Official RP Thread: The Evolutionist's Stone (7)

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Setting==
Los Angeles

==Dramatis Personæ==

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles, California==

Two bare feet stepped from the door that Adam had drawn, and Kitty breathed in the brisk evening air. Though most would have considered it crowded or too busy a place, the former residents of Heavenly Vale Asylum for the Mentally Ill were more than happy to roam freely amidst the people of LA. Not that they enjoyed the people themselves; it was simply the walking, and the glamorous sights and sounds and smells that lifted their spirits.

Since their encounters with Caleb Trelaine, they hadn’t taken a single day for granted. Every smell was a rose, every taste a drop of honey, and every sound a musical note. Confinement, neglect and mistreatment made it hard to ignore even the mundane. Ever since they had manifested, they were considered odd, strange, and abnormal. Freaks, in no uncertain terms. Their perceptions, their thoughts, their actions made them odd men out. Made them unacceptable. Made them feared.

Made them hated.

But not here. In California, they would fit right in. There, freaks abounded. In fact, they had among the highest population of supers. Yes, in this place, they would fit right in.

The wind blew Tock’s black hair back, and she closed her eyes, relishing the touch. Quentin put his arm around her shoulder and smiled. Eugene tried slyly to do the same to Kitty, but she shot him a glance that would set paper ablaze, and he retracted his arm. Vicious sniffed vacantly at the air, at the hydrants they passed, and various other places. Her recon work was never done. She wanted to know every thing, and everybody that she passed. Of course they recoiled at having their behinds sniffed and pawed at, but Vicious cared only for what she could find out. Social convention was as strange to her as SHE was to nearly everyone else.

Finally, the five of them reached the hotel where they’d be staying, the Silver Gardens. Eugene was handed some money to pay for their room, and then they headed upstairs to get unpacked. They had decided to share one room, to save up on money, and so Tock and Kitty were treated to a sight as Quentin changed into more comfortable clothes. Naturally, as he finished re-dressing and turned in their direction, they went back about their business, but the view was nice while it lasted. And the view would be equally as nice for Eugene and Quentin as the girls changed.

“Thisplaceisboring.” Quentin smirked, turning away from the girls as they finished getting dressed again, “Letsgooutanddosomething.”

Tock seconded the notion, and so Kitty huffed, wondering where they could go to have some fun this time of day.

“What about the pool?” Eugene said to no one in particular, trying to pretend like he had intentions other than seeing the girls in skimpy clothes again.

Kitty scoffed at the thought, and rolled her eyes, then replied, “Shut up, Gene…Hey, I have an idea. How’s about we go to the pool?”

At the notion, now, the others agreed, and began picking up their swimming clothes. Eugene sighed heavily, and considered saying, ‘I JUST SAID THAT!’. He decided against it, frowning at the thought of his face afterward, and picked his swim clothes up to follow the others.

When he arrived at the pool, however, his face would perk up again. Today was the birthday of a famous local DJ, and as thanks for advertising their hotel, his pool party would be hosted there. The DJ’s crew invited them to join in the festivities, and the supers all found their places quite comfortably. Kitty did a jackknife into the pool, and Vicious dove in after her. Quentin found a couple speedsters to chat with about nothing. Tock and a couple other chronos gravitated toward one another, each sensing the other with their Chronopathy. And Eugene retreated to his quiet place among the other wallflowers.

The music was pumping, the food was awesome, the pool was more than big enough for everyone, and so there would be plenty of eating, drinking and merrymaking. Beautiful girls, and boneheaded guys made for one hell of a mix, especially since the majority of them were supers. A hydro whipped up a mini wave pool, and waterbreathers made their way around the pool in an underwater world of their own. Eugene looked down in surprise to see that Vicious had swam up on him unawares, and was now nibbling his toes gently like a fish. Upon being seen, she darted away and went off to tease some other unaware swimmer.

Eugene chuckled at the thought, which had elicited a more vulgar one, but his thoughts soon snapped back to reality. A panicked girl burst into the pool area, panting heavily, causing the festivities to cease abruptly.  The girl scanned the crowd, calling for any help at all. Anyone with a phone, any super, anybody with experience in the field. A fire had broken out upstairs and taken out a great deal of her floor. Upon hearing the news, Kitty looked to Vicious, and then to the others, who returned her glance of urgency.

