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B R A DxxxxB E L M O N T E
PAIN MAINPULATION
#591868

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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Having never finished high school, Brad was used to less than glamourous jobs. For the last eight months, funding his current stay at The Barnyard, he’d been cleaning office buildings at night. The 13 story building was only three blocks away from the The Barnyard, and well, Brad wasn’t exactly cut out for customer service.

Brad nodded to Bo as he wandered past, they were sitting over their desk click-clacking away, doing whatever they did at this business. Brad had never really thought to ask what their role was, he only really knew that Bo often stayed late enough to meet Brad and the other night time cleaners.

At the end of the seventh floor, was a door to a balcony. Though balcony may make it sound more luxurious that it was, as it would only fit three bodies shoulder to shoulder, and was an odd shape that provided a view of the red brick wall of the neighbouring building. But, as Brad had discovered months earlier, it was quiet and you could smoke out there.

He’d just taken his first drag of his cigarette, the orange glow of which was the only light to be seen at this time of night. There was a thin whistling noise, followed by a noise that sounded like a rocket taking off. His cigarette hung limply from his bottom lip as he looked up at a sprinkle of concrete chunks falling down.

Then the floor beneath his feet crumbled.

---

Brad recoiled against the noises, there was screaming and seemingly seeping out of every wall there was a sharp, high pitched wailing. An alarm system, though as Brad blinked awake, he realised it was far too late for that. He was laying on top of what used to be a cubical wall, a motivational poster about the fire within was crumpled under his left hand.

He thought he was probably on the fifth floor, but it was impossible to tell. To his left the exterior wall was still standing, but to his right the ceiling had folded down, leaving only a quarter of the floor space standing clear from the wreckage. Just past his feet a fire was licking up the walls, he could feel its heat licking the soles of his feet and the smoke clogged his lungs.

Brad tried to sit up but was hindered by a throbbing pain on his left side, looking down, the side of his black t-shirt was matted in blood but it was impossible to tell what the damage was, and now wasn’t the time to do that. He held his hand to his side and willed the pain away with his magic.

With the pain gone he leaped to his feet. Heading towards the scream. A woman, cradling what appeared to be a broken arm was huddled against the only remaining wall. He put his hand on her shoulder drawing on his magic to take away her pain, and her screaming faded.

“Get out!” Brad yelled, causing the woman to scamper away, through the door to the fire exit stairwell. He hoped those stairs were still standing.

Brad paused to take a few short breaths, the adrenaline was pumping through his veins causing his magic to sing. It wanted to get out, and nothing would make this situation worse than Brad’s powers going off like fireworks. He had to calm down. He went the opposite direction of the woman, into the hallway looking for more survivors. That was when he saw her, standing in the hallway, her heels delicately balanced on a pile of rubble and looking up through a hole in the ceiling.

Tatianna Rovoski, though they called her The Mad Fairy. Captured 14 times and escaped 14 times, Brad knew her by reputation, and the green lipstick and green hat sliding her face into the shadows gave her away instantly. Apparently, she liked to cause chaos then stay to watch the madness.

The smoke force a hacking cough from Brad’s lungs. She turned to him, her eyes were hidden but her green lips turned into a smirk before she disappeared, then reappearing next to Brad long enough to etch a scratch into his cheek with her green nail, before disappearing again entirely. Her short-range teleportation abilities definitely aided her ability to escape imprisonment.

Brad moved to chase after her knowing she couldn’t teleport far, but a thumping pain in his head and side had him falling to a knee. The pain coming back already was not a good sign, it meant he was definitely in a bad way. Again he used to his powers to remove the pain, before continuing down the corridor looking for survivors, he could hear their panicked shouts, he just had to find them.

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S A MxxxxW H I T W O R T H
ANIMAL COMMUNICATION
#649953

LOCATION: The Barnyard

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The vegetable soup tonight was watery, and that was highest compliment Sam could give the dish. He could tell it had onion in it, but none of the other colourless lumps resembled any vegetable Sam could name. But, he didn’t get paid until 2pm tomorrow, so he was eating Roy’s questionable veggie soup, and half a loaf of stale bread another resident had tossed his way.

Sam had worked a late shift at the cafe, and by the time he got dinner for the rabbits he was tending upstairs in his room it was far past dinner time, so the kitchen was mostly empty and Roy was mopping the floors. Though Sam much preferred the quiet, at meal times there was an insane energy always buzzing around and usually one fight at least.

Link, the scrappy canine at Sam’s feet gave a low whine and bark. “Link.” Sam said, chastising him. Link was telling Sam a story back from his stray days, about a female dog he’d once ran across. And he was not telling the story kindly, nor politely. For a dog that Sam had found starving in an alleyway with three legs, he had a lot of crude opinions.

“He’s chatty tonight.” Roy said from the top of his mop. “Got lots to say does the wee fella?”

Sam fed Link another soup soaked piece of bread and patted his head. “The rabbits are just driving him a little stir crazy I think.”

“Rabbits?” Roy said, with a slack jaw, his mop left to drop forgotten to the floor. Sam winced at his slip up, he’d forgotten that he’d yet to tell Roy about the three rabbits that he’d found nestled behind the dumpster at work. If Roy thought Link was chatty, he should see the rabbits. The three of them could talk a mile a minute at each other nonstop.

Luckily, Sam was saved by the bell. Literally as a squealing whine pierced through the air, coming from the ceiling.

“Who used the third floor shower again!” That was Cierra who yelled out, following it up with a curse. She had been reading a magazine at the other end of the kitchen. Only two weeks ago they’d had a whole meeting about the steam from that shower causing the fire alarm to go off.

Roy frowned and pottered outside the kitchen door. “I don’t think that’s the smoke alarm hun.”

Sam paused for a moment and realised Roy was right, he’d heard enough of the smoke alarm over his ten years at The Barnyard to know it sounded deeper and less frequent. Roy pottered around trying to figure out where the sound was coming as Sam shrugged and went back to his soup. Hey, the building was old and decrepit, there was a new problem to fix every second Monday.

The sound eventually stopped, but by that point Sam had finished his soup and was washing up his dinner.

Roy reappeared with a puzzled look. “Never heard that sound in my life. It’s the most bizarre thing.” Then a phone rang. An old school landline phone mounted on the wall, it was yellow and jammed in between the fridge and a notice board. Sam he hadn’t ever noticed it before. “And I ain't had that phone ring either.” Roy wandered over to the phone with some trepidation.

Sam could only hear Roy’s side of the phone call, which contained a string of yes and I understand. Though Roy’s deepening frown was a concern. Finally Roy hung up, his face pale and ashen. “You’re all needed at 374 Wilkerson st.” He announced to a half empty kitchen, though he looked as confused as they did.

“Now?” Sam asked with a frown. “Why?”

“The Superheroes are gone.” Roy wiggled the brim of his cap, securing it in place, and he seemed to snap back into action motioning to Cierra who had wandered over. “Cierra sweetheart, I need to get a message to everyone in The Barnyard.”

She popped her gum and nodded once, “Go for it old man.” Cierra could manipulate sound, so she could amplify whatever Roy had to say, an echo of his voice reaching all corners of The Barnyard.

He cleared his throat. “Excuse me everyone. You have all just been promoted to active superheroes and are required to present yourselves at 374 Wilkerson st. immediately. There has been an attack.” He waved at Cierra to stop amplifying his voice, realising something awful. “Isn’t that where Bradley and Haven are working?” He tipped off his hat and rubbed at his balding head, he always considered most the residents at The Barnyard as his own children, and so imagining them in any danger was unbearable.

“Well, get on with you.” Roy yelled to the gathered crowd. “Get to Wilkerson st.”

Sam was one of the first to take off, he ran the three blocks to find the building had crumpled in out itself, like cardboard left out in the rain, still standing, but the walls were all bent and weak. A thick black smoke drifted out of the top storey windows up into the night sky.

He pushed the through the crowd of civilians watching on, and stood staring up at the scene, frozen to the ground. His friends were in there, probably suffering. But how could communicating with animals possible help in this situation?

---

B OxxxK A P P E L
POWER CONDUIT
#DAA520

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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xxxBo stifled a yawn with a hand, staring intently at their computer screen while their
xxxother hand set down some papers on the table, before reaching over for the bright,
xxxlemon-yellow thermos on their left. With a little bit of an animated grimace, Bo
xxxpopped the lid and drank from the thermos, knowing fully well that the coffee inside
xxxhad cooled down at least four or five hours ago.
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xxxAt least that's what they thought, as they glanced over at the clock.
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xxx... Clearly they hadn't been paying attention to the time.
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xxxWith another yawn, Bo set the thermos back down, and tapped at a few more keys,
xxxcross-referencing work done by the other employees with the notes given to them.
xxxThey had taken the job for "experience" purposes, and was assigned to a "proofreading
xxxjob", as it was described. While it was a lot of work - they had to proofread for every
xxxemployee, and that meant they would be working far through the night - Bo welcomed
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxithe grind.

