly couldn't even say Rosetta's name without feeling like a horrible person.

Is not seeing you smile enough.

[Rion Galford]

Rion Galford

I feel it deep within; it's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I feel like a monster.

Eventually Rion did indeed find Lilly, who instead of being angry at Seth was crying in what looked to be the corner of some room. When she had told him that she was fine and to go check on Rosetta he shook his head. "Rosetta's fine... but if you wanna be sure we'll check on her together." He said before walking until he was in front of Lilly, before putting his arms around her and giving her a rather warm hug. He couldn't help but give a light sigh, knowing exactly why Lilly was crying... He knew Seth was mad, but god damn that was a pretty low blow to her... he just hoped Seth would apologize on his own for being such a douche, because until Lilly started feeling better he certainly wasn't going to be in the best of moods... not that he was now, but he tended to be a little less grumpy when Lilly seemed happy. He pulled back just enough to get a good look at her face, before reaching up and wiping some of the tears from her eyes.

"It's been a pretty rough couple of days for the both of us, huh..." He said, a weak smile on his face. After all this he wasn't sure if he was ready to get right back into the fighting. He wasn't sure if the people they were fighting so desperately to protect, the people who were now living in rotten conditions thanks to the lack of support the people they thought had been helping them were giving, deserved to be saved... Even though they hadn't been getting any assistance from the TNT as far as he could tell, they still blindly believed that the TNT could do no wrong... He couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for things to change if nobody stood up for them... And that was when Rion began to wonder... what if they did leave?

"... I've been thinking... maybe we should just get the hell out of here for a while, and I don't mean just this building. People like us blend in with the normals every day; if we went somewhere, anywhere outside of this hellhole of a city... we could blend in, stay out of the fire for a while. Who knows... maybe we'll even like our little alternate lives so much we won't want to come back to this mess. Haven't you ever wondered what you'd be doing with your life if we weren't here?" He asked curiously, wondering what Lilly thought of this idea. He was willing to do anything to help her feel better, and right now it seemed something they could all use was an escape from the everyday hell they have been living ever since destroying the TNT in Empire City.

I hate what I've become; the nightmare's just begun.
I must confess that I feel like a MONSTER

[Salem Wolf]

Ryx Network
Simple Civilian...?

For far too long these voices, muffled by distances...

Superhuman abilities; oftentimes called Superhuman Powers or just Superpowers. The official scientific study of such a thing happened to be practically nonexistent, and there existed many reasons: the powers of a human could stem through many reasons, and studying them all would take eons that could be better spent finding cures to many diseases, of course that was a rather flimsy reason; the official reason was that the Leaders disallowed it. They, as a group, had founded the TNT to weed out the stronger superhumans and destroy them before they became a threat, studying superhuman powers could lead to finding ways to unlock them, causing more superhumans to be born (or created) which caused more threat to them - and obviously that could not be accepted. Ryx, however, had done quite a lot of thinking in his time, most of which had to do with the recent parts he'd acquired and how they could be used for new devices or how to improve his existing devices and gear, but once in a while he'd had a curious streak and research superpowers, trying to discover what common ground they all shared. One mighty fine day Ryx had devoted nearly a full day's worth of time to studying superpowers, and in that time he'd believed he came up with a common connection: the human brain. Telekinesis, telepathy, any -kinesis power practically utilized the brain and mental power, that already accounted for nearly half of all powers: electrokinesis, pyrokinesis, cryokinesis, hydrokinesis, audiokinesis, and energy manipulation, which Ryx believed also utilized mental activity. Energy beams, blasts, shields, anything to do with energy was believed to stem from the brain's mental processes and manipulating an natural energy field all humans may have. Of course, this was purely speculation on his part, for all he knew every human in the world had an a**l probe shoved up there which linked to the dinosaur bones floating around the core of the planet which magically activated their powers; of course that was purely idiotic but just went to show he could only truly guess on a subject as diverse as superpowers.

Three words told Ryx all he needed to know, and it wasn't even a complete sentence: 'I am a...', and that was it. Already Ryx filled in the blanks with 'superhuman', which was practically all he wanted to know. He showed no signs of being disappointed, cautious, or even happy; neutral was the word best describing his appearance. He continued to fill his time with tweaking the wristband. All Ryx wanted to know was if he had superpowers or was just beyond a genius level intellect, though, Ryx supposed, he'd had his answer regardless of how Alik presented it. He'd picked up two additional words that seemed important: 'technopathic' and 'technokinetic', both relied on mental abilities which Alik's enhanced intelligence improved naturally, fitting the powers with his intelligence like wheels. Odd? Not at all. While one wheel was perfectly fine all on it's own (unicycle) and two made for quite the transportation (motorcycle), a third wheel added the extra stability through a rocky path (ATV). Of course four wheels would be even greater, but no one said Ryx's metaphors were that amazing.

Ryx had nearly zoned out completely after getting his answer, he had expected Alik to go silent after answering and back to figuring out where his math had been wrong (he was still confident he was right), but alas, it seemed that Alik had either given up or figured it out, and spent his remaining time talking, as now the younger's attention was completely transfixed on the older, and had even come up with an inquiry about his own abilities. Ryx had obviously given himself a lot of examination and thought, and come up with a simple answer: Homo Sapien. Ryx believed himself to be human, but barely, on that note, an intelligence so high no simple test could determine it, and while Ryx had reflexes, strength, and speed faster than many humans, he didn't fit into a superhuman level, he merely perceived himself at the peak of human physique, a mere athlete among the obese, so to speak; which is why he designed a suit to enhance every single level of his own abilities to a level of a superhuman. After all, a human was no match for a superhuman in the long run, eventually the Homo Sapien would tire, and the Homo Superior would not, thus the winner was clear. Thanks to what was essentially an exoskeletal suit designed for added strength, speed, agility, mobility, and an increase in stamina, Ryx could rival some superhumans; yet, considering the suit was designed to combat the TNT and what little superhuman force they employed, it was obvious that Ryx wanted an even greater advantage over what paltry little soldiers they used against him. Darn, he'd gone off into his own line of thinking again, leaving Alik hanging for an answer,
"Intelligence." Ryx muttered in response to the age-old question: what the hell are you? Obviously that simple reply wouldn't cut it, he'd need something a little more clear cut, which was just fine,
"I'm little more than human, truthfully." That kind of stung, actually, he didn't think calling himself a "human" would cause his heart to skip a beat and his chest to momentarily tighten. Was it that bad to be considered a human? Ryx's face flushed for a moment, though he hadn't actually gazed back at Alik and could likely be missed,
"All of my paltry," That stung too. Ryx sure didn't enjoy being talked down to, especially if it was from himself, but he had to face facts: he was human,
"Abilities stem from intelligence, an Intelligence Quotient that has to far been unable to be measured by simplistic tests and analysis. Though I've no ability of the kinetic sort, I have been able to simultaneously count 100 decimal places of Pi and hum the national anthem. Suppose I'm quite the shoo-in for the talent show." Sting, throb, pain. Was it that Ryx was coming to terms with being human in a world that was quickly coming to regard superhumans as the next step in evolution? A world where he, as a human, was being left behind and he no longer felt as advanced? Surely if that was the case it wasn't Alik who was bringing him to this train of thought, he'd have come to this conclusion days, weeks, months, even years ago. Yet, still, knowing that to even compete with the majority of superhumans he'd need some sort of special suit did hurt, oftentimes Ryx wanted to dive into nanotechnology or try and figure out a natural evolution to himself so on not to be reliant on gadgets, but that would be admitting weakness as a human - and Ryx Network did not admit weakness.