The hydro that had made a mini wave pool hydrokinetically dried them off, realizing who they were, “Go! They need you guys! I’ll be up right behind you with a couple friends!”

They hurried to put their regular clothes back on, their party mates cheering them on, and then ambled up the stairs to where the fire had burned entirely out of control. They sighed collectively, realizing that a hero’s work was never done, and bounded forward to see what they could do about the problem.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

Vicious rushed up the stairs, her mouth and throat filled with water, thanks to a mix of hamster cheek expansion and bullfrog throat expansion. With a powerful elephantine blast and a trumpet to boot, she jetted a stream of cool water onto the blaze which had consumed a great deal of the fourth floor.

As Tock temporally slowed the growth of the flames, Quentin and Kitty rescued everyone they could find. Eugene helped them downstairs, healing the injured to the best of his ability.

At last, the hydro they had befriended before, Lawrence, made his way up the stairs, armored in water. he would help Vicious combat the fire. Vicious led, with him closely behind, and the two defended one another from the blaze at all costs, even through falling beams and the smoke.

When, finally, the fire subsided, leaving smoldering ash and everything in its path burnt, the team convened down on the first floor, with the injured newly healed. The firefighters would arrive soon after, but Kitty's team got the real hero treatment. The only supers in the building were mostly at the DJ's party, and so everybody at the party waited for them in suspense on the first floor, almost on instinct.

When those firefighters arrived to to whatever else they could to help, they joined in on applause and cheering that was unfortunately not for them.

And the Overlord of Los Angeles watched with the same admiration and respect, from one of the spy cameras in the lobby, cleverly disguised as surveillance.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

The Controller sat on his throne, attended by two lovely women, scantily clothed. One rubbed his back while the second fed him his favorite food from a plate. A third girl, younger than the first two, filed his toenails, and a fourth fanned him as he ate.

It was good to be Overlord. People answering to his every beck and call, no responsibilities, no jobs. Best of all, the people feared him far too much to do anything that they had done to Caleb Trelaine or Ella Camphrey or Lillith Vandal Savage or The Mover. Still...one can never be too safe. With that thought in mind, he let out a big sigh at last, and raised a hand. That would be enough pampering for now. It was time to get serious.

"Call in the mercenaries I hired."

The doormen hurried out, and returned with a trio of two men and a woman.

"What are your names again?" The Controller demanded.

The three of them looked at one another, and the girl spoke up, "Marina Delite. And this is Muerte, and this is Millions."

"Millions?"

The blinged-out Millions shyly put up a hand. The Controller eyed the odd bunch with a face fallen from his normal jovial condescending. Such a shame his choices had come down from this, he thought. And yet, since the recent fall of those other Overlords, he was steadily dwindling in popularity and loyalty. Some foolishness about not wanting to die for him or his radical causes. Stupid hired guns.

The three grew uneasy at his prolonged thinking silence, and so he spoke.

"In any event, you've got some reputation in the underground, I hear. You pursued Jack Ryder, the holder of the Evolutionist's Stone, a few weeks ago, right?"

The three looked at one another, and answered simultaneously, "Yeah."

"Perfect." The Controller replied, bridging his hands evilly, "I have a task that you might be interested in. Some of Jack's allies have come into my territory. I don't know if they're to be befriended or eliminated, but I, for one, choose elimination. I want them dead as soon as possible."

Marina took a step forward.

"So, how much are you willing to pay?"

The Controller exhaled, and said flatly, "We can discuss that when your job is done. Do we have a deal or what?"

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

As night fell, the group grew hungry. Unfortunately, their hunger was also accompanied by a sudden bout of lethargy. That meant that the boys would have to go out on errands.

To Eugene, who came from up north, the nightlife in LA was incredibly amusing. The air stank of underworld dealings. Shady characters left and right. Some criminals of greed, some of wrath, and some of lust. The nightclubs and bars were colorfully illuminated, and the atmosphere was a perfect mix of upper class, and down in the gutter. It was awesome.

Quentin glanced at Eugene's admiration of the town's pure velvety bada**ness, and chuckled. Gene was so easily amazed. Quentin, on the other hand, found all of life blase, at best --annoying, at worst-- at it's half-as-fast-as-normal pace. His hyper-accelerated brain barely allowed him to enjoy anything at all, in all honesty.

