[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/CGfuTsW.png[/img][/center]
[b][code]Greencrest Heights, White Coast_[/code][/b][hr][hr]


"Ah!" Meifeng slammed her glass of alcohol on the tabletop, a mixture of vodka, and various juices she grabbed from the grocery store. "I needed that..." She slouched down on the sofa, and put her hands over her defined stomach.

"... It's like four in the afternoon." Sitting across from her was Jennifer Caspin. An old friend of hers, one that she had neglected in the recent years. Wearing jeans, and a bland tank top. 

"I know, but when you have a day off from the most [i]bullshit[/i] job in the world," Meifeng complained. "All day's a good time to drink, ha!"

Meifeng, in truth, took the day off. Because she... just wasn't feeling it. And she worked her ass off every other day, it didn't matter if she took a break. There was something else on her mind. 

"So, Jenny," Meifeng said as she leaned forward, "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm... just going to figure out something to do," Jennifer said, with a shrug. "I've wasted [i]more[/i] than enough time on stupid grudges, and revenge."

"What? Are you gonna go to school for something?" Meifeng said.

Jennifer shrugged. "Not much of an option anymore, it's far too late."

"It's never too late for school," Meifeng said, as she took another sip of her vodka concoction. "I got tons of money, and nothing to do with it, I bet I can pay so you can get through-"

"S-sorry," Jennifer said, cutting Meifeng off. "I'm... just... I just don't want you all to be holding my hand all my life."

She paused for a moment, as Meifeng had an eyebrow raised. Intrigued to hear more.

"I'm sorry, but it's time that I find my own strength, and make my place in this world," Jennifer said, clenching her fist. "And I'll never accomplish anything by being coddled all the time..."

"... Now you sound like my mom..." Meifeng mused out loud as she swished her alcohol around, holding it by the tip. She briefly glanced at her watch, and said..

"Oh shit," Meifeng said, as she hopped up to her feet, "Lijuan is out of school now."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I said I would help train her," Meifeng said. "She has a long way to go... I'm definitely not my mother."

"... And you shouldn't try to be." Jen said as she smiled. "You're Meifeng."

"I know that," Meifeng said. "I just... I just don't think I'm 'motherly' enough, y'know?" She awkwardly said, as she desperately thought of another way to put it. 

"I don't know whether or not I'm the best suited for this kind of thing... I mean, Uncle and his family are probably doing a better job than I am."

"Just do your best, I guess," Jennifer shrugged. "I don't have any real experience in this kind of thing either, so we're in the same boat." 

"Hey..." Meifeng trailed off. "How about you come along with me to see Lijuan?"

Jennifer shrugged.

"Sure, I don't have anything better to do."

Meifeng took Jennifer by the wrist, and pulled her off, saying, "Let's go, then!"

[hr][code]Greenflower Garden, Silver Hills_[/code]

After the destruction of the first Liu Estate three years ago... the family merely moved into another one. After the Founding Family were taken out of the equation, a [i]lot[/i] of people who owned these properties went into hiding (or were arrested). A lot of those buildings ended up falling back into the hands of the city, and were sold off to whoever the hell wanted them. She was glad that Lius were comfortable with moving in here, but there was something amiss. 

Maybe it was just paranoid.

Meifeng got properly dressed in jeans, combat boots, and a red button-up shirt. She had a large gym bag that was full of something suspicious (at least to Jen), and casually walked up the front steps to the building. She looked behind her at Jennifer, and shrugged. She pressed the doorbell... even though she wondered why they haven't opened the door already. They opened the gates for them. But, the doors were widely swung open, revealing a petite girl with glasses that Meifeng knew very well.

"Jia-Li," Meifeng greeted her younger cousin with a hug. "[i]How are you doing?[/i]" She spoke in Chinese.