Though he'd felt pain coursing through his body, not physical pain but instead mental, or emotional pain, from his admittance of inferiority, he kept a relatively straight (if not slightly flushed) face while working on the last tweaks of the wristband. Human or not, Ryx had to admit that half of what he'd made himself were cutting-edge, so he took quite a bit of pride in it, even if he wouldn't outwardly admit it,
"There." He murmured,
"Should be tightened." Mumble mumble mumble, arguably many complex minds mumbled to themselves, Ryx was just another one of them. Slipping on the wristband and armband combination, a quick twitch of his arm brought out the hidden blade and a thorough systems check of the wristband showed everything still in place. Removing both the armband and wristband (after retracting the blade) and setting them nonchalantly on the table, he turned his attention to Alik, who seemed to be watching him still,
"Did you manage to find anything wrong with my math?" He sounded rather cool about it, but mentally (to himself, obviously), he was challenging Alik to find something wrong with what he'd done. It wasn't intentional, nor personal, but Ryx strongly disliked being proven wrong, and by a kid? Felt like one extreme low blow to him. A faint smile crossed his face, knowing that...this boy, in front of him, no doubt had an ability that would genuinely prove that Ryx was not as amazing as he tried to set himself out to be in the world...either he would come to hate Alik for finally proving that Ryx was rather limited in what he could do, or come to love the boy for being able to go where Ryx himself was unable to. Only time could tell how Ryx would feel about Alik, but right now, at this possible moment, he challenged the boy, perhaps for the greater good of Alik himself...or for his own selfish reasons. At least Ryx was a good enough actor and unemotional enough to not show any outwardly appearances of like or dislike...like he was always wearing a mask. At least that way, if Ryx had come to hate Alik for what the boy could do and he could not, Alik wouldn't know until it Ryx had practically cast the boy to the outside world in his disdain for his powers.

...It's time to come to our senses, up from the dirt!

[Salem Wolf]

Salem Wolf & Seth Lucas
HERO Leader and the Gamer Geek

Every broken enemy will know, that their opponent had to be invincible...

Seth was on a roll today, first he slept with Salem's girlfriend (damn near the love of his life and all), then had the balls to decide he wanted to stand up for himself, thereby knocking down everyone but Rion, Salem noticed, off their pedestals and causing Leigh to beat the crap out of him again. Was it worth it for Seth to be able to finally find his nutsack and use it? Hell, it was going to be kicked back into his body if he didn't end up shutting up sooner or later. Salem watched with half-hearted amusement while Leigh went Round 2 on Seth by grabbing his shirt, kneeing him in the gut, letting him fall, picking him BACK UP and then pinning him to the wall by his gut. And if Salem wasn't already pissed enough, Seth opened his mouth AGAIN,
"If you don't stop flirting with me Salem might think something is up." The ********? Seth not only found balls, let them drop, but now he was openly flirting with Leigh? At least Salem thought he was flirting. Lilly seemed pissed at Seth, kicking him in the side which seemed to not piss Seth off as much as make him laugh. Seth crawled away from the twins, gasping and wheezing for breath in between laughing so hard he felt his lungs would be laughed out of his chest. Salem went over to Leigh and Lilly, just as the latter of the two went off for a walk while Leigh rubbed her forehead. Clearly the TNT had done something right.

Salem wrapped his arms around Leigh's waist, kissing her neck gently with just the tip of his tongue touching,
"È alright, il mio amore." He whispered softly into her ear, speaking the phrase, "It is alright, my love" in Italian,
"You learn a lot of languages when the TNT wants you all over the world." She didn't even have to ask, the explanation of his linguistics ability given to her without a second thought. Salem was a Special Operative for the TNT, as already shown he'd been to Africa, and knowing the local language of wherever he was going would improve his missions greatly, besides, having a translator next to you in a firefight was not good for the translator's morale, so most soldiers were taught the most common languages: English (which many knew anyway), Spanish, Italian, French, Japanese, and Chinese. A majority forgot all of them (minus their native language), while Salem remembered his native language (English) and knew most of Italian, and bits and pieces of the others (Italian was almost natural to him thanks to taking Italian in high school in addition to learning from the TNT). Seth laughed lightly, stumbling to his feet,
"Huh, nice, gonna woo her in a language she can't even understand? Thaaaaat's classy." Sarcasm was Seth's biggest tool. Salem didn't let go of Leigh, he continued to hold her in his arms from behind while his head rested on her right shoulder, swaying their hips together gently, almost as if they were dancing together again,
"Leigh's right, Seth, we're going to forget what you did because, A) You kept the girls alive, and I'm thankful for that. And B), because believe it or not, we're a team, and we need you with us." Seth sighed heavily to Salem's words, shaking his head,
"Fine, but if we're gonna do a threesome I --"
"Don't press your damn luck, Seth, you're lucky your balls aren't halfway up your colon right now, or my foot so far up there you could be tasting leather. I just agree with Leigh that we're a team, and we need to work like one to survive the TNT." Seth snorted out of his nose, a 'hmph' sound, then crossed his arms over his battered chest,
"Yeah, well maybe I don't care to be part of this team. You'd have stopped me in a heartbeat if I was going to attack someone else, but since it's your girlfriend and her sister you just let it."
"Oh go cry like a little b***h. I didn't see you defend yourself, you knew you deserved it."
"Gee, does everyone have to be so hostile but Rion? Except for that long a** speech on how what I did was wrong and he didn't want to kill Troy and become a monster, he practically let me off the hook."
"You practically stabbed me in the back, Seth, the last time anyone did that he nearly died, you're lucky the worst you have is minor bruising and a talking to!" Salem grumbled lightly,
"Dovreste essere fortunato io avete nessun spalmato la vostra anima sulle pareti come Rion ha fatto a Troy, voi bastardo." This time was not so much a calming and loving gesture to Leigh and to perhaps, as Seth mentioned, "woo" her, but instead more of a friendly gesture to Rion as to not mention for him to hear about another act. He of course, said that: "You are lucky I have not smeared your blood on the walls like Rion did to Troy, you b*****d." Rion didn't happen to know Italian, right? He might be pretty depressed/pissed if Salem had said that in a language he could understand. Then again, Salem wasn't even sure he'd said the entire phrase right. Well he knew Italian, he just didn't know it all that WELL, let it be known Salem's memory could indeed be faulty from time to time.