Waiters always took too long, traffic was a b***h, and sex? Out of the question, if he didn't want his hyper-accelerated state to be mistaken for an embarrassing sexual condition. Still, it was good to have friends. And so, Quentin would settle for that. He and Eugene entered neighboring corner store to pick up some fruit. A bag of apples, a couple oranges, a pear for Gene, some bananas (Vicious was feeling apish) and some beef jerky for Eugene.

Quentin noticed a metallic glint in the store's corner reflector, and turned with razor-sharp precision. Who were these folks? A gray-haired guy covered in gold bling? A red-eyed girl with a bullwhip at her hip? A dude with purple hair? They didn't look normal...or safe to be around.

But then Eugene turned to him, catching his glance, and Quentin caught himself. It was probably nothing. In fact, it was kind of embarrassing, now he thought about it. That was probably how normals looked at HIM all the time, and HE didn't like it. So he dropped it, when Eugene asked what he was looking at, and the two went to pay for their snacks.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

The strange trio that Quentin and Eugene had met in the convenience store left before they did, but Quentin still couldn't shake them from his mind as he and his younger teammate left to rejoin Tock, Kitty and Vicious. Judgmental attitude and prejudiced distrust be damned; they seemed far too bizarre and suspect to be not up to anything...

"Gene?" He said finally, as he and the hemokinetic walked down the nighttime streets.

Eugene took his eyes off a transvestite getting into a limo with some shady character, "Yeah?"

"Thoseguysdontlooksuspicioustoyou?"

"Well, I'm sure they're up to something kinky, but--"

"Thethreefromthestoreyadope." Quentin chuckled.

"Oh, um..." Eugene turned to see them walk down the street, "I guess. You wanna tail 'em?"

"No." Quentin turned his head as one of them looked back a second, "Butremembertheirfaces. Justincase."

The two headed off in the opposite direction. There was no need to make any fuss (not to mention, waste time) on just the off chance that they might be up to something. Besides, the girls were waiting for them to bring back food, and they'd make mincemeat of the boys if they went off to explore without them.

The boys would arrive back at the hotel in about ten minutes. They ascended the stairs, and kept an ear out for what sounded like playful laughter and the scattering of feet. Quentin rolled his eyes. Were they planning to sneak up on them again? Gene fell for it, but even if they caught him at a moment's notice, they were a moment behind his keen powers of observation. Quentin snickered to himself at the thought.

But the sentiment would soon turn serious; Eugene and Quentin fell silent and stopped in their tracks as the muffled upstairs noises became aggressive and louder. Thuds perhaps blows being landed, people hitting and being hit. The two exchanged glances, and ambled up the stairs to see what was the matter.

Quentin burst through the door, and Eugene hurried behind him, his power at the ready.

The girls blinked.

The guys blinked.

An awkward silence. Kitty threw a pillow into Eugene's face playfully, petting Vicious on the head, and Tock hurried up to Eugene to retrieve her apples.

Meanwhile, Marina, Muerte and Millions walked down the street, into the night, back to the Mover's manor.

"Are you sure, Marina?" Muerte asked, looking back, "It looked like them to me."

"I'm positive." Marina put up a hand with a sure smirk, "I'd know them if I saw them. And trust me, those two weren't the ones we were sent after."

"But, I thought I heard 'em call each other's names Quentin and Eugene, like the male targets we were pursuing." Millions put his hand on his chin, "We REALLY should have taken pictures of the targets. Ya know...for reference."

Marina stopped dead, and turned to her blinged-out comrade with menace.

"You...you mean...?" Marina's eye twitched, and slapped her palm to her forehead, before crying out in hateful disgust, "FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU--!!!!"

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

Eugene let out a pitiful yelp and collapsed from his bed in a heap. The others awoke, ready to use their powers, and were befuddled to see Vicious sitting in the middle of his bed, looking over curiously to where he had fallen. Sometimes, she just didn't know her own strength.

Tock got up first, followed by Kitty and Quentin. Before they got to where he lay, he quickly put up his hand.

"STOP!" Eugene yelled, "Don't come any closer!"

Vicious curled up, and the three slowly walked a little closer.

"I mean it!" Eugene erupted from the side of the bed, redfaced, his hands covering his crotch. Before either of them could say a word, he hurried into the bathroom and locked it behind him.

