[hr][hr][i][h1]The Founding Family.[/h1][/i][hr][hider=Kill la Kill OST - Blumenkranz (nZk ver)][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM4SZ6AzfMY[/youtube][/hider][hr]
[i][u]Regal Square, Prince-Ed-Field.[/u][/i]


Several days of literally slaving away at this machine, and Jiao-Long was reaching his limit.

He was leaning forward on this machine, and adding components to it. The Family was denying him basic human needs as "motivation" to finish working on this machine. If he did good for the day, they would at least let him shower (they fed him and kept him hydrated so they wouldn't lose their precious scientist). Long as he knows Chunhua is okay, he'll keep working on this machine - but, he has the sinking feeling that they would dispose of him the moment he stopped being useful. Chunhua too. Damn that Biyu. If it wasn't for [i]her[/i], he wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. Jiao-Long's eyes narrowed at the unfairness at the situation, and his work ethic became much rougher - until it had literally exploded in his face.

A mass of smoke and sparks exploded outward from the Machine, and gave Jiao-Long quite the scare. He shielded his face with his arms, as he coughed, shaking the smoke away. He looked at it, and noticed a fire in the machinery... and fire was bad. Jiao-Long quickly looked around, as he dreaded what the Blessed Three would do to him if a fire ruins their machine. He pulled off his jacket...

Only for a female Secretary to run around him with a fire extinguisher, and sprayed it with fire extinguishing agents. Jiao-Long was relieved... except when he realized just who this woman was. He lowly turned around, to see Ezekiel Anagnos standing behind him with his arms crossed, and impatiently tapping his foot on the floor.

"Mr. Liu..." Ezekiel said, with an eyebrow raised, and a very irritated tone. He was narrowing staring Jiao-Long down. "Need I remind you have [i]zero[/i] room for such errors?"

"Oh, I am sorry, Ezekiel, very sorry." Jiao-Long said, bowing his head.

Ezekiel bared his teeth. He raised a hand in the air, and it was surrounded with an electrical aura. "If it turns out you are sabotaging [i]my[/i] machine..."

"Lay off him, Ezekiel," Julia said, rather bored as a male Secretary was filing her nails. "You're wasting more time getting fed up over it."

Ezekiel loudly grunted as he spat out, "Fine... Jiao-Long, just work on-"

Their conversation was interrupted by a portal appearing in the center of the complex. Stepping through the portal was the trio - followed by the Black Hound. His eyes were shining a bright red color as he lead them into the room. Ezekiel grinned ear to ear.

"My, my, Hound..." Ezekiel crossed his arms while he grinned. "...It seems as if you really do deliver."

The Hound looked around. "Where is Master Schmidt?"

Ezekiel rolled his eyes. "He went off to handle some business with intruders."

"When in actuality, he just got bored of working on the machine and went there to entertain himself." Julia said with a smile.

While they were chattering, Dr. Cross was looking up at the impressive spire that the Founding Family had erected. It was their pride and joy. "...This is your secret project you wanted me to work on?"

"Like it?" Ezekiel asked, rhetorically, "It [i]is[/i] of my design, after all."

The Mannequin was silent in this exchange - he examined the machine, and wondered what he could get out of this. Ultimately, he could simply just sabotage the machine, and slip out of here... but, he had a faint loyalty to Dr. Cross, and Ignatius.

"So, what's this thing do?" Ignatius asked.  "Please don't tell me it'll blow up the moon." He rolled his eyes.

"Let me save you Blake's theatrics and say it'll turn everyone on Earth into a Metahuman." Julia said.

"Oh." Ignatius merely shrugged.

Seemingly on cue, a portal opened and Blake Schmidt stepped through with a confident look on his face, followed by his legion of Secretaries. His suit was in tatters - covered in holes, and other burns. "Ah, I solved the problem with the kids harassing us for good..." Blake adjusted his tie which had thankfully survived. "Let's just say the Machine now has more fuel."

He then turned towards the Hound and his group. "Oh! Splendid, you recovered Dr. Cross!"

"That is correct, sir."

"But, given that the Machine is almost finished..." Blake trailed off as he walked over towards Dr. Cross. "...With you here, it should be complete in less than an hour."

"Then comes the charging phase." Ezekiel said with a smile.

"But, with our enemies closing in on us... I think it's about time that we use that secret weapon to buy us some time..."

"You don't mean...?" Julia asked. "But, Blake, it'll destroy all of us with it."

"[i]Not[/i] if we employ our little defensive measures..." Blake said, before he looked up at the semi-completed machine.


[hr][hr][i][h1]Maximilian Cornell.[/h1][/i][hr]
[i][u]RAVEN/DOVE Joint East Coast Headquarters. Black Fall, Pennsylvania.[/u][/i]


The east coast headquarters of RAVEN is much more in line with the headquarters that NEST had in Verthaven - before it was destroyed, of course. They were already in the progress of building another headquarters on the east coast only so they can have such a base more readily available. When NEST was disbanded, all that happened was the logos were changed as construction continued, and eventually finished. And it was a tower that stood above Black Fall, a shining light of hope and optimism for the city. Maximilian himself had an office on the very top floor of the building... and God damn he hated it. It took forever to get up and down. To the point where he briefly considered punching out the window with Echo, and flying down himself.

It was late at night in Black Fall, Maximilian was merely enjoying a coffee as he leaned back in his chair. He was gearing up to head home.

"Maximilian!" A wheelchair bound woman pushed the door open with all of her strength, as she wheeled her way over to Maximilian. "West coast headquarters is under attack! The Hound destroyed all of it."

Maximilian, in rage, crushed the coffee cup in his hand. Blood seeped out of the wound, but he didn't give a shit.  He heard about the Founding Family, and the Hound, but his superiors told him to stay out of it because there are other places that need RAVEN's protection - he also knew that with the survivors of Verthaven there, the people he trusted could easily defend the city. But, can they really turn an eye now? Maximilian had a feeling that the situation would get a lot worse...

...If he didn't step in of course.

"Dana, have someone arrange a flight to Baybridge for us," Maximilian said as she pushed himself up to his feet on his desk, "Get ready to take the express trip out of headquarters..."

"Wait, what?"

Maximilian walked over to Dana, and grabbed the wheelchair bound woman by both sides, and lifted her head. Behind him, a golden light appeared and materialized into a humanoid form that was gigantic compared to the two of them. Because it was twice the size of the already large Maximilian. The humanoid eventually took the shape of Maximilian's exact appearance. Down to the clothes he wore.

"...[i]Echo.[/i]" Maximilian said to himself as the golden light turned around and punched out the window. With one strike - that went with blurring speeds - the window which was guarded from even bullets was blown to pieces. Maximilian focused, as he flew over towards the broken window, leaving Dana confused.

"Maximilian?!" She said, confused as they come.

And in a matter of seconds, both of them flying over Black Fall. With Echo flying right above them, as they went straight for the airport.

"Take it out of my check." Maximilian said with a grin.



[hr][hr][i][h1]Two Hours later... 10:42 PM.[/h1][/i][hr]


[hr][hr][i][h1][color=forestgreen]Veronica Davis[/color], & The Founding Family.[/h1][/i][hr]
[i][u]Hailey Boulevard, Silver Hills.[/u][/i]


It seems that RAVEN can't defend a position for the life of them.

If Veronica was in that situation at the very least, she would have killed them before they had a chance to be liberated in the first place, but no. Now that makes Veronica's job harder because now the Blessed Three are closer and closer to their goals, and Veronica now has less wiggle room! Maybe the end of days won't be that bad? Regardless, that just means she just has to work harder before everything goes horribly wrong. What Veronica pondered for a moment was whether or not she could get RAVEN into their headquarters without them realizing it was her. Because, far as she can tell, RAVEN has a thumb so far up their own ass they might as well be a gastroenterologist.

She was walking down the halls of the base in Silver Hills... since she was called in here by the so called Blessed Three. All Veronica wants to do is lead RAVEN straight to the Family's base, but with their base in ruins, and their soldiers dead... that wasn't looking so good. Veronica might have to pull all the weight herself. She passed by two IU members, and then she heard them immediately whisper something to each other as if Veronica wouldn't notice. For a moment, she wondered if she should even pay them the mind, and just keep walking. But, now she's paranoid. Wondering if the Intimidation Unit is catching on. Especially since they caught those kids that were sneaking around in here, and [i]somebody[/i] is responsible for letting them in here. It wasn't Veronica, because why the fuck would she be helping kids?

After all, the only reason why she's so "loyal" to the Family is that they have her sisters. If they weren't in her care, then... Veronica would fake her death or something, and hide out in the Caribbean somewhere with her sisters. Apart of the woman was wondering whether or not Maxine even went back to headquarters. She wouldn't be surprised if Max just chose not to deal with the hassle, and wait for the attack to be over. Rushing in headfirst would have been completely idiotic - and she was hoping [i]Maxxie[/i] wasn't [i]that[/i] stupid.