Seth grumbled, tightening his grip on his chest, holding tightly,
"Whatever, this is bull. I risk my life, speak my mind, and I get talked down for it, that's not cool." Seth grumbled again, while Salem just sighed,
"What do you want me to say?" Salem suddenly went into fake happiness mode, a clear sarcasm of appreciation to his voice now,
"'Thanks for trying to please my girlfriend when I couldn't! You're a real trooper Seth, finally getting to feel what it's like to be laid. Man oh man I wish I was half as good as you are in bed. I totally owe you, bro, you rule dude.'" Salem, who not only went sarcasm-happy, also showed a fake smile and bright cheery eyes, then suddenly went back to mild-anger face,
"Get the hell over yourself, Seth. You screwed up, you got punished, you got off pretty easy considering what we can all do power-wise." Salem mentioned, and considering the collective power of all the pissed off parties, Seth was indeed lucky to not get his body chewed up, spit out, lit on fire, and then blown to pieces.

Salem slyly moved a hand from around Leigh's waist to her butt, rubbing gently,
"I bet Kara is pretty wore out, why not set her up for a nap and I'll finish up with Seth." Kissing Leigh softly on the neck, he let her go care for Kara, who was sleepily lounging near Thomas, her back propped up against a wall,
"Speaking of rooms," Thomas spoke up,
"Salem, Leigh, and Kara, you guys can share a room that's right across the hall, while Rion, Lilly and Rosetta have the room at the other end of the hallway. There's a fold out couch I can sleep on and Seth can lounge on the other couch over there, so we're all covered." Thomas pointed to the room directly across from him, then motioned around the corner towards the room at the end of the hallway for Rion, Lilly and Rosetta, having also pointed to the two couches the single guys could sleep on. While Leigh went to care for Kara, Seth and Salem hadn't finished their verbal fight,
"So what the hell is your problem, anyway? A bruised ego and skin, and you're not happy with that? If you don't think it was a just punishment, lemme know, I'll kick your a** into the future." Salem halfway threatened, crossing his arms as he approached Seth,
"Maybe you just aren't half the man I am." If Salem was drinking something, he'd have spit it out. If he was eating, he'd probably have choked,
"What?!" Salem was completely astonished that Seth would say that,
"You heard me! Leigh was happy when I was around her! I made her friggin' laugh, dude. She's all pissy and grumpy and unhappy around you! You know what I think?" Salem rolled his eyes,
"She's afraid to tell you the truth, afraid of you! She was happy with me!"
"Afraid?!" Salem nearly choked again,
"She tried kicking my a** when she knew I was TNT, you think a girl like that is afraid to speak her mind?"
"She doesn't want to break up the little family and all."
"Then what about before Kara? Hm? She had plenty of opportunities to say it."
"She didn't know how awesome I'd be!" Snort snort chuckle chuckle guffaw total and complete fit of laughter. In that order is what Salem had as a reply, barely containing himself, he ended up falling down onto his a**, laughing over that simple sentence Seth had, straight-faced, told to Salem. Seth, though, was not as happy.

It took a minute for Salem to finally stop laughing over what Seth said, as funny as it was he was becoming concerned that Seth wasn't joking around about this, which meant he was probably becoming infatuated with Leigh, and considering she took his virginity (as scary and wrong a thought like that was to him), it wasn't too hard a concept to come up with. Salem stood back up, coughing lightly to clear his throat,
"Listen, if Leigh wants to leave me for you (chuckle chuckle), that's her choice, and I'm cool if she thinks you're somehow a better lover (it was becoming harder for Salem to keep a straight face) than me, but that's still her choice. So back off, and if she runs off with you, (chuckle), then fine, just lay off, alright? Sheesh, Seth, I'd think you were becoming obsessive." Salem mentioned in passing, turning his back on Seth and going to see Leigh. But Seth...he was not pleased, he was far from happy. Not only did he notice how hard it was for Salem to keep a straight-face while saying that s**t about Leigh leaving him for the electro-wielder, but he heard those little chuckles he did, and that pissed him off. Seth's body charged with electricity, he chuckled loudly,
"I get it, you don't take me seriously! But that'll change." Seth went into a dark tone, glaring at Salem. The dark-haired turned to the electrical user, glaring back,
"You attack me, Seth Lucas, and you'll regret that choice for the rest of your life."
"Maybe I don't care. I'm tired of not being taken seriously."
"And you'd never get Leigh to like you again by attacking the person she cares for." Oddly, to Salem anyway, that did it. Seth discharged the electricity and crossed his arms with a heavy grunt of displeasure. Salem blinked to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him,
"Leigh will come to see what I know..." Seth left to a deeper part of the cavern without another word. Salem sighed heavily, hand slapping his forehead,
"Kid's gonna try to kill me in my sleep, I just know it." It was hard to tell if Salem was being sarcastic or serious, regardless, he went into his, Leigh's, and Kara's room, shut the door behind him, and fell onto the bed.

The rooms were pretty plain, though nice and warm. One large king size bed in each room, a small dresser with a clock, and a large couch in each of the rooms. There was no TV in them, but there was a shower in each room. If not for the lack of the TV, it would be fairly similar in furnishings to the hotel rooms. However, as this was Thomas's old room, there happened to be a variety of computer and other electronics scattered around a desk in the corner, one of them a working laptop. Salem grumbled, face buried into the sheets, his head a foot away from the pillows, sighing softly. What a friggin' day.

...And I'll survive, paranoid, I have lost the will to change.

[Adorkable Monster]

╔══════════════╗
Alik Toddson
╚══════════════╝

〖Malware〗

Alik nodded at Ryx's answer. So Ryx was human, and he himself was something else entirely. He understood that information, it was a fact of life for him. Nothing new. But still he couldn't help but smile at Ryx's comment on memorizing pi. There were normal people who go and memorize thousands of decimal places. Humming at the same time was strange, it should be physically impossible for the lips and vocal cords to form both tunes at once, and yes, there was a tune for pi. Several.

"I'll give you power over time, And then we won't be so different." With those almost silent words, Alik let his mind wander back to the math. While he could do it the manual way, using his eyes to scan each line of math and figure it out its entirety, he opted not to. It would be a waste of time. Instead he leaped into the programing itself. His eyes were still on Ryx, but one long glance might tell anyone they were unfocused, and highly dialated, They no longer flickered rapidly around catching every detail of the external world. His face no longer held the amused look, his mouth was slack, cheeks rounded smooth. His body too, no longer held its rigid posture, shoulder leaning against the back of the chair, hands held loosely in his lap. Like sleeping with your eyes open.

Inside the computer, all the fables bits and bytes, ones and zeros, information came to him faster than thought, like a computer himself, he understood in instantly what information was hurtling past him, giving all the basic functions of the computer. He ignored this flurry, and instead latched onto the file he knew was the one he wanted. Within was a very complex math, Even he, so good at seeing things as a whole picture, he had a knot in his skull to take it in all at once. For almost five minutes he went over it poring over every detail of code, programs and math. Carefully he rearranged a few small bits of programming(a good fistful of programing right there) and integrated in a piece of programming he calculated to fit.

He was looking over the math a second time looking for those predicted spots where the math was thinned by what he had added. He would have to replace sections at a time until it was perfect, till everything complimented everything else. Programing and this type of math, wasn't an absolute. The larger your program is, more ways to rearrange and make it do the exact same thing. The problem was finding one of the code combination that worked the most efficient. Outside, he registered a mild set of stimuli. Translated into computer code from his own ears, it was garbled to the point he had a hard time catching it clearly. Ryx didn't have any dragon programs installed. Alik's own auditory input came in garbled.