They continued proofreading, making small changes to any mistakes, then printing out a hardcopy with a timestamp, double-check on the hardcopy, make more amendments accordingly. This went on for a little bit until they lifted their head for a quick crack to alleviate the building tension on their neck. That was about the same time Brad walked past, and the two shared a mutual nod of acknowledgement, although Bo added a warm, welcoming smile. That went unnoticed as Brad continued on his way, as he usually did. To smoke. The seventh floor did have that oddly tight balcony. Wasn't Bo's favourite spot, and it didn't seem like anyone else's either, except for Brad.

As they mused on Brad's lukewarm behaviour, another night-cleaner popped in; a nice, Hispanic woman named Mai in her late 30s who was extremely nice to Bo, and would drop by every once in a while to talk with them.

"Hey, tía!" Bo called out with a smile.

"Ai, pollito! Lots of work again?"

"Sí, soooo much work! You won't believe what they're making me do!" they sighed in mock exasperation, kindling a small laugh from the Hispanic woman. "How're the little ones? Are they well?-"

---

It all happened so suddenly.

Mai and Bo had been enjoying each other's company, exchanging stories about family and work, respectively when the building suddenly shook, and then the ceiling above gave way. No sound to warn them; if there had been, it was probably too low to be heard over their laughter and conversation.

The ceiling crumbled down like a man-made asteroid shower, slamming into chairs and tables, destroying thousands, maybe even millions worth of property. And all the labour put into the billions of files that the employees had toiled over for months and years.

So much for all that work.

Despite that instant quip their mind made, Bo felt sick: the type of sick when you feel like your stomach just dropped into an icy, cold bottomless pit. And the coffee was threatening to make its way up their throat before Mai's screaming brought Bo back from the shock.

"Pollito, come quickly!" the Hispanic woman had dropped all the cleaning equipment onto the now dusty, debris-wrought floor, mixing in some detergent water with the cement dust. Now standing by the door to the hallway, Mai beckoned Bo towards her.

Bo winced as a decent chunk of new debris, probably coming from the ceiling two floors above, smacked square against their shoulder and caused them to stumble straight into the table. Winded, they shook it off and scrambled quickly back onto their feet as more debris began to rain down. Bo could hear Mai screaming in concern, but it felt almost like she was screaming underwater.

Then, the floor, apparently unable to take the strain of the hammering debris, gave way. It caved, causing Bo to lose their footing, who had reached out to grab onto Mai's outstretched hand. They missed by a hair's breadth, even managing to feel each other's fingertips before Bo was sent sliding down to an imminent doom. With survival instincts kicking in, Bo tried to climb up, clambering the best they could but the muck caused by the detergent water-cement mixture was acting like a dreadful lubricant, sending them straight down. In a last ditch effort, Bo even tried to dig their nails into the floor, only to have a couple of them ripped out in excruciating pain before they fell.

After what felt like an eternity of dread to Bo, they slammed straight into the floor beneath - or perhaps the floor beneath that one, the wind knocked out of their lungs. They gasped in pain, struggling to gather the oxygen back into their lungs again, while curling into a ball as more chunks of rubble rained down upon them. By some miracle, most of the bigger blocks missed, and the one that was big enough to pin down Bo's leg was easy enough to move aside.

Bo got up onto their feet, felt a sharp pain shoot up their left leg, and buckled under the weight of their own petite body, screaming bloody murder. The sudden pain had taken them by surprise. After a deep breath, Bo got up again and gingerly rested their weight onto their left leg. It hurt, was it was bearable now that they were ready for it. Slowly, they began to hobble through the hazardous floor and falling wreckage as quickly as they could.

Bo heard Mai screaming from above, and mustered enough strength to bellow out, "I'm okay! Get somewhere safe!".

When they heard Mai scream back an acknowledgement, Bo made their way out into the hallway, hearing new fearful screams adding to the chaos.

A computer screen careened down behind them, smashing into, whimsically put, atoms.

alex grant
#d2623a

Alex wasn't terribly long in from work when the alarm started going off. Twelve hour shifts were bad enough, and having to do overtime just made it worse. It hadn't been anyone's decision as such. But they'd had a few issues early in the day which had lead to knock-on delays and had lead to Alex working an hour longer than she was supposed to. She'd planned on cooking dinner, but god knows she didn't have the energy. So she stopped briefly on her way home to grab some Thai food from one of the healthier joints she'd found that wasn't massively out of her way. She'd stopped briefly in her room to change out of her uniform to a jumper and jeans, before heading back to their communal kitchen. She wouldn't have bothered, except she kinda wanted to see Roy. The gruff landlord was often a little grumpy, but he did his best, and he looked out for them. Well, that and the light in her room was flickering again, and her usual solution of just hitting the switch a few times hadn't quite worked.

Having mentioned the problem to Roy (his response had simply been a vaguely exasperated sigh and a promise to get to it eventually), she holed herself up in a corner of the room with a radiology magazine and her satay, making it as clear as possible that she didn't want to be spoken to or anyway disturbed. So when the alarm started blaring, she just looked up with vague disdain. But then it didn't shut off. And it didn't sound like the apartment fire alarm. She was too far away to hear the exact conversation between Sam, Roy, and Cierra, but the ringing of that phone and the subsequent announcement made shivers run down her spine. This had never happened before. She thought the yellow phone was an ornament or just something else that was broken, never to be fixed.

She followed everybody else to the scene, arriving shortly after Sam, elbowing her way through the civilian crowd and glaring at a few who dared to challenge her authority. She reached Sam and saw that lost, shocked expression on his face. She reached up to rest a hand on his shoulder to comfort him... but then a scream made her hand hover in mid-air as she froze. And then she broke into a sprint, rushing straight into the building. Of course, she almost immediately regretted it. The building was not stable in the slightest. But there was clearly injured people in there, and what could she do but help? Carefully, watching every step, she picked her way into the building. "Hello?" She called out. "Is there anyone there?"

---

noah morris
#666666x
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The tiny metal sphere hovered in the air in front of Noah. With seemingly hardly any concentration, a second joined it, and started to move around it, forming a perfect orbit, a featureless moon and earth. This was second nature to Noah now, a warm-up he'd learned at some point in the academy and one he had sustained. It was so simple, but brought his abilities back up to the surface. A colleague's phone was having issues, and Noah had agreed to try and fix it for them before they paid a professional. He'd actually managed to do most of it without his abilities, but he needed to ease things back into place. He was tired and his hands were shaking, but he figured his abilities might offer a "steady hand" as it were.

He'd just gotten the final piece into place when the alarm started blaring and made him jump. The fact he could hear it even without his hearing aids in meant that it was loud and urgent. He fumbled around, finding the hearing aids again and sliding them into place. At first, he thought that the fire alarm was just being particularly annoying. But then came Roy's voice. An announcement, saying they were needed downtown. But... it couldn't be. Active service? Them? At least half of the Barnyard's residents were there because it was free accommodation in a decent location in New York and a guaranteed job. None of them had ever expected to be called up to active service. But here they were.

He carefully slid the cover back onto the phone and pulled on a hoodie. He felt like he really should have some kind of badass costume to wear, make him feel more like a superhero. But it was kinda cold out, so a hoodie would have to do. He reached the collapsed, vaguely lopsided building just as somebody sprinted into it. His heart settled into his throat as he simply stood and stared. He couldn't fix this. He didn't have the strength to as much as lift one of the collapsed beams, let alone an entire building's worth. He could probably repair the doorbell. Or their CCTV system. But... a superhero without the physical strength to do any good? Who would never have that strength? Why the hell had they called him up for a job like this?

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Haven LeClaire

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Location: 374 Wilkerson St.

Haven sat at the behind the front desk. Normally she would be like a receptionist, answering phones, greeting people who come in, showing people who came in for interview or other meetings where to go. Every now and then she'd run small errands for the boss. It was a pretty simple job, but still paid well. By this time of day, things were pretty dead as they got few calls and most meetings happened during the day. So, in order to keep busy she'd sometimes tidy up things around the office, do light cleaning, or read her book. Currently she was reading Catch 22. She had already read it before, but it was one of her favorites and it had been a while since the last time she read it. Then she heard a loud crashing noise and some screaming that sounded like it was coming from above. Confused, Haven closed her book and stood up about to go investigate, until she saw the ceiling above her caving in. Thinking fast, she quickly dived under the front desk and scarcely avoided being crushed by debris. Haven felt herself beginning to fill with adrenaline and with that adrenaline energy. She looked around her and saw she was surrounded by smoke and debris and people. Some were screaming and running. Chaos ensued around her. The most unsettling ones though were the people who didn't move at all. Haven looked down at her hands that were letting out a bright glow. No. Not right now. She told herself. Having destructive hands right now isn't going to help you, or anybody else for that matter. Haven sat under the desk attempting to take a couple deep breaths which resulted in her coughing up a storm, but at least it was enough to calm her down and keep her powers at bay. She slowly climbed out from under the desk. She slipped off her cardigan and held it over her face hoping to be able to keep the smoke out of her lungs. She then began to try to help others get to safety. She saw the panicked faces around her, but she tried to keep her cool. Haven knew she wasn't strong enough to lift up heavier pieces of rubble, at least not by herself, so she focused on what she could do. She ended up giving her cardigan to a coworker who must have been in their much longer because he was hacking up a storm before demanding him to get out. She pointed those who seemed lost towards the safest exit and started carrying the people she could get to out one by one. The smoke began to sting her eyes, but she went on as though it didn't. Haven then turned and noticed a lady in a green hat watching everything that was happening, but she seemed to be enjoying it.