Drifting into the main lobby, Veronica saw three portals open, and she dipped back behind the wall to peak around the corner. She narrowed her eyes upon witnessing the entire Blessed Three stepping through the portal with their horde of Secretaries. Her eyes widened when she briefly wondered why the fuck they were here... Oh no. Their machine, it has to be finished.... but, even if it is, [i]why are they here?[/i]

Well, Veronica had a way of finding out, of course.

Veronica slowly walked up to the three, and bowed... while she hated the idea of [i]bowing[/i] to them, she [i]long[/i] learned exactly what to do to get their trust. While bowed, she said, "Master Blake... what brings you and the Blessed Three here?"

Blake crossed his arms and grinned. "Ah, we just finished up work on our [i]big project,[/i] and came here to start up another real quick."

When Veronica raised her head, she caught sight of someone that made her eyes widen a bit, and her aura of confident evaporate... Ivete. A girl that she had known for awhile now, at Blake's side as a Secretary. She knew of all the perverse things that the Blessed Three were doing with their dolls (Veronica herself even participated in them), but seeing this girl like this sent a chill down her spine. All because she had a hand in turning this girl into what she is.

Veronica wondered if Ivete's family still hated her.

"...That is great, master Blake," Veronica started off, trying to hide her internal cringing at her own sins. "What is your project if I may implore?"

"Ah, my loyal Veronica," Blake said, "...How about I show you?"

[hr][hider=Dope Stars Inc. - C-Beams][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OwcaMvTIrc[/youtube][/hider][hr]

Veronica was lead through the base into the deeper confines of the laboratory underneath the building. The eerie, acrid smelling, place that Veronica stayed away from only because she had a sensitive nose. However, knowing what this project was is of utmost importance if she was going to pass the information onto RAVEN through her good friend Maxxie. Eventually, the group arrived at a large metal double door that was opened by Ezekiel. Hm... far as Veronica could tell, this was a lab that belonged to Julia, and was dedicated to her various projects (where as the last laboratory was all about Ezekiel's many mechanic projects). These labs were lined with tiles, and bright lights, as the whole place smelled [i]clean[/i]. Since this was where Julia did her personal projects (the ones that couldn't fit in that tower of theirs).

Hm... Veronica wondered where Makoto was, usually she would have annoyed her by now... regardless, Veronica was lead through the halls of the base.

Until, they had arrived at their destination - what Blake wanted to show them. Veronica stopped in the middle of a hallway, and peered through a glass window into a large room. She was certainly interested in what was on the other side of the window... it was a man strapped to a machine of some sort. He was devoid of clothing other than his underwear, but he was bond in a T. Both his arms and legs were bound by metal straps (His eyes were covered by a dome-shaped helmet made out of metal), as scientists in the room attached IV lines to various parts of his body.

"Ah, how familiar are you with the Beast of Prague, Ms. Davis?" Blake said as he leaned in close to Veronica, putting a hand on her shoulder, and leaving the Canadian woman wondering what to say next.

"I heard of what happened there," Veronica aptly answered. She knew the Family did it to intimidate the Czech Republic.

That's when Blake leaned in really close to Veronica, "...We're going to do it again." The words made Veronica shudder.

"Wait," Veronica took a step away. "And destroy the city?"

"Ah, that is the plan... we're going to leave RAVEN too preoccupied to worry about us," Blake said, clapping his hands together, and rubbing them roughly. "And we can finish charging the machine in peace while they're fighting it."

"What if this thing destroys your Machine? What then?" Veronica skeptically asked.

"We'll just deploy our little shield if it gets close... remember the one that we gave to NEST to put over Verthaven, Philadelphia... etc?" Blake asked, but before Veronica could answer, he finished. "We have one there - just on a smaller scale. It should keep the Beast out while he continues his rampage elsewhere."

Hmph... Veronica also knows about a little countermeasure that the Family employed in case the shield gets abused. She'll have to sneak in and get some.

"Either way, we need all hands on deck for this one," Blake said as he put his hands behind his back. "In case RAVEN finds this base like those brats did... we'll have the Hound, Bonecrusher, [i]you[/i], Onryo, and the full might of the Blessed Three - in their weakened state, they are just no match for us!" Blake put a closed fist into his open palm to punctuate his point.

[i]Yeah, no match for us.[/i] Veronica mused to herself when she realized she had to urgently tell RAVEN of this base. If they let another Beast into Baybridge... at this hour, there would be no doubt that the Blessed Three's plan would reach fruition completely. But, in all of their arrogance, the Blessed Three never realized that some of their greatest servants dulled humanity are starting to shine in the face of their numerous atrocities.

"Now, get to work, if RAVEN does find this location, we're going to need you on the front lines," Blake said as he pushed Veronica along, and she was pretty quick to get out herself. What Veronica had to do was contact Maxine soon as possible, and inform her of what the Blessed Three is planning here. But, first, she needs to get something out of here. Veronica knew that she would definitely need this for later. The armory was hidden in the underground catacombs of this lab, because it made no sense to put an [i]armory[/i] in the cover part of the building. She pushed open the doors to the armory, and the quartermaster looked up at her.

"Veronica, what do you need?" The man asked.

"I just need to head in there, and have a look around," Veronica said.

The Quartermaster was skeptical, "At what?"

"Look, it's orders from the Black Hound himself," Veronica said, "He wants to check if everything is exactly where it needs to be."

He rolled his eyes, "Oh, alright." He pressed a button and the door opened. "Just make sure to be quick about it, I don't want to get yelled at for breaking protocol."

Veronica strut her way inside, and realized that she absolutely had to be quick about it. There were many shelves full of weapons, that Veronica had quite frankly ignored. She went to the very back towards the special lockers that had exactly what she was looking for. They were locked with a key that Veronica had swiped away from another quartermaster during a... rendezvous with another IU. She slid the key into the locker, and turned it. Slowly opening the door, and revealing the contents.

A long lance of some sort. It had a blade like a longsword, but plenty of machinery leading up to it. The lances designed to pierce through the shields the Blessed Three created. Only used if RAVEN began to use the same technology, or if there was a situation where they were necessary. Veronica wondered why they would leave them where anyone can get them, but it was convenient for her. She pointed over towards the side, and used her telekinesis to grab a weapon's case that was large enough to fit them. She placed all four of them inside, before she closed the locker behind her.

Now came the challenge of slipping them past the man without him raising a fuss. She needed a quick plan before he turns around... and raises a fuss. Hmmmm... Veronica looked up at the lights overhead, and got an idea. She raised her hand up into the air, surrounding herself with her wavy telekinetic aura, before every light bulb in the room was spontaneously crushed underneath the pressure of her immense telekinetic ability.

The Quartermaster looked up, shouting, "What the hell? Are they screwing around with the grid again?" He said as he dug underneath.

In this moment, Veronica slipped on by him in the complete darkness of the room... but, just to keep him from getting suspicious, she said, "Good grief," Veronica said. "I'm going have to save my report for later... but, the Hound will have a word with you, later." By the time he had pulled out his flashlight, she was gone.

Veronica hauled ass through the halls of the base, desperately typing in a text message to Maxine while she heads for the exit,

[quote][code]Max. High Rollers. Royer. It's important.[/code][/quote]

Veronica sent the text message as she ran through the secret tunnel that lead to the pizzeria.


[hr][i][h1][color=forestgreen]Veronica Davis[/color], & [color=Crimson]Maxine Diaz[/color][/h1][sub]Written in collaboration with [@FernStone][/sub][/i][hr]
[i][u]Lower-South Royer Town, Prince-Edfield.[/u][/i]


Veronica was waiting in the same abandoned roller-rink that she had met Maxine in a few hours ago. The Family could be watching them, but Veronica needed a place to hide these lances... they're gonna need to later. She was leaning up against a wall with her arms crossed.

"C'mon, Maxxie... you're our only shot." Veronica said to herself as she quietly hummed.

It took Max a bit to arrive, it hadn't exactly been an easy journey to and from the headquarters. Especially with the headquarters being under attack.

Upon her RAVEN cohort arriving, Veronica couldn't help but put on a false smile. It was the best she could do... and she has to keep up the [i]facade[/i] of being somewhat interested in her. "The attack on RAVEN headquarters was a dumpster fire, I know," Veronica said. "I'm just glad to see that you're alive."

After the formalities were out of the way, Veronica had to get to the meat... which she should have done from the beginning, "Look, Maxxie, I've been gathering information, and it's important, like really important." She started off,  and just decided to cut the rhetoric and get to it, "The Family is planning on creating [i]another[/i] Beast here in Baybridge, with the intent on setting it loose on the city to distract RAVEN while they finish the Machine."

