Klaus Zeit's Story

“And you’re sure about this?” Klaus quirried, his eyes darting over the strange wrist-mounted device before him, taking in every detail of its sleek design. The glass and steel gadget before him hummed to life with a blue glow.

“Absolutely, my friend,” With this we can experience all of history,” The wide-eyed scientist began as he eagerly strapped the device to his wrist before reaching for Klaus’s hesitant arm, “We can watch as the Great Pyramids rise and while Rome burns. Experience the birth and death of those who have shaped the modern world, experience the first democratic vote in Athans, the sky's the limit! Anywhere within time is ours to explore!”

Klaus smiled as the tech was applied to his wrist, “Well, I’m all for adventure.”

“That’s the spirit! I knew you were the right man to tell about this! My students you see, they haven’t been made aware of this experiment yet, my TA has been covering my lectures ever since I had a breakthrough,” He stopped for a moment, quickly looking at his datapad, “here we are, this should be good!”

Klaus watched his colleagues' fingers dance across the small display on the device, the words “Chrono Dialer” appearing before being replaced with four input fields: Date, X:, Y:, Z:. Implying they worked by inputting the desired day one wished to travel to as well as the geographical coordinates. Klaus understood the real technology must be housed under the glass display, and the inner workings were a complete mystery to him, though he could see many charts and notes strewn about the lab, all of which made no sense to him, yet.

“Here, yours is ready,” the scientist eagerly handed him the Chrono Dialer before strapping a second to his own wrist. With a smile and nod to encourage Klaus to do the same.

“We stand at the forefront of a revolution my friend, those novels you teach your classes will simply cease to be fiction, and become reality. The possibilities are endless!” with that he gripped Klaus’ wrist, clicking a button seamlessly built into the side of the Chrono Dialer before clicking his own.

A flash of light and a rushing sense of nausea replaced the world as Kalus lost all semblance of reality.



A flash of light erupted in front of Atomic Anne’s diner and from the light a figure appeared on the sidewalk amidst all the chaos going on around the sleekly suited super. Static sparked against his suit as the pressure around him normalized. In a flash he began tossing small disks that then attached themselves to the various WitchFinders, slowing their movements as they became out of step with time.

The other Supers would notice their enemy's reaction times were seemingly non-existent, their trigger fingers slow on the draw, their fire, and salt extinguishing, and crashing to the pavement below as the concentration needed to maintain their power and that power was no longer in step.

A final disk would attach itself to Jericho, slowing the out of control shapeshifter enough for Alexander to apply some pressure. Of course, the effect of the disk on a creature like Jericho wouldn’t last long as its biology would destroy the foreign invader with ease, but against a shape-shifter, every second counted.

With disks dispersed and time shuttering for the WitchFinders, The Cobalt Clock got to work, his fist collided with the face of a WitchFinder stuck with an expression of disbelief at his appearance. The contact between the two rendered the timeshift moot as he crumpled to the sidewalk, Cobalt securing the disk from his coat as he fell.

Before relief even set in as it looked like Jericho was coming to their senses something sent Alex flying. The feeling was disorienting to say the least. it wasn't impossible to throw Alex around but he wasn't used to the sudden lack of stability. He took a moment to reorient himself and cursed. His barrier armor had dissipated from the sudden attack. He would have to work on that better, cant loose focus even when tossed around if lives were in danger. He was snapped out of his thoughts by the roaring. Jericho. Shit he had to get back in the game, it wouldn't take long before someone came along that could hurt him badly. or worse, kill him. Alex pushed himself to his feet with a grunt. He had landed between some cars so nobody had a clear view of him just yet. Fighting was still happening around him, but the sounds of the witchfinders zealous screaming wasn't as load as before. at least that was something.
A quick glance around one of the cars showed Jericho, A rippling beast of flesh and metal fighting . . . Scarlet? why was she attacking him? she kept disappearing and reappearing while some invisible force seemed to damage Jericho's body. Alex almost though it was some form of teleportation coupled with telekinesis until he heard it. the whistling and howling that accompanied each strike against Jericho. Okay, not psychic powers. It was wind, or was air more accurate? Didn't matter, he had to act now.

And that was when Cannonade of all people decided to just show up, who also seemed to think Alex was a citizen. Alex clenched his jaw but held back the urge to correct the celebrity hero. He wasn't in costume after all and hadn't had the time to make his temporary armor again. the fact she was here was a good sign thing were going to get wrapped up soon, hopefully. Or at least Alex THOUGHT that was going to happen right until Cannonade sent a punch aimed straight at Jericho. oh no. No no no NO. That was the last straw.
In a split second, Alex's eyes flared with incandescent blue energy as he threw his hand open hand towards the gravity hero with a loud yell. His outburst sent thick wall of force field energy manifested itself while flying fast towards Cannon, practically blindsiding her with the force. The wall kept going for a few feet after the initial impact, pushing Cannon away from Jericho.
With no time to waste anymore Alex charged towards his friend, tackling the polymorphing beast near what he hoped was their neck and held on for dear life. With another flash of energy Alex began to form a dome around Jericho and himself. Effectively trapping the two together in an increasingly fortified dome.

Jericho seemed more sluggish in their thrashing, for what reason, Alex wasn't sure. Worry flooded his mind that he had taken too much damage. He had to get him to focus. Holding on to a panicking shapeshifter's body was not easy in the slightest. Jericho didn't like being trapped but Alex was left with little to no options. Tendrils of sinewy muscle covered in all manner of bone and metal protrusions whipped at Alex's body in an attempt to get him off. Even with nothing so much as bruising or breaking skin the pain was starting to pile up. He had to take it, Jericho would just get worse if he stopped now. After a moment of searching he found an eye the size of a dinner plate blinking and darting around frantically. "Jericho! Look at me! its Alex! Hey, hey hey hey its going to be alright. I got you. I need you to calm down buddy. look, its just you and me all domed off, nobodies hurting you. Without thinking he began gently patting and rubbing his hand across a patch of still shifting flesh, trying his best to be gentle. "I'm gonna get you out of here, but i need you to get your head in the game. Shit's still going down and we have actual Hero's starting to show up."

Before Cannonade's fist could connect they were hit. The black haired man giving a scream was the only warning they got before a sudden smash of energy consumed them. Caught off guard and with no time to brace Cannonade's body flew sideways over the heads of those present, smashing violently into the window of a nearby shop like a ragdoll.

Yue rose to her feet, clenching her fists. It was going to be now or never, she had to step in and stop that shifting mass before more people got hurt. She inhaled sharply, her eyes flashing red.

Ginr- The creature was gone. One single spark of crimson energy escaped her chest and spiraled down her right arm before vanishing. Her eyes darted about the battlefield until she found it again fighting... Vicki Vortex? Yue ran along the rooftops to follow the fight, jumping across the gaps where necessary just in case she still needed to intervene. Vicki's aerokinesis was the primary reason Yue had tech install a backup respirator into her armor, and Ichiro had so much Vicki Vortex merchandise that there was no way Yue wouldn't recognize her when the hood came off.