Quentin blinked, "Um...wasEugene...washejust...masturbating?"

Kitty smirked, crossing her arms, "Well, he IS eighteen. I imagine, when he woke up, his 'little friend' gave him a wake-up call."

"Yeahbut...still." Quentin grimaced, "Inaroomwithfourotherpeople? Seriously..."

He, Kitty and Tock turned to head back to bed, chuckling. Then Tock stopped in her tracks, looked down and blinked absently. Her face grew red, and she turned to face the bathroom.

"So says Tock, come and GET YOUR DAMN SOCK!!!"

Quentin and Kitty burst into uncontrollable laughter. Neither Tock nor Kitty would be living this incident down for a while...

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

Marina sat up in her bed, and reached down onto the floor to wake up Muerte. It had been a LONG night after their major failure with the Controller's targets.

They had been SO CLOSE, too, which made it all the more frustrating when they got away. And the Controller's rightfully-pissed tirade certainly didn't make matters any better.

Bunch o' damn incompetent fools, he called them, disgraces to God, their mothers and their country. He should've settled for the mercs from upstate, he said, higher rate be damned; at least they knew how to match a picture to a face. And after the way they had been sent to their temporary rooms like a pack of damn thirteen year old girls after sassing their mother, the others on his force wouldn't let them live it down.

Out in the middle of nowheres, where they had met Jack, that part of town knew how to respect them; to fear them. But here? They were certainly not off to a good start. And things didn't seem to be looking up from there. No, they'd have to put in some longer hours and some more diligent footwork before they could make up for this foul-up. And Marina had every intention of doing just that.

With that, she hurried to dress, and rushed Muerte and Millions to do the same, before hastening out the door. They had some places to go, and some people to see...

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

Kitty yawned and jumped up out of bed, planting her feet firmly with a thud. The others awoke abruptly as she headed into the bathroom for a shower.

Quentin pulled on a shirt, and Tock began to brush her hair, as Vicious played absent-mindedly with her toes.

"So...where should we go today?" Eugene yawned, "We've marked the location of the Controller's manor. We've scouted out several exit routes from the city. Anything else we left out?"

"FiguringouttheController'sworkdetailschedule." Quentin remarked.

"The schedule for his guards to change shifts?" Eugene wondered, "Oh, yeah, you're right. Thanks. And we should probably get a list of their powers, too."

"And their security level", Kitty poked her head our the door.

"Yeah, that, too." Eugene marked down on the pad he had found.

A few more ideas were tossed around, and as Kitty walked back out of the bathroom, straightening her shirt, she looked at Eugene.

"So...anything else?"

"Um..." The blood manipulator wondered, "N-no, I think that's about everything."

Kitty snatched the list from Eugene's hand, skimmed it ten seconds, then chucked it gently into his face. If there was nothing else to be said, she had a feeling that today was going to be rather eventful. She headed for the door, still facing the others to make sure they were hurrying along.

She opened the door, and turned, right in time to see a blob of water headed at her, nearly bullet force. It split, and each piece connected as a shard of superhardened ice, flooring her with a great gash in her face, neck and chest.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The others were frozen in horror at the abruptness of the attack, just long enough for another to follow. Almost as fast as the ice spikes had hit Kitty, gold streaked across the room, wrapping around the arms and legs of Eugene, Quentin and Tock. Vicious menaced the three attackers as they finally made themselves known.

It turned out Marina wasn't such a bad mercenary after all. It may have taken all day and all night, but she and her partners Muertes and Millions and had managed it. And now all that was left to be done was to catch whoever the heck this was crouched on the ground, growling at them hatefully.

The others watched hatefully as Marina used one hand to keep a struggling Kitty pinned to the ground, and used the other hand to shoot yet more water at Vicious. She sprang nimbly across the room. A kangaroo hop here, a frog leap there. They would NOT get her.

Muertes watched as Marina tried futilely to put the animal mimic down, and when finally some water bolts DID connect, they were feeble against her rhino-like skin. He decided that maybe a good old fashioned shot to the head might do a better job.

He pulled out the gun and Vicious clung with her back to the wall, menacing each of the villains to either side of her. Which to take out first? The lady hurting Kitty? The gold-covered weirdo? Or the guy with the gun? She scanned the three of them with more intent than could any professional body language expert, or any mentalist. And it was quite clear that "Water-Controller Lady" was the most immediate threat.