If that plan comes to fruition, then everything is going to fall to pieces. RAVEN barely has enough of a force to attack the F-F, and if they release a Beast? Everything burns. The last thing that Veronica wanted was her RAVEN friends getting another kick in the head. But, if they can prevent it.

"I know where the lab is, it's a place in Silver Hills... an ISD building... I know a few secret ways in that you can - but [i]please[/i], you gotta get in there, and kill whatever they're making."

Max nodded. "We'll do that - it seems like someone needs to."

"I have the blueprints to the underground lab, and above, here," Veronica said, reaching into her pocket, and pulling out a blue sheet of paper with the entire F-F base outlined in white - there were notes here and there about notable places of interest, such as where the morgue is, and where the IU armory is located. Though, she looked into Max's eyes for a moment. "... I have been plotting this for ages."

She awkwardly coughed, bringing a fist up to her lips in the process as she continued.

"In addition, the entirety of the Blessed Three are in that location working on their base... while a majority of their defenses are actually in their headquarters. They might [i]not[/i] believe that you know where the Beast two-point-oh is, but they are definitely prepared in case you know where their little pride-and-joy is."

That brought her to the Blessed Three... each of them were powerful Metahumans that Veronica couldn't hope to beat in an up-front fight. RAVEN fighting as a team? They'll go down with ease. "The Blessed Three, in case you are wondering, are the three with supreme control over the organization. Let me cut you the redundant shit, and say each of them are powerful. With one being able to control earth and fire, another having control over electricity and magnetism, and the last with a powerful manipulation of water in all it's stages..."

"In addition, a vital component for their Machine is in the base - fuel." Veronica started off. "I assume you've been keeping up with the strange disappearances, yeah? The Family has been behind them, and they keep getting taken to these... [i]'processing'[/i] plants within the bases. I don't know. It's that 'people go in, but never come out,' deal." 

Though, a nagging thought has been bothering her over one detail. One small detail... She looked off to the side, and grabbed her chin.

"...But, not [i]everyone[/i] who were put into these plants were Metahuman." She mused, before disregarding the thought. "Oh, nevermind. The bottom-line is that it's connected to the Machine, and you can perhaps at least stall it's completion if you find these plants."

She brushed a strand of hair off to the side, "...I know this is a lot to take in, but you gotta have a little bit of faith in me. I'll see about sabotaging the F-F's efforts from the shadows, and feeding you information... And don't worry about me, I can handle myself."

"Okay, I think I've got all that," Max slowly processed the information. It was a lot to take in, but she was making sure to take it all in and remember because it was pretty important. "Thank you for all the information - I'll make sure it reaches the others in RAVEN. We'll do something about all of that."

"I know I bogged you down enough," Veronica started off as she walked back over towards the door. "Take care... and stay alive, just for me, Maxxie."

Veronica was pretty sincere now... she felt like she was growing a connection - even if it wasn't romantic. But, now was not the time, she had to get to that base, and see what she could do. Veronica was the key to destroying the Family from within, and she wasn't going to toss it away just like it was nothing.


[hr][i][h1][color=red]Meifeng Zhao[/color], [color=dodgerblue]Lihua Zhao[/color], & [color=cornflowerblue]Shizuka Takashiro[/color].[/h1][sub](collaboration with [@tsukune])[/sub][/i][hr]
[i][u]Greenflower Garden, Silver Hills.[/u][/i]

The Liu Estate was quite an impressive building, a three story building that was quite large at that!

Meifeng wondered what half the rooms were for.

Since there were only like ten Lius, and... Ah, Meifeng was getting off track. After the trio passed through the fence with the help of Shizuka, they were in the rather large garden around the building. Quite nice, with many fountains, ponds, and whatnot. Though, the flowers hadn't been tended recently because after the whole incident in the ballroom, the entire mansion had been completely abandoned. Gardeners were gone, and so was Jiao-Long's legion of maids and butlers. So, the building was empty, but no one was foolish enough to try breaking in... mostly because this mansion was so out of the way, and secure, that there was no point in even trying to look it when the more readily available locations in Fallbridge Square, or even in the innermost locations in Silver Hills. Which meant there's less pain in the ass looters to deal with, and more of a quick in and out.

Meifeng was crouching, slowly creeping her way through the garden closer to the building. She reached towards her utility belt, and grabbed her binoculars, quickly scanning the horizon for any threats. Specifically the building. It was her idea to come in through the side of the building - because with Shizuka here, there was no door they couldn't get through!

The coast was clear, and Meifeng turned behind herself, and gestured for Shizuka and Lihua to come on... Though, trying to move close to the ground was [i]very[/i] challenging for Lihua. Who didn't have the hips for it.

Or the back.

Or even the legs.

In her attempt to walk in a crouched position, Lihua fell over towards the side, and landed in some flowers. Causing quite a stir that made Meifeng whip around and stare at Lihua with narrow eyes as the anger inside herself rose. Lihua got back up, and took some time to dust the dirt, the leaves, and whatnot, off of her body, before continuing. As she crept past Meifeng, her daughter whispered to her in Chinese,

"[i]This is why I said wait for us in the car.[/i]" Meifeng angrily whispered. "[i]I can't believe you wanna act like a super spy falling over like that.[/i]"

In response, Lihua didn't even say a word... delegating to respond in [i]sign language[/i]. A complex series of hand motions to convey a simple message!

[i]'Shut up.'[/i]

If Meifeng wasn't focused on the mission, she would strangle her own mother, but continued ahead of the group, right until they reached the east-most wall. Shizuka caught the sign but kept his trap shut, determined to stay out of their little family squabble and concentrate on the task.

Meifeng poked her head through a window, and looked around... the lights were off, but she pulled out a flashlight, and turned it on the dimmest it could reasonably go, at least giving them a vague idea of what was inside... they were entering a mere hallway. One that probably just lead to the many rooms... and Meifeng remembered just why Lihua found it so easy to get lost in this damn place. It's so big! And... maze-like.

"A'right, Shizuka, the coast is clear," Meifeng whispered. "Just ghost us inside..."

Shizuka responded with a quick nod and grabbed the arms of the Zhao women, pulling them through the wall to the hallway. His eyes scanned the corridor briefly, before he turned to Lihua. "[i]So, which way to your room - or wherever you stowed the diary?[/i]"

Lihua had to take a moment to realize she had absolutely no idea where the hell she was. Fortunately, she had an idea to find out. She had her arms crossed, and stuck one hand out, bouncing a finger as she thought to herself. "[i]We have to get to the second floor,[/i]" was the first thing she said. "[i]We can either go to the foyer, or find another way up.[/i]" As far as she can tell, the Family were not here... and why would they be? This building held no tactical advantage... unless they expected the Liu children to return here, and that just seemed unlikely.

But, a tiger never let her guard down regardless of where she roamed.

She had to be careful. Because with the Family, the unexpected could happen at any given moment. Lihua lead the group to where she [i]believed[/i] (going off rough guesswork here) the foyer was merely by heading inwards towards the center of the mansion. And she hadn't lost her touch as she found the foyer... she could almost picture the scene with Lijuan and Honghui that happened only a week ago... Ah, memories. They were fleeting.

Without a word, she began the accession into the upper-levels of the building with the two behind here - but something didn't seem right. It was her... intuition, but she wasn't going to obsess over a bad feeling.

She remembered that the Lius slept on the third floor, while guests were on the second floor. The problem was that every damn room in this mansion looked the same.... and encountered a room that had "GUEST ROOM" labeled in gold.

Sometimes Lihua wondered if the dementia was slipping in.

Nodding her head, she opened the door slowly, and had to remember where the hell she hid the diary. She had to put it where the damn maids and butlers wouldn't touch it... and, she had to be honest with herself when she said that she might as well put it on a golden pedestal that said "SECRETS HERE" if she hid it in the [i]bed[/i]. (What fool hid things in their bed?)

Which was why she broke a hole in the wall, and pushed the dresser up to it.

She walked up to said dresser, and grabbed onto it... when a thought occurred to her.

"[i]Oh, Shizuka, Meifeng,[/i]" Lihua started off as she feigned being too weak too move the dresser. "[i]May you move this for me? My fifty-year old bones just[/i] can't[i] take it.[/i]"

Meifeng saw through the bullshit almost immediately, and rolled her eyes up into her head as she walked off, saying, "[i]Step aside, Miss 'Fifty-year old bones.'[/i]" She said as she grabbed onto the dresser and pulled it away single-handedly, leaving Shizuka to simply watch her with amusement. Moving it out of the way, and revealing the conspicuous hole in the wall. In which Lihua reached inside, and pulled the dusty diary that belonged to Luis... and the translation notes that she kept with it.