Yue crouched back down on the ledge to observe, although she came halfway to her feet when the large man blasted Cannonade away with some sort of force, telekinesis she guessed. One of the combatants that had come to help went to check on them and Yue settled down a second time, seeing the large one wrestle the creature into a dome of sorts. At least it was contained for the time being. She exhaled slowly.

"Nante fuyukai (How unpleasant)," she muttered, scanning the rooftops briefly to locate Devon and then surveying the battlefield. She didn't find Ichiro in the fray which was a relief. He was probably helping civilians get out of danger and treating anyone with injuries. Most of the Witchfinders had either been incapacitated or killed, and it looked like the fight was winding down. That uneasy feeling hadn't gone away though, and she couldn't help but think she was missing something important.

The leader of the Witchfinder General hit squad coughed out yet more blood, his vision becoming hazy as he laid on the ground, the life slowly draining from his eyes. "*HACK* B-B..... BALTHAZAR! BALTHAZAR THE DESTROYER!!!" His cry echoed out across the street. As he gazed up into the sky above him, he felt his life leaving him, but the last thing he saw before it was abruptly cut short was a car falling on top of him.

The tall, monstrous Witchfinder from earlier stood on the street again, now alone, all his other comrades now either dead or captured. His outstretched arm remained in the air a moment longer after it had tossed the car that landed on the now deceased Hit Squad leader. The Giant's other arm was next to his side, fist closed, but as it opened it released seven hypodermic needles.

Empty needles. The Boss fight had begun.

"PUUUUUUURGE!!!"

The Witchfinder roared with the low, monstrous bellow. He aimed his arms at the various heroes and supers around, unleashing a torrent of fiery, molten salt at the enemies that surrounded the area. The flash of blue had particularly caught Balthazar's attention, causing him to rip the door off the truck Cannonade had previously been thrown into before being tossed into another building. Balthazar flung the door in the direction of Cobalt Blue, following it up with more salt and fire.



Richard looked to the right side of the diner, standing outside was the giant of a man that had thrown Yue through the window. His eyes widened slightly as he tensed up. This guy was not human, not even close. He waited to see how the other heroes would respond, but the new comer (Cannonade he thought he heard? Sounded kind of familiar) had been tossed into another building, and some of the others seemed caught up in their own fights.

"Hey pal?" He called out over to Henry. "Hope that thing has a kill setting on it. You're going to need it."

After Richard quickly reloaded his gun, he vaulted out the diner window and onto the street, firing off three shots at Balthazar's head. Two went through, the third knocked his hat off.

As the hat hit the ground, Balthazar's massively deformed head became visible to all. The place where the two bullets had hit was a now dented steel plate sewn into the monsters scar covered head. His entire face was a patchwork of stitches, decaying skin, and bits and pieces of metal and wires. The Witchfinders had employed a monster to hunt other 'monsters'.

"Guess you're going to take a little more work."

Balthazar roared at Richard, and the two charged toward each other. As the two closed the distance, a glittering blade formed on Richard's right hand and forearm, coming to a sharp, knife like point that protruded 3 or 4 inches out from his knuckle.

The beast of a man swung a right hook at Richard, but he quickly dipped down and dodged to the left, sending his right fist up into Balthazar's jaw, puncturing it and tearing through his mouth. Richard broke off the shard of ice and pulled away from Balthazar a few steps.

As the giant turned to look at the masked ice wielder, the ice blade fell from his mouth and shattered on the ground. Balthazar's jaw was split vertically into two, loose hanging halves that swayed as he moved. He swung his right arm and sent it crashing into Richard, tossing him backwards and sending him into a roll across the pavement.

"PURIFY!!! PUUUUUUURGE!!!"

He reiterated with fiery hated.

"As you wish." Richard muttered through gritted teeth, as he got back up, firing off three more shots.

The bullets passed through Balthazar's neck. He seemed unfazed as a trickle of thick, brown liquid began to make its way out of the holes in his neck.



Maxwell smiled as he pulled out his cell to amuse himself and the girl, but he soon noticed it wasn't working anymore. That was... Odd. And unexpected. He'd have to get that dealt with later. "I'm sorry, seems like I'm at a loss for that too. How strange." Maxwell looked the girl over, and then Kingsley once more.

"Since I can't help you, perhaps you can help me. I'm rather curious what it is you want with Mr. Kingsley?" He smiled kindly at the girl, intentions well hidden behind the soft face.

"Okay...okay, okay, this is good," Henry sighed. Heroes had seem to crawl out of the woodwork in order to put a stop to the Witchfinders. He stood up. Now would be the perfect time to make his escape. More than a few people had seen him, but if he moved some of his plans up ahead of schedule....he may be able to secure a safe place to hide out in. At least for a moment.

"And I'm outta here...." he thought to himself as he began to run out the back, same way the civilians had exited the diner, out the back entrance. He poked his head out the door and froze right before he could turn the corner. Some of the diners and wait staff were being spoken to. He couldn't see the figure fully, but he caught the shoes, caked in dirty water. Dress pants, not too cheap, not too expensive. A woman was speaking to the civilians, her voice, sharp and direct. "Damn it."

Henry slowly closed the door, careful to not even make the slightest noise, even though the battle outside was making a cacophonous ruckus that drowned out nearly every miniscule sound. In fact...if the Witchfinders were too preoccupied with their foes, perhaps he could escape through the front, unperturbed! Henry began to turn around and....and once again, things happened too fast.

Perhaps he was too lost within his own thoughts to pay attention to what had gone on outside. But now, it was clear the situation may have gotten worse. The large Witchfinder, the one who had tossed the woman out the window. Seems like he was some kind of patchwork monstrosity, far more of a threat than his cohorts. And he's supposed to be one of the clowns that call other supers demons?! This shit was unreal.

"Hey pal?" He called out over to Henry. "Hope that thing has a kill setting on it. You're going to need it."

"I don't know if it's needed..." Henry looked up at the for everyone was engaging . "Not sure if it's make a difference either way..."

The frozen burglar had already gone to engage him. Henry was sure the other supers would join him soon, but if this thing proved to be a challenge, then....well. Henry's hands balled into fists. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that. But for now, he could provide support. He draws out his blaster, firing some blasts at the mutational's legs. Probably would feel like an inconvenient sting in the long run, but a distraction could be beneficial to the others hoping to engage the bastard.

Jericho found themselves slammed about, asphyxiating at first and then abruptly able to breathe once more. The sound of battle was fading from their hearing, and a quiet- in insistent- pounding was echoing against their mind. The Hunt kept calling out to them from some unknown distance, and their vision and focus was disoriented. It felt as if they were pushing through mud, but the mud was existence, and their body just wasn't right. It was a vaguely familiar sensation, as if they were dreaming... Their flesh shifted, swirling yet again with ink before a maw filled with tombstone shaped teeth formed on the patch of skin that held a strange device. Some sort of power was being emitted from it, and the cicada scream from their EMP generator was doing nothing.
So they crunched it. The abrupt opening and closing of a jaw with the strength twice that of a hippo flattened and destroyed the object attached to them.