"[i]I am doing fine,[/i]" Jia-Li answered. "[i]Our entire family is attending an event later on tonight.[/i]"

"[i]Great,[/i]" Meifeng said, "[i]I'll take Lijuan off your hands for the night... speaking of which, where is she?[/i]"

"[i]Oh, she is reading a book in the library,[/i]" Jia-Li answered, as she stepped aside, "[i]She's been waiting for you.[/i]"

"[i]I'll go take care of her now... Jiao-Long is alright with us using the garden to train again?[/i]" Meifeng asked, as she almost stepped past Jia-Li.

"[i]He politely requests that you don't destroy anymore of his fountains,[/i]" Jia-Li said with a smile. 

"[i]No promises,[/i]" Meifeng said, as she threw a thumb at Jennifer (who was oblivious to their conversation in a foreign tongue). "[i]Oh, and this is my friend, Jennifer. She'll be helping![/i]"

"Hi!" Jennifer said as she followed Meifeng, and was unsure of if she could even speak English. But, Meifeng skipped her way to the library, as Jennifer followed. Meifeng knew the mansion like the back of her hand! Since this wasn't the first time she was here, and neither will it be the last. She opened the doors, and saw Lijuan studying a book. The small black-haired girl turned her head towards the door, and smiled once she saw her older sister.

"That's right, Li..." Meifeng said as her younger sister ran over to her, and gave her a hug. "Let's get started."

[hr]

The two sisters moved their way to the garden, and they stood in a clearing, while Jennifer sat on a bench and watched. There were probably better places for this... but Meifeng knew that not destroying this garden would help motivate Lijuan to maintain control. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out the key for Lijuan's collar.

"Alright, are you ready?" Meifeng asked, the key hovered near Lijuan's neck, and she merely nodded her head. Meifeng put the key in, and turned it. Without flinching, she took a step back, and said, "C'mon now, create a flame." She said.

Lijuan complied as she put a hand up, and it ignited like a torch. Creating a flame was easy these days... but it flickered. Not because it was going out, but Lijuan was fighting to keep it from getting bigger. The young girl quickly gained control.

"Now, put it out," Meifeng said, and Lijuan made the flame disappear like it wasn't even there in the first place. The ten year old nodded her head. Meifeng raised a finger up into the air, and took several steps backwards.

"Make another fire..." Meifeng trailed off. "But then walk towards me with it."

Lijuan hesitated... but spawned a bright flame. Holding it in both hands like she would shield a dying light. She walked slowly over towards Meifeng, and she tried to hide her emotions. Meifeng could see from the lack of eye contact, and that hung head of hers, that she was terrified. It reminded Meifeng of their mother, in fact. Always too prideful to be open with their emotions.

Meifeng just hoped that Lijuan wouldn't fall into the same mindset.

She successfully made it to Meifeng, and smiled.

"See, Li?" Meifeng said as she crossed her arms. "You're a natural at this." She assured her sister... whom Meifeng knew could had been proficient at this rate if her mother wasn't so afraid. Lijuan needed more time, yeah, but now she fears her power.

Meifeng ran around Lijuan, and stood some distance away. This was going to be tough for Lijuan, but if she was going to stop fearing her power, and start [i]believing[/i] in it, it was a very important step. Meifeng was so confident in Lijuan that she was going to risk it.

"I need you to throw a flame at me," Meifeng said, and that shocked everyone. "Just a small one."

"B-but..." Lijuan quickly pleaded as she looked around. "I'll burn you!"

"Lijuan, you won't burn me," Meifeng said, sternly, "I am a RAVEN, I don't make mistakes."

The girl was still hesitate to shoot her big sister with fire.

"You [i]have[/i] to [i]believe[/i] in your strength."

And those words are what motivated Lijuan to let go of her fear, and do what Meifeng said, believe in her strength. Both hands erupted in fire, and she threw both hands forward, and sent a baseball sized flame right for Meifeng. The RAVEN had anticipated this, and rather than the worse case as Lijuan feared, Meifeng spawned water out of both hands. She swiped her right hand aside with a graceful movement, and the fire was extinguished.

"See?" Meifeng shrugged as she sent the water back to her pocket dimension. "You can't burn me... so stop holding back so much."