---

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AMBERxxHUANG
ELEMENTAL MIMICRY
#18ABCC

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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The glare from a nearby streetlight was peeking through a gap the curtain as it spread across the bed. Amber groggily lifted her hand to block it from her already bleary eyes as she tried to make sense of her unfamiliar surroundings. She felt movement behind her as a slender arm wrapped around her torso, and pulled her closer. A faint murmuring from the bed’s other occupant accompanied the action as Amber lowered her arm with the aim to carefully extradite her from the embrace. As she moved unsteadily into a sitting position on the edge of the bed she glanced at the sleeping form of the women beside her, who had now turned away and wrapped herself tightly around the blanket; completely lost in her dreams.

Pulling herself to her feet she slowly made her way around the apartment and gathered up her hastily strewn clothing, doing her best to dress without disturbing her host. Fragments of the earlier evening were vying for her attention as she put the events together in some semblance of order, all the while she was trying to work out the fastest way home once she managed to leave. Flashes of a night-club, several shots and a packed dance-floor where bodies were entwined played across her eyelids as she blinked away her tiredness.

As she pulled her leather jacket over her black top Amber glanced back at the bed, admiring the pleasant view before gently pulling the covers up slightly to help tuck her back in. A half-smile curved her lips as more fragments of their frantic coupling replayed itself behind her eyes. Moving backwards she spied a half-drunk bottle of whiskey that she reached for and clasped tightly in one hand before using the other to unlock the door. Making good her escape she did her best to close the door behind her as quietly as she could but even so there was a faint snorting noise as the latch clicked into place.

Finding the nearest stairwell she began to make her descent, taking anywhere between one and three stairs at a time, with her balance wobbling unsteadily. Her temples were starting to ache, which she was chalking up to a lingering headache or early hangover as it could as easily be either. However as she finally stepped out into the cool night air, taking a quick gulp of the rough liquid from the bottle, she felt even worse as the pain seemed to be ramping up now that her endorphin levels were finally dropping.

Gritting her teeth while stumbling down the street she ducked into a nearby doorway, and tucked the bottle under her arm. Using her now free hands she reached into her jacket pockets and lifted out her lighter and crumpled packet of cigarettes. After a failed attempt to flick one out of the packet so she could pick it up with her lips she settled her pinching it out instead and stuffing the packet away as she cupped her hands against the wind. The pain seemed to be easing as she leaned back, inhaling deeply while her eyes fluttered shut. Breathing out the cloud of smoke she pushed away from the doorway and started making her way back to the Barnyard in earnest.

As she turned onto Wilkerson Street she started to feel uneasy, and had to stop by one of the street lights to take another mouthful of whiskey before continuing. Perhaps it was that she was getting closer to home or nearer to the superhero community as a whole, where usually she dreaded the thought of having to interact with yet another person with a look of disgust or pity in their eyes. She often got similar reception from most people, even the normal ones when she was in a rough state but the reasons behind their eyes were what made the difference because at least the normal community it was just that she was a drunken wreck. That didn’t hurt as much because she could just about manage disgust and pity, it was the distrust and loathing that cut her to the bone.

The thoughts left a bitterness in her mouth that even the whiskey couldn’t clear, causing her mood to darken further still. There now appeared to be a ringing in her ears to accompany the gnawing headache, and her already compromised centre of gravity seemed to be failing her entirely. As she stumbled and the bottle went tumbling from her grasp she clung onto a signpost to keep from falling.

”Slipped...whoops.” She half giggled, quickly becoming a hacking sob as she evaluated her current state.

”Ah, fuck...” looking further down the street she realised the ringing wasn’t so much in her head, just as the shaking appeared to be echoing all around her. That’s when she watched in abject horror as one of the buildings continued to collapse in almost glacial slowness. She stared for a moment before flinching as the realisation sunk in that the building was one of the workplaces for those at the Barnyard. Stumbling a little she made her way closer to where a group of people appeared to be gathering outside the rubble, that looked to be both survivors and potential saviours, though none of them appeared to be any of the actual superhero community, save for the handful of fellow rejects she could see. She did catch the glimpse of one of them dashing inside, which seemed madness to her since they'd be as likely to make it worse as to help. Amber couldn't quite remember her name, something beginning with an A she was sure, but it escaped her at that moment. Pushing through the growing crowd she moved gingerly towards one of the few people she was still on vague speaking terms with.

”Sup' Sam... erm. What's happened?” She was trying her best to strike up conversation but in the pit of her stomach she was feeling ill at the idea. As she smiled uncertainly towards to Zoolingualist she began to twitch her Zippo lighter between her fingers, making a steady clicking noise. Her fingertips were slowly shifting to a metallic hue as her nervousness increased.

---

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"You want me to come back there and cook the food for you, Tom?" Emmy cracked playfully, throwing a towel through the order window at the burly cook.

The fluorescent kitchen light flickered as the bearded chef caught the towel with one hand and tossed it back at her, squinted at Emmy with a smirk on his face. "Careful, princess, you'll burn the whole place down."

Grinning playfully, Emmy stood up straight from her position leaning through the window and grabbed the two plates of pancakes Tom had slid through the opening. "Yeah that'd be a damn shame," she sarcastically threw over her shoulder as she turned from the window toward the rest of the diner.

Emmy set the plates down in front of the only two men in the entire diner. The men were clearly inebriated, but so were most of their nighttime clientele. "Two 'Tommy's Late Night Specials'," she flashed a genuine smile, "Anything else I can get for you gentlemen?"

One man slurred something about 'giving them something extra', but Emmy couldn't be bothered with them. Her shift was almost over and she saw no need to get Tom involved -which she knew he would if an issue arose. She turned and made her way back to the kitchen area as the door chimed to announce the arrival of the incoming waitress, Nia.

Emmy felt the collapse before the rest of them. The intense vibrations of it almost sent her to her knees. She stood stunned while Nia, still raising her hand in greeting, looked concerned. Then a sudden, jolting vibration hit the diner. The fluorescent lights flickered ominously and the entire floor seemed to give one gasping heave to the side before settling to its original position, the faux chandeliers swaying precariously. Emmy looked between Tom and Nia. They knew she had powers and they knew that she would have to investigate if only for her own curiosity. Nia waved her off, "Go, go," the other waitress said hurriedly. Emmy gave Nia a gracious smile without a word and quickly untied her work apron, tossing it on the counter. She grabbed her small leather bag from under the bar and bolted for the door. As the she exited, she heard Nia yell at her retreating figure, "And text me later, I wanna know the details!"

Once outside, Emmy kneeled in the diner parking lot and felt the ground with her palm. Focusing, she quickly stretched her powers out. Within a few minutes, her ability told her everything she needed to know. Collapsed building, close to the Barnyard, trapped people. No superheroes yet, but if she stretched her ability a little further, she could sense some vibrations she recognized -people from the Barnyard. 'Why are they there?' Emmy thought to herself as she reeled back in her ability and stood up.

Emmy sprinted the few blocks to Wilkerson Street where she could tell the building had stood based on her ability and by following the general sound of mayhem coming from the direction. She skidded to a stop at the crowd gathered around the wreckage. Through the crowd, she could make out the backs of some people. Sam, Noah, Alex.. As she weaseled her way through the pack of shocked spectators, Emmy tried to reason with her thoughts. No superheroes at the scene yet, but for some reason the Barnyard's reserve heroes were all called to the action? And wasn't this that building that some of the people at the Barnyard worked at? Would they have been in there at this hour? Her thoughts were jumbled, but she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that was not just caused by the rolling vibrations drowning her senses.

As Emmy finally pushed through the thickest part of the crowd, she almost barreled into Sam's back. She righted herself and stepped up beside him and Noah, recognizing that Alex had already stepped into the fray -of course she had. The vibrations and suffocating amounts of dust coming off the wreckage were making Emmy nauseous and she started to sweat through her itchy yellow waitress uniform. She knew her ability to move earth could be tremendously helpful here. Looking at the big slabs of concrete, Emmy felt in her bones the same sense that she had so many years ago -that she could make these slabs of rock do whatever she willed them to do. But she hadn't practiced moving more than a few rocks in years. What if she caused more harm than good? But then again, if the reserve Barnyard powers were being called to the scene, then that meant the superheroes weren't coming, which meant that Emmy might be one of the only people at the Barnyard with a strong enough power to physically move these chunks of concrete. She could feel the people moving helplessly beneath the rubble. If she focused, she could feel familiar vibration signatures of people from the Barnyard -Brad, Haven-, and another friend, a regular at the diner -Bo-, but Emmy tried hard to not focus because she knew that if she felt those vibrations of people she knew and she sensed that they were injured -or worse- that would undo her and she would be no help at all.