The world was still blurry, and their vision was suddenly filled with Alex's! face.
A gentle pat across the 'unarmored' part of Jericho's ribs brought them further back to reality, farther away from the siren call of the Hunt. They knew he was talking to them, and they understood the words, but the meaning behind them just wasn't computing. Their mind was foggy and sluggish, the rush of combat was only just bleeding out of their system.
The sound of Alex's voice was filtering in, and the calm-panic in his tone shook Jericho to the odd core.

The first friend they had ever had, and they sounded fearful, but of what? Of them? Of the battle? They needed protection didn't they, shit. "Nrh. Hold on. Will protect you. Make you safe." They grunted out, their voice distorted and mixed together with the sounds of a tiger growl and a boar's grunt. They shifted then, dropping the combative form and instead switching to the shape of a large, amorphous metallic... Blob. Jericho swooped upward, surrounding Alex and cocooning the other super in a protective shell. They extended upward from there, forming a small, humanoid torso on top of the metallic sphere. The torso had no eyes, no mouth, no nose... But it did have a multitude of arms that were lined with jagged blades. The torso swayed back and forth, and was turned towards the squabbling group of Supers.

'Protect.' Said Jericho's instincts. So Jericho positioned themselves to protect.

Vic thumped down onto the sidewalk like a passed out drunk, her clutch on the monster's lungs released. She looked down at the pincushions that were her arms with a quiet, monotone "Ahhhhhhhhh" of pain. They stung like crazy. There had to be some kind of venom in these quills, something sourced from the biggest, angriest wasp. Vic pulled down her mask, hissing out a string of curses, and tore each quill out with her teeth, spitting them out to the side. Her eyes flicked across the battlefield towards her opponent as she did, in time to see Cannonade blasted across the street. ...Damn.

She hauled herself up to her feet, blinking through the flow of blood dripping down into her eyelashes. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand then smeared it thoughtlessly across her chest, giving the NSFW print of a 90s style cat girl splayed out there a bloodbath. Her target was bubbled by an impenetrable force and just ate the man who'd done it. Well, that was a shame, she supposed, as her gaze already locked onto the new biggest brute on the field. She pulled her mask up and disappeared...

... reappearing half a second later between a truck door and some guy who looked way better equipped to deal with the threat. She tapped her foot, which was entirely unnecessary in her power using process, like every movement was, and the hurtling truck door was sent flying upwards a good fifty feet and sent soaring over their heads to become somebody else's problem. Her hands then shot out, and a wave of air tore through the onslaught of fire and salt. That wave swiftly built into a powerful vortex, charging at the behemoth and contesting his control of the salt. It crashed into him. Small, stinging grains of salt tore through his attire, bit at the skin beneath and assaulted his eyes, while the roaring wind obstructed his hearing.

Vic glanced over her shoulder to the man behind her, as she nonchalantly rolled her wrist with a finger pointed skyward, like she was conducting the tornado, other hand in pocket. That suit's technology looked state of the art, NAHLA worthy. Her eyes flicked up and down it, then she quirked a brow at him.

"Hey. You packing a laser beam in that?" She asked, with the same tone of someone asking if you have a lighter. Her shoulders jostled with a small shrug as she turned her head back around to Balthazar. Still struggling and failing to escape the salt flinging tornado following him around while Vic kept on moving her finger in a continuous circle. "Think we could all do with a classic right about now."

"There it is," grumbled Yue, snapping her fingers as she pushed back to her feet. The leader was calling in his trump card, the enormous brute that had thrown her through the window in the first place. Somehow she'd lost track of him during all the fighting. Yue's eyes darted across the battlefield, taking stock of everything that was happening. She couldn't help but flinch as the car landed on the Witchfinder leader. She didn't feel bad, these were people that had not only threatened her, but her family as well... still that would have been a promising lead to bring back.

She clenched her fists. This was it, do or die, no turning back; this was the time to take action and end this. She took a deep breath, filling her chest with energy and- Vicki was already there, intercepting the truck door and pushing back the stream of molten salt with blasts of wind.

Yue deflated slowly, slipping her hands into the pockets of her track pants and observing from the rooftop. Vicki was a lot stronger in person than her database file had implied. In fact Yue guessed she was the most dangerous super on the field at the moment. Lacking imagination maybe... or perhaps having skipped a few too many science classes. The thought tugged the corners of her lips into a frown. Perhaps it was just jealousy that Vicki had an ability that didn't destroy everything it touched, herself included. She was just pushing the notion from her mind when she noticed the shapeshifter slurp up the young man that had gone in to contain it and adopt a defensive posture. Yue clucked her tongue in thought, glancing from one battle to the other.

That's when she dropped from the rooftop onto a lamp post, sliding down gingerly and then striding purposefully across the street. She paused only momentarily to casually step on the groin of a Witchfinder that was trying to get up.

"Stay down, or I'll break it," she warned in a tone that suggested she was just... done.

Yue approached the metallic creature, stopping at the edge of what she'd guessed its striking range was and locked... she couldn't find its eyes, but she leveled her burgundy gaze at it purposefully and prepared herself with a breath, just in case. She was still for an excruciatingly long moment, as if observing its reaction. The morning light glinted off the fragments of glass embedded in her arms and blood dripped slowly from her fingers to the asphalt. Her shirt was torn where she'd been hit by the salt, exposing a deep, bleeding scrape in her side, and the flesh on her right shoulder was already red and peeling from where she'd been burned by flames.

"'Oi, Cannonade! They have a bruiser, 'Windbreaker' needs your help so get off your ass! I'll take care of... this," she called out in the direction Cannon had been thrown without taking her gaze off the creature.

As Sasha peered into the broken window a queue of frightened civilians burst out the door beside him. Cannonade lay sideways in what was once a display of produce, bananas mashed against their form. The bodega shopkeeper coward behind the counter. Cannonade let out a long sigh before giving a thumbs up to the unknown voice of Sasha. "Ya. Ya I'm good."

WIth a grunt they pushed themselves to their feet, brushing some of the mush off their body. WIth their forearm they wiped their helmet clean and gave a huff. They were bruised up from toe to back. "Oh god, this sucks," They exclaimed as they began to walk to the exit, their helmet swiveling to face Sasha as they moved.

The bodega's shop bell rang as the the door swung open. Cannonade exited miserably, looking out onto the scene with the strange oil-slick demon of super. "Whoever did that was a literal dickhead," Cannon commented.

"'Oi, Cannonade! They have a bruiser, 'Windbreaker' needs your help so get off your ass!" An authoritative voice called. Their eyes narrowed onto a woman circling the creature Cannon had tried to take out when they had been suckerpunched from behind, though it's form was shifting into something silvery. Gross. The woman taking this thing on had the voice of someone who'd done this before. NAHLA or a lesser government agency, maybe even a private company.

Cannonade's gaze shifted to the front of the diner. The massive leader of the witchfinders blasted out fire and salt at the surrounding supers. He screamed as his attacks were interrupted and he was caught within a chaotic looking whirlwind. They saw their opportunity.

Cannonade cracked their neck before leaping into the air. They hovered high, sailing across the battle-field until they reached an apex. And then they plummeted, down into the eye of the Vortex. Bits of banana flew outward and sprinkled onto the surrounding supers as they descended within. Boots first they collided with Balthazar, making contact with the witchfinder's back, smashing him into the earth then leaping off the man and landing beside Violence Vic. Cannonade breathed heavily, their knees feeling like they were ready to collapse.