With a nod of her head, Lijuan created a much larger fireball - the size of a basketball this time. It went flying towards Meifeng, and she swiped her hand across and created more water once again. Extinguishing it once again. She gestured for her sister to fire one more blast, and she charged up a blast twice as large as the previous one. Meifeng was worried for a moment there.

Just one.

She raised her leg up into the air, and brought it down, and what followed was a large current of water that completely extinguished the fire no problem. She smiled.

"That was impressive, Li," Meifeng said. "But, I think after all these years, I think we're finally getting closer to you not having to wear this thing." Meifeng said as the water faded away, and grabbed the collar, and spun it around her finger, before she stopped to take a look at it. 

Then got an idea.

"I think we reached a point where..." Meifeng trailed off for a moment as she looked at Lijuan, then to Jen. "... Where you can go out on your own, meet people."

"Wait, are you sure?" Lijuan asked. 

"Yeah," Meifeng said. "You cannot fear your power forever, Li. There's a point where you have to embrace it, and you can't rely on these things to contain it forever."

She chuckled for a moment as she looked at the collar. "These things break all the time. Ha!"

"... Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jennifer finally chimed in, and voiced her concerns. "I mean... I hate to undersell you, but you aren't a DOVE."

"At the same time, I'm a RAVEN captain, [i]and[/i] her guardian," Meifeng spoke as she spun the collar on her finger. "I'm fully authorized to remove this off for whatever reason, I please." 

She looked between Lijuan, and Jennifer, and shook her head. Yeah, these two girls were doubting Meifeng, even when she had so much love and faith for them.

"C'mon," Meifeng said as she crossed her arms. "The problem here is that nobody trusts themselves. Yes, it's risky, but... Li, if you can go an extended period of time without losing control, then think about how much better you'll feel after doing this?"

Lijuan pouted for a moment as she played with her fingers, but no doubt gave it some thought.

"Besiiiides," Meifeng outstretched her hand at a fountain, and sapped the water from it. She absorbed as much of the water as she could, before her little storage was full. She balled her fist, and put it up with a cocky look on her face. "I'm a living fire hydrant."

"... I'll do it." Lijuan confidently said. 

"Good, good, let's go!" Meifeng said as she lead Lijuan along. "I know the perfect place." 

[hr][b][code]Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_[/code][/b]

Given that Meifeng has a bit of spare cash on her, and an afternoon to blow, she figured that the mall would be a great place to go!

Though, she wondered if she should have returned [i]here.[/i]

The Orchestra Mall was originally [i]the[/i] mall for Baybridge, but after the whole hostage situation that took place three years ago, it's been looking a little sad. More than a few businesses have moved out, and only the desperate seemingly moved in. It still has some business due to being [i]the[/i] largest mall in all Baybridge, and many people weren't letting fear of the Founding Family get to them. There were a few people inside as the trio walked in.

"Wow," Jennifer said as she looked around. "I wonder if that arcade I used to go to is still open..." She muttered to herself.

"Probably not," Meifeng muttered. "I thought they were over exaggerating when everyone said the mall wasn't looking that good...."

"Oh..." Lijuan said as she held Meifeng's hand.

"Don't worry, Li," Meifeng said as she gave Lijuan's hand a tug. "We'll find our own fun."


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[img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjgwLjgwYTlkMS5RVzVrY21WaElGQmhjM1JsY201aFkycywuMAAA/ruthie.regular.png[/img]
[sub][@Surtr], & [@Spoopy Scary][/sub][/center]
[b][code]RAVEN/DOVE Joint Headquarters, White Coast_[/code][/b][hr][hr]


While ZODIAC's interference made things [i]very[/i] complicated, Francis was going to make the best of it.

So far, they had little leads, as the whole element of surprise RAVEN previously had was completely thrown out the window. But, Francis knew the key to finding them was just one more slip up on the part of the mafia. For now, Francis was doing some paperwork... from the operation on Sunday. That was a mess, and left everyone in a pretty bad mood, and he pretty much shouldered it all for everyone's sake. He just wondered how everyone else was doing... because one bad mood could prove disastrous for the whole operation.

