[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/krev7SC.png[/img][/center][center][b]Aubrey Adkins[/b][/center]
[center][b]9:32 AM[/b][/center]
	One of the perks that comes with the apartments that Viera provides for their models is that there’s an on-site exercise facility located inside the complex. And it’s not crammed into a hole in a wall, either. While there isn’t enough room for an indoor track, this private gym does have a variety of machines and equipment. Emily and I always try to make it over there at least a couple of times each week. Sure, having superhuman strength and enhanced metabolism kind of makes exercising pointless, but I still have to keep up the appearance that it does. Plus, I’ve found that exercising can give you some other benefits other than losing a couple of pounds.

	After I took a sip from a bottle of water that I normally bring along with me while exercising, I headed towards the leg extension machine and inserted the pin on the appropriate weight. While I worked out my legs, Emily stood beside the machine and chatted. She had a habit of doing more talking than actually using the equipment when we come here. Not that it distracts me or anything, so it doesn’t really bother me that much. Plus, I suppose she's exercising her jaw muscles, so there is that.

	“Have you picked out a dress for the party this weekend?” Emily asked. She was referring to this event that we’re expected to attend. Since Pacific Point is only about a little more than an hour’s drive from Los Angeles and Hollywood, apparently, there’s supposed to be a much of famous people attending. I guess meeting, or at least seeing, some celebrities could be interesting.

	[color=b22222]“I’ll probably just pull something out of my closet. I’m sure there’s something in there that’s appropriate for the event.”[/color]

	“Have you seen who’s rumored to be attending?”

	[color=b22222]“No.”[/color] I responded without turning to look at Emily.

	“Apparently, Christopher Arthur is supposed to be in attendance.” Emily announced to me. When I heard that name, I immediately stopped what I was doing and gave her a concerned look. “He’s supposed to be really brilliant.”

	[color=b22222]“I’ll pass.”[/color] I told her as I got up from the chair that was attached to the exercise machine. I grabbed a disinfecting tissue and swept over the pairs of the machine that I touched.

	“I guess you’re not a fan of his.” Of course I’m not a fan of his! He kidnapped me after I had been kidnapped by that Doctor Dip-whatever his name was and given my powers. And that bitch, Archangel. I hated her, too. Probably even more than Arthur. I’m so glad I’ve haven’t heard a single thing about her since the whole dome crisis last February.

	I then retrieved a medicine ball and headed over to the next exercise station. At this station, there was a raised bench that was elevated a little on one side. Resting my stomach against the elevated side, I began what were essentially upside-down sit-ups with the medicine ball in my arms, since I would bend down my upper body towards the ground and then straighten myself out again.

	“Well, hopefully you’ll meet at least someone you don’t hate.” Emily encouraged me, probably to make sure I’m not a total Debby Downer during the party.

	While I continued this exercise, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of two other models heading towards the exit of the gym. Although it seemed like they were not trying to make their conversation heard by the two of us, the volume of their voices still carried all the way back to where Emily and I were.

	“I can hardly believe that Double A needs an additional medicine ball when she already has two attached to her.” Whitney told Nicole as they walked towards the exit. However, before I could hear what the other girl had to say, although I can’t say that I really wanted to know, they had already gone through the door and out of earshot.

	[color=b22222]“Well, I guess that’s at least three people who are going to be at that event who I totally cannot stand.”[/color]

	“Hey, at least I’ll be there. That means something, doesn’t it?” Emily tried to show the bright side of the situation. “Also, we don’t have to meet them for lunch if you don’t want to. No need to spending more time with them than you need to.”

	[color=b22222]“No, it’s fine. I guess a promise is a promise.”[/color] A few days ago, Whitney and Nicole asked us if we wanted to join them for lunch sometime this week. Although I would have loved to turn them down, since we all are going to be living in close proximity of one another for the next five or so months, I might at least learn to endure them.

	Oh, I did mention my enhanced metabolism, didn’t I?

[hr]
[center][b]Noon[/b][/center]
	“Here are three salads.” The waitress said as she slid the three bowls filled with colorful vegetables in front of Emily, Whitney, and Nicole. She then placed my dish in front of. “And a cheeseburger with everything on it, with a side of fries and a strawberry milkshake. Do you girls need anything else?”

	[color=b22222]“No thank you.”[/color] I told her with a smile. When I turned back to the other three girls, I saw them all peer down at their own tiny bowl of vegetables and then glanced up at the plate that sat in front of me. Emily was the first to speak, scooting her chair closer to mine and placing her hand beside her mouth as if she was trying to prevent Whitney and Nicole from hearing what she was about to say.

	“Aubrey, you’re not anorexic, are you? I know that people in our profession don’t always follow the healthiest practices, but that’s not healthy for you.” Emily told me out of concern, as a friend.

	[color=b22222]“Of course not.”[/color] I tried to talk her out of that idea that I’m somehow anorexic. Unfortunately, I cannot just say that I have an enhanced metabolism and it allows me to eat this food without weighing 400 lbs. [color=b22222]“I wouldn’t stoop to those extremes just to stay inhumanly thin.[/color]

	“Then where does all those calories go?” Whitney asked, a confused expression stuck on her face. “What, do you have a hollow leg?”

