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Grace picked some slime out of her hair as she floated back to the cramped plane. [color=DarkOrchid]"I hardly do, but I guess I have no choice,"[/color] she said to him, tugging at the neck of her shirt, drenched in rainwater, slime, and sweat. The entire room was absolutely [i]baking[/i] right now, which made sense, considering that it was on fire, and the inside of the airplane was also incredibly, incredibly hot. It seemed as though even when evil and knocked unconscious, Blake always exuded some sort of heat. A human space heater would've been an excellent asset to have in the winter, but in the already flaming room, it was seriously messing with Grace's attention. She was a very temperature-sensitive person, and the events of the day, combined with the heat, was taking a significant toll on her mental state. [color=DarkOrchid]"Focus,"[/color] she whispered to herself, before making a waving motion with her hand, and sucking the occupants of the plane out of the vehicle and directly into the lobby. 

Grace's calculus was on point, and the two conscious individuals were deposited safely on the tiles of the now-destroyed lobby area. Blake's arrival was less elegant, with him falling clumsily on the ground and flopping like a flounder. It wasn't an ideal landing, but hey, when you betray your friends, it's what you get. And on the subject of betraying your friends, Grace then remembered that she was now holding hands with what many of them probably thought was still a traitor, which wasn't exactly a good look. She quickly squawked (mostly at Patti, who had a temper when it came to this type of thing), [color=DarkOrchid]"Good news! Tom [i]didn't[/i] sell us all out to Seraph!"[/color] She gave his hand a squeeze. [color=DarkOrchid]"He was just trying to go undercover on Seraph..."[/color] Her attention quickly transitioned elsewhere, though, towards the downed figures of Jamie and Joseph. She gasped. [color=DarkOrchid]"Holy shit, that's a lot of blood,"[/color] she said, kneeling next to Joseph and adjusting the crystalline device on his chest. [color=DarkOrchid]"Stay still, and take deep breaths. Deep breaths. Also, when this is all over, take a shower while you're at it. You smell."[/color] She sniffed the air. [color=DarkOrchid]"Or maybe I smell. I hate this goo stuff..."[/color] Grace wiped her sleeve before standing, when she heard the sounds of footsteps. Lots of footsteps.

At first, she thought it was Seraph's army, ready to wipe them all out, but thankfully, it wasn't. Rather, it was a large number of people from a variety of professions, entering almost in waves. The first wave was paramedics, who quickly ran over to help Joseph and Jamie, who were in the most perilous state. They were thankfully very professional, working post-haste to apply whatever first-aid was still needed and loading them onto stretchers. Blake was also loaded onto a stretcher, though they made sure to strap him down once he began to snarl at the paramedics in his sleep. Everybody else, as miserable as they were, were pretty much given the cold shoulder by the emergency workers, who quickly took the most severely injured out of the area. 

Not too long after the paramedics had arrived, the police entered the area, looking a combination of stunned and pissed. The latter sentiment quickly won out, though, as the cops spotted Patricia, and a high-pitched buzz quickly filled the room as their weapons became trained on the teen. They then began to bark orders at her, though it was clear there was no uniformity in their commands. Some of them demanded Patti to sit down, others demanded her to stand, and others yelled at her to kneel, while officers told her to both put her hands above her head, on her head, and at her side. In the midst of the chaos, though, a single, bold, powerful, and very loud voice pierced through the combined sound of the entire lobby.

[color=lightslategray]”PUT YOUR GUNS DOWN AND STEP [i]AWAY[/i] FROM MY EMPLOYEE!”[/color]

Powers had entered the lobby, flanked by two Division X footsoldiers and Christina, who gave her usual glare at Pandora. Powers looked slightly worse for wear- some bandages were visible at his wrists and neck from underneath his jacket, and most notably, he was walking with a thick wooden cane in hand. He was, however, definitely alive, and still definitely scary enough to send the cops running for the hills. This situation was already far too complicated for the police officers to handle, and Powers' presence meant that this entire state of affairs was well above their pay grade. 