Emmy looked up at stricken faces of Sam and Noah. They were both good friend of hers and it pained her -almost physically- to see them looking this helpless. She carefully looked between each of them and then gave a heaving, shuddering sigh. "I... I should help shouldn't I? ...I... I can help, right?" she stuttered to no one in particular. Emmy's life was full of joking around and helping people with their emotional problems, not this type of disaster. This was reserved for career superheroes -real superheroes. As she glanced away from her friends and back at the wreckage she thought to herself, 'I'm not made to be a hero.'

marina ayers
atlantean | #7AA69C

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xThe shift at the aquarium had been interesting to say the least. She couldn't count on her hands how many times she had to gently reprimand the children for 'man-handling' the stingrays. What an ironic thing for her to be doing during her time on land. Marina couldn't even imagine what her folks would say if they could see her now. The future queen of Atlantis, protecting stingrays from six year olds. In some ways being near the aquatic life calmed her. Although seeing them trapped in a cage was rather barbaric, she had hoped that her presence eased their discomfort. She wasn't like Sam where she could hear them, but some part of her felt them, their pain - anger. Her mother always used to say, 'you are one with the sea Marina', but she mainly thought of it as bullshit.

Marina had nearly everything prepared for her nightly routine. Her bathtub was nearly filled to the brim with water and she had just finished pouring her last can of table salt in as well. Someone had finally noticed the constant disappearance of the salt from the kitchen so she began buying her own and hiding them in her bathroom cabinet. It was a bizarre sight. The one annoying part of living on land was her need for water. Not only did she have to drink nearly twice the regularly daily amount but if she didn't soak herself in salt water for an hour every day she would be sick.

She had just begun to disrobe when the most horrid sound came from nowhere in her room. She clutched her ears tightly, expecting - well everything horrible to occur when Roy's voice filled the room. "Excuse me everyone. You have all just been promoted to active superheroes and are required to present yourselves at 374 Wilkerson st. immediately. There has been an attack.” Her heart fluttered in her chest. Promoted? Attack? This was the first time they had ever been asked to do something on a larger scale. Marina couldn't deny that she was nervous, but there was an excitement to it as well. She couldn't deny that she had been waiting for something like this for a while - of course not a disaster but an opportunity.

Marina changed as quickly as she could into one of her black bodysuits that she mainly used for training as dashed out of the building to the location. When she arrived, her expression faltered as she saw the crumpling building in front of her. All of her insecurities began to slowly seep in like a ghostly chill as she hesitantly remained near the outskirts of the crowd. Suddenly she saw Sam and Emmy at the front of the crowd then to Alex as she dashed inside the building and her expression hardened. These people made her feel welcome - happy when she was alone and she refused to let them down.

Shoving throw the crowd is much easier with a determined expression amongst your face, it's almost as if those around her just understood what she needed and moved out of the way. Marina managed to burst through the front of the crowd coming out directly behind Sam and Emmy. Looking between the two she instantly noticed Emmy's anxiousness, call it- friend intuition. Marina gently placed a hand on her shoulder her eyes softening. "Hey- you got this, okay? Why don't you use that freaky touch of yours and find the survivors?" Marina knew Emmy was a bit lazy when it came to training but hell, that girl could touch a wall and tell Marina she was taking a bath. It was amazing. Her friend just needed a little faith, which Marina had plenty of. She turned to Sam briefly, "I'm going to try and put out that fire before it gets worse" and with a nod of her head she was off dashing around the perimeter of the building. Thankfully on the left side there was a bright red fire hydrant just waiting for her to use. "Alright water, don't let me down now" She muttered as she extended her hand towards the hydrant, flexing her fingers. Deep within her chest she could feel a rumble, like a thousand waves crashing at once and suddenly the hydrant began to shake. Marina pushed harder with her mind and suddenly a screw popped off the side, then another as tiny streams of water began to shoot out of the cracks. Her hands began to shake and with a small cry she flung her hands upward promptly exploding the fire hydrant. If she wouldn't have been so caught up in the task at hand she would've jumped for joy but there was no time for celebration.

As the water shot out of the hole in the ground Marina trained her hand on it and with a flick of her wrist directed it towards the flames slowly licking away at the building. She couldn't help the toothy grin that appeared on her face as she watched the water begin to eat the flames. I'm really doing it, oh thank Triton.

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B R A DxxxxB E L M O N T E
PAIN MAINPULATION
#591868

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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xxxBrad didn’t have to stumble very far down the hallway to find another survivor. Bo wandered out through a crumbled opening at the other end of the corridor, looking as dishevelled and disorientated as Brad felt. He felt a tiny bit of relief at seeing them, relatively unharmed, the two may have not been super chummy, which was entirely Brad’s fault. However they were probably one of the last decent people in the world, always taking the time to get to know everyone, and the thought of finding their body mangled in a pile of rubble wasn’t high on Brad’s to do list.

He took a shaky step towards them preparing to yell out, but the ceiling above gave way sending crashing down a computer, a chunk of flooring, and half a desk chair. The dust from the debris rose up and combined with the black smoke hanging about overhead. Brad coughed twice as his smoker’s lungs struggled to sustain him. “You right?” Brad called out to Bo, as he clambered over the new pile of rubble to get to them.

“This is fucked.” He said when he reached them. He reached into his waistband and pulled out a small silver flask, filled to the brim with scotch to get him through the boredom of his work days. Brad figured he deserved it more now, and took two swigs, his nerves were frayed and using his magic only made he control on it slip further. He doubled over and took a few heaving breathes of the smoke filled air to calm his adrenaline, holding out the flask to Bo. He didn’t know if they drank, but he did know that now wasn’t a bad time to start. He could still hear someone yelling for help but it seemed to be coming from the floor below, Brad was no help from here.

Brad straitened, slipping the flask back into his waist band, and eyed his new companion. They were petite, and friendly and polite weren’t exactly star attributes in a situation like this. That was Brad noticed their missing finger nails, and the way they favoured their right leg. He cursed under his breath, before jutting out his jaw and speaking with a hoarse voice. “Let me.” He grabbed Bo’s forearm and pushing back their sleeve so he could have contact with their skin, he funnelled all his power in Bo, trying to take away their pain.
But it went wrong.

The moment Brad’s fingers grazed Bo’s skin, he felt his magic burst. As is his skin were a balloon that just burst letting it all out, his veins felt as though they were pumping pure magic. Even at his worst moments he’d never felt this level of explosion. He heard several screams from different directions, his magic causing pain in everyone around. He couldn’t even tell how far his magic had travelled.

Then it changed, like a camera snapping into focus. He magic didn’t feel like his own, like it had been weaved in with something else. He could sense pain, like little sharp points clustered throughout the building, he focussed on the one cluster below him, and he felt the pain disappear. Their yelling ceased too.

Brad ripped his hand back from Bo’s arm, and stared at them. He’d never done that before, he’d never been able to feel other’s pain, and never, ever had he been able to manipulate their pain without physically touching them. “What the hell was that?”

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xxK A T R I N AxxxxL I N D
TELEKINESIS
#177e95

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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xxxTurns out Kat didn’t need to know the exact address, 374 Wilkerson was easy to find as the smoke, debris and gathered crowd was a giveaway. She slowed down her motorbike, and rode it through the crowded, pumping the gas so it made that deep rumbly sound that always made people get the fuck out of the way. She pulled up her bike, threw off her motorbike helmet and strutted over to the line of terrified looking preteens. She sized them up. It wasn’t hard to tell they were the superheroes she was looking for. God help New York City, being in their care.

“Are you sorry lot superheroes or bystanders?” She looked to the surfer girl behind her working to put out the fire behind her. “At least one of you rejects has some initiative.”

Out of her back pocket she pulled out a crumple sheet of paper she’d been handed at the airport. Of course, she did this without removing her hands from her jacket pockets, she used her telekinesis power instead. The paper, floating in front of her unfolded seemingly on its own and allowed her to scan its contents, a list of The Barnyard residents, with their powers and notes from their examination.

“Um, it’s the Mad Fairy.” Kat’s eyes snapped from the page to the tall man on her right, and she had to do a double take. No way had that mild, timid voice come from a guy that large. She narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s, ah, what they’re saying at least.” He pointed skyward to the crows circling the building.

She looked back to floating paper to find his name. “Sampson Whitworth. Our very own Dr. Doolittle.” Quickly scanning the powers of the residents, Kat started formulating her plan, as she’d been involved with catching Tatianna Rovoski, for her third and fifth capture, she had some experience in the area. “She can only teleport where she can see.” Last time they’d tracked her in the darkness with night vision, the lack of technology was only the first issue with that plan. They’d just have to do the opposite this time and blind her with too much light. “Where’s Haven LeClaire?”

Sam answered again in his timid voice, pointing to the doors of the building. “In there.”

“Of course she is.” Kat cracked the knuckles in her right hand then turned to the brunette. “Okay then. Emerson Blackburn? You and Whitworth are on survivor duty, use those sensing powers of your to sense where they are. And, I want every single rodent and bug in that building looking for people. If you find Haven or that bat-shit crazy fairy you radio me.” Using her telekinesis she pulled a walkie talkie out of her back pack and floated it in the air between the pair.

She glanced over the Noah, next, scanning his details on her sheet. “Morris. You go with them. There is currently billions of dollars of metal tech lying crushed in that building. I’m sure you’ll find a way to make yourself useful.”