With that, she vaulted herself off of the wall, launching herself straight into Marina's gut with 'roo leg power, and then pinning her to the floor with gorilla strength. It turned Muertes' attention to Marina, and he put down the gun to help his leader...much to his detriment. Being floored, Marina released her power on Kitty, allowing her to get up. And before Millions could send a gold chain her way, she had met him, three inches from his face, with claws splayed fiercely. If he breathed, he'd be dead.

Naturally, he gave no protest, allowing the others to be released from their bonds. And when they had regained their footing, the three bumblers would have some 'splainin' to do.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

It took longer for the supers to find out the information they wanted, but not by much. Kitty splayed her claws with nary a word, and Millions was a spewing fountain of facts and information, both useful and random. Muerte resisted the varied animal cries of the animal-mimic Vicious with what seemed like steel nerves; but he soon buckled under pressure when Eugene took to manipulating his movements, threatening to make him harm himself.

That left Marina.

Ms. Delite did everything she could in her power to NOT live up to her name. Quentin threatened with a superfast punch to the throat; she called his bluff. And when Kitty took to punching her, she simply replied that she hit like a girl. Eugene bent her motions, and threatened to make her harm herself or her allies, but Marina countered by summoning toilet water to spurt in his face.

So, when the others had had enough of the water-manipulator's trouble, Tock decided to take a turn. She assured, this would take them less than a minute. Before Marina could even get in a snide remark, Tock placed a hand on either side of her head, and began to concentrate.

In an instant, the very flow of time went from a steady flowing river to a slow slog of molasses on an increasingly colder slope. A fly flew by at a pace that would shame a slug's slowness. She could feel every heartbeat as a hiccup in her throat, every breath a hateful labor, every muscle twitch a full-on workout.

Finally the tension of time's passing began to stabilize, passing more and more like normal. And then, Marina grew dismayed again. It wasn't stopping at normal tempo. Now...it was too fast!

Swifter it passed.

Faster.

Quicker it went by, playing with her brain and heart and senses, until she flirted with unconsciousness.

And then a third flux in her perceptions. Time went at slightly less and less devastating pace, until, at last, the temporal-perception roller coaster had come to a shaky end. As though she had been on some psychoactive drug, the girl was barely coherent as Tock finally came back into focus, cold and stone-faced as ever.

"Tock says this, so listen quick//
I know what makes your ticker tick//
Play with time, run out the clock//
My patience is wearing, so says Tock//"

Marina could barely get her words together to give up the Controller's plan quick enough. But Kitty assured her, she'd have plenty of time to do so in headquarters custody.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Chicago==

Marina fidgeted in her chair, looking warily at the woman that paced around her in what she heard called 'the War Room'. The woman straightened her glasses, crossed off a few things on her clipboard, and then sat down. She pressed a button on the table.

"Adam?"

"Yes?"

"I'm in with one of the captives from Los Angeles. Marina Delite. Tell the others that I'm not to be disturbed."

"Gotcha."Click.

Anita crossed her legs, and sat down the clipboard, "All right, then. Shall we begin, Ms. Delite? May I call you Marina?"

She shrugged, "You can call me Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, for all I care. I'm not interested in getting comfy here."

Anita cocked her head to the side, feigning hurt feelings, "Aw, that's too bad. It's going to make your stay much more difficult, but I suppose, to each his own." Her face became serious again, and she continued, "Oh, well. As long as you're here, we may as well make the most of our time together. First question: who are you working for?"

The interrogation went on for some time, and when it was done, Marina was most frustrated with herself. It was ridiculous how easily she gave herself up! Even with her bad attitude, Anita got everything out of Marina that she wanted. She knew who the hydrokinetic outlaw worked for --The Controller-- and as much as she knew, she told.

Fitz came in and took the self-styled 'Oasis Angel' by the hands. His powers activated as he put Marina into the special power-negator cuffs Adam had created from the Artscape, and Pierce and Fitz accompanied him to take her back to her power-negating cell to think about just how foolish she had been in her dealings with Los Angeles' Overlord.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

"What do you mean, 'they've disappeared'?" The Controller scowled, "You mean to tell me those two-bit bandits are so turned around, they've even managed to lose themselves?"