"[i]Okay, we got what we came for, let's get a move on.[/i]" Lihua said as she strutted her way over to the door.

"[i]Well, better be something useful in that dusty book...[/i]" Meifeng trailed off as she walked with both hands behind her head as the group made their way through the Liu estate. "[i]I would say to have Shizuka phase us out of here, but I'd [/i]hate[i] to dry up the [/i]great and powerful[i] Shizuka before the big show.[/i]" Meifeng teased.

Shizuka rolled his eyes at her. "[i]You've got a point there... so I guess I can take my leave first, and you two can go figure out how to get out of this labyrinth the[/i] long [i]way?[/i]" He held out his hands to them. "[i]Lame sarcasm aside, let's just get out of here.[/i] Now." The sooner they could disappear from the mansion, the better. He shared a similar sentiment with the paranoid Lihua, that they couldn't be certain the Family didn't mark this house, waiting ensnare them in whatever trap they might have set up here...

Around this time, they were coming around the foyer. "[i]Nah, I wanted to stop by the kitchen and make a...[/i]"

A swirling blue portal opened on the side of the foyer, and Meifeng's eyes shot wide open, as she knew just what was coming for them...

A hulking brute stepped out of the portal, the same brute that Meifeng was familiar with as the man that tried to kill her in Singapore. The eight-foot tall giant that was half machine... and this time, he was decked out in a different gear. He was covered in metal machinery like he usually was, but the two igniters on each of his arms that looked like they were taken off of flamethrowers... the faint flames coming from the barrel told Meifeng that they were indeed flamethrowers.

"Oh boy..." She said in English. "...My God, do you [i]ever[/i] just [i]fuck off?[/i]" Meifeng said to the brute as she pulled water out of her pocket dimension. Game plan was simple... just extinguish any flames this bastard created while Lihua and Shizuka run off...

Unfortunately, that wasn't Bonecrusher's plan. He thrust both hands in different directions and unleashed a firestorm of flames out of the igniters... a barrage of flames that set the Liu Estate ablaze.

[i]Shit,[/i] Meifeng thought to herself. [i]He's trying to cut us off - smoke us out of here.[/i]

[i]Speaking of the devil,[/i] Shizuka cursed silently when he turned around just in time to see the Bonecrusher entering the foyer through a similar portal as the one the Black Hound used back at the party. He could catch on Meifeng's plan, that she intended to stall the metal hulk here to give him and Lihua an opening to escape... But he knew that even with her water manipulation power, she wasn't going to hold out long in this inferno. There was only one way for them to get out of the blazing heat.

Grabbing Lihua's arm and pulling Meifeng to himself, he yanked them down to the floor below - to the basement. They should be safer now, at least from the flames... if only for a moment before the Bonecrusher found his way down here.

"Thank you," Lihua said, she was vaguely familiar with the basement layout from her brief trek through here with Mika... but, she heard some rather... [i]intimidating[/i] banging coming from the floor above as the Bonecrusher shoved his metal foot through the floor.

[i]No respect for other people's property.[/i] Lihua thought to herself. [i]And we're going to get set on fire if we stay down here...[/i]

It was time for quick thinking... Most of the basement was lined with concrete, so Lihua would have to take advantage of that. If she recalled correctly... She turned towards Shizuka with a devious smile.

"[i]...Boy, does your ability allow you to retain momentum?[/i]" Lihua asked.

"[i]Yeah,[/i]" Shizuka replied with an arched eyebrow. There was something about that dodgy smile he didn't like (aside from how she had regressed to just call him a 'boy' of all things), but he didn't have another second to make a snarky comeback with how close the Bonecrusher was coming through from above their heads. "[i]...What are you planning to do?[/i]"

"[i]Let's just say I'm going to[/i] thrust [i]us to freedom.[/i]" Lihua simply answered, before she turned to Meifeng, commanding, "[i]Meifeng...[/i]"

That was when Bonecrusher fell through the ceiling with a lot of wood falling down behind him. He was invisible underneath all the dust and rubble for a few moments as he stepped out, the first thing becoming apparent were the flames.

"...[i]Distract him for us.[/i]"

Meifeng sighed.

"[i]Yeah, yeah, I got this.[/i]" Meifeng knew that she didn't have this at all. The last few times she encountered the Bonecrusher only went well as they did because of sheer dumb luck. Bonecrusher pointed both hands forwards and fired a wall of flames, as Meifeng placed her elemental will on the water in the pipes and made them burst open and shower the basement with water. Bonecrusher growled in irritation as he rushed Meifeng and slammed his fist down over top of her... only for Meifeng to use her water manipulation to skate off to the side.

While Meifeng got him distracted, Lihua ran to the very edge of the basement. So, she had absolutely [i]no[/i] idea which direction she was going, but she was going to make this work. She looked at the ground, and slammed her foot on the ground, and created a crack in the concrete that created a chunk that rose above the rest slightly. Lihua looked to Shizuka and said, "[i]I hope your timing is good, because we're going to need it...[/i]" She trailed off as she looked back at Meifeng.

"[i]Just give me the signal when the time comes,[/i]" was the curt reply. They didn't have much time to waste; Shizuka could feel the roaring heat from the floor above. He would just have to put his faith in whatever loony idea Lihua had in that brain of hers, to get them all out before they got [/i]barbecued[/i] in the fire.

Bonecrusher swung with his right arm a quick jab that Meifeng ducked under... finally resigning to just dodge because she was basically tickling him if she tried to attack him with what she had on hand.

"[i]Meifeng, get over here![/i]" Lihua commanded, shouting at her daughter.

On cue, Meifeng gathered all the water she could, and when Bonecrusher threw another punch, she zipped around him - a jet of water grazing Bonecrusher. But, once it hit the brute, she froze the water, thus binding his legs, as she skated over to Lihua and came to a skidding stop on her little block of concrete.

"[i]Shizuka, grab on tightly,[/i]" Lihua ordered the younger boy. "[i]Now, on my cue... turn us intangible.[/i]"

Then she turned to Meifeng to quickly say, "[i]Oh, and Meifeng, you are responsible for our landing.[/i]"

"[i]Wait, are you--[/i]" Meifeng caught onto Lihua's plan a few seconds too late.

"[i]Now![/i]" Lihua practically screamed as she slammed her foot onto the ground with such explosive force that she and the others were propelled through the air at high speed. The sheer force of Lihua's action would surely send anyone flying, and all it took was Shizuka's ability to phase them through the building. With the force they were sent at, they were getting through the buildings rather quickly.

Meifeng was screaming at the top of her lungs out of sheer shock at the [i]audacity[/i] of Lihua's plan. Soon enough, they were falling through the sky, outside of the building... and Meifeng remembered that she was a RAVEN. And RAVENS don't puss out like this.

Taking in a deep breath, Meifeng created a massive pillar of water out of her pocket dimension, and used the water friction to show down their fall. Soon enough, they were gracefully drifting to the bottom of the pillar... in which Meifeng quickly dispersed because that was taking up a lot of her energy. They hit the ground, and Meifeng was probably the most shocked.

"...[i]That plan was fuckin' insane.[/i]" Meifeng mused out loud.

Even with the water slide, Shizuka still turned intangible again, allowing his feet to sink a little into the ground before they resurfaced above the concrete. He wasn't going to risk getting a sore ankle from Meifeng's (or rather, Lihua's) crude idea to break their fall. "[i]Really.[/i]" He rubbed his ears gingerly, giving Meifeng an irritated glare. "[i]Your scream is even[/i] more [i]insane.[/i]"

"...[i]Shut up, Shizuka.[/i]"

Lihua curtly shrugged in response. "[i]You're alive, right?[/i]" she asked.

"[i]Yeah...[/i]"  Meifeng trailed off as she looked back to the mansion... the flames were spreading to the rest of the building. They could see the flames through the windows, and that's what distracted Meifeng from her pointless bickering. "[i]I... Damn. The F-F just burned down the Liu estate like it's nothing...[/i]" She trailed off. "[i]They're gonna need a new home.[/i]"

Lihua shrugged. "[i]But, this is war, Meifeng.[/i]" She turned off and walked back towards the entrance they came. "[i]The Liu Estate is just one causality... Now, come along before he catches up, he probably got the order to just go ahead and burn the whole place down...[/i]" She thought out loud. They were probably planning on destroying this building to send a message, anyway... but, in this dark hour, what more of a message can they send? The fire department will most likely not even come for this place... the whole building, and all the memories it held, would be burned to ash. Never to be spoken of again.

Lihua raised the book up into the air, and gave it a light shake.