The situation had seemed relatively under control, however the leader of the witchfinders just had to open his damn mouth, unleashing the giant from before who decided to take about 7 times the recommended dose of that drug they carried along with them. The monster roared and threw attacking in the direction of the most recent addition to the battle, all while suppressing a few other with burning molten salt that he launched in similar ways to what the other Witchfinders had done.

It all had been a flurry of heroes trying to contain, first Mackenzie stepped up to the plate trying to use good old gunfire, and a bladelike ice shard when those failed to kill. A secondary attack with modern ballistics proved more successful, except Devon just couldn't feel quite comfortable about that brown liquid that was 'bleeding' out of the monster, he had no clue what that stuff was and no intention of finding out. Meaning explosives and anything else that would cause that liquid to splatter all over the place was out of the question. A few more shots from an unknown source were fired from an attacker he couldn't quite see, though their projectiles did reveal they were using something rather extraordinary.

The second attacker was the skater girl, though upon closer observation of her powers and the few red hairs that escaped her disguise in all likelihood he was faced with either miss V herself, or a copycat who had been ever so 'fortunate' to receive similar powers though would such a person actively try to hide their identity, he doubted it. She had thrown the truck door into the air, no doubt with no particular destination in mind, so while she was busy keeping our drugged up Frankenstein's monster from killing anyone Devon made sure that the door wouldn't squash someone like an overripe watermelon. Of course the best solution to this problem was a 'moderate' course correction caused by a hail of high kinetic bullets allowing the door so 'gently' land against an already damaged nearby vehicle. The vehicle in question may or may not have been reduced to scrap value in the process.

Yue then agitated the loose cannon into action, who almost as if it were it's instinct to disregard anything other than the adrenaline rush, jumped into vortex of scorching hot salt performing a move straight out of super mario... And causing a spray of banana mush to fly everywhere, as if they couldn't make a single move without causing a mess. They subsequently jumped out of harms way, quite visibly fatigued.

With miss human cannonball out of the way and the vortex keeping any other potential melee attackers at bay there was finally a window to unload on the ironically named berserker. Devon did not waste a moment and lay siege to the brute with a hail of bullets. First there was lightning arching wild after each and every impact ravaging the nerves and ceasing up muscle to the point where muscle fiber started to tear itself apart.

The beast roared in agony unable to move more than it's face without tearing up it's own muscle, but even that thunderous roar was cut short when the second wave hit... Frost, the first of which was aimed at the homunculi's windpipe which he had conveniently exposed with it's roar, because Devon was quite honestly getting a headache from hearing the only words it's peanut brain could form and a nice chunk of ice forming inside there should help keep it quiet. As the other cryo ordnance impacted the patches of frozen flesh and cracking metal started to form, forming new inhibitions of movement.

Finally the third wave a nice and friendly mixture of high kinetic rounds aimed at the frozen spots hoping to shatter them like an ice cube under a sledgehammer, Armor piercing rounds aimed where one normally would expect vitals to be and more electrical bullets just because he liked how it made the slab of rotten meat twitch the first time. However it seemed the creature had both spotted his position and hadn't been fully restrained as a wave of that burning salt was sent his way. Devon ducked away as best he could using his trenchcoat as a shield, but it could not prevent a few of the grains gazing him on his left cheek. God damnit, that hurt! Throwing salt in the wound and trying to cauterize you at the same time, yeah... This thing wasn't going to leave this place without being destroyed to the point to where you'd need to mop up the remains.

Cursing under his breath Devon ran away from the ledge that had been his vantage point, back down the fire escape. If he had been in his whole suit instead of just the trenchcoat he would have happily stood there taking the brunt of the damage and laughing it off while dishing out a torrent of destruction, but this is the real world there are no what if scenario's, you just have to roll with the punches and that meant pulling GTFO and finding a new firing position.

As the goliath Witchfinder turned its attention to Devon, Sasha reviewed the situation, activating his power once again as he waded into the hailstorm of superheated salt. Balthazar had taken a lot of damage, and his head had begun to take on more of the shape of a potato than a human skull. Despite this, the savagery and insanity in the Witchfinder's eyes was no less intense.

"You're certainly big," Sasha growled, impervious to Balthazar's salt and seemingly unbothered by the heat. "But drugs were the wrong way to make yourself stronger."

Balthazar turned at Sasha's voice, and threw a punch the size of Sasha's entire body at the calm Russian. Sasha sidestepped the blow almost faster than the eye could see, his own fist lashing out to connect with the giant's knee, creating a loud crack that was followed by an even louder bellow from the Witchfinder.

As the knee buckled, Sasha twisted, his foot lashing out with a blur, slamming five times down the midsection of the giant, each blow striking a vital point. Grasping the collapsing Witchfinder's coat with a roar, Sasha flipped what remained of Balthazar over his shoulder and into the concrete, cracking the pavement.

"Surrender," Sasha said to the downed cultist. "Don't make things worse on yourself or your... friends."

Richard raised a hand to cover his eyes as Cannonade came crashing down into Balthazar, soon followed by a flurry of attacks from some guy up on the roofs, and another fellow who approached looking like something from Dante's Inferno. The monster of a man looked almost inhuman now, his flesh melting and dripping to the ground like thick mud or rotten fruit. Richard flicked a few bits of banana off him as that realization kicked in.

Balthazar gazed up to the demon man that stood before him, the Witchfinder's face was now a nearly bleached skull with metal and wires stitched around, keeping his warped looking head together. The creature could no longer speak, but it wasn't hard for Sasha or others to tell that it was laughing, up until its loose hanging jaw-halves dislodged from its face and fell to the ground.

Its chest burst open as a torrent of thick brown fluid fired out at Sasha, who managed to dodge in time for the liquid to hit the ground, causing toxic burns on the pavement. Before Sasha could do anything else, the group noticed Balthazar was holding something in his hand now, which he had pulled out from under his coat.

A grenade launcher.

As the long tube aimed up at the group in front of Balthazar, Richard quickly got to work firing back at the monster again, hitting it in the arm, chest and neck, with the pistol in his left hand. Richard's right hand was empty, aimed towards the grenade launcher now, his eyes widening and heart pounding against his chest as he tried to prevent-

Balthazar pulled the trigger. As the grenade inside hit the ice wall that was built in the barrel, the whole device exploded, tearing through the Witchfinder's arm and reducing it to ribbons of flesh, and shards of bone. The creature swayed a moment, its flesh and body parts beginning to steadily fall from its body, a result of all the damage sustained by the onslaught. It toppled onto its back, laid there a moment not moving, before Balthazar began to violently spasm and shake, ending in a crescendo as an explosion tore through its chest and the rest of its body.

Richard gazed upon the shredded remains of the monster, then took a quick look around at the rest of the group. No one seemed to have moved for the last moments of its life. The explosion had come from something inside of Balthazar.

"Nice bit of teamwork." He muttered to the others, giving an approving nod to everyone who'd helped in the battle of Atomic Anne's. "Everyone okay?" He asked sympathetically. It soon became apparent to him he'd not been fully aware of other events in the battle, taking notice of the other monster that had seemed to absorb some big guy who'd been here only a short while. Richard took a short few moments to take some breaths, and plan his next move against this... Thing.



