[hr][h1][i][color=aqua]Jennifer Caspin[/color][/i][/h1][hr]


"Yeah, it's good to see you again, too." Jennifer said, scratching the back of her neck, as she walked down the sidewalk. Actually, it felt pretty good, being with a friend that is. It helped her get over her nightmares, and her other issues. She'll, maybe, be okay. Though, she feels a twinge of guilt. That she's been ignoring her search for Penny (and her dog), in favor of spending time with all the friends she's gotten. Selfish girl. Either way, Jenny was going to put some time off soon to find Penny. For now, she was just going to enjoy this, just for once. They were walking down the streets of Knightdale Rows - no destination, but did they need one? They passed an alleyway, but after a delay, someone called out to them.

"Psst, hey!" A hushed whisper called out to them - barely escaping Jenny's ears. 

Which made her stop, and backtrack a bit, and peak down the dirty and dark alleyway - which had nothing but a dumpster and some darkness. "Did..." Jennifer asked.

"Hey!" Another hushed whisper, and a girl - a very young girl, wearing dirty and tattered clothes, with bright pink sneakers - peaked from behind the dirty dumpster. While she seemed like a random girl, Jennifer recognized her pretty well.

"Penny?!" Jennifer asked, surprised that she came across the girl who's search she's been neglecting.

"Sssh, they might be listening." Penny silenced Jenny before she made too much noise. "Come on, we should talk down here..."

Without wasting a second, Jennifer walked down into the alleyway, and she said "Penny, it's great to see that you're okay." Jenny said, with a smile on her face. She had so many questions she had to ask. Starting with, who are the people who might be listening. "And let's cut the pronoun game, who are "they"?"

"There's people... people after me. I don't know who they are, but I got away from them not too long ago, but they keep hunting me. I've been hiding ever since." Penny answered Jennifer's question... which added even more questions to the mix, but she wasn't going to play twenty questions.

"The Pure?" Jennifer quickly asked.

"No, worse. They're Metahumans, and they're [i]crazy[/i]." Penny replied.

"Well, um...." Jennifer trailed off, thinking about the next thing she should say. "... Let's call NEST, they'll  help-"

"No, no, no...." Penny groaned, "They have friends in NEST. They'll just grab me anyway...."

Wait, they're with NEST, too? Who are these people? "L-let's just get out of here, okay? We'll head back to my house, and sort everything out there." Jen grabbed onto Penny's wrist, and turned around, gently pulling the girl along.

The sound of something dropping at the other end of the alleyway, made Jen whip her head around - only to see the blur of a dart hitting her in the neck. Her attention, was oddly, on the dart, she pulled it out, and looked at it for a moment. The contents were dry... and she felt perfectly fine. which meant that whatever was in her wasn't doing it's job. She dropped the dart on the ground, and didn't notice it, but Penny fell face forward right into her. Jen quickly caught her by the shoulders, and noticed that she was completely unconscious.

"Penny?!" Jenny exclaimed, right as Ratchet fell over. The air down the alleyway blurred, and two purple orbs appeared out of no where. Quickly getting closer, and Jen quickly turned around, and started running...

Only to be stopped by the massive frame of the Nemesis. He reached forward, and his massive hand utterly consumed her face.

And then there was darkness.


[hr][h1][i][color=Red]Meifeng Vuhong[/color], Lin, & Mika Baozai.[/i][/h1][hr]


"It's amazing that you can even still walk. With all the alcohol and pain in your system."

"Shut up, Mika." Meifeng groaned, putting her arms behind her head, and looking off to the side. They were walking down the streets of Knightdale Rows, after bidding farewell to Taylor (Who was in a sweaty lesbian pile with Carole). Nice girl, Meifeng had to admit. Smoking hot, too. She wondered if Taylor was into girls. Though, Meifeng wasn't going to ask, of course. She gotta suppress that thirst (but not quench)... and they didn't know each other all that well. Didn't want to make things awkward.

But, that wasn't the case here, Meifeng, and the Baozais split off from Taylor's party to have some fun of their own. Knightdale Rows was a big place, and had plenty of opportunities... well, at night. Early in the morning, Verthaven was boring as all hell. She shrugged. She threw her arms into the air, and loudly, and grandiosely, said,

"Oh, what do you want to do O'cousins?"