Lucky last, she looked over Amber and could smell the alcohol reeking off her. Kat had little use for her, even before she glanced over her extensive file, taking up a good third of the sheet. “And you can just go home. I have no need for drunk little girls.” She dismissed her without a second glance.

Kat only took two steps though before a sharp pain pierced through her temples. She’d suffered broken bones and third degree burns with little more than grunts, but this pain was strong enough to knock her down to her knees, causing her to screw her eyes closed trying to block it out. She could hear screams around her as the same pain infected everyone around. The pain couldn’t have lasted more than 30 seconds before disappearing as suddenly as it appeared. Kat got to her feet with a groan, now more pissed off than ever. She yelled after the group of rejects, “And find out what the hell that was!”

Kat jogged over to where Marina was working to contain the flames. The big external ones had mostly died. “Good.” She said looking up at the building. “When you’re done with that, head inside and deal with the little fires in there.”

Finally taking her hands out of her pockets, she shrugged off her jacket looking up at the building. Now was her time to get to work, she stretched her neck from side to side. She held out her hands towards the building knowing she was going to need every ounce of power she had to make sure the building stayed upright long enough to get the survivors out. This wouldn’t have been a tough ask five years ago, when she was one top of her game. But now, it was probably impossible but she was going to give it her best go.

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S A MxxxxW H I T W O R T H
ANIMAL COMMUNICATION
#649953

LOCATION: The Barnyard

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Sam looked up to see Alex approaching. She was cool, confident and always sure of herself and so he looked to her with a lost look. “Alex, I don’t-“ As he was speaking she was reaching up to pat his shoulder but they both froze mid action as a scream tore itself away from the crumbling building. And then he saw Doctor Grant, compassionate and unable to say no to any person suffering, she dashed inside without thinking of her own safety for even a moment. His yell after her died in his throat, she wouldn’t listen.

”Sup' Sam... erm. What's happened?” He turned around to look down at Amber who had appeared by his side. He froze, biting his lip and looking towards the building. Of course, he knew the history between Brad and Amber, he’d been in their year at the Academy and knew all the gossip, even if Brad refused to talk about any of it. Brad had been determined to avoid a reunion when he'd moved in. Back then though, Brad was only going to be sleeping on his floor for a couple nights, two weeks at most. He's managed to avoid his high school ex for 8 months.

Surely she had a right to know he could be seriously injured in there. “In there-" He paused and looked back to the building. There was a definite chance that Brad could be dead, but even then, Sam was sure he’d want his secrets kept. He was definitely the type of guy who was intending on going to the grave with his secrets.

Luckily, he was saved from responding, by Emmy. "I... I should help shouldn't I? ...I... I can help, right?" He looked down at her with a soft gaze, his heart breaking to see her so unsure of herself. She was always so confident and peppy, he was the quiet one. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders but was saved from response by Marina, who appeared to give the pep talk before dashing off bravely, his heart hammered for her safety.

Sam straightened up, ready to be brave when a roar of a motorbike cut through the crowd. A woman a few years older than him strutted over. Clearly, she was sent from some high power, she knew everything about them and was way more battle ready that Sam was.

Happy to follow orders and avoid all leadership Sam nodded to her instructions. He grabbed the radio she hovered in the air in front of him and ran toward the building, pausing for a moment to give Emmy a reassuring smile. “She has to know what she’s talking about right?”

Sam walked into the building, to his left, what looked like it used to be a water cooler was crushed in the corner leaving the entire floor is a puddle of water, the destruction turned Sam’s stomach. A moth fluttered from out of the debris, his hurried comments assaulting Sam’s ear. Talking to animals, and calming them down was something he could do, and he felt a little of his confidence return. “Hey there, little man.” He cooed holding out a hand for the moth to land on. “You’re okay.” The moth fluttered its wings. “Yeah, I know it’s a bit crazy right now. Look, we need to find the survivors, I need you help.” The moth flapped its wings twice and rose into the air. “And can you spread the word if you see any more moths.”

Sam watched the moth take off, up through the cracks in the unstable ceiling. He took a deep breathe, if the moth could be brave so could he. He ran for the double wide stairs to the second storey that were on his right. “Haven? Brad?” He froze on the second step as an unbearable pain descended upon him. It passed momentarily, but he knew that pain for what it was, Brad's powers. Which meant Brad was alive somewhere in this building, and not in a good way. He was now more determined to search this building from top to bottom.

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B OxxxK A P P E L
POWER CONDUIT
#DAA520

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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xxxBo hadn't even had a moment to recover their breath when the computer, and a
xxxbunch of other things started crashing down behind them, causing them to jump,
xxxstartled. Bo's mind had been racing for the entirety, and as much as they didn't
xxxwant to admit it, they felt they were probably going to die. Here. At the age of
xxxtwenty-four, without achieving anything significant in their life.
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xxxThe combination of their winded lungs, the dust in the air, and their fear and anxiety,
xxxBo went into a panic, trying desperately to breath properly as the building continued
xxxto cave in on itself.
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xxx"You right?"
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xxxThat wasn't a voice Bo heard often, but it definitely lessened a load off their shoulders,
xxxfeeling relief washing through them. At least two people were confirmed to be safe,
xxxand watching as Brad manuevered his way through the rubble, Brad was definitely in
xxxbetter shape than Bo was, which made Bo smile despite the pain. The adrenaline that
xxxwas slowly going away also made way for a flash of pain as Bo felt the extent of the
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx damage done to their body during the fall.

Now that pain ruled over much of Bo's body, the anxiety and fear from before had dissipated, replaced by a dreadful ache mixed with relief at a familiar face. Bo could barely keep their eyes open as they watched Brad make his way over.

“This is fucked.”

Bo chuckled weakly, finding Brad's words an understatement. This was fucked, this was beyond fucked.

They kept an eye on the larger man as he drank something from a little silver flask before he doubled over and took deep, heavy, almost restricted breaths. Before Bo could put a hand on Brad's back to check on him, the bearded man had recovered, handing out the flask that was in line with Bo's outstretched hand. Taking it, Bo didn't even have to take a whiff to smell the strong alcohol wafting out from the flask. Mirroring Brad, Bo took a swig of the scotch, feeling the alcohol burn their dry throat before it spread through their body. Bo made a face, then smacked their lips multiple times, trying to get rid of the unfamiliar taste. Then, with a deep breath, they poured some of the scotch onto the ugly, bleeding blotches where their fingernails used to be, whimpering as quietly as they could as they endured the sting as the wounds were disinfected by the alcohol.

With maybe half or a quarter of liquid remaining in the flask, Bo returned it to Brad's possession. As they shook off the alcohol from their hands, Bo tested their weight again, only to feel the thudding pain spread up their leg. Grimacing, Bo shifted back to a more comfortable position. When they finally decided to look at Brad again, opening their mouth to ask what their next step was, suddenly:

“Let me.”

Bo was taken aback by Brad's sudden tone, and even more so when he grabbed their forearm and lifted up their sleeve.

When Brad touched Bo's forearm, everything went bright for a moment.

Bo's body lurched unnaturally, as if shocked by an electric charge, their eyes suddenly shining like the brightest lighthouse beacon to ever exist. Then, a foreign influence seemed to beckon Bo, and when they accepted it, it seemed to link two forces into one. Bo felt this surge of energy course through their veins, and then leave them, like an infinite cycling loop. They could faintly feel the feeling of other people, and their pain, but it was almost as if they were peering in from someone else's eyes. Then Bo felt their pain leave momentarily, before returning, doubling, tripling, maybe even quadrupling in intensity, and that spread like wildfire. Everyone that Bo was feeling also felt the pain. Reacting to it, Bo screamed and felt another surge of energy past through and leave them.

And then stillness. The pain disappeared, and the other people that Bo could feel suddenly felt like they were yanked away from them.

Bo's eyes began to darken, the light fading away, and they saw Brad staring at them, his hands seemingly avoiding contact with them.

"What the hell was that?”

"You can take away pain." Bo said as the realization hit them.

Surprised as they were with it, Bo somehow instinctively knew what it was they just did. And as confused as they were, they stared Brad right in the eyes, and held out their hands in front of them, palms facing up, almost as if inviting him to touch them again.

A dull aching sensation was starting to creep up on Bo's head, but the pain from their body was gone, save for the lingering sting from when Brad had touched them. They smiled warmly without breaking eye-contact. "You will take away their pain. Because you don't want to hurt anyone. I know you just want to help."

"So don't be afraid, Brad. Try it again. Trust me."

They could enhance his abilities. Bo knew they could. And now that they're not caught off-guard, Bo would be able to support Brad again.

This time, properly.

alex grant
#d2623a

Alex was starting to think that maybe she should have thought before running into the building. The floor had caved in in places, and in others, there were piles of rubble that Alex had to clamber over. She'd lost her footing and had slipped down a particularly large pile, catching her thigh on something on the way down. The wound didn't seem to be too deep, but she was afraid it wasn't clean. Gritting her teeth, she willed the blood already seeping out of the wound to speed up, to flow heavier. As soon as she was sure that the dirt and debris was out of the wound, the blood flow stopped and instead began to clot. Picking her feet, slow and steady, she made her way through the building. Somebody stumbled out of an adjacent room, making Alex jump and almost lose her balance. The woman was dressed in a shirt and skirt, but appeared to be wielding a part of a desk as a weapon. Alex threw her hands up.