Maxwell sighed as Sheri made a call, to whom he wasn't entirely sure, but it was evidently either law enforcement or a hero organization. "I do believe I was quite clear on communication devices." Maxwell muttered over to Kingsley, a soft smile on his face, but great agitation laying in his eyes.

"Well Miss, it appears you've interfered with my business transaction with my client. Normally I would take a different approach with a situation like this, but it appears there is no rectifying this situation." Before Sheri could react, he pulled a gun from inside his jacket, aimed, and fired.

The bullet went through Kingsley's head, sending it back to the ground as blood quickly pooled out. "A shameful waste of time and money. And for what I wonder?" He smirked as he turned back to Sheri. "I assume you're being paid for this. Well, I congratulate you on that. For what it's worth though, I expect the pay could be far better. Indeed, the pay I offer is almost certainly far better. He smiled warmly at her as he placed the gun back in his jacket.

"At the very least, your powers could be put to far better use than... This."

The battle was over and an opportunity was created as Sasha walked towards the others. The main Witchhunter was dead and Akiko could see a small glowing orb where it had stood in its final moments. None of the others seemed interested. They didn't see it after all.

Akiko's breath grew slightly colder and she began to walk cautiously but quickly. She had a couple of minutes before the orb would disappear and she knew the others wouldn't be still for much longer. The strange monster was now the one carrying the attention but it wasn't for a good reason. There was tension in the air and Akiko wanted to be out of the area if things went sour. Not that it would affect her much but it was better to be careful.

Her steps were light and Akiko navigated the debris with ease. Her movements were deliberate and practiced because ghosts can't make sound. Akiko could however.

It had looked like Jericho was finally coming to their senses but once again the universe just couldn't do Alex a solid. Jericho was running on instincts so strongly that apparently all they had gotten out of what Alex had said boiled down to the need to protect their only friend. He hadn't been given any other warning before he was suddenly engulfed in Jericho's shifting form. He tried to struggle without harming Jericho but was quickly swallowed up.

Crap.

The feeling of being surrounded in a cavity of flesh was not pleasant at all, Alex was just lucky it wasn't entirely wet. On the downside it was still a tad damp in here, it smelled weird in a not so pleasant way, and he wasn't sure if Jericho had made it so he could breath while in this bizarre cocoon. That only left one other option. Lucky for him, everything around him seemed soft. Alex knelt down and put his hands onto The "floor". This was gonna get weirder really fast. Alex began to tickle the shape-shifter from the inside.

Jericho found themselves in a peculiar spot. Their mind was still running at an overclocked state, and they could hear someone else approaching. The torso may not have held eyes or a mouth, but the entirety of it's skull was three gigantic eardrums. The bladed arms were a blur as they swept into motion. Yue was probably lucky that there was a dome in Jericho's way, as the tips of eight separate blades slammed into the side of the dome with lethal force.

Beastly anger pulsed through J-3 and the head of the torso shook violently for a moment before ripping open to reveal a jagged toothed maw that stretched nearly halfway around the entire head. Another monstrous roar made it's way out of the Shapeshifter, and for but a moment was held...

Before it was cut off entirely by the absolute worst sensation of Jericho's life. The rush of adrenaline and the call of the hunt was immediately thrown to the proverbial wind as the sensation of TICKLING burst through the nerves of Jericho's form. They split apart from the top to the bottom, to the source of the horrendous sensation. Their form became mostly ink, swirling and shifting, coalescing around Alex in the form of a startlingly large serpent-like beast. It's snout held the same knife-blades that the other combat form did, though down its outward facing sides were rows and rows of spines and barbed needles. The face was adorned with two sets of eyes, the forward-most set twitching and rolling about at all times, and the back set holding steadfast on the visage of Yue, and the others at a further distance.

On the tip of the tail was a collection of blades, as if someone took a collection of katana blades and attempted to make a 'rattle' there. Jericho spoke not to her, however, but to Alex, whom they glared at with the sort of anger that one's friend might have after being FUCKING TICKLED AT RANDOM.

"The fuck!? What did you do to me!? Don't EVER do that again, please!" Came the distorted voice, as if Jericho was speaking through the booming growl of a tiger.

The swirling ink and rush of movement all around Alex was disorienting but still put a smirk on Alex's face. When in doubt it was usually a good bet to touch a nerve or two. Was it smart though? Well probably not if you didn't want some snake monster that also happens to be your best friend glaring at you. He had just been blinking to try and get his vision clear again when he both heard and felt Jericho's voice.

" Good, you aren't going full instinct on me anymore. And DUDE! If you cocoon me like that when its not even close to necessary then of course I'm tickling my way out. What else was i supposed to do? I cant do much when you are going autopilot on me that wouldn't hurt or scare you. Give me a break big guy!" An exasperated sigh escaped Alex's lips followed by a facepalm that sounded loud enough that it would probably give a normal human brain damage. At least Jericho was lucid again. Now if only they could... there was somebody else right there approaching the two of them. Given the situation she was probably one of the supers that was dealing with the demented church guys.

Oh that's not good.

On reflex Alex threw a hand out in her direction and started forming a layered wall of force fields to make some form of buffer between the two of them and her. At this point he really, REALLY wasn't in the mood to fight a full on super that wasn't obviously some street level thug.

"Hey uh, sorry but we are kind of having a moment here?" That probably wasn't going to work. But it was worth a shot.

Yue's eyes narrowed but she didn't budge. One could practically see the cogs turning in her head as she examined the barriers between them. If they were closer she may have reached out and touched one experimentally, but for the time being she stood her ground and listened to what they had to say.

"You have a dangerous pet. Are you really willing to fight with me to protect it?" she asked. As if to emphasize her point she flicked the blood accumulating on her fingertips to the pavement like she was just waiting for an excuse.

Alex's eye twitched behind his temporary mask. Ok, that was strike one for her. He cleared his throat loudly and did his best to sound calm.

" My friend here has finally come back to their senses and the both of us would really like to just go home. So yeah, if you really want to do this, I wont hesitate to protect my friend." Alex made a fist with his right hand and punched it into his left palm. The sound cracked like a small thunderbolt. Without breaking eye contact with Yue, he spoke softly so that only Jericho could hear him.

"If this goes south, I'm not fighting her. When we get the chance, we bolt out of here. Already too many professional looking supers for my taste anyway. Besides, I haven't eaten and I'm getting hangry."

"Hmm," she replied shortly, her head tilting just a tiny bit to the left. Her gaze cut like she could see straight through him: the man's head was moving very very slightly, as though he was communicating to the creature. Yue's eyes narrowed further... what were they plotting? She looked them both over carefully. Male. Large build. Taller than her. Judging from the sounds his fists made when they clapped together, the muscles weren't just for show. And the barriers...

Yue took a couple of slow steps back until she was standing on top of the Witchfinder she'd walked over to get there, lifted him off the ground by his neck one handed and dragged him purposefully straight up to the barrier. She crushed his face up against it unpleasantly hard, curious about the barriers, but not wanting to touch them herself.

