[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/krev7SC.png[/img][/center][center][b]Aubrey Adkins[/b][/center][center][b]Pacific Point, California[/b][/center][center][b]late May (less than 1 Months Before IC Starts)[/b][/center]
	You know that things have taken a turn for the worse when going on what superheroes would call ‘patrols’ is the only thing left that has not changed in the past few months.  When you have moved across the country to a new city and taken a job that you would never thought (or wanted) you have, unfortunately, dressing up in my scarlet and gray tights are the only way to make myself feel like I’m back in Columbus, Ohio.  I’m sure Athena would be way too happy to explain the irony in this situation.

	Don’t get me started on my job.  While it is kind of nice that Viera is offering us some classes, tutorials, and workshops to help us improve as models, I’m pretty much playing catch-up since the other eleven models began working in January.  Then this morning, the twelve of us were bused up to a private beach just north of Pacific Point for our June photoshoots.  In each issue of Viera, besides the centerfold featuring one of the twelve models, there is also included a code for the company’s website to view these other photos.  Since summer began this current month, it was decided that it would be a swimsuit photoshoot.  Thank God we had the option to bring our own swimwear because otherwise, if I learned anything from my limited experience with the agency where my old college neighbor, Danielle worked, you would just wear whatever they had in stock.

	I leaned against the edge of the roof where I had been sitting, peering down at the traffic on Main Street zipping to and fro.  Sure, this is probably not the most effective or efficient method for finding evil doers, but there is just something soothing about looking down and watching over the people below.  Also, the calm allows me to clear my head, not having to worry about anything else.  Of course, after an hour or so, it does get a little boring, but that’s what my smartphone is for.

	While I was messing with my cell phone, I heard some police sirens blaring from below.  Glancing away from the screen that I held in my hand, I saw two Tri-PD squad cars speeding north-west on Main Street.  When I turned my head in the direction that the police cars were heading, I was shocked by what I saw.  In the distance, I could discern small, white specs floating down to the ground, sparkling in the city lights.  That couldn’t be snow, could it?  We’re in Southern California!  It does not snow here, especially during the summer.

	Obviously, some sort of metahuman probably was the cause of this unusual phenomena.  If this metahuman happens to be a villain, I hope he knows that an unnatural weather like this is basically just asking for someone, either the police or some vigilante, to stop him.  He might as well put up a bulletin board saying ‘here I am’.  Well, since this is the reason why I’m outside where my scarlet and gray costume, I might as well take a look.

	After leaping across a dozen or so roofs, since Pacific Point does not have quite the skyline as New York City, I knew I finally arrived at the right place when I felt the temperature around me drop significantly.  I can’t even believe that I can see my own breath in May in Southern California!  And it did not take me long to spot who probably was the culprit of this unusual weather.  From below my perch on the roof, I saw a Hispanic man wearing a cloth poncho and sombrero.

	“Alright, El Niño.”  I heard a familiar voice speak from below.  God, it was that armored hero who helped save me from that Scylla-like monster a few days ago when Will and I went to the beach.  I was hoping I would not run into him again, but I guess that was a fruitless hope.  “It is obvious that you love winter, but you’re several months early for that, even for Christmas in July.”

	Then I heard a rooftop door slam shut from behind me.  A man with a full, but not quite bushy, beard had rushed onto the rooftop.  I was surprised to see that under his black leather jacket, the man wore a Greek-styled breastplate.  Somehow, he did not notice that I was also on the roof.  With a bow in his hand, the man pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back and notched it in his bow.  Once he started to aim at the man, so-called El Niño, I sort of freaked out and instinctively shot some webbing at where the bow met the arrow.  When he released the bowstring, he was surprised that his arrow did not fly forward but was instead stuck to his bow.  Well, now I got his attention.

	“Ah, I haven’t fought against multiple metas since I faced those kids in Albany.”  The man said as he turned to face me.  He then pressed the arrow point against the rooftop and sliced through the webs on the bow with a sword that he drew from his belt.