"...[i]We got what we came for.[/i]"


[hr][i][h1][color=red]Meifeng Zhao[/color], [color=dodgerblue]Lihua Zhao[/color], [color=cornflowerblue]Shizuka Takashiro[/color], [color=crimson]Maxine Diaz[/color], [color=darkslateblue]Reed[/color] & [color=gray]Quentin[/color] [color=darkslateblue]Tay[/color][color=gray]lor[/color].[/h1]
[sub](collaboration between [@Mr Allen J], [@tsukune], [@FernStone], and [@Zombiedude101])[/sub][/i][hr]
[b][code]RAVEN/DOVE West Coast Joint Headquarters_[/code][/b]


The drive back to Headquarters was certainly a quiet one... one without music, or soul. All because Meifeng and Lihua were mulling over the losses the Liu Family had been going through.

First Jiao-Long and Chunhua, and now they didn't even have a home anymore.

But, Lihua was concerned for Lijuan above all else, she was praying that the child didn't get dragged into this conflict that was devoid of honor... or humanity. She had the utmost faith in the Liu sisters. Though, while Meifeng drove this DOVE car that they borrowed from the garage (that already taken a beating from Bonecrusher), Lihua stared outside the car at the city that they passed by... all Lihua could see was flames. The riots that were breaking out were destroying this city. Lihua merely shook her head and focused on the road ahead. Those animals are going to destroy the city before the Family even gets a chance...

She wasn't the only one who'd noticed. Reed sat there, dwelling on the losses they'd taken today. How many had died? How many injured? Neither of those two were statistics the DOVE Investigator wanted to know and for his part he kept quiet about it. Quentin had little to say, either - instead the eldest of the Taylor brothers was sat by the window, a pistol close to hand, ever vigilant to the slim chance the Founders were ready to ambush them again. There was no taking chances, here.

Shizuka had left them to their silence - they needed it, after all. He looked out of the window at the lifeless street outside... The city that once thrived with vibrancy was now in a stalemate, the nonchalant crowds that once roamed the districts were now no different from violent mobs of lunatics, leaving only the fear towards the Family's tyranny hanging in the cold, autumn air, carried into the sky by the rising smoke from the burning mansion.

The vehicle came up to Headquarters, and Meifeng walked up to the front doors. The doors were guarded with a few able-bodied RAVENs, and they saluted as Meifeng and the others stepped inside. From what she could tell, everyone else was all over Headquarters trying to pick up the pieces. She was hoping to gather everyone together so they could read the book.

"Right," Meifeng said as she turned on her heel, and faced the rest of the group, "I'm going to gather everyone, and assemble them all there... just wait in there."

[hr]

In the break room, Meifeng had gathered all of their close friends together on the sofas, to read Luis' diary, which was in between them on a coffee table. The man who killed her best friend a few years ago. She felt the need to burn this diary, but something useful could come out of it. She was nervously staring at it, before she looked at the [i]other[/i] book - just noticing it - and pointed at it.

"What's that?" Meifeng asked.

"Translations," Lihua answered. "He... for whatever reason, wrote his diary in many different languages."

Curious, Reed leaned in towards the original writings, then furrowed his brow. He recognised lines of English here and there, then several more snippets of Spanish which he could only just barely understand, but the rest of it was ineligible. It was as though the Spaniard had developed his own personal cipher to prevent anyone else from discovering what he'd known.

"Oooooh, damn it," Meifeng said, as she leaned back in the chair and threw her arms behind her head. "And we have [i]zero[/i] time to translate it... wait, [i]how[/i] did you translate [i]that?[/i]" Meifeng pointed at the book.

"Google Translate," Lihua bluntly answered.

For a moment, Meifeng was so flabbergasted that she wondered if she should just take this book to her skull five-hundred times, but she was going to need something useful out of the diary. Something.

"Shall we begin reviewing?" Lihua asked. "I've honestly forgotten about this..."

"Yeah, I'm not sitting here for my health..."

Lihua brushed off that comment, before she opened the book, and delved inside...

Their review of Luis' diary was interrupted by the untimely arrival of Maxine Diaz. Meifeng immediately recognized her, waving her head in the air saying, "Heeeey, it'ssssssssss..." Meifeng looked over towards her group with wide eyes, dragging out her sentence while she hoped that [i]someone[/i] could tell her what this broad's name was.

"Max Diaz," Shizuka supplied, shrugging at how he could still remember the rookie agent's name even though they barely had any contact with each other for [i]months[/i]. Well, his memory of her was nothing more than a partner-in-crime to ditch work to the unfortunate juniors so that he could savor the precious break time he so deserved after countless stupid missions. "Y'know, similar name with our boss-guy."

"Oh," Meifeng gave Shizuka a thumbs up. "But, what brings ya' around here?"

Max took just a moment to catch her breath (she hadn't exactly just taken a pleasant walk there). "I've got some pretty important information."

She paused, still a bit out of breath, before continuing to explain everything.

Everyone listened intently as Max told them about what the Family was planning, and what they were going to do next....

To Lihua, it was foolishness, but it changed things. They knew that the Family were planning something, but turning everyone on Earth into Metahumans? That was going to end horribly - not everyone was ready for such a taste of power. She recalled Luis and his Changeling Unit... but more of them and worse. If it didn't create something like the Devil again. But, Lihua was surprised that this was their endgame... why not build something more powerful?

Meifeng was surprised it wasn't a doomsday device. Very surprised... but, in all honesty, it might as well be. She put her hands on her knees, and tapped her fingers on them. "That's... But, can you trust this little source of yours?" Meifeng raised an eyebrow. "For all we know, she could be playin' all of us..." The problem was less of the fact that she didn't trust her contact, and more of she didn't trust [i]Maxine[/i]. All because she barely knows the woman.

"That is a good point," Lihua said, raising a finger up into the air. "We can't trust just anyone in this dark hour."

Shizuka had been listening to every word in Max's story with utmost attention, putting the two and two together with everything he had heard from Marcelle's logs so far. The jigsaw pieces were starting to fall into place, and the picture he could see in his mind's eye was far more deranged than what he had originally expected. "Trust issues aside, Max's intel tallies with the things mentioned in the logs I told you guys about moments ago," he spoke up, giving the brownie a nod before he went on. "Logic doesn't apply to the Fags, so it's best that we take Max's info into consideration. Better be prepared than sorry, yeah."

It was an unsettling notion for Reed, who'd spent the last seven years looking at the ugly side of the metahuman community. The pain, the untold potential for chaos... not to mention there were plenty enough people out there who would've sooner [i]died[/i] than become metahumans. He felt somewhat disturbed by the fact he himself had been [i]made[/i] a metahuman, but at least he'd had a choice. Even if he'd claimed this power from the same man who'd wrote the diary in front of them. "If this is true, if what you're saying is... how do they even know it [i]works?[/i] What if it goes wrong, jesus.... that's [i]billions[/i] of confused and angry people with untold power they might not have even [i]wanted[/i]." 

"They don't care." Quentin answered him, blunt as ever. Deep down, the veteran RAVEN felt a pang of guilt from his own past, before he reminded himself that he'd left it back in Verthaven. He shared the same kind of sentiments as his brother, only instead of feeling disturbed, he felt [i]anger[/i]. "Whatever we do, that machine has to be destroyed."

"We can trust her; she's got as much reasons as us to want to see the Family stopped," Max responded evenly.

"Alright... I'll take your word for it..." Meifeng said as she crossed her arms.

"That's not even the only thing," Max frowned. She didn't really want to have to add more bad news, but she had to tell everyone. "Their also making another Beast - and they're planning on letting it loose in Baybridge as some form of distraction. I've been told where it is, but it won't exactly be that easy to get to."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Meifeng said as she jumped up, surprised. "...They're going to make another one of those bastards and throw it in Baybridge? Wouldn't that destroy their own fuckin' Machine?"

"If they are so dead-set on creating another Beast... we can safely say they have a precaution of some sort," Lihua answered Meifeng. "Given who we are dealing with, they have everything so far planned... But, ah, I am going off track here."

She slowly rose to her feet, and shrugged with her eyes closed, as she finally explained the situation.

"We are in a bad situation here... and that is likely what the Family planned on doing all along - forcing us into such an [i]unfavorable[/i] situation," Lihua first started off, as she opened her eyes and looked between the group. "If they create another Beast and release it into Baybridge... the loss of life will be unparalleled. But, if we focus on the Machine, they will finish their little Beast and most likely use it to just wipe us out anyway."

That was the first part of her explanation.

"On the other hand, if we go to their facility in Silver Hills... we'll just be buying time for them to finish their Machine and fire it, and we clearly don't have enough men and women to split into two groups and tackle both the threats. Not with the [i]overwhelming[/i] firepower they have at their fingertips."

The Hound, Bonecrusher, Phantasm, and the Blessed Three came to mind.