Mika turned her head towards Meifeng, and shrugged. "Let's just relax at a cafe, or a park, for a bit. I've had enough excitement."

"Come on, that's boring." Meifeng rolled her eyes. "Let's hit the beach, or something."

"We don't have swimsuits." 

"What about a basketball court or something?" Meifeng laughed. 

"In our dresses?" Mika noted. "Meifeng, it's nine in the morning, it's way too early for anything. Let's just relax."

"C'mon, where's your sense of adventure?" Meifeng asked, groaning. Before a devious grin formed on her face, "... Did you eat it?" She laughed putting her hands on her stomach.

"Look here," Mika said, "You're acting like a bored child. Grow up and sit down."

"I am bored because you wanna spend your mornings doing boring stuff." Meifeng answered. "Eh, know what? I think I'll find something to do myself. Have fun, because I will. Just call me when you're ready to meet Lihua, alright?" She said, walking away from the two.

"Meifeng, wait!" Lin called out to her cousin, but kept her mouth shut. 

"Let her do whatever she pleases, and I'll do the same." Mika said.

The two girls went their separate ways, with Meifeng going one way, and the Baozais going the other. Meifeng kept walking down the streets of Knightdale Rows with little purpose, but felt liberated knowing that she isn't bound by her cousins. That she could go where ever she pleases. Maybe she'll catch a movie, or hit the beach herself. Eh. She'll just wander for a bit until she finds something that's for her.

Though, she was walking around in a tattered black dress. That earned her more than a few stares as she walked down the streets - yet, she didn't think anything of it. Because she'll forget almost all these faces. They're not pretty enough. After a little while of walking, she came up to a movie theater. Yes... yes... she'll go catch a movie. That'll be a good way to spend her morning, yeah! Meifeng was about to run into the theater, when she saw two familiar people not too far away run into an alleyway. One definitely looked like Jen. 

Meifeng recognized her butt.

She didn't expect that she'll be spending her morning with them - but are they crazy? Running into an alleyway like that? That's just inviting every perv to run in! Looks like good old Meifeng will have to step in, and keep them safe. Meifeng walked over, and peaked into the alleyway. 

What she made her heart race.

Both Ratchet and Jennifer were unconscious, each were thrown over a gigantic man shoulders (The Nemesis), held up by one hand. His mask shined glowing red lights through it.

Meifeng didn't know what happened - and she sure as hell didn't want to know - but she was going to do something about it. Oh, no, [i]like hell[/i] if she's going to let her best friend get captured by this lumbering man. Without thinking for another moment, Meifeng quickly ran down the alleyway - years of basketball and other sports has made her quite fast - without an ounce of subtlety. The man turned towards her, and quickly swung his leg out to kick her - but Meifeng reacted quick enough to move to the side. She kicked off her back leg up into the air, and used her front leg to deliver a kick. In the process, she drew water out of her pocket dimension through her foot and sending a wave right into Nemesis' chest.

Which, at most, made him take a step back and soaked his outfit.

Hitting the ground, Meifeng drew some more water out the pocket dimension, and created a watery whip. She swung her hand at him, and the water impacted his chest hard - not hard enough to even make him stagger like before. Nemesis took steps towards Meifeng - and Meifeng took steps back.

She created an orb of water, and shouted, "Take this!"

Water formed ice inside the orb, creating diamond shaped shards of ice. Which were launched out at high speeds at the Nemesis, every time it hit him, it shattered into pieces. Again, doing little to the Nemesis. At least a twenty had hit him, and didn't halt him even in the slightest.

Before her assault could even continue, two hands wrapped themselves around her eyes, and mouth, and then...

[i]Darkness.[/i]


[hr][h1][i]Interlude: The Hands of Science[/i][/h1][hr]


The girls that were captured earlier in the day were carted into a room, tied to operating tables, with power suppressing collars around their necks. Each were lined up side by side (In order it went Anna, Jennifer, Meifeng, then Ratchet).

"Finally..." Heartbreaker said, with a wry grin as she leaned up against the wall. "You bagged the brat."