	[color=b22222]“No.”[/color] I told Whitney, looking her in the eyes. [color=b22222]“It obviously goes into my medicine balls.”[/color]

	And that is my middle finger to you, Whitney. That's why you should be careful about what you say aloud. You never know who might hear you.

[hr]
[center][b]Later That Night[/b][/center]

	On the outskirts of Pacific Point, at a private pier, several men gathered around a metallic box. These men belonged to a minor crime organization located in Pacific Point. Their operations were not as large as those of the Shroud Syndicate and most people did not even know that they even existed, let along know their name. Or at least they were not yet as large. This anonymity was actually quite a boon, since it allowed them to small, yet decent profit without the feds or caps sniffing around.

	“What’s in the box, boss?” One of the henchmen asked.

	“It is what will even the odds between us and those capes.” The Ringleader told his men. He then bent down and flipped up the latches that secured the lid of the metallic container and threw open the lid. The first henchman who had asked about the contents of the container peered in. However, he was quite confused about what lurked inside.

	“Fish pills?” He said. “How is that going to help us? Prevent us from getting heart disease?”

	“These are not just any ordinary omega-3 supplement pills.” The Ringleader explained to his men, “These capsules contain the oils of fish that were exposed to the device that would have created a dome around Lost Haven if one of the heroes had not dropped it into the Atlantic Ocean.”

	“So, does that mean if we take these that…” Another of the Ringleader’s men started to say.

	“Yes.” The Ringleader confirmed his man’s speculation. “While we don’t want to stoop to those monsters’ level, there’s nothing wrong with using them to cause some chaos in the public sphere and turn the public’s loyalties against those caps! They’re nothing more than abominations wearing a sheep’s wool.”

	But suddenly, the men gathered at the pier heard the engine of a motorcycle nearby. The Ringmaster signaled to his men to go deal with the intruder, whoever he or she was. He sent all of his men except for one, who he ordered to help him carry the metallic container to a boat at the end of the wooden pier. As the Ringleader and one of his henchmen hurried away from the action, they began to heard the crack of gunfire and the barely audible clang of a bowstring being released. When they were only a few feet away their getaway boat, the two men found out that someone was standing in their way. Since it was nighttime, the two men could not really see much of the man besides his silhouette. However, when electricity began to spark from his hands, they began to get a better glance at whoever it was. The man was wearing a dark blue bodysuit that covered his entire body, insolating it from the temperature of the ocean’s water.

	“Out of the way, creep!” The Ringmaster yelled at the man. He drew a pistol from his jacket in order to show that he wasn’t messing around. However, the Ringmaster soon found out that he brought a gun to a superpower fight. The man in the dark blue costume took the electricity that was building up around his hands and sent out a shockwave towards the Ringleader, blasting him off the wooden pier and into the water. 

	The henchman, who was already freaked out by what happened to his boss, dropped the case and ran back towards where everyone else was fighting the first intruder. That intruder could not be any worse than the electric-based metahuman who stood before him, right? However, as he dashed back towards the mainland, several giant, octopus-like appendages burst out of the water and wrapped round the wooden pier. These appendages then pulled down on the wood planks, dragging them down to the ocean floor.

	“Leaving so soon? The party has just started.” A sultry voice called out to the panic-stricken man. From beneath the surface of the water, a woman arose. The octopus-like tentacles obviously belonged to this woman and they were attached to her where her feet would normally be. And around her waist were the heads of feral dogs, snapping their jaws at the man. That man had already gone ghostly pale and was not sure what to do now. He finally decided to make a jump for it, over the broken pier that the woman had destroyed. However, when he tried to make it across, the woman’s tentacle snatched him out of the air and flung him into the water.

	“Let’s get out of here, Hydro Shock.” The woman barked at the man wearing the dark-blue colored costume.

	“Working on it, Scylla.” Hydro Shock called back as he checked the metallic container. In the distance, a shark’s fin broke through the surface of the ocean. It came closer and closer to the pier until it was right next to the wood columns that held it up. A muscular arm reached out of the water and pulled the shark-man out of the water, along with a water-proof container. Hydro Shock and Jaws quickly poured the items contained in the metallic box into the storage unit that they had brought with them.

	Once they closed shut the lid to the water-proof container, the three of the aquatic villains were preparing to depart back into the ocean, when suddenly an arrow plunged itself into the shoulder of the giant shark-man. He roared more so in rage than in pain, since his tough skin prevented the arrow tip from penetrating deep into his body. With his massive hand, Jaw yanked out the arrow and tossed it into the ocean. On the opposite side of the pier stood Odysseus, with his bow in hand.

	“Let’s get out of here.” Hydro Shock yelled, “We’ve secured what we wanted.”

	Therefore, Jaws and Hydro Shock dived into the ocean’s waves, while Scylla sunk down beneath the water’s surface. The darkness of the night and of the ocean concealed their whereabouts and prevented Odysseus from pursuing them any further.

	“This town is getting weirder and weirder every day.” Odysseus said aloud. He then heard someone trying to pull himself out of the water. The henchman who Scylla had tossed into the ocean, was catching his breath as he tried to get himself back on the pier’s deck.

	“Were those freaks your friends?” He asked Odysseus.

	“Sorry. I only work with land animals.” Odysseus told the man before he planted his boot into the man’s face, sending him back into the water.