"Answer my next question carefully," she warned. There was a noticeable pause before she continued: they could probably see her eyes flicking back and forth between Alex and the creature; she didn't make any efforts to hide it. Besides testing the barrier, her goal was to get a closer look at the creature. Calculated risk since she wasn't in control of the barriers. "Do you have any affiliation with the Witchfinder Generals?"

Jericho's tail-tip set itself to rattling, bringing a cacophony of clattering blades into the air as their viper-head whipped about and locked squarely on Yue. Their maw opened and closed as they talked, at times slamming shut and giving themselves and odd accent to their speech.

"No. The title of the idiots in tall hats? Good food. I would like to consume them sooner than later. They are 'bad people' and thus they are food, you understand-agree?" Jericho's form slowly rotated around Alex, spreading out from around the man's body and instead pressing up against the dome walls. Their gaze never left Yue's form, and through the fields of telekinetic force, a hiss scraped out into the open air. Another mouth opened on the 'inner' facing side of Jericho's body, scales splitting apart and spreading out to allow for lips and a tongue to come lolling out. They spoke quietly to Alex, their attention splitting between Yue and the other supers at a distance.

"I can probably carry you faster than you can run. Or we can... Uh... Sled-dog this. Make a barrier under your feet, I can give you some reigns for you to hold on to, and I'll take a faster-stronger form. Can hide you as well, camouflage against an alleyway or the side of a building"

Yue let go of the Witchfinder and let him slide down the surface of the barrier, seeming satisfied that he didn't melt, catch fire, or vanish into some alternate dimension, then tentatively pressed her fingertips to it at about waist level, lowering her head slightly so the creature would have a harder time reading her expression.

"I understand," she answered, trying to come up with something heroic to say on the spot. It wasn't working... and this wasn't the right place to be fighting anxiety over something so stupid, but she felt her toes scrunch up inside her shoes. "L-listen, I don't think you're bad guys. I appreciate that you were both here when I was in trouble, but if you can't keep your 'friend' from killing then I don't have a choice."

Of course she was one for hard rule of law. Damn! Alex had been hoping for at least someone more lenient. Oh well, guess that left plan B. He really didn't like where this was going.

"Was happy to help, really I was. But unfortunately me and my friend here are vigilante's of a sort soooo... sorry but I'm going to have to disappoint you miss." With a thought, the dome around Jericho and him dissipated into nothing. Alex quickly jumped and scrambled onto Jericho's head. "Time to go!!" Alex used one hand to brace himself atop Jericho and threw his other hand out towards Yue. The barrier in front of her quickly expanded and was curving into a dome around her, leaving no openings in the front and only a chance of getting out by backpedaling. Once Jericho really started moving he was going to have to make sure to cover their retreat further... he really hoped she wasn't a speedster or teleporter or this was going to get annoying fast.

There was a bare moment of hesitation before Jericho made the world's ugliest noise: A hyena cackle mixed with a boars squeal. Their form shifted mid-move, swirling with ink and pulsing with liquid before slamming into the form of a six-legged, horse like beast. The skull was still viper like, though the mouth widened into a massive line that sucked air in like a vacuum. Three pairs of holes opened in the chest of the beast, and air flowed in as rapidly as the massively muscled form charged away. Jericho's voice ripped up towards Alex, rumbling under the man's thighs as he was shuffled into the proper place for 'horse' riding. "I'm so sorry..."

In the place where they once stood, a wad of four twenty dollar bills was left in their place. Fuck you lady, have your damn breakfast in peace.

For one brief moment her eyes flashed red, and it looked like she might try and punch straight through the barrier to try and grab Alex. The light went away as quickly as it appeared, however, and she threw herself backwards out of the closing bubble instead. Of course, Jericho's form was much too fast for her to catch without her powers, but she still made a show of sprinting after them for a block before jogging to a halt.

"That should be enough for the paperwork," she muttered, exhaling slowly. She wasn't that committed to chasing them after they had helped save her life, and she was still under suspension after all: she wasn't supposed to be using her powers anyway. She sighed, clasping her hands behind her head and heading back towards the diner.

Yue paused as she reached the site of their encounter, kneeling down to pick up the money they'd left behind before continuing back to the diner. The fight with Balthazaar had ended by the time she arrived and she stopped for only a moment to reach down and pick up the coffee cup she had been launched through the window with. Miraculously it had somehow survived the battle. Almost blankly, she walked past everyone and went back inside to her seat, lowering herself back into her stool with a note of exhaustion. She placed her coffee cup on the far edge of the counter with the bills underneath it, carefully adjusting the mug until the handle was facing magnetic north. Yue pulled one knee up to her chest and resting her forehead on it with her arms clasped together.

"Nante fuyukai (How unpleasant)," she muttered.

Cannonade watched as the witchhunter's beast of burden blasted away, faster than any human could, and disappeared through the traffic of the street. The woman who had been attempting some sort of negotiation with the beast seemed dumbfounded for a moment before retreating through the ruined street, back toward the diner.

Cannon stood, their weight on one leg and their arms folded. "What the fuck was that?" They asked in disbelief as Yue entered the diner. The witchfinders who survived lay bleeding or unconscious, and the ones who perished had... hella perished. Doors to vehicles cautiously unlocked, civilians beginning to emerge as the battle had finished. At the edge of the park police sirens grew louder, the ACPD having to travel through the green space on account of the street blockage.

Cannonade turned back to the assemblage of heroes on the street. "Right, cards out," They called, flicking what looked like a business card out from their pocket and raising it into the air.

Klaus nodded his thanks to Vic as she blasted the car door meant to take his head off out of sight.

"You have a laser in that thing?" She asked him, gesturing to his suit. He simply shook his head as his focus was on the Goliath Witch Finder. In a flash, the battle was over, his eyes darted around the battlefield as he began to collect the temporal distortion disks he'd used to slow the WitchFinders, and irritate the shape-shifter, J-3, AKA Jericho if he remembered the materials he'd studied.


With the disks recovered, sirens began to fill the air, everything in him wanted to run, but where could he go? There was a reason he'd appeared now, and while he had a vague understanding of the future ahead, things were going to begin to change. He could not go forward beyond this date, and these people, these supers were the key to unlocking the answers he sought, so for now, he'd stay.


He took a hesitant step into Atomic Anne's before striding behind the counter and pouring coffee into an empty mug. He also took the liberty to refill the mugs that sat in front of Yue and Devon.


He put the mug to his helmet, which simply parted to allow him to drink without compromising his identity. After draining the mug he refilled it and rested it on the counter. He made a small gesture as if removing a hood, with one hand and his helmet seemingly vanished, the nanobots it was composed of resting now against his neck, ready to conceal his face at a moment's notice.


Henry walks into the diner, hands in his pockets. "Not gonna lie..." Henry began, pointing a thumb backwards outside. "If all those guys are your teammates, y'all need to work on your coordination." He stated, taking a seat. "...You are pros, right?"


Klaus grabbed a glass and filled it with some juice, if the files he had were correct, the man before him didn't enjoy coffee.