The footsteps that approached his cubicle alerted Francis to Maximilian Cornell. He wondered why Maximilian was personally paying him a visit, but it had to be perfect.

"Agent Jean-Pierre?" Maximilian asked as he leaned forward, and put a heavy hand on the table. "Are you busy?"

"No, sir," Francis answered, as he smiled. "Just tryin' to pass time with paperwork."

"Good, because I have some news," Maximilian said, as he leaned back and put his hands behind him. "I've been in discussion with a U.N. representative, and because of the ZODIAC presence in Baybridge..."

He took a breath as he looked around for a moment, Francis somewhat guessed what Maximilian was leading to.

"... Agents of MAVERICK are going to be assisting us on the Devil case."

"That's great, sir." Francis smiled. He heard nothing but good things about MAVERICK, and it was great that the UN was trying to be involved with Metahuman politics. But, he could see two problems, and two problems that would definitely make things [i]much[/i] more complicated than it needed to be. That smile disappeared fast as it appeared.

First; there was the matter of other RAVENs might not appreciate the assistance. RAVENs are a prideful lot, Francis noticed. To a toxic degree. They probably will think that they need their hands held, or something else stupid. That they couldn't get the job done themselves. Francis knew that wasn't the case, but he has no way to account for the others.

Second; well, MAVERICK was a really public group (they were like the Avengers in the eyes of the public!)... one that [i]wasn't[/i] going to go unnoticed. Right now, a big problem was that many groups are calling for the disbandment of RAVEN and DOVE. Saying that they aren't effective at their job... and an organization that has a [i]far[/i] better reputation (only because they haven't had [i]nearly[/i] as many public scandals) than RAVENs. Francis could hear the lobbyists crying "RAVEN needs their hand held!"

"... Agent?" Maximilian brought Francis out of his deep thought with one word.

"Oh, sorry, Chairman," Francis said, chuckling. "I was just thinking about the case!"

"Oh," Maximilian shrugged. "Would you like to meet them? The Agents are approaching now."  

"Yessir," Francis said, as Maximilian lead him through the building, all the way to the front entrance. Where several other RAVENs and DOVEs were posed. Waiting for the vehicle to arrive. It wasn't long before a long black vehicle arrived, and the door opened... and a very tall darkskinned woman stepped out.

"... Oh my God," The woman said as she leaned back with both hands on her back. "My back is killing me from that ride."

"... Agent Gallus?" Maximilian said, with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh?" Agent Gallus said as she ran over, and hugged Maximilian. "Maxi! I haven't seen you in awhile."

"Heh, friend of yours?" Francis asked.

"Agent Gallus here was a former member of NEST..." Maximilian said. "Friend of mine."

"Heh, who isn't a friend of yours?" Gallus rhetorically asked. "And call me Michelle."

At this point, the other MAVERICK walked up... someone who, at first glance, appeared like floating clothes. A grey trench coat, slacks, and floating sunglasses. It took Francis a moment to recognize him.

He looked around... it was hard to gauge his emotions as he was invisible. "I've never thought I'd be back here..."

Francis extended a hand to both of the MAVERICKS. "I am Francis Jean-Pierre, a transfer from Brazil." He smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

First the invisible man shook his hand, "Graham Morris."

Then the massive woman shook his head, and Francis winced because of how gigantic it was compared to his, "You already caught my name, but let me formally introduce myself; Michelle Gallus."

"So," Francis shrugged as he looked at them. "Are there more of ya', or am I missing something?"

"Well, we have a few other Agents on their way to Baybridge," Michelle said as she put her fists on her sides. "Probably won't be here for a few days since this was [i]so[/i] short notice, but I think some people may have gotten here ahead of time."

"So... you're what we've got?" Maximilian crossed his arms as he asked.

"Well, we were in the area," Michelle shrugged. "Besides, our good friend Matthew wanted us to establish contact with RAVEN first or something. We'll do until more of our team arrives." 

"Well, I guess we'll sort things out," Maximilian said, as he glanced at Dana. "Come along, we have much to discuss inside." 