The computer's own web camera showed him what he was looking at. In an translated camera view he saw Ryx, looking over at him. Oh. He pulled back away from the math and programming and headed past all the rivers of moving information. He followed that knot in his brain, The headache from thinking to much, and from catching too much light. He took a deep breath and blinked rapidly, looking at Ryx. He seemed slightly disoriented for the first couple seconds, then a pause as he let his own temporal lobe replay what the computer could not tell him.

"Not at all." He lied, unhidden flattery, "I just had to integrate how the marble would deal with the stress when shot through into an alternate time stream. I was still making sure it complimented the rest of your data." He paused, debated something with himself. Yes, it should be OK. he nodded, continuing. "We can try it again."

With those works he slid off the chair and with one hand to his temple. What felt like a knot while in the near desensitized world of programming, felt like his head was head was shrinking in on his brain. He stopped next to Ryx and picked up the wristband making a show of handling it carefully. Alik was after all not intending to worry him in anyway. The screen lit up almost immediately and he found another marble. Imitating Ryx, his arm went back and he chucked it clumsily. It arced slowly up slowly and much to the left of where he faced. Still it served its purpose

Before it reached the floor it glowed and vanished. Turning, Alik's eyes instantly found the exit coordinates. not even a half second lag time before it popped out. Alik, wristband wrapped in his fist, ran over and looked down on the small clear and yellow orb. A twitch of his eyebrow and a tightening of his lips showed his disappointment. With care he picked it up and closed his second fist over it. With a shrug he walked back over to Ryx and placed it in his hand. It was in one piece, that was certain, but along it, crossing every direction were deep gouges, roughly carved into the outside. The rest wasn't even dust, Alik guessed the missing parts were now free floating molecules in the air. That left about 4/5 of the whole.

"Not quite." his voice was quiet, his mind appraising the marble and its wounds. This gave a clue in to how the forces applied to it. By hypothesis, he would imagine the edges of the time stream had the most force and damaging power..like the still air inside a car verses sicking your hand our and letting the wind yank at it. Of course the force in a car paled. The warp needed to be larger, to give margin for error.

“I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.”

[Salem Wolf]

Ryx Network
-CyberNetix-

For far too long these voices, muffled by distances...

'I'll give you power over time, and then we won't be so different'. Tad bit over a dozen words made Ryx stop cold what he was doing, suddenly his mind lit up of possibilities and explanations; and then pain. Admitting he was human was one thing, some lowlife powerless brainiac held little merit in this world of Gods and Goddesses, he a feeble mortal where others thrived. Ryx couldn't help but need to sit down - though ignoring said thought - and collect himself. He'd never had prolonged exposure to people before, even before the explosion, before the leaders when he was just a kid, he rarely had more time around people than not, preferring the company of tools, gadgets, and computers to that of an actual person - and it made sense why James was so worried for his son. And hardly had Ryx needed to explain himself, his lack of powers, his growing morbid sense of mortality; it was like a cancer that continued to grow, barely noticeable at first but the worry of his own powerlessness grew into something that he eventually had to explain and rationalize. After all, was Ryx not someone special? Did he not deserve powers to rival the insects around him? Apparently if there was, indeed, a God, He had a cruel sense of humor. For all Ryx's infinite wisdom, understanding, having successfully understood and explained E=MC2 at the mere age of 4, he was limited to what he could do by way of powers - cruel fate indeed.

How was it now that Alik, such a boy as he, could bring Ryx to be so flustered, lost with words; no stumbling, tripping, or stuttering over words for Ryx, but a complete loss of them. The boy, in his own opinion, was just another superhuman, after all, a boy gifted with powers in what Ryx calculated 1% percent of the world's population also had. That, then, came around to 60 million people, out of 6 billion, and if it was a numbers game, why did Ryx so desperately want to be another sheep in the herd? Because for all his wisdom and understanding, Ryx was limited, nay, powerless; and for a man who figured he could solve anything, unlocking latent powers was a task he couldn't understand. So then, was this Alik boy able to? If Ryx agreed to go along with it, was he going to feel more hurt over his own limitations? If the answer was clear, Ryx didn't know. Oddly, he'd never felt so emotionally distraught over his humanness before, only around Alik did it come around.

During his entire thinking structure, Ryx tinkered with his various weapons he'd made to utilize a stable energy source to negate the need for individual bullets, reloading, even recoil, and while Ryx tinkered, Alik seemed lost in his own world. The boy definitely seemed...gone. Lights on, but no one home, the adage went, this definitely seemed the simplistic definition for such an event. Curiously staring at Alik, his interest in the gadgets he'd been familiar with for months, and in some respect years, gone, he watched the boy who now appeared in a trance, or a sleep, perhaps a little of both. Though he couldn't easily just come to know, Ryx had to assume Alik was utilizing his powers, which, according to Alik, utilized technopathic control, and if that was the case, then was Alik inside the computer, tinkering away over his math? Truly Alik, such an adolescent as he, had far greater power than the man who has practically invented teleportation on a human scale without the need of superpowers. More pain in his chest, because watching Alik use a power Ryx would easily kill for, perhaps literally, was another realization that: he was human.

Still, Ryx didn't hate the boy, but his own desire for knowledge and to satisfy his curiosity kept him busy from negative thoughts as that. And why not is there a reason to hate Alik? The boy was as intelligent, if not more so because of the power he held, and he was doing what Ryx dreamed: using his mind to explore the workings of a computer. And God, if He existed, help the first man to interrupt Ryx's first exploration of the computer with the power of the mind. Imagine a man with an infinite capability for learning suddenly able to explore not only a computer and the codes, but the internet...able to learn everything and anything. Truly, not a man alive could stop Ryx then, and with his mind, he would find creative uses for such a power. Though Ryx didn't hate Alik - he definitely envied him.

Alik suddenly snapped back to reality after his little question had been asked, more of a challenge, really, and it wasn't hard to see that Alik had become disoriented at first, seemed the power would be dangerous to use during a fight, not exactly ideal without a second person to stand nearby watching the first. Finally answering his question, not that the span of time made a difference to Ryx, he too was used to ignoring something until he was ready to answer, Alik had admitted that Ryx's math was, in not so many words, flawless. But was it just a flattering fable? One certainly couldn't put it past him, after all, Ryx hadn't been too hidden in his challenge. Regardless if Alik was lying or being truthful, whatever he'd done needed a test run, and Alik was not shy in it. Approaching the taller man, grabbing the wristband, and activating the teleportation function, the marble worked flawlessly; that is, until deep grooves appeared in the marble of choice. Well that would be bad for the human test subject, parts of their skin missing and, was that bits of the molecule? Lovely.

Immediately Alik went back to figuring out what went wrong, while Ryx studied the marble, curiously trying to figure out what exactly was causing it. Either it was the marble, or the strain of the travel. Something had gone wrong, he'd managed teleportation before, but this was a much slower form, utilizing two different computers and two different sets of coordinates, whereas now it was falling apart completely, using only the wristband and no prep time. Was that it? Was it the prep time?