The servant frowned with dismay, "Well, yes, it appears so, sir. The rebels are nowhere to be seen, and the mercenaries you sent after them have yet to report back. They haven't so much as checked in since they went out yesterday."

The Controller groaned in disgust.

"Hell. When I sent out those three rejects, I didn't ask for much. Just that they take care of five annoying superhumans. In all my thousand years of living, I've never had servants so disobedient. So disappointing. So...so useless! I...I just might have to go out and help move things along on my own..."

The servants looked at one another with pleasant surprise. The Controller was being much more reasonable than usual. There was no hateful outburst of rage. Nobody, as of yet, had been scared, maimed or killed. And he didn't seem intent on being particularly violent. At least, not right now. He would save his murderous rampage for later. For the ones who truly had it coming.

First, the rebels who threatened his plot. Then, the border patrol who guarded the surrounding states. And finally, the Overlords of Oregon, Nevada and Arizona.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The Controller savored the idea with wicked relish. How easy it would be to execute his plan. In fact, much easier than other Overlords would ever give him credit for. He had actually been one of the first Overlords to take power, and none had been able to usurp his throne since then. When other Overlords met with him and asked his secret to staying in power, he claimed that it was his sheer brilliance, the experience he had gained over his vastly extended lifespan.

In truth, his age hadn't had much to do with it, so much as his knowledge of how people work. They were not to be trifled with when they felt oppressed. They were no good, of no use, when their spirits were broken. And at their best, they were skeptically optimistic, but at their worst, they were paranoid Inquisitors.

It was with these maxims in mind that he came upon the true secret to rule: love. Or at least, some dimly-lit infatuation, like casting a fog on a moth and flashing a light into that fog. The light was cast all around in that mist; it couldn't be discerned if the light came from a lightbulb or a fly zapper...

Yes, being benign had been his secret to keeping the public in place. Keeping them in contact with loved ones through social media, allowing them voting rights for governors and senators and this and that, allowing them what information they desired from the Internet and TV. Giving them the things they wanted, and the sense of security they needed.

And then, every time, when those terrible rebels came in, when Warlords surged through the state, intending to dethrone their beloved leader, the people quickly jumped to opposition, through protest and combat. Heaven forbid anyone uproot their benevolent leader, this beacon of decent Overlord rule, this ruler not above the law, this secular respecter of faith and religion, this truthful politician, this gentle giant among mortals...

Indeed, he would have much better luck if he simply killed the rebels with kindness. That is, before he went in to actually kill them.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

After the mercenary attack from the day previous, Kitty and Vicious found that they were still feeling pretty pumped. And while Gene found comfort in playing video games, and Tock gained solace by meditating to a synchronized clock and metronome, and Quentin boxed punching bags into submission for relief, Vicious and Kitty found that their idea of a good time required something a bit more...kinetic. There simply weren't the type for staying in one place to release all that pent-up spare energy, and so the two went out.

It was time to go sight-seeing...their way.

The two headed outside, for one last look around, on the ground. And when they'd had their fill of that perspective, Kitty dug her nails in, and Vicious mimicked the wallcrawling of a gecko, and up the brick wall the two clambered. In truth, the two would gladly travel about this way all the time, if they could keep up the stamina. But, since they eventually would have to socialize with (relatively) regular people again some time, they would settle for what time was afforded them. And the city did not disappoint.

Even in the day time, just as the noon-day sun was at its peak, they found the trip most invigorating. They headed up the wall, requiring the greatest of exertion, and then bounded across rooftops, in their own fashion of self-invented parkour moves. Each tried to at first to outdo the other, and then finally, the impulse came over them simply for the joy of running. They reached the edge of the first building, and then, where normal people would stop to observe the day pass, they crouched down, without missing a beat, and bounded from that rooftop to the next.

Observers from down below found them most entertaining, reminiscent of superheroes they'd read about in comic books as children. And Kitty found herself entertaining a similar thought. In truth, it was not all that far off.

Rooftop to rooftop they went, from apartment building, to business firm, to coffee house, to convenience store, to movie theater, and finally, they reached a gap that was a little too wide, even for Kitty to jump.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Kitty looked to her animalistic companion, and sighed, "Welp, looks like this jump's got me beat. But don't worry about me, V. If you want, you can go ahead of me; I'll go down this wall, and come up the other side and catch up. Whaddya say?"