Berlioz grinned as he stood over Penny, strapped to the table, unconscious and sedated, hand on his chin. "Good," He started off. "You'll be helping us big time, little girl." While he was talking, Ghoul's blur strolled into the room, followed by the massive steps of the Nemesis. They both stood on each side of the door.

Since they have a game changer here, they had a new priority altogether. Berlioz nodded, and said, "Nemesis, Ghoul, now that we have the brat, we can grab whoever we please... that is your new objective; kidnap as many people as possible. Get to work." Berlioz nodded, and both Nemesis and the Ghoul stepped out of the room, and began their dark mission.

"Isn't this lovely?!" Megan said with a wide smile etched across her lips, walking into the room. "We can now [i]make[/i] whatever we need! Regeneration, super strength, enhanced senses... I could go on, but you all get the point!"

"That is right Megan... I hope you're ready to get to work." Berlioz offhandedly said, but kept his attention on Penny.

"Uhhhh..." Jennifer drowsily said, as she came to. Almost as if the sedatives had no effect on her. "W-where... am I?" She asked, slowly.

"Good grief..." Heartbreaker groaned, rolling her eyes. "That sedatives shouldn't be wearing off [i]that[/i] fast." She had raised an eyebrow.

"Odd..." Berlioz said, grabbing onto her chin. "She's a regenerator.... but the collar should be suppressing that to a point where her immune system shouldn't be able to filter it out." He theorized, "Must be another faulty one." He rolled his eyes.

"Should we sedate her again?!" Megan asked, as she stood over Jennifer, staring her right in the eyes in a rather uncomfortable manner. However, she quickly slipped something small under Meifeng's leg while no one was paying attention.

"Eh, there's no point. We should save the sedatives for once her procedure begins."

"Um.... hello...?" Jenny moaned again. She tried moving her arms, but realized that she was bound. One quick look and she saw that she was shackled to the operating table. She looked to her side, and saw Anna, and the other side she saw Meifeng - both in the same situation as her. [i]Oh? Oh no. Oh God no.[/i] She thought to herself, as she looked around desperately. What was going on quickly dawned upon her.

[i]I was kidnapped by that... thing! Jesus Christ, what do I do?![/i] Jennifer thought to herself, as her head turned around more frantically. Hopelessly struggling to get out of her shackles.

"Relaaaaaax honey," Heartbreaker said, as she adjusted her hat. "You've been "volunteered" for an experiment or two, blah, blah, blah. Super science, yadda, yadda, yadda... I'm going to level with you here, and just tell you that you're going to get prodded in more ways than it'll be fun. Heh."

"Wa-what?!" Jennifer exclaimed, upon hearing the word "experiment". Oh no. This is going to be horrible! She had to get out of here. She never wanted any of this, she just wanted to play games, not get involved in such superhuman kidnappings. "Y-y-you can't do this to us! Someone will come looking for us!" 

"Ptttf... you ain't going to be holding out for a hero, sugar." Heartbreaking mockingly said, as she walked up to Jen's operating table, put one foot on it, and leaned in a bit. Staring Jennifer in the eyes. "Because, let me let you in on a little secret, sugar tits, we have ourselves a-" Heartbreaker finger-quoted, "-"[i]Friend[/i]" in NEST that'd turn a blind eye to our antics. No one from NEST or the VPD is going to come looking for you, sweetheart. So you might as well get comfy."

"N-no.... no, no, no, no, no...." Jennifer muttered over and over again.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes..." Heartbreaker grinned.

"Heartbreaker! That's enough." Berlioz said, "Their operations won't begin until tomorrow, so just get back to work. They're not going anywhere."

"Fiiiiine, I'll go clean my guns or something." Heartbreaker said, waving goodbye as she walked out of the room.

"Megan, you are to begin your procedure on the subjects in room twelve."

"Gotcha!" Megan loudly shouted, and began skipping away, after which, Berlioz stepped out of the room. However, Megan went no where near where Berlioz told her to go. In fact, she went in another direction entirely - his office. She stepped into the room, and saw a desk, and a very large computer terminal on top of it. She walked over to it, and began typing on it. Opening up a few files, accessing a few databases... then turning towards the computer itself, underneath the desk. 

"Good good," Megan said, as she knelt down, and opened up the panel, and exposed wires and other machinery. She reached in, and turned her fingers into scissors, and cut a couple wires. 