Ryx approach Alik, dropping the marble onto the table with a soft sigh, looking over the boy's shoulder and watching the computer screen,
"When I originally conceived the notion of teleportation, it utilized a preparation time, about 10 seconds or so and two sets of coordinates transmitted, normally, from the starting and ending point. With those variables gone the sequence is much more unstable, but what if the teleportation itself utilized a zero prep time and had a wider margin of area, say...instead of immediately wrapping around the person itself it could take a few feet of error? I suppose in the long run the particularly close calls with my own teleportation would be increased, but an instant teleportation encasing a few inches, or feet, around me could possibly be forgiven and in time, radically reduced. What do you think?" Ryx was becoming more comfortable trying to gain insight from Alik's end, after all, he seemed to have a grasp of computers Ryx could never have by traveling inside them mentally, so it was easily for Alik to form simulations or data he needed where Ryx may take longer. No, he still didn't hate Alik, but he wanted his power,
"What," Ryx spoke softly,
"Did you mean by giving me power?" He was trying not to be interested in that, but Alik had potentially given him a way to gain his own powers, and it was, in the interest of science, at least meant to be given an experimental run. Ryx didn't like to admit defeat, but being human, being reliant on gadgets...perhaps at least seeing what Alik meant and exactly what he may be able to do was at least worth a shot.

...It's time to come to our senses, up from the dirt!

[Adorkable Monster]

╔══════════════╗
Alik Toddson
╚══════════════╝

〖Malware〗

Alik stood for a long moment thinking up his solution before moving back to sit on the computer chair. His jaw was tight and his head hurt meaning he definitely had pushed himself further than his decided limit. His hand raised to rub the side of his head as a grimace settled on his expression before giving way to a blank expression. It wasn't like he hadn't had worse of a headache. This pain would effect little, no matter how much he detested it. Still, he didn't feel up to immediately diving back into the mass of coding that was Ryx's computer. But surely he would be expected to eagerly dive right in again. He had volunteered, after all.

Ryx came up behind him and dropped the marble onto the table, and Alik looked up the second he began to speak, grateful for the diversion. "Margin of error you mean? I was thinking of something similar, but if you aren't careful, that very margin could bring along more than just yourself. Too big or too small, both are hypothetically disastrous. After all the air displacement and vacuums you create with each movement, there is no technology I know of to counter it. It'll be trial and error." As much as he disliked admitting it, the only knowledge he had on what he was doing was the coding.

A bit of a pause stretched between them then and Alik found himself suddenly wanting to backpedal his words at the change in atmosphere. Something was bugging Ryx. What had he said wrong? All he did was confirm what he himself had said. His mind ran over everything that had been said, analyzing what he had directly told Ryx. Nothing said should make things tense, ever word out of his mouth designed to keep himself in Ryx's highest esteem, never flaunting anything and still pushing past expectations. So certainly he couldn't seem to place himself superior unless he had gauged the wrong expectations. Ryx had to know he couldn't have gotten as far as he did on his own feet.

The silent way he began to speak made Alik swallow. He asked about the one mumbled statement Alik had not meant to be heard by Ryx. If anything it had been a selfish line. Himself being put off by the fact Ryx so easily declared the two of them completely different species from eachother. Ryx human and himself the one with that extra element that made him anything but. How he wanted the idea, that the two of them were alike, to be true. The words he spoke had been mumbled to himself because he knew he had asked the question to bring on that disliked answer. All that aside, he had not meant it for his idol's ears, but he had heard and now it was apparant he misunderstood. It had been obvious to himself that Alik was speaking of an artificial means of power, so the opposite must be true for Ryx. At least Ryx wasn't offended by something, not seeming put off by him easily showing that his intelligence could probably rival his, if not now then soon. He had to remind himself that Ryx was logically unlike the scientists he was used to. It was hard for him to get used to other people in the sense that they might now be affronted once the fact of his so analytically advanced mind became clear to them.

Alik slowy shook his head, dropping his eyes a bit, ashamed of his own human doubts, "I never want to learn any more about extra abilities that one might be born with. I hate that science." He was blunt and his etone bitter, but he had been at the butt end of such a science since he was born. He had never realized he didn't care for it until he figured out there was more to the world than the clinic, and even then he accepted it until he was free of it. Biting his lip he lifted his legs up and tucked them close to himself already losing will to continue his point. It was a conflicting topic, one that seemed as if it would bite Ryx directly. "You have half a time machine right in front of you. You built it, and I see what you didn't. I will give you that power, not in blood but in Byte." He hunched his shoulders forward waiting for Ryx's reaction. In no way could his words get him pushed away, If Alik really did see what Ryx did not, he could never afford to. Alik was a useful tool. But that still didn't change how the tool was looked upon. Somehow he always looked towards the worst of things.

Alik felt uncomfortable and thus changed the topic to something he himself had been wondering. "What's is your...dad's?" He paused, the word sounding foreign on his tongue, almost devoid of meaning. "...His name, he never mentioned it."] He lifted his eyes up to meet Ryx's, more questions showing in the way his dark steel eyes shone. The topic had to be brought up with Ryx sooner than later, or Alik would be even more conflicted with himself. "He said I can live here now, and implied I was no longer an 'orphan'. He's got it into his mind that he's adopted me and I'm not sure I would mind that, even if it would be inconvenient." His eyebrows furrowed as he waited for some response from Ryx. His opinion on that matter to him greatly.

“I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.”

[Adorkable Monster]

K E E V A XX R O W A N


«ЃЋёў ӓґҾӣ'τ ӃҼαӀ, Ϊ Ҕέӑґð ȳӫú ϛαӰ,»

«βυτ їη Ѫψ ҔҾӑґϯ ίς ϖңϑชӭ ϯӴεϔ'Іλ ϩϯαϓ.»

«Ӑחð αš £¤ñϑ āς ϯθ ЃҔέ ðґӭӓѪΪ ЯҾšίϛϯ,»

«ϯЋёϓ ϖїІλ їח Ѫψ Μίñð ҒѲЯҼΛΕӃ έxїšϯ.»

»Short reddish hair, a face wrapped with a dark green scarf only the hazel of eyes peeking through. A Thick yellow coat was wrapped around the figure and light blue scrubs pants poking through from underneath. If the face was visible then you might be able to say the young woman was smiling as she glided smoothly forward on bright red rollerblades. Most might look at the surrounding landscape and wonder why she could have such a cheery atmosphere about her. The city was mostly in ruin; buildings toppled and rubble in the streets. During the day time it wasn't uncommon to see hungry people ambling around, and even more soldiers. The soldiers she avoided every change she got, and the rest she mostly ignored.

How she managed to be so oblivious to the world around her, wasn't too much a feat of willpower than a sign of her own faulted reality. Those hazel eyes never settled on trashcans set aflame for warmth in the November air, nor did they even care to notice the rusting steel beams sticking out dangerously from what rubble of the city surrounded her. Instead they glowed and danced from point to point, enthralled by some show that nobody could see but her. This show that only she had the ticket for? Her own imagination of course.