The two MAVERICKs stepped in, following Maximilian, while Francis took this opportunity to split.

[hr]

The meeting with MAVERICK was... unexpected, but it went well. First impressions [i]are[/i] everything, after all. Francis looked forward to working with them, but at the same time, he wanted to know what the other RAVENS would think of this meeting. Most of his team weren't here, so they'd probably be introduced to them later. For now, Francis was heading back to his office... cutting through the DOVE offices really quickly. He stopped for a moment when he caught sight of the tall, blonde-haired, woman that he undoubtedly recognized as Andrea Pas...ter-something. She looked a little... rough. Maybe he should ask her what was wrong real quickly. He slid over towards the blonde, with that smile of his...

"Hello, Francis." Andrea said still in the midst of her work. The intern had not even turned around to face him. When she finally did turn around, revealing arms full of folders, her luminescent eyes looked tired yet sternly over him. She continued, "I'm fine, just dealing with... work. And you...? Also work? New guys?"

"Andrea..." Francis was somewhat caught off guard when Andrea turned towards him. Maybe he wasn't as stealthy as he thought! Then she asked about work, and Francis almost had a flashback to what happened.  "... Yeah, work."

He chuckled, before he focused on Andrea.

"But, you look a little.. on edge?" Francis asked. "What's on your mind? And don't lie to me, girl, I can tell."

A sly little smirk appeared on her face and her shoulders fell, now apparently relaxed. Her voiced cooed, "Not if I didn't want you to."

But then she tensed up again and took a deep breath, setting the folders on top of a filing cabinet beside her. "I was also a, uh, a theater kid. Heh. Think of it as acting and suddenly it's not so hard. Anyway... you've heard about the incident at the Golden Throne, right?"

"Who hasn't?" Francis playfully said as he crossed his arms. Even though he was busy with the Devil's arm case... some things just seem to make it his way no matter what. Weird, ain't it? Francis crossed his arms as he leaned up against the desk. "Some kid had a bad manifestation event?"

Andrea sighed upon hearing the same suggestion as Agent Zhao, though she couldn't blame Francis if there was history of such happenings. She opened up the filing cabinets and decided she could talk while putting away the folders "Well..." she started as she arranged the files alphabetically, "it sure [i]looks[/i] that way to them. I was nearby when it happened, and I was the one that called it in - don't worry, I'm fine - it's just... I was called in for questioning, see if I knew anything else about the incident. Halfway through the conversation, the tests came in."

Francis crossed his arms, as he looked at her. Had a feeling where she was going with this 

She put away the last folder and closed the cabinet drawer shut and whipped around to face Francis again. "It's Happiness, Francis. I'm [i]not[/i] crazy, the evidence to support it is [i]damning[/i]. Miss Alcott and agent Zhao think it's a coincidence, and I know they've been on the force a long time, but it matches up with all the research I've done. The sugars, proteins, pH, the substance - God, please don't interrupt me right now," Andrea said as she pointed her finger at him with a knowing look, "it's all there in the right amounts. The man's body was the perfect breeding ground for tumors."

"Well, everything is true until we disprove it. Not everyone believes that, so it's going to hard to convince them," Francis first said. He was on the fence on this matter. On one hand, something like this [i]has[/i] happened several times before, but on the other, there was something weird about the whole thing. About his body being full of Happiness. Does that happen when [i]every[/i] tweaker manifests while overdosing? "I'll have to look at the official report when I have the time, and compare it to your notes."

Then he looked at Andrea, thinking about Meifeng and Dana's responses.

"Just, uh, keep your chin up, they'll come to believe you in time..." He said, then awkwardly chuckled. "...Hopefully before things get out of hand."

Andrea didn't look very convinced herself, and as she looked at the little watch on the bottom of her wrist, she said, "Hopefully you will too." The time reading 4 PM. She had offered miss Bayard to stay over today to help arrange some documents that got jumbled in today's chaos, what with the incident at the Golden Throne, and whatever RAVEN was doing - information that she wasn't privy too, but it had something to do with those ZODIAC terrorist guys. With each and every person she came across who casted their doubt over her concern over Happiness, she was beginning to wonder if she was getting too worked up over the wrong thing. Still, she had something she had to do today.