"And at the [i]same[/i] time, they are most likely expecting us to split into two groups... which they can divide and conquer."

"Well, it's official... we're boned." Meifeng slunk back into her chair as optimism faded.

"But, if we concentrate all our efforts on one target..." Lihua said as she took a few steps. "If they are willing to create such a powerful Metahuman, then they also must be afraid of us. Afraid that they won't have enough time to finish their Machine before we come knocking down their door..." she trailed off.

"And that means we may have more time than expected." Meifeng said out loud as she sat back up. "If we go in quick and hard, we can kill their Beast before he's even finished, and have enough time to finish off their Machine."

"Exactly."

Shizuka thought about Lihua's little speech. She had some valid points there, but getting cold feet after coming this far would be an equally dumb thing to do. Also, weren't they forgetting something here? "First, we can have the 'Hero of Prague' to enlighten us with how to deal with the Beast," he started off, staring at Meifeng. "Even if we don't know what kind of nasty upgrades the Fags might've done to their latest lapdog, we can still make the necessary preparation based on Mei's prior experience with the prototype."

"Well..." Meifeng said as she stared at her fingers. "Like you said... but, the Beast was this really big dude that glowed bright... dunno if it was just the fire powers he had. Also, no one really noticed this, but he was [i]preeeetty[/i] slow. He could only slowly walk at you... but, it didn't matter because of all the damn [i]firepower[/i] he had."

Meifeng thought out loud... at some point it stopped being a recount of his abilities, and more of her thinking out loud.

"He could control earth, fire... magma..."

"Meifeng," Lihua chimed in.

"Yeah?"

"Let's worry about stopping it, right now there's a lot of things we don't know yet. But, you're our shot-caller in case everything goes wrong."

"Right." Meifeng said.

Lihua looked up at Max, asking, "Do you know if your little contact is able to get more information... without getting caught, that is?"

"First thing we should do is scout out their base. We got lots of methods of reliably scouting... but, I feel like this is more of a job for our stealth expert, Shizuka." Meifeng started off. "Then we gotta figure out who in the hell is there. The Hound, the Blessed Three... Bonecrusher, et cetera, et cetera..."

"Yeah, yeah," Shizuka replied, shrugging at the attention that was now directed towards him. Contrary to Lihua's overly cautious approach, he felt that they could make use of the Family's bloated narcissism to their advantage instead. Maybe he could even make use of this opportunity to kill [i]three[/i] birds with one stone. "...I'll do it."

[i]Time to put those 'Blessed' Bitches back to where they[/i] truly [i]belong.[/i]

There was also one more thing he needed for the plan he had in mind. "Hey Max, can I get the contact of your informant?" For a rookie of her rank to get such valuable intel so easily and free of charge, that person must be pretty [i]desperate[/i]. "I have an idea..."


[hr][i][h1][color=skyblue]Wendy Emily Lucker[/color] & [color=lightseagreen]Rowan Campbell[/color].[/h1][sub]Written in collaboration with [@Mr Allen J][/sub][/i][hr]
[i][u]Hailey Boulevard, Silver Hills.[/u][/i]


The dim lights of the room were quite... overwhelming, as Wendy regained consciousness. She grasped her head as she slowly opened her eyes - not too quickly - because the lights of this room were blinding. She loudly groaned as she rubbed her eyes, quickly giving her room a scan. The first thing she gathered was that she on a cot. It wasn't the most the comfortable thing on the planet... but, it was preferable to the floor. Looking straight across from the cot, she saw a concrete wall, and her eyes drifted over towards the left to see a sink, and a toilet. Oh boy, she knows where this is going... she barely even had to look to the right to tell that there were metal bars, and she was in a prison cell.

Great.

They captured her.

Well, this is better than them just killing her, but, she reached for her neck, noticing a tightness, then she felt the metal power suppressant collar around her neck. That was a given, knowing what bullshit the Founding Family is capable of.. But, she recalled what happened before, when she tried to crush Blake under a thousand pounds of concrete... he survived, and filled the room with heat, before everything went dark for Wendy. So, that was a solid damn it. She knew they took her satchel, so she didn't even bother looking for it. That was great... they have all of Wendy's items, but wait. 

Wendy quickly ran to the bars, and shouted into the halls, "Rowan! Rowan are you here!? Answer me!"

She was met with a few seconds of silence, before she heard another muffled voice that eventually became clear. "W...Wendy?!" His voice sounded cracked and hoarse, as though his throat was dry.

"Rowan! You're alive!" Wendy stammered as she looked around. "What happened?!"

"I... I couldn't stop him..." Rowan's voice trailed just a little, still dry and cracked. "...I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't feel bad," Wendy said. "We... both lost. He was clearly a lot stronger than both of us."

"No." It was only then that a silhouette became visible through the thin, barred gap in the cell door across from hers. Rowan's face was a shadow, though after a close inspection, one could make out the swelling along his face, black and blue with bruising. 

"Oh shit!" Wendy said, near subconsciously once she saw Rowan's face. She recoiled, as her eyes went open. "He... he did all that to you?"

Despite just how shitty their situation was, the scrawny teen couldn't help but force a crooked smile. "I've... I've had worse."

"Yeeeeah..." Wendy said, trying to divert the conversation from his father. "Do you have any ideas on how to get out of here-"

"Hey, Wen!?" Jessica shouted from a few cells down, Wendy stuck her head in between the bars the best she could, and looked off to the side to see Jessica with her hands on the bars. 

"Jess!" Wendy said. "I thought you were dead for a second there."

"Just a little roughed up - that stone bastard had us tazed!" Jessica replied. "Well, in case you were wonderin'... Kai's in the cell with me. Just lounging a bit, but perfectly fine."

"Guys?"

Ellen's voice, a little ragged, followed Jessica's response. It had taken her a little time to realise that people were talking. She was short on sleep, desperately short on it. She should be shifting soon, the next few hours, but the collar had prevented that, and shut down whatever it was that allowed her to operate normally. Her eyes were bloodshot and bleary, she looked as though she hadn't slept in a week, which was very nearly true.

"Wait..." Wendy said to herself. She vaguely recognized her voice. "Wait, Ellen?"

Wendy nodded her head. Everyone is okay and accounted for, but now they need a way to get the hell out of here-

The door down the hall let out a loud creak, and Wendy whipped her head down the hall, and listened for the two heavy footsteps of the man that would be the thing of her nightmares for years to come. The massive, towering, man hidden behind the mask with glowing red eyes. Wendy felt like the symbol of the dog meant something, but she couldn't focus on it given the flash of his eyes alerted her to the imminent danger. He stopped at Wendy's cell, briefly looking into Rowan's cell, before he turned his full body towards Wendy's cell... Wendy noticed someone [i]else[/i] in the corner of her eye, but couldn't pay attention to them. It seemed more fitting to address... the elephant in the room.

"Ms. Lucker," The Hound said, his voice reverberated in a demonic echo. "What did I tell you? What did I warn you about...?"

The Hound said, and Wendy could only look away in shame that she finally found the clue as to where her sister is, only to fail right before the finish line. She clenched the bars out of the sheer unfairness of the situation, but couldn't make eye contact with the Hound.

"I told you that you were going up against someone infinitely more powerful than yourself," The Hound said. "And now look at where you are, at the mercy of all your enemies..."

Wendy didn't say anything.

"But, that doesn't concern me... On the request of Master Blake, what I want to know of just [i]who[/i] has been helping you," The Hound asked. "Because... it is unlikely you have been finding our facilities just by chance."

He paced back and fourth in front of Wendy's cell, speaking quickly and clearly, "We searched your satchel, we searched your phone, we even have men searching your room in the Academy... and yet there are zero discernible signs," The Hound said. 

Wendy was hit with a sudden realization when she remembered that she [i]forgot[/i] to clear those text messages from her phone. If they have her phone, and cracked it...[i] then why didn't the Hound know about her contact by now?[/i]

"Either your contact is very illusive, or you are good at covering your tracks..." He leaned in very close to Wendy's face, almost [i]forcing[/i] her to stare the monstrous man down. "Well, then, Miss Lucker..."

"...[i]Which is it?[/i]"

The question made Wendy cringe as she desperately looked for an answer. Something to tell the Hound - because her contact could still be very useful, and might be the only thing that can get them out of this (Whoever the hell (s)he is). She was desperate, but that was the only light in the darkness that Wendy could see. 

Then it hit her, and Wendy regretted not coming up with it sooner.

"...I honestly don't know, the person didn't tell me. They never even gave me a name to use, so I just assumed... John, Jane, Doe? But, this person said they felt sorry for me, and told me how I can get my sister back, and I trusted them."

[i]Mix a lie with the truth.[/i]

"Gave me places to find dead drops with all the information I need..." Wendy said. "I really don't know who this person is, you have to believe me."