Keeva smiled as she places one red rollerblade in front of the next, propelling her so quickly over cracked and uneven asphalt. Beside her and for her eyes only was a marathon of runners, each in a different form of uniform and not a one seeming to be on the same team. As she watched them, she noticed something very strange about these runners. Most people who competitively run marathons were young and fit, but half of them were either children, or old, with white hair, colorful wigs, some not even wearing dentures, grinning at the breeze with Grey pink gums. Others who were in the right age of competing had their own idea of what the style of uniform in marathons was supposed to be. It looked like a fashion show, or maybe even a circus, yes, a couple were indeed dressed as actual clowns, face painted. Keeva laughed.

A baton was handed to her and she sped up her pace to pass up the marathon, it wasn't hard, as proven by her speed skating medal's bouncing on her chest with each well placed step. Soon she was ahead of the group and they began to play music, all dressed in their finest marching attire. Keeva naturally lead them in marching cap and uniform until a thought passed her head, making her drop the baton she had twirled in her hand and thrown up into the air. Where was the train? Wasn't it supposed to be here already? With a frown showing in her eyes she tucked her thick scarf under her chin and turned on her skates until she was going backwards and slowing down. Her eyes searched the intersection she just passed until she saw it. It hurtled towards the parade at full speed until it cut right through them and they were gone. She waved as they stuck they heads out of windows and yelled their farewells.

She stumbled a bit, skating backwards, on a fallen branch and fell down backwards. With a startled yelp, her personal reality fell away as a jolt of pain ran up her spine from her landing. For a long moment she sat there looking around at her surroundings. She let out a sigh. This world was always so dull and cracked. It had been that way before the explosions, and surely now everyone else now saw how grim it was.

She shrugged off the thought and finally stood back up on her blades. She had been on break from the hospital. She had spent near every night there this week with all the patients coming in. She wasn't any sort of licensed medical professional, but her power gave her quick acceptance by cutting down the limited supplies needed to treat each patient. Thought it was hard work, and all voluntary, it was worth every moment. Even when TNT decided to try and harass her. She knew things must not be all dandy on their side if they thought to chase her with such enthusiasm.

The thought of TNT spoiled her thinking of the hospital and she grimaced to herself before patting off her rear end. She probably bruised it. She should be more careful as to how she landed. Still thinking of the surprise of falling she tilted her head up towards the overcast sky and began to laugh, the merry sound carrying up in puffs of foggy breath. Smoke actually, breathed by a sleeping dragon, full from it's latest meal of damsel. She smiled at the large creature in front of her and her laughing quieted, knowing it would not be best to walk up such a fearsome creature. Instead she stood there, studying it at the gas station cave it protected. Inside was surely hoards of treasure, carefully collected over the centuries.

[Little Rose Leigh]

Lilly Denell

& Leigh Denell.

Member of HERO.

You had a good girl, good girl, but didn't know how to treat her, t-t-t-t-treat her.

Lilly continued to wipe her eyes dry but she had no such luck as Seth's harsh words burned into her head, she felt she was a terrible person and the fact her biggest most dangerous flaw was pointed out for all to hear only made it worse! The hug from Rion was much needed and wanted though she felt all her efforts to act fine fell before her in ruins as she felt herself crumble all over again as she tightly hugged herself against Rion and buried her face against his chest as she couldn't help sound some muffled sobs against him. She trembled lightly as she felt she couldn't even come to face Rosetta now that she had been reminded about what she had almost done, Seth had made her sound like some horrid monster! Him stating that it had been some horrid hard days for them she kept her face hidden still though nodded her head in answering his question, indeed it had been...At first the two of them had gone silent but when Rion came to speak up again what he said was such a shock that Lilly finally came to lift her up and stare at him face to face, "I...Never really thought about it...All we ever do is fight against the TNT...To be honest, I only know we fight just to stay alive and knowing what the TNT are doing." Lilly paused to let his words really sink in as she even tried to imagine what it'd be like. At first, the very thought seemed impossible but to be able to live in peace and like normal people? Not needing to worry if they'll live through today and wake up tomorrow?

Lilly seemed to have calmed down given something really deep to think about, something life changing and new..."It sounds...Like paradise but I honestly don't see how we could ever make that dream a reality, Rion. How could we even get out of the city or start a new life?" Lilly felt like it was a hopeless dream, empty, wishful thinking. Wiping her eyes for the last time as she was occupied now and had something to distract her she was really putting thought into his question about a new life, "Having a home...Rosetta going to a normal school? Living like everyday people...That'd be a dream come true, Rion...But how? I can't figure out how it'd be possible...I want this to happen, I really do...But it's wishful thinking, isn't it?" Looking up at Rion she felt more at peace with him around, her sanity snapped her back to her good old self now she nor any of them were in the clutches of the TNT, "We'd need money, where would we get that? I mean, there is so many gaps in this plan that need to be filled." Rubbing her forehead she felt overwhelmed, could they really do this? Did they have a chance in hell to even do this? What would the overs think of this idea?

Leigh on the other hand was still back with the others and staring at a new changed Seth, did getting laid really change him so much? She didn't get it! "Why are you so eager to start a fight, Seth?!" Leigh nipped at Seth with her tone, she sounded far from being pleased and her anger was starting to get the best of her, what was up with him?! Leigh was surprised when Salem wrapped his arms around her waist and that teasing tongue of his brought her to straighten up quickly as she felt her face quickly burn up; damn Salem was good! Not even she could play this one off in a cool fashion! Shivering in utter delight from his touch she missed that so much. Now Salem put the icing on the cake so to speak as he spoke in a different language, of course she couldn't come to understand what he said but Leigh had to admit, bilingual was no doubt a turn on in her books. Leigh wasn't even phased when Salem mentioned his time when he worked for the TNT, heck, if he hadn't he wouldn't be the man he is today! Leigh found herself so caught up with Salem that she easily, if not surprisingly, accepted the fact he had once worked for the TNT and accepted who he was even though she despised anything TNT related...Expect if it's blowing it up or bringing it down. Leigh hadn't even heard Seth's own sarcastic comment towards Salem and him speaking a different language. Leigh had already wrapped her arms around Salem's waist as she kept herself extra close to him as she had missed him dearly and having her memory erased and everything she had said and done she felt horrid and could kick herself!

Leigh finally snapped out of it when Seth had the very nerve to MENTION a threesome! Leigh would have whipped right around and nailed him in the face if Salem wasn't being so damn sly! Salem and Seth now had gotten into a verbal fight and Leigh was ready to dive right in but damn Salem had to dive right back into that sexy boat when he spoke in another language, damn it was hot! She didn't even care to know what he said right now, she just thought it was sexy enough just to HEAR him speak....Only...Until he started to speak in a happy-sarcastic-creepy fashion which was an instant turn off but Seth did have it coming. The very feeling of Salem's hand going over her a** brought her face to blush instantly, it felt new all over again! When Salem mentioned Kara Leigh's instincts kicked in right away, "You're right, I'll get right on that!!" Leigh sadly had to remove herself from Salem but she took a parting gift of her own, giving his own a** a light smack with the back of her hand as she left him and Seth to talk "man to man". Leigh paused when hearing Thomas list rooms and who was going where, nodding of understanding Leigh couldn't help but grin looking down at Kara, she looked adorable when really tired.Leigh helped Kara to her feet and the two of them headed right for the room Thomas had pointed and listed that her, Kara, and Salem were to all stay in. Kara instantly lounged herself across the open couch and was nearly out cold she was so exhausted; Leigh slightly frowned, why'd that girl head for a couch when a bed was right in front of her? Then again..When she was more little she...Makes sense.