"Who are you?" The woman demanded and brandished the desk leg threateningly. She was limping, and there was blood trickling out of a cut on her forehead. "My name's Alex, I'm here to help. Are you okay? I can take a look at that if you want," she asked. The woman didn't look so sure, but she at least lowered the table leg. Alex made her way over to her and gently put her fingers either side of the woman's cut. It clotted as soon as Alex's hand touched her face. The woman's hand reached up to touch the wound.

"Wow. Are you-"
"You need to get out of here, okay? Back that way, you'll be able to get out. Be careful, okay?" She ordered, turning and working her way further into the building. She hadn't gotten terribly far when her vision went black, and she experienced pain like she never had before. She felt herself sink to her knees, but she couldn't focus on anything other than the pain. And then, just like that, it faded. Alex was on her knees, leaning against a wall. Pain like that only came from one source.

"Brad?" She called, taking into as much of a run as she could manage, which was a bit of a lopsided jog. Well, at least he was alive. That was something.

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noah morris
#666666x
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A few people seemed to arrive all at once. Amber, drunk. Noah could smell the alcohol off of her and he wasn't even standing beside her. Then Emmy, clearly terrified, and as lost as Noah felt. Marina arrived, the only one who seemed to be able to help. Noah felt even more useless, seeing how helpful she was. And then a woman appeared, one that instinctively made Noah want to shrink into himself even more. From what he could ascertain, she appeared to be taking charge of the situation. She addressed him, but because she wasn't looking at him directly, reading her lips was difficult, and he just had to guess that she wanted them to follow Sam. Which is what he wanted to do. He jogged to catch up with them as they entered the building.

He glanced over at Emmy. "What's her problem?" He signed to her, confident that the scary woman wouldn't be able to understand him. Sam had a... conversation with a moth, which was a little weird to see, but he was more than used to it if he was honest. The pain that overwhelmed them for a few seconds terrified Noah. For a second, he thought that it was just him, that there was something wrong with him. He looked at Sam, who had frozen. It then hit him that he was supposed to be going to the basement, not upstairs with the others.

"I need to go to the basement. I... I don't want to go alone," he admitted, looking between them. Because he didn't know what else was out there, and wasn't sure that he could quite manage to do it by himself. But Sam seemed so determined to search the building. "I'll be fine, don't worry," he recovered. "Look after yourselves."

He turned and headed back down the stairs, slowly, slowly, watching every step. He found a door to the stairwell, but it was locked. He closed his eyes, feeling for the lock inner workings. He manipulated them into place and twisted the door handle, grinning. He couldn't do many things, but he was a handy lockpick if nothing else. He took a deep breath, staring down the stairs.

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AMBERxxHUANG
ELEMENTAL MIMICRY
#18ABCC

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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xxxSam had turned to look at her following her greeting however the reaction didn’t fill her with much confidence, what with his expression taking on a very ‘deer in the headlights’ vibe as far as she could tell. Though it wasn’t exactly like they spoke on a regular basis or anything but there had definitely been an increased feeling of detachment, almost as if Sam had avoiding her or something for the past several month. She dismissed her worries when he finally started to speak, and chalked his uncertainty as being more to do with their current situation than anything else; but what did it really matter if yet another person distrusted her?

“In there-" he began as he looked back towards the building, though the rest of his words faded as one of the other residents of the Barnyard stepped up beside them. "I... I should help shouldn't I? ...I... I can help, right?". Amber tilted her head slightly to look at the other girl, whose name she couldn’t quite remember, while the sudden change of movement caused her head to swim and her eyes going a little unfocused. She missed the lamppost she’d used earlier, much better than keeping herself stable. She could definitely understand the uncertainty radiating off the girl, was her name Emery… no… Emma? Either way just diving headlong into danger when actual Superheroes were supposed to be dealing with it almost felt like suicide as far as she was concerned. They’d been flunked from the program for a reason after all, and it wasn’t like they’d suddenly been called into active duty or anything. That would be a terrible, terrible idea.

While she was mulling over the absurdity of pitching in to help another resident, who again she couldn’t quite place, but vaguely remembered some mention of hydrokinetic abilities. She half lifted her hand to take a stabilising drink while the two women she couldn’t place engaged in conversation before remembering her hands were empty and the bottle was lying smashed several feet away. Her suspicions were confirmed as the other strange ran to the side of the building where she looked to be calling on water from nearby a fire hydrant in an effort to reduce the growing blaze.

The sound of a roaring motorbike engine caused her to look round as the crowd parted, and a rather irate looking woman stepped into a view while removing their helmet. “Are you sorry lot superheroes or bystanders?” Amber struggled a little with that given that she knew there ought to be actual superheroes due to the scene of something like this and what she remembered of their training it was usually more of a hindrance to try helping out. As the woman began reading off their names, and barking orders for each of the Barnyard residents the feeling that she was clearly missing something began to gnaw at Amber.

She’d zoned out a little before noticing that Sam and couple of the others was heading into the building while the strange woman appeared to be giving Amber a momentary appraisal. “And you can just go home. I have no need for drunk little girls.” Amber flinched as if struck, her face twisting half in confusion before quickly being replaced by indignation. She half admitted, if only to herself, that it made a change to hear someone being direct with her for once, though her eyes still flared with anger. Her lip curled into a drunken smile as she raised her finger in an attempt to lecture this stranger, being entirely certain that her next words would be a perfectly crafted snarky retort which would leave them dumbstruck.

The women, entirely oblivious to this, had instead finished dismissing Amber and began to make her way into the building. Amber watched in confusion as she winced and fell to her knees before she felt a wave of sudden agony ripple through every nerve in her body. She stumbled backwards, her balanced failing as the tumbled onto her backside, spreading out her palms against the rough concrete to ease her landing. Her eyes had closed with the pain while her flesh and clothes were starting to slowly shift to match the dark grey material at her fingertips; though as the change spread, she bit her lip as the pain shifted sensation before fading. ”That felt awfully familiar.” She muttered to herself, a faint smile pursing her lips.

Grunting a little as she pushed herself back onto her feet, she heard the new arrival shout, “And find out what the hell that was!” in the general direction of the building before jogging over to help deal with the external fires. Amber glared at the woman’s retreating back, willing her eyes to bore holes through her skull, but as expected nothing happened.

It had been a few years since she’d made a complete absorption like this and the alcohol in her system wasn’t making it any easier, but the fogginess in her head was a great deal lessened now that she was entirely made of stone, or stone-like material at any rate. Her own steps were rather slow as she felt incredibly stiff and every part of her simply wanted to remain stationary, but with each she could feel her limbs starting to loosen up and begin to work as intended.
After entering the crumbling building she looked around to see if any of the others were in sight but it appeared they had all went further inside in search of survivors.

Uncertain of exactly where would be the most help she headed to where the structure appeared most unstable, her reasoning being that if nothing else she could at least attempt on making sure it didn’t collapse entirely. As she slowly worked her way through the ground floor she did her best to heft rubble to the sides in order to clear a way through. She found her way towards an open stairwell that was leading down towards the basement, and spying a door sitting ajar she began to descend in search of survivors.

”Anyone trapped down there?” Her voice had taken on a rather gravelly tone to it, and even if she was feeling a good deal more sober there was still a faint slur to her words.

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B R A DxxxxB E L M O N T E
PAIN MAINPULATION
#591868

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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xxx"You can take away pain." Bo said and Brad felt their eyes on him as he doubled over, a pressing ache in the back of his skull. Whatever kind of power he’d drawn on his body was taking it out on him.

“I don’t advertise it.” Brad’s voice was close to a growl as he straightened up and rolled out his shoulders, willing away the after effects of using so much magic. He chose not to question how they had figured out his powers.

Unfortunately Bo was staring right at him, forcing Brad into reluctant eye contact. Then, they did the unthinkable and raised their hands up, wanting to do whatever the hell had happened again, and Brad blanched. He could still feel the tingling of magic rushing through his veins, trying to break out and reek habit. “Fuck no.”

"You will take away their pain. Because you don't want to hurt anyone. I know you just want to help." Brad shook his head, no words coming. In his experience power like his hurt more than it ever healed, and he didn’t want to be in charge of that kind of power again. "So don't be afraid, Brad. Try it again. Trust me." Bo’s eyes were warm and encouraging.

Brad flicked his eyes down to Bo’s outstretched hand, eyeing it like you would a dangerous animal, they were right, Brad didn’t want to help all the people who were hurt and suffering. But he didn’t’ want to add any more pain. He teetered on the decision for a while before shaking his head. Bo was kind and with good intentions but they hadn’t been there when Brad lost control, they didn’t know what his powers could be like. “You’ve got no fucking clue what happens when I try things.” He took a physical step back rejecting them.

Then he heard his name. "Brad?" A question in a voice he recognised, one of the few people he let his walls down a little around.

“Alex?” He didn’t know what the fuck she was doing, but he ran past Bo, taking a corner into what used to be a kitchen, now crumpled and ashen. That’s when he saw Alex running, or trying to, his eyes instantly searching and finding the dark red stain on her thigh. “How are you here right now?” He asked running over to her, he wanted to take away her pain but he felt his powers waning from overuse, at that moment he couldn’t have even taken away the pain of a splinter.
Not on his own at least.