[i]It's time kick the plan into motion, yes.[/i]





[hr][h1][i]Interlude: Big Dong Travis[/i][/h1][hr]


Okay, it was a deal like usual. Same old same old. No need to be uneasy.

Some people are coming from out of town - San Diego, or Los Angeles? - to buy some of the power serums. The spot the deal was going down was a warehouse in the Iron District. Surrounded by heavily armed, there was a metal chest in the center of the room. And of course, Big Dong Travis was standing in front of it. Like a big boss. Wearing only jeans and a gas mask, a sawed off shotgun in hand.

The doors were pushed open, to reveal a group of men in suits walking in. Appearing unarmed, other than the one armed with a mossberg.

One stepped up to Big Dong, and looked him in the face. "You got what we came here for? Heard you had the goods."

"Yes, I got something alright." Big Dong said, in a tone of amusement that was forced, hidden underneath the mask. It's hard to grin when you're constantly in fear of NEST apprehending you. This could be the one deal where NEST kicks in the door. Either way, he needed to get rid of these serums fast as possible, and a contact got him a deal. Big Dong took a few steps back, and, at an angle, opened up the metal chest. Almost immediately, a glowing green light shined out of it, revealing the many Power Serums that rested inside of it. Each were a cylinder that was at least a foot tall, and had several inches in circumference total.

"This what you want?" Big Dong said in his slow, southern accent.

"Yes,  yes..." The man couldn't help but grin as he walked up, and grabbed one of the containers, and examined it. 

"This is enough to give twelve of your men powers," Big Dong started off. "That is, if you buy them.... Do we have ourselves a deal?"

The man snapped his fingers, and one of his men walked up with a briefcase and opened it, showing hundred [i]thousands[/i] of dollars to Big Dong.

He pointed his finger at the briefcase, "... That isn't just a bunch of hundreds on top, and a bunch of ones underneath it, right?"

They had a laugh, and the man said, "Oh, heavens no, we're an honest business."

Big Dong put his hand out to shake the man's hand, "Then we got ourselves a deal."

They shook hands, and Big Dong took the briefcase, and the man and his associates closed the chest, and then the two went their separate ways.

That's what was supposed to happen.

Five minutes later, and Big Dong and his crew steps out the back of the warehouse, and pushed out of it. They were walking through a desolate lot. Every plant and blade of grass was dead, and it was littered with trash. Their ride, a black van (Named [i]The Booty Wagon[/i] by Big Dong and his Fiends), was waiting not too far away from them. All they had to walk a little further.

The raging boom of a pistol happened at the exact same time one of Big Dong's Fiends got their brains blown out, and hit the ground. Big Dong looked over his shoulder.

"You fucking methheads think you can screw us over?! Trying to sell us [i]fake shit?![/i]" The same man that Big Dong did the deal with loudly shouted after the boom faded away. He pointed a glock at Big Dong, and shouted an order to his team, "Get the money back! Kill them all!"

Almost immediately, Big Dong activated his powers, and his skin was quickly turned into a sleek, shiny, material. A bullet graced his hardened form, and sparks flew. Big Dong turned around, as the hail of bullets began to get intense. He began pushing forward - as his team of Fiends fell back behind their van. They exchanged fire, and Big Dong was slowly closing the distance - slowly, his form was too heavy to move effectively - with each step leaving a significant print in the dirt.

Whenever he closed the distance, more of the goons retreated. It didn't matter, because Big Dong's form was more or less invincible. One member of the gang got too close, and he blasted him away with his sawed off. He flicked the barrels open, and put two rounds in, as he pushed forward. The Fiends behind him weren't so lucky. The car was shot to pieces, and two of his Fiends were already did.

Suicidal tactics made them push forward, encouraged by their boss, and got shot down one by one. They dropped like flies, and only took out a couple of their opponents. Which left Big Dong standing alone. With the battle in a literal standstill, he couldn't do much to these guys other than shoot,  and they couldn't possibly damage him.

He took steps back, choosing to wisely retreat. The sounds of sirens signaled that VPD officers would be swarming this place in no time. One of the men ran up to him, only to get slugged so hard that his face literally caved in. Big Dong quickly whipped around, and began running, almost as fast as a jogger. Almost. The footsteps he was leaving literally lead a trail straight to him. He couldn't change forms, the hail of bullets would tear him apart.