Leigh took the extra blanket on the end of the bed to cover up Kara and gave her a pillow of her own, she was so sweet looking and innocent...It angered Leigh to know the TNT had dared to lay a hand on her daughter though a part of her wanted to deny the fact that Kara was 'born' from the TNT. Shaking the very thought out of her head Leigh gently placed a kiss on top of Kara's forehead who replied with a very tired exhale of breath, the poor thing. As if right on time Salem then came to enter after having his talk with Seth but by the looks of things he seemed pretty drained from it all, too. Leigh faintly grinned as she made her way onto the bed only to ignore the space left for her to lay down and instead found a better place to lay, right on top of Salem, her stomach and chest laying against his back, it sure was a great spot! "This can't be right, is my Salem defeated by Seth?" Leigh was clearly teasing as it was easy to tell by the tone of her voice, "Tut-tut, I won't have any of that now. It's up to me to pick you up!" That was the closest to a warning Salem was going to get before Leigh began to playfully nibble on his left ear as her arms gently wrapped around him in an almost bear hug.

You had a good girl, good girl, girl, but you couldn't keep her, k-k-k-keep her.

[Salem Wolf]

Kaito Kojima
TNT Special Operative

Kajitsu ga tsugeta mirai, risei wo wasureta machi...

HERO had escaped. Kaito and Jetstream, twins if not for the varying eye color and nationality between them, calmly watched the evil Nemesis reply to their icy stares with a calm indifference. Approaching the duo, hiding behind dark sunglasses despite the interior setting, Nemesis huffed a slight annoyance and approached Kaito exclusively, looking to his eye level,
"I had them. Had you not ordered me to stand down I would have killed HERO. You will be explaining this to the council." Nemesis, despite his edgy coolness, sneered a tad towards Jetstream, who backed away. Kaito crossed his arms over his skinny chest, left hand on the side of his face, a small smile formed at the words of Nemesis,
"Your memory is faulty, Nemesis. I did not order you to stand down, I prevented you from overwhelming yourself. The council would agree you are less useful dead than alive. You made the active choice of voiding your command to attack. I made no direct order. Isn't that right, Jetstream?" Kaito turned towards his friend, who nodded gently with a reply,
"That's right, I don't recall a direct order." Nemesis, as expected, was not pleased,
"You..."
"Are you attempting to insinuate I somehow subconsciously ordered you to discontinue your tactics? That would be counterproductive to the TNT's desire to destroy HERO. But if you want to argue this I could make a stand that you're somehow working alongside HERO and struck some sort of deal for their freedom, what you get in return would be up the council to concoct." Nemesis had nearly turned completely red in the face, and Kaito could see he was becoming angry,
"Good, lets go inform the council of your failure." Kaito smiled softly, hands interlaced behind his back, he and Jet began leading the way to the council room.

The room's first floor held a nearly blank appearance, the dark room only pierced by a single spotlight that barely penetrated the rest of the pitch black. The second floor held a lot more to it, 12 seats occupied by large blank LCD TV screens, barely distinguishable red oak wood held a half-moon shaped desk in the back, arching a "U" shape which pointed opposite the only door which the light barely infiltrated. Kaito, Jetstream, and Nemesis approached the spotlight, then the screens flickered to life, 12 silhouettes approaching and sitting on the screens, their faces and genders unrecognizable to the trio within the first floor. This was the Council Room, a group of people who ultimately decided the fates of a person, their ranking on par to the General of the TNT, who did little more than oversee the entire TNT operation, while the council made a more active role with the higher ranking soldiers such as Kaito, Nemesis and Jetstream, sometimes handling the superhuman side of things, though would occasionally handle high ranking human soldiers as well - ultimately, the fate of the soldiers were in their hands.

Kaito stood tall and proud, hands behind his back, Jet held his hands in his pockets, and Nemesis stood stoic with his hands to his sides, the council spoke,
"HERO has escaped." One of the councilpersons spoke first, Kaito replied hastily,
"Yes, unfortunately Nemesis did not perform adequately, HERO escaped on his incompetence. They're currently hiding within the city."
"Nemesis, you may defend your actions."
"I was ordered by Commander Kojima to let HERO go, in his words he did not want me overwhelmed. However in the short time of my awakening I have come to notice Commander Kojima is not taking his job seriously, and I have reason to suspect he was assisting HERO in their escape." The council went silent for the moment, Kaito didn't speak, though he was careful, it was possible something was discovered. When the council spoke once again, they addressed Jetstream,
"Nemesis claims Commander Kojima is a traitor to our organization, betraying us from within. What is your take, First Lieutenant Vladimir?" Jetstream took a single step forward and stared at the screen above and forward him, slowly gazing to the others,
"Kaito Kojima is not just a commander, but a friend to me. If he were planning on betraying the TNT then I would likely know, but regardless of our friendship, betrayal of the TNT is the highest crime punishable, and I would be more willing to negotiate a deal for his safety than to allow him to betray us. To my knowledge, Kaito is not a traitor." The council went silent again, their shadowy forms moving only slightly during their speaking of one another, though their speeches not heard to the others. When they finished, they addressed Kaito,
"Commander Kojima, we take threats of betrayal very seriously, especially with superhumans. Nemesis, we would like you present us with a single bit of evidence supporting your claim."
"Kaito Kojima and Salem Wolf used to be partners working on dozens of missions together, they were friends, very close. Not to mention Kaito has powers over time itself, why was he not able to stop time and kill them then and there?"
"I have given a detailed list of my powers and their limitations, and if I am to be blamed for their escape this time, then who is to be blamed last time? Salem Wolf, Leigh Denell, and Thomas Dirchkin escaped last time without needing my help, it seems they could do it again without me around. If you want my position that badly, Nemesis, you should try a more concrete solution."
"Still," The council interrupted before Nemesis had a chance to respond,
"While there is reason to doubt Kaito utilized the full extent of his abilities to stop HERO from escaping, there is no evidence to support Kaito Kojima is betraying the Tactical Neutralization Team, however, because we do take threats of betrayal very seriously, no matter in what context mentioned, Kaito Kojima, we have no choice but to suspend you during the duration of the investigation. However, due to the nature of the accusation, as well as the possible ploy to acquire the position of Special Operative Commander for the Empire City TNT Facility #119B --"
"That's a mouthful." Kaito commented softly, to the stifled chuckle of Jetstream,
"We are hereby giving you High Priority Visitation to the 119B facility, therefore you won't be completely confined to your room. During the time of our investigation, Jetstream will be taking over as Special Operative commander. Nemesis, your rank does not change. If we deem Kaito is cleared of all accusations, Nemesis, your false report will be punishable, while if determined that Kaito is indeed a traitor, then you know the actions we'll pursue. Jetstream, Nemesis, you are excused and may continue your duties. Kaito, we wish to speak with you in private." Kaito nodded to Jetstream, while Nemesis seemed unhappy with the information of Jetstream being put in charge, he remained silent on the matter and followed his new commander out of the room.