Vicious turned from her admiration of the view ahead, and looked up at Kitty with a raised eyebrow. Kitty returned the glance.

"What? I can't make that jump!" She protested, "The gap's too wide!"

Vicious didn't ease her gaze, but only knelt a little, in her already hunched-over position. Kitty blinked a second, but then got the hint. Though, even then...she was unsure.

"You...you think you can make it?"

Vicious rolled her eyes.

"Fine, stupid." Kitty snickered, "But if we both fall, I blame you."

Vicious shook her head with a bit of a grin, and averted her gaze again toward the trip that lay in the distance. Kitty looked ahead into the distance as well, and then climbed onto Vicious' back, putting her arms around her neck. Before Kitty could say another word, Vicious backed up, almost back to the building's edge that they had just landed on, and then took off, on all fours, at cheetah speed.

Faster, faster Vicious ran, bounding over what pipes interfered with her running path. Kitty found herself exhilarated. Vicious' speed and agility was absolutely amazing, she knew, but it was even moreso when she could include you on the same feeling. That feeling of primal freedom, of pure animal excellence...it was no wonder Vicious found more comfort among animals than among humans.

Vicious' feet reached the edge of the building, and she pushed off. Had she mimicked a tree frog? A kangaroo? It was unsure. But that jump was absolutely amazing. And she stuck the landing. Even more impressive.

Kitty got off her friend's back, and patted her on the head. They'd have to do that again some time. But for now...what was that sound? The two of them rushed back to the edge where Vicious had just ferried them, and tilted their heads down, to hear what came through the window.

"--that Los Angeles' Overlord wants to meet the out-of-state supers who recently helped to put out a fire that erupted a couple floors above a pool party they attended a couple days ago. More news at 11."

The two exchanged glances. Whatever the entire story was, it couldn't be good. It was time to get back to the others.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

When Kitty and Vicious arrived back at the room where the team stayed, the news story had just started playing again on the news channel. Kitty plopped down on the bed nearest the door, and pushed Eugene to the side, as she fumbled with the remote to turn the volume up.

"What is this--?"

"Shh!" Kitty put a hand on Eugene's mouth, "The news is on! It's about the Controller!"

The others fell silent, and tuned in. It turned out that the Controller finally saw fit to make public the rebels' presence. Apparently, he had known that they were there in Los Angeles all along, but now he wanted others to know about it, too. But...he didn't seem to be making them out as bad guys.

No, instead he made them seem rather valorous for taking down Caleb Trelaine, and for standing up against the Mover, and for dealing with Ella Camphrey, and for handling Lillith Vandal-Savage. He made them like heroes, warriors of justice, rather than rebels without a cause. And then he began to go on about what plans he had for improving the town's infrastructure some more. And...that was it.

Naturally, it left the supers perplexed. What was the Controller's game? Certainly, he wouldn't try to recruit them for his side, or strike up any kind of truce with them. Any Overlord or Warlord who disliked the rebel agenda would instantly see him as an enemy. And he didn't make enemies; he simply had targets. Which meant that his extended olive branch of friendship wasn't an honest one.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

But...some obvious false attempt at friendship? Seriously? Certainly, the Controller knew better than to assume the supers would fall for it. Not to mention, he was likely responsible for those folks who had attacked them. It seemed all too contradictory; trying to kill them behind closed doors, and make friends of them in public. Either the Controller was really smart, or really stupid.

Eugene stood and stretched.

"Well, whaddya think it means?" He was getting bored of the discussion, which seemed to be leading nowhere.

"I'm not quite sure what it means." Kitty smirked, admiring her claws, "But, it might mean that he wants to trap us."

Quentin looked up, "Whatdoyoumean?"

"Well, you know." Kitty petted Vicious' head, "Some kind of social reverse psychology. Behind closed doors, pretend like he's a good guy, and like he likes us, so that he can try to kill us without us outright attacking him. If we do something to him, and it gets linked back to us, then we look like the bad guys, and he looks like a victim."

Tock was intrigued by the idea.