Big Dong quickly ran down an alley - turning back into his fleshy state so he'd stop leaving footprints behind - and turned right. He knew these alleyways by heart, you had to, to survive in Verthaven. He reached his destination: a manhole. He hardened his hand, and pulled open the manhole cover, and dropped down. Covering his tracks didn't matter from here on in; once he got into the sewers, it'd be hell to find him.

Big Dong rushed down the tunnels, until he was in the Fiend's "Headquarters".

[hr]


It was a breath of fresh air, leaving the toxic smells of the sewer. Big Dong climbed up right the manhole, and slid the over back over it with his foot. Quickly running into the Power Plant where Khan and the remaining Fiends resided. He ran through the chainlink fence, and began running into the place. He almost literally knocked every crackhead in that place over as he ran into the back room of the power plant. The room where no Fiend was allowed except for a lieutenant. Inside the room was nothing but a large wooden crate, with a glowing green light radiating outside of it. Big Dong quickly reached inside, and grabbed one of the serums.

One thing that stuck around in Big Dong's mind was when the deal breaker came around, and that mobster said that it was "fake". Well, that didn't make sense. Because every serum should be perfectly legitimate. Maybe their powers didn't do anything. Either way, Big Dong was going to confirm a few things. They were only going to sell a dozen of the serums, the rest were going to the Fiends to bolster their numbers. Big Dong ran out the room, and looked for the first drugged up nobody....

"You!" Big Dong shouted, pointing his finger at a random Fiend - a short woman with a scarf over her head.

She looked confused, she put a finger on her chest, and asked, "Me?"

"Drink this!" Big Dong screamed at her.

Nervously - but excited, since she knew what it was - she walked over to Big Dong, and grabbed the serum, and popped the top, and drunk all of it... only for nothing to happen. Usually the person starts glowing, and that jazz.

"Anything?!" Big Dong asked, "Feel different at [i]all[/i]?"

"No." The Fiend said. "It was nasty as hell."

Okay, maybe she just got a lame power. Still, there was a fleeting suspicion in Big Dong. So he ran back, and came back with two armfulls, and loudly shouted, "Alright, everyone grab one and start drinking!"

There was no complaints as the nearby Fiends - near ravenously - came over to Big Dong and grabbed a serum. After a little bit of fighting, it all ended with the Fiends drinking all the serums they were given.... With no results.

"These are..." Big Dong muttered. "... Fuck. Fuck. I gotta tell Khan!"

[hr]


Big Dong ran through the halls of the Power plant, until he ran into the office, Khan's base of operations. He came in, and immediately shouted, "Khan! The serums are fake! They gave us [i]fake[/i] serum! They've fucked us over!"

"What?!" Khan immediately got out of the chair, putting her hands on her desk to push herself up. "That's bullshit, that means they fucked us out of the deal!"

"God damn it." Big Dong shouted, "We put so much attention on ourselves for what?!"

"Shit's fucked... real fucked..." Khan moaned, sitting down against the wall, putting her hands on her head, looking down at the floor as dread took her over. "Those Hands of Fuck turned their back on it, Sulfur got bagged by NEST, and those dicks gave us fucking fake serum. That was our fucking chance to get out of this... Shit's not looking good for us, every second NEST and the cops are taking us down a peg. There won't be anything left soon."

"... And what do you think we should do?" Big Dong asked.

"... [i]Fucking give up[/i]." Khan replied. "It's hopeless, we're going to lose."

"Hey now, I'm not..." Big Dong said, and was quickly cut off by Khan.

Khan stood straight up, grabbed her M23 Grenade launcher, and held it in both hands. "I'm giving up, on the Fiends and everything - but I'm not going to let Sulfur rot in a cell like some coward." Khan nodded her head, and walked over to the side of Big Dong. "Let's gather as many Fiends as we can to use as a diversion, storm the HQ, grab Sulfur, and leave Verthaven forever. Leave this fucking town all behind."

Opening his mouth to object, Big Dong closed his mouth, and silently agreed. Whatever Khan wanted to do, he would follow. "I'll get the boys ready."