Silence, almost as dark as the room itself, Kaito remained tall, viewing the silhouettes on the screens above and around him. Finally, a voice spoke up,
"We don't have reason to suspect you of treachery, Commander Kojima, your record is spotless, never a complaint, not even from the infantry, but you realize we have to take this accusation seriously. For now, your keycard will be updated with your temporary rank, your PDA will be e-mailed with a list of where you are not allowed."
"And what of the city? I understand the high rank needed to stroll within the city off-duty, but I was hoping for special authorization." Silence. The soft humming of the TVs became the only noise Kaito could focus on,
They won't allow me into the city without a reason, if they believe, even for a moment, Nemesis is right, then allowing me access freely into the city will allow them to monitor me during that time to see if I interact with any of HERO, I can use the free-reign and lack of responsibilities that come with the HPV rank to get in contact with HERO or simply have my own little vacation. Regardless, I know they'll give me access, and I don't need to see the future for that conclusion, either.

"Access to Empire City, granted. Stay within city limits at all times, you are given access to the Transportation Room for your teleportation needs, keep your PDA on you at all times, but you are not a TNT soldier, you are not allowed to claim yourself as one until the investigation is complete. You will be watched, be weary of this. Your ranking has been changed, your keycard updated, and the restricted areas sent to your Blackberry, we'll keep Jetstream informed of the investigation. We estimate the investigation to take a month or two at most."
"What?! Two months?!"
"We are sorry for this, Kaito, but we need to investigate this thoroughly, even down to the moments you spent with Salem Wolf prior to his MTP involvement. This is the only concrete way to prove or disprove your involvement in HERO and do need to confirm if you've given us total recollection of your powers, which means all reports and eyewitness accounts since your time with us. It will take a while."
"Based on a single claim by a man who wants my position."
"Think of it this way, Kojima, if you are proven innocent, you won't have to worry about him anymore."
"Termination?"
"We won't go into the details of punishment on his end if he's lied, but it will be severe and it will be just. We're also trying to take into account your spotless record with us, but this is a serious claim, even if done in a fit of anger, it does need full investigation. Kaito Kojima, your HPV status has been initiated, and you will remain on our payroll. Think of this as your vacation time."
"I hope you don't take this the wrong way, Council, but this isn't coming out of my vacation time, is it?"
"No." Came the reply, a soft chuckle followed,
"Your vacation time will remain full when the investigation is over. You are dismissed." Kaito nodded, saluting to the TV screens, despite no longer technically a soldier for the TNT.

Kaito returned to his room, sitting on his bed in quiet contemplation, thinking of what just happened and what this meant for him, which only brought a smile to his face,
"At least I'm officially on a paid vacation. Though up to two months...that could be a problem." Standing from the bed, changing into cleaner clothes, Kaito left the room and began typing on the Blackberry to Jetstream:

-----

From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Investigation of Treachery
Body: Keep watch over Nemesis, he may go to extreme lengths for that position you have now. I've been given an ETA of two months for the investigation, it may be sooner or later, for now, I'm still on payroll, so I'm taking some time to myself. If Nemesis is trying to smear my name that badly, he'll throw down some rumors to change the public eye, thankfully, I've been working hard to get most of the soldiers on my side, I doubt they'll be swept in by some experiment, but humans are difficult, so I wouldn't exactly know. I've been informed that you must be informed anytime I leave or enter the facility, probably to keep track of my whereabouts, so I'm officially informing you, personally, I'll be taking leave to Empire City, I'll message you when I decide to return. I'm no longer a TNT soldier, officially, but keep in mind if you need any help, I'll do what I can.

- Kaito Kojima
TNT Special Operative Commander of Empire City Facility #119B

-----

From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Investigation of Treachery
Body: Dont worry, Ill kee[p nemesis on ashort leash. Im being given orienation and wil;l take ovr your duty 2morrow. Thx for letting me no abut ur wereabouts. G2G!

- Jetstream
TNT Soldier, First Lieutenant
TNT Special Operative Commander of Empire City Facility #119B

-----

From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Investigation of Treachery
Body: Your spelling and grammar makes my eyes want to bleed, I know you can type fast and all, but is it really worth the ocular pain? Good luck with orientation, it's an easy job. Talk to you later.

- Kaito Kojima
TNT Special Operative Commander of Empire City Facility #119B
TNT High Priority Visitor <- Thanks Nemesis

-----

From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Investigation of Treachery
Body: LOL ur sig makes me laugh!

- Jetstream
TNT Soldier, First Lieutenant
TNT Special Operative Commander of Empire City Facility #119B

-----

"Studying to be a lawyer and he can't even form a coherent e-mail." Kaito sighed, walking towards the Transporter Room. Simply put, this was the only area in the facility that allowed teleportation in and out of the facility, but the heavily guarded and closely monitored status of the room made it impossible for an escape attempt. At this point, the facility was calming down, most of the dead rioters had their bodies dumped and destroyed, those who survived had been brought back to their cells and clean up was already commencing, things returned to normal quite quickly. Showing his ID and shoving his keycard into the card reader, Kaito entered the room and disappeared from view before the doors could even close - he was more than eager for some fresh air.

20 story building, one of the tallest in the area, less than a mile from Ground Zero of the explosion. Overlooking the highly radioactive crater made by Elyse when she exploded, the radioactivity of the place had been confined to the area too dangerous to even try and climb down into by the deepness of the crater alone, ignoring the radioactivity entirely. Charred bodies waited inside the crater, they had probably fell in after the explosion, but it wasn't as if the air in the crater wasn't a telltale sign that something was wrong. Inside, there was enough radioactivity to cause cancer within seconds, probably destroying the immune system and killing within minutes from radiation overdose, thankfully, Troy had stopped it from spreading around the city, and the crater contained all the radioactivity and the deepness of the crater prevented anyone from wanting to climb it, keeping curious people from dying from radiation poisoning. Kaito watched the horizon, most people were indoors trying to beat the November cold or trying to collect food. Of the millions left, they mostly hid, making the large city surprisingly feel deserted most times.

Leaping off the 20 stories, Kaito landed harshly, rising onto his feet quickly and beginning a short walk to explore the area,
Well, without my TNT status I'll have to make up some sort of civilian story to prevent questions. Shouldn't be difficult, but hopefully I can choose the punishment when they discover I'm not a traitor...not that I'm not, but they'll never conclude that, I've covered my tracks much too heavily to be found out, even if they questioned Jetstream, he's on the same page as I am, there's not a chance in hell they'll find out. Having barely noticed, Kaito stopped when he noticed a woman, about his age, staring at a gas station intently,
"Lose something inside?" Kaito asked curiously, approaching casually, but mentally cautiously,
"I'm sure whatever used to be inside is gone now or destroyed, you'd have better luck finding food inside the Entertainment district." Of course he figured she was looking for food, why the hell not? The city was starving itself, it didn't make much sense to not horde what you could find,
"I'm Kaito, and you are?" Kaito knew the dangers of Empire City, especially in such a state as it was right now, but politeness and friendliness still kept the tension low, helped established trust, and if she attempted to attack...he had time on his side.

...Kuroku yuganda ima wo, yume, risou ni kaeru.