"It's okay, I don't think any of it is serious," she replied. "Ichiro will tend to me once he's done patching up anyone who got hurt," she explained, lifting her head to check and what the aftermath chaos was going to be like. She was already shifting uncomfortably in her stool in anticipation of the backlash. Yue turned to Henry as he came in, breathing an exhausted sigh at his question. Was it that obvious? Well... the Witchfinders don't try and publicly execute just anyone she supposed.

Another stranger came in from outside as well, and Yue followed him with her eyes for a long moment, at least until he re-filled her empty coffee mug. She stared at it for what felt like a long time, as if trying to decide whether or not it was safe to drink. Finally she picked it up, cradling the mug in both hands and sipping the coffee in thought. If everyone involved was legit then there wasn't an issue... on the other hand, if everyone in the room was legit, she'd most likely recognize more of them from their database files. Because of the casualties and property damage a lot of them would most likely get rounded up and taken to jail for counts of vigilantism.

Yue clicked her teeth against the mug quietly, gazing over the rim at what was happening outside. She didn't think it was fair that they'd be getting in trouble for getting sucked into an incident that she had caused even though it wasn't intentional. That was part of the reason she'd let Alex and the creature go when they had run from the scene. With her under a suspension and dressed in plain clothes, however, she didn't carry any authority.

"L-look, I'm sorry everyone got dragged into this mess because of me. If you guys hadn't been here, my brother and I may have died, so... thank you," she said, retreating behind her coffee cup a little further. "To answer your question, however, none of us are 'teammates.' I don't know about the others, but I am a completely ordinary, non-suspicious citizen who teaches 'self-defense' classes at a gym and I happen to be having a critically bad morning," she explained unconvincingly, taking a sip from her mug to hide the flushing of her cheeks.

"But," she continued, clearing her throat to hide the anxiety. "If someone from the right organization showed up, who is obviously someone other than me... since I am an ordinary citizen, they might be able to smooth things over outside and make some of this trouble go away," she said, clearing her throat again and sipping thoughtfully. The idea clearly went against her hilariously strict adherence to the rules, but she didn't want the others to suffer for the mess she brought down on them either.

Henry looked up and combinatorics another super had joined them in the diner, immediately producing drinks for each of them. Even a glass of orange juice for him who didn't quite like the taste of coffee. How did he...

Henry snatched the glass. It came from the restaurant, but he couldn't always be so sure. He took a glance. Looked fresh squeezed. As far s he knew, no super was after him. But as far as he knew no one, not even a super should know he wouldn't prefer a coffee after all that madness like any average person would. Plus, you never know with those agents. Maybe they finally let's the supers in on their games.

Could the blue man be a mind reader? Even worse then. He'd thought he had a solid defense against those...Even more reason to check for anything. Could never be too sure where those baseboards would place a tracker...though a cold drink would be nice.

He turned to look at Yue. "If it's all the same to you...I'd rather just avoid being seen by any prying eyes altogether. I just need to get out of here....quick," he informed her, his eyes returning to examining the orange juice and finally deciding to take a sip once he figured it checked out.

He looked at the super decked in blue. "And you...you're gonna have to talk. Fast. How'd you know I wouldn't want coffee?"

Sasha picked up his jacket from where he had tossed it, brushing the dirt off and zipping it shut, grimacing at the holes the fire and salt had left in his clothes. He looked around what remained of the street, noting the incoming police with a small sigh. As Cannonade began yelling about cards, Sasha's frown deepened.

Although he figured he would probably be released from custody, he wasn't too fond of the idea of spending the weekend (or longer) in a jail cell. Sasha technically had an American citizenship, but he wasn't too sure how far that would fly now that he had used his powers. Being an ex-Russian asset certainly made things complicated.

With the big guy and the shapeshifter having rushed off, most of the remaining superhumans had gathered in the diner. Sasha walked up to the diner's broken windows in time to overhear the last bit of conversations between Henry, Yue, Devon and Klaus.

"If you're looking to get out of here," Sasha said, leaning through one of the diner's window frames and smiling in a friendly manner, "now would be the time. Police are just arriving."

Sasha glanced about the diner. "That being said, it'd be a shame to part ways so soon now that fate's pulled us together. My place isn't far from here..." Sasha grinned. "I promise to treat you all to a more peaceful meal, what do you all say?"

It had quieted down a lot sooner than Akiko had expected. The flashy one, Cannonade, was talking about cards but some of the group had already walked off. Police sirens were in the distance but fast approaching. All of this faded into the background as Akiko reached out tentatively. It was beginning to fade. The other souls were already gone. She had to get this one at least. Her fingers began to close around it...

...And Akiko collapsed to her knees.

A light thump accompanied her sudden fall but the sirens and distance lent some aid in hiding the small slip-up. She gritted her teeth as a memories of the battle played before her eyes which had changed colors to a deep purple. She had to be quiet. No noise. Please let it be loud around her. No noise. You have to be silent. Noise.

Akiko looked up as the memories subsided and saw another orb ahead of her, in what used to be the diner. A pulsing light. She shakily and slowly got to her feet. That light was beginning to fade too as the beating of her own heart stopped thundering in her ears. She took a small deep breath and exhaled but her breath was still warm. The light faded and as Akiko stealthily got closer, close enough to hear the conversation, she caught the last words Henry spoke. They very same Henry whose pulsing soul had brought her dangerously close to the other supers.

Devon raised an eyebrow a the reponse Yue gave him. She didn't 'think' of any of it was serious, well if she feels she can wait until her brother comes back to patch her up he should probably ignore the bleeding all over the place for the moment. The question Henry threw at the both of them made Devon chuckle for a bit, but he didn't feel like answering that. Either he'd have to lie a lot, or it would cause a whole lot more trouble than it was worth.

Another one walked into the diner and he.... Refilled the mugs of coffee for Yue and him... Well he hadn't had the chance to enjoy his second helping of joe, so in a way it was quite welcome. He sipped away at the hot brew as Yue tried to get her cover story straight and tried to mention how 'someone other than her' would attempt to smooth things over. Devon just shot into a fit of laughter, and after a second or two of trying to regain his composure responded to her. "Miss I think you're worrying too much, because I highly doubt they'll have the legal power to put blame on any of us. With that loose cannon on scene we could easily pass any and all property damage on to them, since most of it is caused by them in the first place. As for defending ourselves... The place got shot at and because we still have the old stand your grounds laws from before any legislation was made for supers, nobody has the duty to retreat and can intervene with lethal force if needed to prevent the imminent death of themselves or another. I think that quite fittingly covers the situation here, seeing we stopped a terrorist organisation from executing someone and taking us all as collateral, if not I know a few good lawyers who'll certainly make sure the judge and jury agree. But let's hope it doesn't come to that."

He then looked over to someone who talked to them through one of the broken windows mentioning that the police were almost on site, and indeed there were sirens that sounded pretty close by. Then offered a more peaceful meal at his place under the reasoning of fates pull. "Fate, coincidence, luck or be it some other force... But I could use a breakfast that doesn't include violence and an unhealthy amount of salt." He said glancing back at the soggy muffin on his plate.

"You know Miss, you're being rather irksome." Maxwell chuckled from the darkness. As Sheri continued to move about the darkness, she couldn't detect it letting up in any spots, though the reason for this was partly that it moved with Maxwell, and he now moved with her. There was a slight clicking sound in the distance, something being picked up from the darkness. More noises, sounds that unmistakably originated from a gun.