"A villain he is, but a fool he is not//
And we know a madman's too easy to spot//
But give it all time, just watch the clock//
He'll show himself soon, so says Tock//"

Everyone looked to Tock, and Kitty spoke, "Hm, yeah...he'll show himself for the bad guy he really is. But, uh...maybe we can help make that 'soon'...happen a little sooner."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Los Angeles==

The Controller sank into his throne, deeply satisfied with himself. Things were off to a rather nice start. He had extended a nice little olive branch to the rebels, and if past rebels were any implication, that would be all it took to bring them to their knees. If they saw through his ruse, he would be more than happy to meet any underhanded attack they attempted on him. And if the friendly salutation as nothing more than a friendly salutation, then they would be in for quite a nasty shock.

It was utterly perfect.

And so, with that one, and currently only, step in his master plan carefully executed for all of Los Angeles and the surrounding territories to see, he found himself...bored again. Seriously, all of this wicked plotting was plenty of fun, but sometimes these rebels made it just too easy! At this rate, he'd probably end up having some super to disrupt his powers for a while, and take up serial killing, just for the thrill of possibly getting caught...

Until then, though...maybe he'd just stick to invading thoughts and controlling motor functions. People were such dirty-minded, hypocritical, scared, confused, selfish, angry little things, and so much fun to turn on one another, and on themselves, when you had power such as the Controller's. That was easy, too, but strangely, never got old.

Yes, he'd stick with that, for now, to quell his 'adventurous' streak. And then after, if he still felt up to it, maybe he would release a few inmates from jail, to be beaten and killed by those vigilante rebels. Giving those criminals a last chance at freedom; giving the rebels something to keep them on their toes; giving himself some well-needed entertainment; and giving his public the justice they deserve for the wrongs they endured? Killing, what, four birds with one stone? In fact...he might as well get on that first, he thought with a heady sigh.

"Hehehe..." The Controller chuckled and sighed, as he rose, to exit the Throne Room, "Yep, that's me. Good ol' Controller. Always thinking of his public first..."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

==Chicago==

"Marina..." came a voice, barely above a whisper; it would have been familiar, if it weren't so shaky, "Marina! Are you...are you up?"

No response emerged from the Holding Room. There was only that dismal silence that threatened the possibility of Marina being too pissed off, or even too depressed to talk. Muerte fretted at the sight of the white brick walls, the dismal lack of happiness and light and freedom, and wondered if she had found something sneaky and sharp, and was silently diligent on offing herself. Relief did not come until the silence broke.

"Marina! Are you--?"

"Would you please stop talking?" Muerte shrunk back to himself, a bit hurt at first, but realized shortly that the voice was not Marina's, "In case it hadn't crossed your mind, this is a prison, not a love connection."

"Mind your own business, b***h!" Muerte retorted hatefully, "Mind your own d**n business! Marina!"

Two voices now chuckled at the increasing desperation in his voice, perhaps finding it entertaining. Otherwise, though, silence still. Muerte's heart began to quicken, and he could feel it in his chest; that bitter and cruel aching that he often hypothesized was heartbreak, but could just as easily have been a symptom of withdrawal.

"Marina! Marina--!"

"What?!" came that lovely, angry voice finally, "I was sleeping!"

Muerte sighed in relief, "...Wanna talk? Ya never know how long we'll be here."

Marina was about to answer, when there came a frustrated groan, from that other nondescript female, "Oh, good God, please tell me I'm not going to have to suffer you two talking my ears off for the remainder of my stay..."

"For real, it's already bad enough in here. And now we gotta listen to you two have a therapy session? Kill me now!"

"Hey, shut up, you guys." finally Millions spoke up, "You'd be pretty pissed, too, if one day, you're workin' with one of the most powerful Overlords in the country--pay, benefits, respect--and the next, you're in a crap hole like this..."

"Well, you're certainly right about that." came the first voice again, "Camphrey just had to up and die on us, and now we haven't anywhere to work, even if we were to escape."

Silence for an instant.

Marina was intrigued, "You...you worked for the Raven Lady?"

"I did." the voice sounded proud, and perhaps rightfully so, "I was her right-hand, along with my friend here. Name's Minerva. And my partner in crime here is Sirena."

As long as they were going to be detained, it now seemed apparent that they might as well get acquainted with one another. If nothing else, it would give them folks to talk to, and reminisce on good times, and compare who was more bada**, and laugh and joke, and complain about these d**n rebels. And so, rather than the chatter dying down, everyone joined in on the chorus of idle chit-chat. as it turned out, the lot of them had some rather interesting stories to share...