	[color=b22222]“Wait.  You have met those guys, too?  How do they get around so much?”[/color]  I expressed my disbelief that this man has faced those metahumans from Albany.

	However, he did not respond with words, but rather a volley from his bow.  If I were not a metahuman, that arrow would have struck me right between my eyes.  However, my enhanced reflexes allowed me to snatch the arrow out of the arrow before it could hit its mark.  After this attack was not successful, the man then rushed up directly towards me, drawing his short sword from his belt as he ran.  Although he swung his sword at me, my metahuman advantage over him again allowed me to effortlessly dodge his sword slashes.  When I saw the opportunity, I reached out and grabbed hold of the sword hilt.

	[color=b22222]“Can we please put the pointy objects away and settle this like mature adults?”[/color]  I said as I effortlessly held back his sword arm.  However, since I was underestimating my opponent because he did not, as I assumed, have superhuman powers, I did not expect him to throw a left hook right at my face.  I barely had enough time to catch his clinched fist with my other hand.

	[color=b22222]“Alright, if that’s how we’re doing this.”[/color] I exclaimed as I began to squeeze his sword hand with my spider-strength, causing him to drop the sword.  One of my arachnid legs immediately kicked the sword away from us across the floor of the rooftop.  I then used my forelegs to pull the man off his feet.  After that, I immediately began to wrap the man up in webbing, in the same way that a spider would incase its prey in its own silk.

	“Alright, Odysseus.  I got things under wraps down here.  No thanks to you, of course.”  The iron-suit hero, who I think was called Talus, said as he hovered up to the rooftop where Odysseus and I were, holding El Niño in his hand, who was wrapped up in a cord-like rope.  However, this armored hero was surprised to see that I had almost entirely encased Odysseus with a coat of webs. 

	“A little help here, kid.”  Odysseus barked at his ally, a little annoyed at the sticky situation he was in.

	“Um, guys.”  Talus said as he pressed what must have been an commlink on the side of his head.  “I think we might need some backup.”

	[color=b22222]“Hey, he attacked me first.”[/color]  I tried to explain myself.

	“Bullshit.”  Odysseus harshly replied.

	[color=b22222]“Alright, I might have webbed up his bow, but that was only because it looked like he was to hit that guy with an arrow.”[/color]  I pointed at El Niño.  [color=b22222]“Being judge, jury, and executioner is a little extreme.”[/color]

	However, before we could continue this little conversation, something, without physically coming into contact with me, pulled my arms behind my back.  No matter how much effort I exerted, for some strange reason, I could not break whatever was holding back arms back.  Then, the same force pushed my eight spider-like legs together, causing me to fall to the rooftop’s floor.  When I peered down at my legs, I saw a golden light in the form of a ring was wrapped around my arachnid legs.

	“Would you please oblige us with a portal, Firefox?”  I heard a third voice.  Again, this voice sounded familiar to me, especially since I heard it in my head instead of my ears.  I think that must have been that Falcon-headed mage guy.  Son of Osiris, if I recall correctly.

	I then saw a fourth person, this time a woman.  For a superhero, she looked pretty normal: a red superhero bodysuit that also had yellow and orange accents and a red domino mask.  The only thing that looked out of the ordinary, besides being a superheroine, was the two fox ears that crowned her head and the nine bushy fox tails that sprouted from her tailbone and almost were arranged in the same way as peacock’s train of plumage.  The woman, who seemed to be no more than a year older than me, took a deep breath before she extended her arms in front of herself.  Then she moved her arms apart, which created a purplish-red energy portal.

	[color=b22222]“Hey, why can’t we just forgive and forget and go our separate ways?”[/color]  However, I noticed that I began to hover above the ground, no doubt because of the Son of Osiris’ powers.

	[color=b22222]“I guess that’s a no, then.”[/color]