Without thinking or even warning them, he grabbed at Bo’s hand. On the moment of contact he felt his dwindling powers multiple, then triple, expanding quickly out of control. Brad expected it this time, able to reign it in sharpen it. He looked up to see Bo’s eyes were glowing and when he looked at Alex, again he had gained the ability feel the pain radiating from her thigh.
Brad didn’t even have to touch her to remove the pain. Once he was done he closed his eyes, using his powers to grope through the building, looking for sources of pain, soothing them when he found them.

Eventually, he felt a pulling at the back of his scalp, and opening his eyes his pulled his hand back from Bo. Even with Bo’s help he’d reached his limit. The very instant his fingers drew away from Bo’s hand, a crushing pressure slammed into the back of his skull, punishment for using so much magic. Dropping to his flanks he pulled out his flask for a last swig of whiskey, feeling it was nearly empty he waved it up to Alex and Bo. “Finish it off for me?”

With a cough and wheeze he rose up again, cracking his neck to the side. “So now what do we do?” As he spoke there was a crack and part of the roof came tumbling down around them, along with all the bits of furniture the floor had been supporting.

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S A MxxxxW H I T W O R T H
ANIMAL COMMUNICATION
#649953

LOCATION: The Barnyard

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"I need to go to the basement. I... I don't want to go alone," Sam paused with a foot on the first stair going upwards looking back at Noah. He wanted to find his friends, see they were safe for himself. But wasn’t an action hero, he was the guy who nurtured scared things. So he turned to follow him before being waved off by Noah. "I'll be fine, don't worry. Look after yourselves."

It only took Sam watching two of Noah’s slow, timid steps to make up his mind. With a nervous swallow he followed him down into the darkness of the crumbling stairwell, towards an unknown basement. “We should stick together.” He paused, if that what real superheroes do? “I think?”

Sam was only a step behind Noah, as he came to locked door, using his powers to open the lock. At first everything inside was dark, an inky blackness that consumed all the light making it impossible to make out any shapes but the stairs leading down. Noah went first and Sam followed behind, his hand trailing the wall for a light switch.

“Lights, lights,” he murmured to himself as his hand grazed a spider web. The light from the doorway illuminated a hairy black mass, plucking at its silvery web. “Where?” He asked the spider who plucked away at the webs it perched on its way of communicating. On the left around the corner.

Sam followed the spider’s instructions into complete darkness, his and Noah’s feet tapping against the concrete were the only sounds. His hand came to rest on a box sticking out of the wall. With a little bit of fiddling around he found he switch, drowning out the basement in a wash of white, fluorescent light. He had to blink several times before he could focus on anything. In front of him were rows upon rows of shelving units, full of unused or discarded electrical equipment. The basement made of concrete seemed relatively untouched by the destruction above, only a few shelves had fallen down in the aftershocks.

“Hard to believe all the damage upstairs.” He said with a feathery laugh stemming from his nerves. He wandered down one row, his eyes scanning the shadows as he clambered over a fallen shelf that had scattered it’s content across the floor.

“Anyone trapped down there?” Sam’s head snapped up gazing through the shelves towards the door expecting a real superhero but seeing Amber instead. She was perched on the bottom step.

Sam knowing Noah wouldn't of heard her decided to speak up. “Just me and Noah.” Sam called back waving her in, glad of the backup, before continuing on in his exploration.

Then he stopped short and his blood froze in his veins. “What?” His voice was a whisper that echoed across the concrete flooring of the basement. Explosives. Several long tubes haphazardly taped together with brown masking tape lay scattered across the floor. A long thin fuse snaked between them. Connecting them to a small silver box with wires poking in and out.

“Noah! Amber!” He called out, his voice choked and thin, too panicked to realise Noah wouldn't of heard him. “It’s,” Sam didn’t know what it was, why hadn’t these gone off this with the others. He wasn’t an explosives guy, he didn’t know how much stuff it took to level a building like this, but surely The Mad Fairy would have used all the explosives she had.

There was a sound of a bit of metal scraping the concrete behind him, and Sam spun around, a flash of green grabbing his attention. “She’s here. The- The Mad Fairy.” There was another flash of green that he could just make up as he squinted through a shelving unit stacked with computer mouses. He didn’t see her again but he could tell she was stalking the down the rows and rows and shelves, the clacking of her heels echoed through the room. He swallowed hard, all of a sudden realisation struck him. It was a trap, the first explosion lured the last of the superheroes here, and now with the second, she was going to finish them off.

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noah morris
#666666x
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Noah had been prepared to do it by himself, but was still incredibly glad when Sam followed him down, exhaling a little of the breath he hadn't realised he was holding. He hadn't an idea what he was walking in to, and he was glad that he wasn't facing in to it alone either. Noah was just scanning the room when Sam found the light switch, plunging them all into light. Noah had to blink for a few seconds to get his bearings. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or terrified when he saw how intact everything was. It appeared that Sam had the same thought, but Noah just smiled. The sheer about of equipment was making him nervous. He wasn't quite sure that he had the strength to deal with all of his. Sam would have to help with carrying some of it out. Noah scanned the equipment, identifying the most useful and valuable.

He wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings and had started to sort through a shelf of electronics. Some of it was burned out or severely outdated. A few things appeared to have been torn apart or dismantled and discarded. He frowned, sorting through it. Wires had been pulled out of it. But... why?

Sam said something, and Noah turned to look at him, about to ask him to repeat it. And then he saw it. The wires that had gone missing... forming what looked like a detonator for a bomb. Noah's blood ran cold. Then something green flashed past his vision. He didn't need to hear what Sam said to know what he meant. The Mad Fairy.

"You need to get out of here," he whispered. He didn't even think to acknowledge Haven's presence. They needed to get out. "Radio for back-up, and get out. I can... try and do something with it." He looked at them and forced a grin. "It's fine, I have steady hands." They probably didn't have time to worry about The Mad Fairy herself. She was a distraction to lure them in further. If he could dismantle or disrupt, he'd give them time to deal with her.

alex grant
#d2623a

Alex heard Brad before she saw him. Relief flooded through her at the knowledge that he was, at least, still walking and talking. She exhaled with relief as she saw him. But her eyes instinctively moved to the blood on his side. "I... did something really stupid?" She admitted, laughing a little with relief. But it seemed that he wasn't listening. He was looking at her leg. With the relief, she'd hardly even noticed it. She shook her head. "It's fine, don't-"

But Brad was already reacting, reaching out to grab something behind him. It was only then she spotted the person behind Brad. Brad grabbed her hand, and Alex struggled to process what happened next. Without even having to touch her, the pain from her leg vanished instantaneously. The stranger's eyes glowed. And then, as soon as it happened, Brad dropped to the floor, clearly exhausted.

"I..." Alex started, lost for words. "What the hell just happened? Who are you?" She asked, directing the second question at the stranger. Alex was certain that they weren't a hero, and she hadn't seen them around the Barnyard. When Brad offered a drink, Alex took it, draining the bottle. The burn felt good. She exhaled heavily, running a hand through her hair. Jesus Christ, this had all seemed so straight forward in the heat of the moment.

Brad started to say something, but the crash of the ceiling collapsing further stole his words in the noise. She threw herself on the ground, covering her head. Furniture came crashing down around them, and she felt something pinning her arm down. She swore she could hear a crack, but yanked her arm free regardless. She almost immediately regretted it, but sat up anyway. "We need to get out of here," she mumbled, half to herself more than anything else. "We need to get out," she repeated, louder. "Are you guys okay? Can you move? Is anyone bleeding?" She asked. She was pretty sure her arm was broken, but no head injuries, and no more blood wounds, which was good at least. She could conserve her power for the others.

B OxxxK A P P E L
POWER CONDUIT
#DAA520

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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xxxBo managed a small smile.
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xxxIt wasn’t that they were disappointed. Brad must have had his own reasons about why he
xxxwasn’t going to use his ability again.
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xxxNo, it was because Bo, for the first time in their life, felt small.
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xxxNo. Bo knew how petite they were. It wasn’t that. It was how Bo felt inside. For the longest xxxtime, Bo had been content and accepting of the way they were, and how they would make
xxxa difference, one small, petite step at a time. But that was when they thought they were,
xxxwell, normal.
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xxxKnowing that they had this ability changed the way they had previously viewed things.
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xxxFor the first time, Bo wasn’t a completely helpless, warm-voiced, smiling face anymore.
xxxBo wasn’t just the average citizen bystander who watched the heroes do their work.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xNo.
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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Bo had powers now, powers to make a big difference for anyone and everyone.
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And here they were, standing before a dire situation, yet again just a regular human being. When Brad showed that he had no interest in trying again and backed away, Bo, almost in the same motion, gently faded away from the bigger man. They looked down at their outstretched hands, watching them close gently. Little hands that could barely do anything.

"Brad?"

Bo turned their head to see a young woman dressed in a jumper and jeans, hobble towards them. When Brad called out her name, Alex, and ran past them, Bo was surprised. He had sounded so much more... relaxed. Well, as relaxed as one could be in a situation they were in now. It wasn't a tone Bo was used to hearing from their acquaintance. He sounded like he cared.