Powers limped over to the group, using his cane to support himself, as the last wave of people- Division X members- moved in to secure the area, a swarm of Division X agents in jet black uniforms moving across the room, speaking into their radios, as Powers stood, looking over the group. [color=lightslategray]”Good work. Certainly an unanticipated coarse of events, one whose blame rests on my shoulders for sure,”[/color] Powers said. [color=lightslategray]”But you guys pulled through, as excellently as usual. I can't help but feel just the slightest bit proud.”[/color] He looked at them coolly, the moonlight reflecting onto his face as the smell of extinguished fires filled the room. [color=lightslategray]”There's a reason I consider HERO the best group of heroes on Earth...nowhere else would any other team of heroes have the moral compass, the drive, and the skill not only to avoid being caught after an entire god damn coup d'etat, but upend a system that was designed exclusively to defeat them. Good work.”[/color] Powers leaned on his cane. [color=lightslategray]”Of course, there'll be inquiries, and lots of paperwork, but you should consider yourselves...off the hook. For the more serious charges, at any rate. Obviously, with Seraph out of the picture, his pathetic EAgLES project is out the window, too, which means you should be back to normal in no time flat. I'm going to head back to HERO One in a second and make sure everything is in order, and then you'll be back in business. I would suggest myself getting some of those cuts and scrapes checked out. Spacewalker, those burns look like second-degree; you might want to get those checked out.”[/color]

Cora interjected, raising a metal finger.. [color=CadetBlue]"Director? Quick question. What happened to Seraph when you say that he's 'out of the picture,' quote un-quote?"[/color]

Powers nodded. [color=lightslategray]”Well, a quick summary...”[/color] 

[hr]

[color=#FFFF66]"Yes...yes...yes....the POWER!”[/color]

Seraph was hardly listening to Starbright or CHad or anybody, instead panting heavily, the Leftover blood dripping down his chin and forming a small pool on the table. [color=#FFFF66]"I can feel it! The limitless power! It's...it's overwhelming! Yes! Yes! ARRRGH!”[/color]

Seraph spread his arms, and much to Starbright's likely discomfort, his figure began to change instantly. He grew taller, his hair growing out instantly, and two extra pairs of wings sprouted from his back, giving him a grand total of six. His body grew vastly out of proportion, his upper torso becoming a monstrous Hulk-sized form, and his eyes looked like they were about to burst from his eyelids. 

[color=#FFFF66]”Now, let me unleash the power upon my enemies!”[/color] Seraph roared, but instead of turning Starbright into a pulp, Seraph grasped his mosntrously deformedf head, howling, as it stumbled across the room. Little to his knowledge, Leftover blood was indeed an amplifier of power, but there was one caveat. In order for it to truly turn one into an unkillable beast, the drinker had to have zero sense of remorse or guilt for their actions. Seraph was close to totally apathetic to the suffering of others, and his transformation was very nearly complete, but there was a small pang of remorse in his heart, a small sliver of heroism back in the glory days when Seraph was truly an agent of justice, and that miniscule bit of guilt at what he had become, which Seraph thought he had done away with, was now preventing him from becoming all-powerful.

Seraph thrashed wildly around the room, his giant wings smashing all the furniture as he swung around the room, clutching his head, crazily staggering every which way. [color=#FFFF66]”Stop! Stop! Let me kill! LET ME OBLITERATE!”[/color] he howled and screeched as he stumbled to every corner of the room, unable to release his powers onto the world that was now finally moving on from him. In his wild thrashings, he stumbled towards a window, one of his wings clumsily smashing in the glass as one of his legs slipped through the open space. He lost his balance and, as his wings were non-fuctional at this time, fell through. 

[color=#FFFF66]”NOOO!”[/color] he screamed as he plummeted, falling rapidly towards the Earth, but he had gone too far to be saved, and his body fell into the cold blue ocean with a spectacular splash. 

[hr]
[color=lightslategray]”...and so, we have a crew dredging out his body out of the bay as we speak.”[/color]

[color=CadetBlue]"...wow."[/color]

Powers chuckled good-naturedly. [color=lightslategray]”'Wow' is something that you could say, yes. It certainly does match the spectacle of it all, doesn't it? In any case, it would be best you all get going. Our ER should be functional again soon if you'd like to be examined. We do give you medical for good reason.”[/color] He turned towards the doorway, resting his cane on the ground, before looking back at the group. [color=lightslategray]”Oh, one more thing.”[/color]

He reached into his jacket pocket, removing a small scrap of paper that he handed to Grace. [color=lightslategray]”The community at large is going to need somebody to re-affirm the authenticity and virtue of superheroes in Castleburg, after this whole mess. Seeing what the rich, famous, bourgeois heroes have become will hurt the image of heroes. And, of course, they need somebody else to obsess over and write about in their freaky magazines. You lot seem to have the...wholesome attitude that I think Castleburg needs. Just remember that, years ago, Seraph, Mr. Impressive, and Sea Serpent were in your shoes. Young, hot, famous, bold...and they let that get to their heads. Look where that got them.”[/color] Powers shook his head. [color=lightslategray]”Make sure you never become them. But, that being said, I think some of you could use a little more positive attention. They say any publicity is good publicity, but I'll be damned if that's the case.”[/color] Powers chuckled at his own statement. [color=lightslategray]"Take care.”[/color]

With that, Powers walked off, limping, and using his cane for support. Grace watched him go, and then looked down at the paper. Grace was a fast reader, and before anybody else could sneak a peak, she crumpled it up and shoved it in her pocket. 