A moment later, something clattered to the ground and slid towards Sheri. It was her gun, stripped down to nothing more than the grip, guard, and lower half of the slide. Everything else seemed to be missing.

Before she could even think to reach down and get it, a hand pressed against her neck, pushed her against a wall, and kept her at enough distance that she would need to struggle to remove the grip. A small knife was now pointed to her face, steadily held only an inch or two from her left eye.

Maxwell was toying with her.

Sirens blared from the distance, and the silver haired man gave her a soft smile as he let go and took a few steps back, before she could try to counter him. He hadn't hurt her in any physical way, but he certainly wanted her to think he could have. "Seems we're going to have to part now Miss. Such a shame, but I suspect we'll be seeing each other again soon. Perhaps my offer of a job will even still be open to you. If you can learn to be a little more grateful." He chuckled again as he continued to step back into the darkness, his dress shoes lightly clicking against the ground.

"Till next time."

After a few moments of standing in darkness, light finally began to return, and Sheri could see the park, chaotic street, diner, and all the rest of the world around her. She could even spot the remaining pieces of her gun scattered on the ground, in tact and ready to be reassembled. All that was missing now was the silver haired man.



"Right, cards out." The voice came from the rather unfully dressed, helmeted super identified as Cannonade.

Richard eyed them up and down a few moments, a little confused by the whole gesture. He was familiar with Cannonade, enough to hear rumors and gossip about less than savory recreational activities. And yet they seemed rather intent on everyone showing off their 'super ID' like this was a police traffic stop? He smirked slightly at the irony.

Several other supers had already begun making their way to the diner, and he decided that was probably best for him too. "Sorry," he called out with a shrug. "Left it on the nightstand next to my cape. I'll ah... Send it as a facsimile." He said with a somewhat irreverent tone. "Thanks for the help though, we did a uhh..." He looked around at the chaos, death, and the hulking corpse of Balthazar. "We did an alright job. Appreciate the help Cannonade and ahh... Miss Hurricane? Maybe we ought to team up again some time." Richard said this to both Cannonade and the masked girl with the skateboard, whom he kinda thought he recognized, and was going to ask, but thought maybe it would be rude to, so he left it alone for now.

"Oh, dig the shorts by the way, but you might wanna take a seat and get checked up on once folks start arriving here." He indicated with his body where cuts and scratches on Cannonade's body would be.

He gave a little playful salute with his right hand's index and middle fingers, and made his way back over to the diner, grabbing his jacket from the ground and pulling it back on. Richard noticed quite quickly he had something extra in one pocket. He took a quick peek, noticing the card and number on it, and cocked a slight smile. These two seemed to be rather sweet, despite the fact they probably worked for the law.

Richard had overheard some of the conversation between the other supers in their as he made his way over to the counter, giving a slight rap on it directed at the man in the Sci Fi getup. "One glass of orange juice barkeep." He took a glance at Devon, then Yue, and finally Henry.

"I'm more worried about SINS than anything else. They don't particularly care about what North Carolina's laws are, particularly when it comes to unregistered heroes. Not that I'd know anything about that." He smirked slightly before looking back to the window where the man who'd previously been a demon stood.

"And I won't say no to a friendly meal, just so long as the Devil won't be joining us. Bad blood there." As he got ready to look back to the others, he swore he saw something near the doorway... Like the air wasn't still, or something weird like that. Now he was the one feeling a little on edge.



March 11th, 2045, 7:00am: Atlas City, North Carolina, USA

The smell of freshly roasted coffee wafted through the air of the diner, the waitress hurriedly getting one ready to go for the first customer of the day. She placed the cup down on the counter, '7:00am' and 'Peter' were written on the side. A man dressed in a grey three piece suit smiled as he picked up the cup, and replaced it with a $10 bill. "Keep the change." He said with a soft, yet somehow incredibly cold, smile.

He left the building shortly after, and continued walking South for a few minutes before crossing the street where the Southern portion of buildings that surrounded the park was located. As he continued on his way, he passed a young man with short, dark hair, and wearing a black leather jacket. Seemed a little old fashioned perhaps for someone his age, but then he also bore the look of someone who perhaps had already had a small taste of what life could dish out.

It was a beautiful morning so far though, sun coming up over the ocean, and storm clouds slowly getting pushed back across the land.

Peter was going to have a great day today.

"You're both correct," she interjected, tapping her teeth against the mug a bit nervously. "It really depends on who arrives first to take control of the scene. If NAHLA arrives first, everything should be fine, you can argue 'stand your ground' and only be inconvenienced with a day of questioning," she explained, gazing into the bottom of the cup and swirling the liquid.

"SINS is much shadier, and will likely side with whatever nonsense Cannonade comes up with. They'll bend or break whatever rules they can to put you in a bad situation. The best case in that scenario is they drag skeletons out of your closet to pressure you to register and join their organization," she continued, setting the mug on the counter and reaching into her pocket.

"My guess is SINS is already here somewhere and is looking for the right opportunity to poach the scene."

"Yareyareda (Good Grief)," Ichiro grumbled as he entered from the kitchen door, moving straight to Yue to inspect her injuries. "Ow, what?" Yue rapped his knuckles with lightning quickness.

"Them first," she ordered. Ichiro rolled his eyes and rolled a miniature med-kit out onto the counter. "Regardless, the worst that happens to me is a slap on the wrist," she said. It looked like she was removing something from her pocket for a moment, and then she seemed to think better of it and picked up her coffee again.

"There's already some suspicious looking suits talking to the staff and other customers. I don't know who they're with but they got here during the fighting, so whatever it is you guys are planning to do should happen in the next... two minutes," Ichiro warned, approaching Devon with a swab and a damp bandage. "If any of you were struck with salt I have to thoroughly clean your wound: it was spreading on one of the customers a few minutes ago."

"I don't want any of you to get into trouble on my account, so I'll back your play, whatever it is," said Yue. Ichiro nodded seriously as he was treating Devon.

"I have to treat Yue wherever she ends up, sooner rather than later preferably so I'll help however I can."

Klaus poured another glass of Orange juice for Richard who seemed delighted that someone was behind the counter. He smiled warmly and placed the glass before the ice wielder before turning his attention to Henry,

"You don't have enough time for the explanation you're after, but I promise I will explain soon," He nodded, hoping Henry would trust him, "You have to get going, but perhaps we will see one another soon," He gestured for Henry to make his way out the front door. Ichiro's warning should tell the man the suits are after him.

The sonic boom shook the restaurant and the ACPD would be in the building momentarily. He wasn't worried, he had the correct papers, even if they were a little out of date. The nice thing about time travel is that it allows you to be prepared for something even after being unprepared, to begin with.

"Well no matter what they'll ask, the writing is all over the street that we weren't at fault. A known terrorist cell operating inside Atlas city is a failure on many department's parts, we did what needed to be done to minimize casualties, nothing wrong with that," he then drained his second cup of coffee before finding a couple of muffins and placing one in front of Devon, who kept looking back at a soggy muffin on, what Klaus could assume was his table.