"Good, I gotta make a call." Khan reached into her pocket for her phone. She dialed a number, and pressed the phone against her ear. The second the person on the other end pressed answer, she said, "Hey, I know you turned your back on us, but can you do us one last favor?"

"Sure." The woman on the phone said.

"Can you get us into the NEST HQ?" Khan asked.


[hr][h2][b]9:23 PM[/b][/h2]


Later on in the day, and night finally feel. The clouds converted into rain. Signalling a new battle was ahead...


[hr][h1][i][color=dodgerblue]Lihua Vuhong[/color][/i][/h1][hr]


"What do you mean, "she ran off"?" Lihua asked, frustrated, the person on the other side of the phone - who happened to be her niece, Mika - as she stepped through the front doors of the NEST Headquarters with a umbrella over her head. Shrugging up her shoulder so that she held the phone up to her ear, she pulled the umbrella closed, and held it in hand. She grabbed her phone as she resumed a more normal stance.

"We got into a little argument about what to do... and she ran off, telling me that she's going to find something to do herself..." Mika trailed off.

"God damn that child... I was trying to talk to her friends, and I can't even get in contact with Jennifer or Anna - her two closest friends - and the rest doesn't have an idea where she is...." Lihua hissed, as she put her hand on her forehead, shaking her head. She already contacted police and reported her missing... but she doubt that they'd do much. Yet, she was worried sick for her. 

"Let me get to a computer.... I'll tear this damn city piece by piece until I find her." Lihua stated.

"I will help." Mika started off. "I'll get my Academy 218 friends to assist. If I can't, Lin will. I'll do everything in my power to help you."

"Thank you, Mika." Lihua expressed gratitude towards her niece for being to willing to help her during this dark hour. "I should get to work. [i]Zaijian[/i], Mika." She said goodbye.

"[i]Zaijian[/i]." Mika said on the other end of the phone.

They both hung up, and Lihua shook her head again. Where the hell will she start? Where will she look? Who will she ask? 

[i]Just... get to my office. I'll figure things out from there.[/i]


[hr][h1][i][color=aqua]Jennifer Caspin[/color] & [color=red]Meifeng Vuhong[/color][/i][/h1][sub][@ToadRopes][@BurningDaisies][/sub][hr]


"Meifeng, M-Mei-Meifeng..." Jennifer whispered to Meifeng, as she noticed her friend was coming to. "... A-are y-y-y-you okay?"

"Ugh... what....?" Meifeng moaned as she opened her eyes - and was instantly assaulted by the rays of light - almost putting a hand to her eyes, if they weren't, you know, tied down. She immediately used her head to look around, and saw that she was tied to the table. Like... oh fuck. This isn't good. She furled, her eyebrows, and started thrashing left and right with all of her strength.

"Get me the fuck out of here!" Meifeng hissed, as she kept trashing, trying to break free.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Jennifer quietly hissed. "Calm down, you'll end up hurting yourself before you break out."

Letting out a sigh, Meifeng relented, and lied down (The last thing she wanted to do). It was uncomfortable with the massive collar around her neck, but she looked to the left, then looked to the right. She was tied up in between Jen's friend, and Jen herself. 

"Where the hell are we?" Meifeng asked.

"I don't know, b-but they said they were going to experiment on us."

"What? I... no." Meifeng quickly muttered. "They're not experimenting on [i]anyone[/i] because [i]I'm[/i] getting us out of here."

"Alright, um, is everyone... okay?" Jennifer asked the group.

Meanwhile, Meifeng was trying to come up with something. She felt something underneath her, but didn't know what the hell it was. She could wiggle it out... but it didn't matter because she couldn't grab it. She kept thrashing, hoping to get [i]something[/i] loose, but it was hopeless. She was locked down tighter than a catholic schoolgirl.

She let out a growl, and... she felt water, dripping down her hand. Oh wait. What? Curious, Meifeng decided to expel a little bit more water out of that pocket dimension of hers, and her shackled hand was covered in water. She got an idea.

"Guys I can use my pow-"

"Ssssh, you don't want them to hear, do you?" Jen - rhetorically - asked.

Meifeng nodded her head, and said, "I can use my power. Got any ideas as to how I can use this to get out?"