Alex, who had been injured, from a stab to the thigh from the looks of it. Bo walked up towards them, planning to offer some help, perhaps making a tourniquet, if if could help. Bo never really had much experience with first aid.

Just as Bo was thinking about opening their mouth to ask if they needed any assistance, Brad grabbed hold on their hand.

As their eyes beamed brighter than the north star, Bo gasped like they had just broke the surface of the water. The familiar surge of energy filled the void between them, a connection reestablished. Still, unmoving, but aware of Brad's need for more control, Bo relinquished their own, letting Brad reign everything into focus. Like focusing the flow of the hose into a water jet cleaner, high precision, stronger, and a longer range. For that moment itself, Bo's body did not feel like their own. They could feel Brad working, channeling their powers together to ease Alex's pain, and then the pain of everyone else around them. When Brad finally released them, almost simultaneously, a sharp pain pounced upon them, assaulting their head and hand with an immense pain. Bo hissed through clenched teeth, eyes squeezed shut, fists shaking as they attempted to power through the agonizing ordeal. There was a faint ringing in their ears and when Bo opened their eyes, the images before them doubled and hazy.

"- happened? Who are you?"

"I'm Bo Kappel, I work here." Bo replied to the part of the question they heard when they recovered, shaking out the pain from the hand that Brad grabbed. Looking at the rather intimidating Alex, with a sheepish, tired, bare-teethed grin, Bo continued, "I mean no harm."

“Finish it off for me?”

While Alex drank from the flask, Bo gave Brad a sort of half-smile that didn't really reach their eyes, but nonetheless gave him a thumbs-up. Sure, Bo was more than overjoyed that Brad had eased a lot of people's suffering, but the repercussions he had to go through, and the lingering thought that if Alex hadn't arrived, then Brad wouldn't have done what he did, added more discord to Bo's mind.

Perhaps it was for this reason, or the fact that Bo was tired from their ordeal throughout the night, or maybe a combination of those two, but Bo barely had time to register the ceiling above collapsed and watched as Alex dove to the ground, assuming a defensive shell as the debris rained in from above.

Then it faded to black.

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B R A DxxxxB E L M O N T E
PAIN MAINPULATION
#591868

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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xxxBrad was going to blame the overuse of his powers, for his sluggish response time. He didn't duck and cower like Alex, protecting himself from harm, instead he looked up and the debris crashed overhead. He wasn't sure what exactly hit him, but it was metal and solid as it cracked him across the head. He head whipped to the left and his body followed, flopping onto his stomach, unable to even hold itself up as his head begun ringing.

By the time the ringing in Brad's head stopped and his brain felt like it had slid back to the proper place in his skull, the crumbling above had ceased. "Are you guys okay? Can you move? Is anyone bleeding?" Alex's voice, and in response he rose on his elbows giving her a nod. With a growl he shoved a splintered desk off him, and rose on wobbly feet. He saw Alex across from him doing the same.

His face felt wet and his vision tinted red, when he wiped at his eyes with his left hand it came away red and bloody. He lifted up his shirt using it to scrub away the blood coating his face, or at least the excess blood that was blocking his vision and falling into his mouth, but blood kept flowing from whatever wound caused it.

He looked over at Alex, her face hard. He imagined this was the face her patients got to see, all determined to save lives and haul ass. Even as her arm fell mangled and useless by her side, he wanted to use his powers to help her but he didn’t anything left. He was tapped out. He held up his hand, palm out towards her, letting her know he was okay, and warding her off in case she had any ideas about using her powers on him. He was fine and he spit out a mouthful of blood to prove it.

"The little bugger?" He asked her, before beginning his own search, his eyes scanning the room and ground. The he spotted it a bare metre from the tow of his boot, one tiny hand sticking out from under a large chunk of ceiling. "Bo." The single syllable tore out of throat like a growl without his permission. He dropped down ripping the ceiling hunk off their petite body, still breathing.

He grabbed their shirt, once white and crisp, giving them a rough shake. “Bo.” This time their name was a gruff command, demanding that they wake up and be okay. He was reminded for a moment of his step sister’s blue bunny, whose limp limbs would swing about whichever way she chose to fling him. That’s what Bo was in his hand, limp and floppy.

He hooked an arm under their small body, hoisting them up over his shoulder with ease. He barely felt the strain, they were hardly heavier than carrying a wet towel back to his room after a shower. They needed to get out of here, he looked to Alex. “You lead.”

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alex grant
#d2623a

There was a sickening moment where there was no response from Brad or Bo. But then Brad appeared from beneath a pile of rubble, and she exhaled with relief. But his head was covered in blood, and she was pretty sure she could see a gash on his head. She was already reaching out to him to at least slow the bleeding, but he put up a hand, as if to stop her. She complied, but her frown deepened as he spit out the mouthful of blood.

She just stared at him as he asked about “the little bugger”. It had just about clicked who he meant when he called out for them. Bo. Alex gritted her teeth, hauled herself out of the debris and clambered to her feet, cradling her injured arm to her chest as she did so. She was pretty much useless as Brad pulled away the debris, but the ease and sheer force with which he just pulled it away showed that he didn’t need her help.

Alex had only met Bo the once, and it wasn’t like Brad exactly spoke about his friends all that much. Alex hadn’t even been sure that Brad really had any friends. But the way he reacted to seeing Bo, to seeing their battered, almost lifeless body... it proved Alex wrong. He lifted them with ease, but so carefully. He turned to Alex and told her to lead. Wordlessly, she nodded, but she briefly rested a hand on his arm. She was tempted to use her power to slow the bleeding, but decided against it. If it wasn’t what he wanted, she wouldn’t use it.

Carefully, as slowly as she dared go, she led the way back out. Everything had shifted slightly. Landmarks she’d used to remember her way in and out were gone or obscured. But she’d taken a pretty straight path in and out. All the way, she picked her way carefully over the rumble, listening as carefully as she could. Somebody else could have been buried, someone else who needed her ability or Brad to pull them free.

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Whoever had done this wasn’t putting up a fight. The survivors weren’t exactly being subtle as they made their way out. It didn’t seem right that they would cause one huge wave of destruction and then just leave, just disappear. As they carefully picked their way out, Alex sighed.

“Something’s up. This is too easy.”

 

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AMBERxxHUANG
ELEMENTAL MIMICRY
#18ABCC

LOCATION: 374 Wilkerson St.

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xxxAmber continued to slowly edge her way down the dimly lit stairs, each step creaking underfoot as her now increased weight started to present a problem. As she pushed open the door at into the bright light of a storage room, seemingly piled high with shelves upon shelves of junk in various states of disrepair.

Her attention shifted as Sam’s voice called out to her from over to her side. “Just me and Noah" As he waved her into the room she scrunched her face a little as she did her best to picture who Noah was, and seeing him a little further down the shelves did jog her memory a smidge. She turned to Sam and started to ask him a question as she walked closer with her still several steps away and her process slow as she was wary of the crumbling building in general; and her new form may provide her greater survivability in the event of a collapse it was now much more likely to cause one.

”Sam… Before, did the wave of pain feel familiar to you?” Her tone was more curious than accusatory, though there was a faint hint of hope to her words. However instead of responding to her query as expected Sam, as he’d returned to searching the basement seemed to freeze in his tracks and turn suddenly in the direction of Noah, with a worried glance back towards Amber as well. “Noah! Amber! It’s… She’s here. The- The Mad Fairy.”

She looked past Sam and Noah to where there looked to be a collection of tubes and wires, mismatched and tangled with packing tape. It looked suspiciously like a bomb; and given that the Mad Fairy was involved, it could end up causing all manner of chaos and harm. As all three of them were already standing well within the blast radius it was unlikely to do much good for them to flee, which Amber thought was probably the whole point of the attack. Though the Mad Fairy had probably been hoping to take out some actual superheroes rather than the washed out failures she’d ended up with, she might still get one or two though.

"You need to get out of here, radio for back-up, and get out. I can... try and do something with it." Noah looked over at them with a grin on his face that clearly looked forces as far as Amber could tell "It's fine, I have steady hands."

She was looking back and forth between between the assortments of explosives that took up a rather large portion of the basement and the slightly nervous looking guy with supposedly steady hands. ”If that thing goes off, I don’t think it’ll matter.” She glanced down at the dull greyness that permeated her very core, flexing her hands as she clicked her tongue for a moment. There was still a faint hint of slur in her voice as she spoke, though the gravel sound of grinding stone masked the majority of it. ”If the worst happened I might be able to shield you both from the blast, but I’d be as likely to be shattered like the rest of the foundation down here… Either that or we try for the Fairy and she springs a trap that gets us anyway." Somewhere far above them there seemed to be a growing rumble of shifting stone and metal, which was causing dust to spiral from the ceiling of the basement as it's walls gently shook. Clearly even without the impending explosion the rest of the building would come down sooner rather than later, but if they could extend that a little it worth a shot.

She half-smiled, her earlier chastising from the 'actual' superhero coming to mind as she looked over at Noah. "May as well try and work your magic, kid. But we’re stayin’. Right, Sam?”

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