"Heh... now that would make sense," The Hound said. "I doubt your contact would disclose his identity with [i]children,[/i] but this basically means you are useless to Master Blake."

The Hound said as he stopped and looked over his shoulder, and Wendy realized what the context meant.

"You are most likely going to be killed on his orders..." The red lights behind his helmet narrowed as if his eyes did. "...It is unfortunate, as I respected your resolve, Ms. Lucker."

"I will be running evidence until then." He said as he stormed off... which lead the other person who was watching from afar to walk up, and look at Wendy with rather sad eyes. Wendy narrowed her own eyes at the woman... who was tall as her, and Asian in descent, wearing the IU armor with a ghostly cloak, and many chains hanging from her figure.

"W-what do you want?" Wendy asked, her voice laced with venom.

Makoto Koda looked at Wendy... and merely sighed as she walked off.

"Oh nothing..."

Wendy shook her head. Damn it. The Family was going to kill them if they don't get out of here. "Jess, Rowan, Kai, Ellen, we [i]really[/i] need a plan to get out of here."

"Who you telling?" Jessica said.

"There's gotta be a way out of these things..." Rowan grumbled, digging fingers into the suppression collar around his neck. There nothing so humiliating as feeling it every time he tilted his head, but if he could've just got it off, they might've had a way out. The cell doors were metal, after all and the scrawny teen had few reservations about tearing the place apart.

"Your collar, Wendy?" He asked.

"Sorry, but it's stuck on..." Wendy said as she grabbed onto the tight collar around her throat. "These things are made of steel, there's no [i]way[/i] we're getting them off without a crowbar."

"Hmph...." Someone else walked up to the two within the cells... and Wendy looked up at the overly tall Ezekiel Anangos... their first "taste" of the Blessed Three. He stood in a white suit with blue pinstripes, and sunglasses. Standing before them unamused, he crossed his arms before he said, "I wouldn't bother if I were you." He tilted his head, "Like you said, they're made of [i]steel[/i]..."

He placed one hand in his stylish suit pocket as he grinned.

"...And if I were you, I wouldn't dig myself deeper," Ezekiel looked at his other hand as electric sparks popped off. "If it wasn't for Blake and Julia, I would have the whole lot of you [i]executed[/i]."

Wendy feared his power... how he was able to lift cars, and tear piping out of the ground. If she could get that power... No, she'll probably inherit his crazy. She looked off to the side, and wondered when this asshole would shut up.

"...Is there any reason you're coming here?" Wendy asked, before she narrowed her eyes. "I thought it's obvious that we don't give a shit about your rhetoric."

The electricity around Ezekiel flared up for a moment as he turned his nose upwards, before he went back to a more neutral expression followed by a sigh.

"As disrespectful as you may be..." Ezekiel seethed. "Julia has insisted that we log and store a DNA sample of everyone before they are hauled off to the Machine..." He trailed off, before he snapped his fingers and the Secretaries that accompanied him presented a metal tray with many dishes and scalpels. He put his hand out to Wendy.

"Your hand, Ms. Lucker." Ezekiel commanded.

Wendy didn't know what these bastards were going to do with her DNA, but she grabbed her hand and took a step back, "No, fuck yo-"

Ezekiel had enough of her defiance... a quick strike of electricity hit Wendy dead on and sent the girl convulsing on the ground, screaming in pain as Rowan cursed at them from his adjacent cell. After a few moments, she rolled onto her hands and knees, panting, and clenching her teeth out of frustration. Frustration as to why she was so [i]weak[/i].

"Now, Ms. Lucker..." Ezekiel had his head turned upwards as he looked down on her. "... Are you ready to cooperate?"

She punched the ground with a fist as she said, defeated, "Yes...."

"Good." Ezekiel muttered to himself as Wendy stuck her hands through the bar, and Ezekiel scraped off a piece of skin with a scalpel and Wendy winced as the cold of the blade peeled off her beige flesh off the back of her hand. With a snap of his fingers, the Secretaries quickly applied antiseptic spray, and wrapped up the wound, causing Wendy to raise an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't want you to get an infection, would we?" Ezekiel grinned... and Wendy immediately realized he was up to something else.

"You, boy," Ezekiel pointed at Rowan as he turned around, "If you don't want me to injure you worse than Blake did, I suggest that you comply."

For a moment the man didn't get an answer from the scrawny teen, who instead shot him a contemptuous look. He felt disgust at being in the man's presence and a certain resentment towards the man who'd put him in hospital before.

Electricity intensified around Ezekiel's hand. "... What did I just say?"

Rowan's gaze became sharp for just a second, opening his mouth as though he were going to say something...

Instead, he gave what could've been interpreted as a defeated grunt and limply his left palm, just a little ways past the bars. He looked stiff, probably from the beating doled out to him by Ezekiel's peer. Soon, the same scalpel descended upon his palm, still glistening from the coating of antiseptic applied to it earlier. But Rowan had other plans in mind - as the man's wrist twisted to take a sample, Rowan grasped for it and tugged at it with all his might in an effort to pull the scalpel within reach.

Ezekiel didn't take that well, however, and reminded the boy of just what kind of power he held as a paralysing electrical charge ran through his arm and into Rowan's body, then yanked him back against the bars with a painful thud. He'd forgotten that his powers couldn't protect him with that collar around his neck.

"You... you..." Ezekiel tightly clenched his fist as electricity absolutely surrounded him. The Secretaries had to take a step back. "... [i]Idiot.[/i]" He said, as he ran a hand through his hair. "Hmph... desperation really does breed such actions - but, don't forget, you [i]belong[/i] to us now, so get used to it." The electricity faded away.

Dazed and now firmly held in place by Ezekiel, Rowan said nothing as the man took the sample he needed with a rough incision across the tip of Rowan's ring finger, peeling away a thin layer of skin.

Then, when the man had done his work, the Secretaries cleaned and dressed the incision, before relenting. Ezekiel handed them the tray and folded his hands behind his back. "Now, there are a few things we know you are not telling us...." He trailed off, deviously, as both Wendy and Rowan looked on with fear and uncertainty. 

"Fortunately for us, we have a mental manipulator on our side... and you have an appointment with her," Ezekiel said, before he raised his fingers together, getting ready to snap them. "Which means we have [i]some[/i] reason to keep you two alive for a little longer...."

He wiped around, looking over his shoulder back towards Kai and Jessica, "... Those two on the other hand, are not needed. Secretaries, take them to the Conversion Chambers." With a snap of his fingers, his loyal employees were going into the cells, and yanked Kai and Jessica out.

"Hey, get your hands off us!" Jessica said as she got an arm free, and elbowed one of the Secretaries in the face... only for her rebellion to be quickly squashed by a taser, and were dragged into the depths of the base.

"Hey! Wait! Jess! Kai!" Wendy shouted at Diana's friends as she stared off at them before they disappeared, before she looked at Ezekiel, "You bastard! What are you doing with them?!"

Ezekiel just blankly stared at her. "... You'll find out soon enough."

Before he followed behind the Secretaries, ignoring both Wendy and Rowan.

"Damn it!" Wendy hissed as she slammed her fists into the bars of her cell. "Rowan! We really got to get out of here. Kai and Jess are at stake."

While they may not have been able to save Diana right now, the least they could have done was save Jess and Kai from whatever perverse fate that the Family had in store for them.


[hr][hr][i][h1]The Wild Card Team.[/h1]
[sub](collaboration between [@Mr Allen J], [@Estylwen] and [@tsukune])[/sub][/i]
[hr][hider=][youtube][/youtube][/hider][hr]
[b][code]Lower-South Royer Town, Prince Ed-Field_[/code][/b]


After the encounter with Mr. Morris, Malik had plenty to report to the boss-man.

Returning to Aislin's flat in style, Malik kicked the door open and rode a gust of wind into the building. Spinning all the way, but Malik came to a stop as he looked around for Shizuka. He raised the dead drop spike up into the air the second he saw the silver-haired agent.

"Boss, man!"  Malik said. "Me and Rhea have so much to report right right - first, we found a dead drop, second, we found a friend that can help us."

Shizuka had just finished updating Holly and Ryu on his fiery encounter with Bonecrusher with the Zhaos at the Liu Mansion when he heard the African calling out to him. Turning around with an amused look, he watched Malik tossing a package in his hand into the air. "You can pass the log to Ryu... and tell us more about this 'friend'." Then he spoke to his Japanese partner. "[i]Ryu, get the laptop.[/i]" Which the scarfed man did, and had the computer booted up in a minute.

"While he fires up his computer," Malik said, putting his hands on his sides, giving Shizuka a confident look. "We came across Graham Morris - you know, the man that Marcelle mentioned in her very first log - and we came to a little agreement."