[hr][hr][h3]One Week Later[/h3]
[color=CC5500]"Why did you invite [i]me[/i] of all people?"[/color]

[color=DarkOrchid]"You're the only one that's not doing anything right now. Also, you're not that judge-y."[/color]

Blake had just been released from the hospital, having recovered very swimmingly from having his brain been hijacked. When he first awoke, he had attempted to melt one of the nurses, but some tender loving care (and medication) had brought him back to normal, for the most part. Blake did still have a craving for very, very red meat and was having disturbingly violent dreams, but outside of that, he was pretty much normal Blake. Blake was granted a week of 'administrative leave' from doing hero work to recover, though, which was something that he gladly took. 

[color=DarkOrchid]"Anyway, this is the place. 11 Liberty Avenue,"[/color] Grace said, pointing at the location.

Blake blinked as he looked at the location- a location called [i]Neko Tengoku.[/i] It was a Climber Cat Café- a cat café but with the fad Leftover breed of cats- and it was adorable. The entire cafe was literally crawling with Climber Cats, the oversized, plush-like kittens snuggling up with smiling and laughing patrons. [color=CC5500]"You're gonna buy us all cats, or something? I mean, that's really cool of you to do, don't get me wrong, but I already have a pet to take care of. His name is Biscuit, and he's a-"[/color]

[color=DarkOrchid]"I know about your stupid rat already, and this isn't the place! Right [i]next[/i] to this place, you dumbass!"[/color]

[color=CC5500]"Real sweet girl. I'm not sure what Tom sees in you,"[/color] Blake muttered as he looked to the location due east of the cat café. It wasn't exactly an impressive piece of real-estate- instead, a stone, drab building with a heavy, rusting steel door and the letters C, E, W, and R spray-painted in white paint on the front of the building. [color=CC5500]"This is the place? It looks kind of...what's the word? Dilapapated?"[/color]

[color=DarkOrchid]"Dilapaditated, and yes, this is the place. Watch,"[/color] Grace said, walking up to the steel door and rapping her fist on it a few times. The sound of fist on metal echoed through the premises, before a metal slit opened up, a pair of eyes looking in. The person behind the door looked at the two, before the door swung open. Grace stood aside, allowing Blake to enter first, and the red-haired young adult walked in just to be utterly amazed. The interiors of the building were entirely unlike the unimpressive exterior. Blake had expected some type of warehouse, similar to the one the Guglianos took his friends captive in, but what he found was a super, super cool retro speakeasy. It was awesome. The entire interior room was black and white, with one entire wall being a marble-constructed bar that was lined with every sort of drink imaginable. Much of the rest of the room was composed of cushiony black chairs and glowing white tables. It was an impeccably designed room; cozy but not cramped. At the other end of the room was a sleek black wiry spiral staircase, leading up to a mysterious upper level. 

[color=DarkOrchid]"There are some rooms and stuff upstairs,"[/color] Grace explained to Blake, whose jaw was currently on the floor. [color=DarkOrchid]"Offices, too. We have a part-time secretary now. She's just some college kid I recruited out of Tom's fan club, but she's very good at staying organized. Also gave another girl a gig as a PR manager. I figured this would be a nice spot to meet up, you know, after a long day of work, maybe unwind a little bit...it's a good step towards the future."[/color] Grace looked at Blake tentatively. [color=DarkOrchid]"You think it's a good idea? This is gonna cost a lot of money, but I can back out now if you think it's stupid..."[/color]

[color=CC5500]"No, no, it's great! Really. Super cool. Thanks so much."[/color] Blake smiled. [color=CC5500]"Woohoo! The Castleburg Really Epic Warriors are in business! When are we gonna let everybody else know about this?"[/color]

[color=DarkOrchid]"First, please call it by the acronym. I hate this name. Second, I'm texting them now."[/color] Grace held out her brand-new phone, texting in the group chat. [color=DarkOrchid]"A new chapter for us, I hope."[/color] 

[color=CC5500]"Yep!"[/color] Blake said with a goofy grin as he looked around the beautiful mini-pub. [color=CC5500]"Things can only go up from here!"[/color]

Little did he know just how wrong he would be. 

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