She said, "It's about break time for me. There's someone I have to go check on."

"Same here," Francis said, as he started walking. "Hope you have a nice day."


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[b][code]Fallbridge Square, Hedgemount_[/code][/b][hr][hr]


"... H-Hello?"

"Sophia," Noelle said over the phone. "Is there anyone around?"

"N-No," Sophia asked. "Jackie... h-how did you get this number?"

"Don't worry about it," Noelle answered. "How have you and Quinn been doing there in the Academy?"

Sophia was quiet for a few moments. "It's been great... this island reminds me of home." Canada, as Noelle knew it. But, there was more to say. "But, I want to be with you, big sis."

Those words cut deep into Noelle like a knife, but she took in a moment to sigh. Noelle shook her head, as she answered, "I'm sorry, but for now, it's best that you're on that island, and I'm here." 

To tell the truth, Noelle knew that them being a family again was impossible. With the sins Noelle committed being a reminder of that. It was better that Noelle stays out of their lives, constantly looking in like a window.

"Okay..."

"I'm going to keep in touch with you," Noelle said, "Just promise to keep quiet about this, and maybe we can go meet sometimes... and if anything goes wrong, please tell me, and I'll be right up there."

"Mhm..."

"I have to go now, tell Quinn that I love her..." Noelle trailed off for a moment, "... and remember that I love you, no matter what."

[hr]

With that, the phone hung up, and Noelle realized how big of a risk it was contacting them. She took in a deep breath of air. Before she got up off her chair, and walked over to the patio deck of this gaudy apartment of hers. She needed a fresh breath of air... maybe calling them this soon was dumb, but it was worth it. Even if it was fleeting, she made contact with her sisters. She leaned on the railing for a moment, looking down at this dirty city of hers.

Perhaps she should attend to other matters to get her mind off things. There was something that she needed to do, anyhow. She strut her way from one part of her apartment to the other, and stepped into a little side room that she usually keeps covered up. Noelle approached...

... Her ant colony. A plastic monstrosity that had thousands of ants running through it.

It was a weird hobby of hers, but the ant [i]is[/i] her favorite animal. It was placed upon a table, and it started small, and now it was huge. All thanks to Noelle, and her talents, of course. She reached into her back pocket, and pulled out an orange pill bottle that had cockroaches in it, and popped the top. She opened the top of her monstrous ant farm, and placed the cockroaches inside. The fire ants inside quickly swarmed and devoured the cockroaches, and took it apart piece by piece....

... So fascinating. 

She could watch this for hours, but she wanted to get something from the store. Tonight was bath night, and there's only one store in all Baybridge that sold what she needed - well, there was another store, but she didn't feel the need to head out there. There was the Orchestra mall, a run down place where a weird old lady sold her favorite bath supplies.

It wasn't long before Noelle was out the door, and on her way to Prince Edfield. 


[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/U5iaTPQ.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/4L1Q9Qu.png[/img][/center]
[b][code]Courtbridge, Prince Edfield_[/code][/b][hr][hr]


The two got off the bus, Daniel with his hands in his pockets, and Penny's hands were swinging at her sides. 

The two stepped into the mall, and Daniel wondered just why, of all the better looking malls that they could go to, that Penny picked Orchestra. The decrepit and derelict mess of a mall that was closing.

"Hey, Daniel," Penny said, as she put her hands on her hips with a mischievous smile on her face. "Know why I really wanted to come here?" 

"No?"

"This mall is closing, and nobody gives a shit about it," Penny said as she suddenly broke into a sprint. "Let's see how far we can go before they kick us out." She shouted back at him.

For a moment, Daniel paused, before he said to himself.

"What..." Daniel trailed off. "... Interesting ways your mind works."

He slowly followed behind her, figuring that it was best if he stopped her from doing anything stupid, but when he glanced over his shoulder, he swore he saw someone familiar...