Malik threw up both thumbs with a smile.

"He's going to lend a hand!" Malik said... before something came to mind and that smile flipped. He slapped a hand to his forehead. "Wait, damn it! I forgot to ask about the logs [i]he[/i] has." He felt like an idiot... even though, at this point, they have little use for the logs.

Shizuka rolled his eyes at Malik's enthusiasm. There was no way he could maintain such high level of optimism in light of the recent development across Baybridge like this man. "Great to know... So where's he now?" He nodded in agreement to the part about the logs - right now they had more than enough on their plate to deal with, and overloading their brain with more intel wasn't going to help them much in the upcoming operation.

Another blast of cold air distracted everyone from their chit-chat, this time it was from the balcony. Shizuka looked around to see his twin touching down with Jennifer, and the elder Takashiro quickly let go of the blonde, stepping into the living room first. "What did I miss? Any new developments?" Other than the ruffled hair and clothes due to his air manipulation power, Haruka was still the same as ever, with a quiet and steely strength in his dark eyes behind the wire-framed glasses.

Malik waved at Haruka and his blonde-haired associate. Briefly, Malik wanted to ask who she was given all the friends they're making. Seeing the confused expression on some of their faces, Haruka added with a shrug, "Uh, she's Jennifer. A friend of mine - of [i]ours[/i]." He shot a look at his nonchalant brother.

Jennifer scratched the back of her neck as she looked at everyone... Jesus, she had no idea of [i]anyone[/i] here was. Well, she knew Shizuka, but not any of the other two girls, the other Japanese man, or the tall African-American... Wait, she saw him quite awhile ago back at the cafe. Same with the other girl. She wondered if Thanks-A-Latte was still standing... Who's she kidding?

With a name like that, it'd be the first target of arsonists.

"Well..." Shizuka rubbed the back of his neck, his brows furrowed with muted annoyance as he recalled what Max had told the RAVENs back in the Headquarters moments ago. "For one, the Blessed Bitches actually want to become [i]gods[/i] by turning every single human being on Earth into Metas with their gay Machine. Also, the Fags are aware that RAVEN's gonna go after them after they had wrecked the HQ and kidnapped Dr. Cross. They've set up a Beast 2.0 in their other base in Silver Hills to stall us from getting to the Machine. Which means the device isn't completed yet, and they're doing this to buy some time for themselves."

Malik's eyes shot open. "We're looking for a base in Silver Hills! Our friend Morris said the key to Marcelle is there." Malik crossed his arms with a grin on his face... but, the Machine sounded bad, too. Maybe they should look into that. Malik didn't know what it would do for the world at large, but it didn't sound too good. Malik knew Marcelle wasn't going to like it, and when they liberate her, Malik is going to finish the fight that she started.

"Sounds like a certain someone..." Jennifer said, turning off to the side as she thought about that man... this was why she's here. To stop people like Luis from hurting people for their insane dreams and bids for Godhood. "...Never mind." Jen said quickly to divert the conversation away from her. Haruka gave her a sideways glance - he knew who she was referring to, but like her there wasn't a need to mention that awful name to these people. They couldn't change what had happened in Verthaven, but now they could do something to stop that incident from repeating here in Baybridge.

"Anyway, here's where all of us come in," Shizuka began, glancing at all the grim faces in the room. "We'll infiltrate the Silver Hills base, and cover three objectives." He raised a finger, and went on, "One: scout the area and get down the layout of the place. Take note of the guards, security points, secure the exit routes... ex cetera, ex cetera." Then the second finger. "Two: locate the MIA French agent Marcelle, and gather more info on the other missing people the Fags have kidnapped if possible." Instead of putting up the third finger, he dropped his hand to his side, scowling. "The last one is an undercover job, which I'll do it [i]personally[/i]." And he turned to Ryu to give him a brief in their own native tongue.

"Undercover, heeeey, I like that," Malik said with a child-like smile on his face. "But, I think it goes without saying what I'm - [i]we're[/i] - gonna do, right Rhea?" Malik turned his head towards Rhea, and smiled.

Shizuka opened his mouth to say something, but closed it in the end - he couldn't bring himself to shoot down Malik's overflowing optimism. On one hand, he felt that everyone should drill the seriousness of the situation into their blood, and one mistake could easily wipe them all out, just as Lihua had tried to warn him. On the [i]other[/i] hand, he couldn't deny the fact that sometimes people needed some hope in order to push them through such helpless circumstances, to enable them to keep going until the bitter end. He'd be lying to himself if he didn't consider trying to find the Family's weaknesses for them to strike was something akin to the act of finding a silver lining in the Blessed Three's seemingly perfect plan to turn Baybridge upside down.

"So, that means I'm going to be on scouting?" Jennifer said, scratching the back of her neck. "I have a trick if you can take out a guard or something." Instead of explaining it, Jennifer chose to demonstrate... She pointed at her face as a [i]horrible[/i] sound of bones cracking filled the room as her facial shape reconstructed completely. It turned into a woman with a much thicker jaw, and stronger chin than Jennifer, along with a larger nose. Then she changed her skin to a much darker tone.

"It hurts like a bitch, but I can shapeshift... kind of," Jennifer said, taking cues from her mentor Megan. "This is the most I can do, though, we'll have to get someone with a similar look." She said as she reverted her face back, to normal, tightly grasping her face as it returned to normal. A small drip of blood came from her cheek as she didn't put the right bone back correctly and it punctured her cheek. She wiped it away.

All of them grimaced at the bone-splintering sound (except for Shizuka, who merely raised his eyebrows in amusement), and then their expression was turned to awe as they watched her facial features shifting into someone that somewhat different to her original appearance. Haruka spoke up once Jennifer had reverted back to her real face, "Uh... Hopefully you don't have to resort to doing that. It seems... really painful."

"Y-yeah, it is..." Jennifer rubbed the back of her neck again, rather nervously. "Sorry for freaking everyone out like that."

Haruka winced when Ryu suddenly gave him a slap on the back of his shoulder. "[i]I'll also be scouting with you guys, to cover your backs.[/i]" Then the agent raised a hand to adjust the muffler. "[i]Well... my power can handle the cameras and their electronic gadgets, if necessary.[/i]" Pointing at the laptop, he flashed a grin to the rest of the group. "...Ready."

"Ready as I'll ever be..." Malik optimistically said as he rubbed his hands together as he formed the circle. Jennifer, on the other hand, had joined in, being informed of the logs by Haruka...

[quote][i]"Marcelle's log... W-whatever, it doesn't matter. Morris, I've messed up. Messed up bi- big... I don't know what's been even going on with me lately. Ever since I took that drug... I-I've been desperate for more. I did something stupid... I gave away that I'm a mole to Julia, and n-now, they're coming. I'll[/i] kill [i]all of- N-no. I have to stop that line of thought. Morris, if you get this, please, collect all the logs I've been texting you. They're coming for me... Their headquarters is in Regal Square, the 'Oasis Bio-Research Headquarters', and they have a major base in Silver Hills using the ISD as a front. Marcelle out."[/i][/quote]

Immediately, Malik hung his head as his jaw slowly dropped, and his eyes went droopy. "Ma... Marcelle...." Malik trailed off, muttering her name under his breath. "I... I need a moment." He said as he turned around, and walked away from the group towards the balcony. Opening the door and closing it behind him, he let out an exasperated huff as he leaned up against the railing. Followed by Rhea, whom gave him quite assuring words.

No one spoke as they watched the lightning duo leaving the group. Once they were out of the living room, Holly shook her head - while she could empathize with how Malik felt about his friend, trained soldiers like her and Shizuka didn't have the luxury to feel sorry for them, not when they were already this close to their goal. The best they could do now was to continue to push forward with their plans, to end all this shitstorm once and for all. However... "I'm worried if those two would still be able to carry out their part of the mission..."

"The urgency of Marcelle's current situation can help to motivate Malik to be more devoted to this mission--" Haruka began, but his twin shot him down almost immediately.

"I won't be too sure about that," Shizuka warned, glancing at the slouched figure of Malik at the balcony with narrowed eyes. "Emotions can be used to increase a person's inner drive to reach their goal, but it's ultimately a double-edged sword." He didn't like having [i]another[/i] unstable liability to further jeopardize the already-risky plan, but he knew they didn't have much choice with the limited number of people here in this team of misfits, as Lihua had called it. Even so... "We really need them for the operation to work out. Holly, you group up with those two instead and keep an eye on them." In which the chloropathic agent replied with a curt nod, a grim expression on her face before she walked towards the African outside.

Shizuka then turned to give Ryu a knowing look before he straightened up, giving every single member in the room one last piercing glance. "If there're no more questions about the mission and the grouping, let's get this done and over with...

"...And, well, [i]don't die[/i]."