Dara White Dara looked down at Sarah, clenching her fists until her nails cut into her skin. Even if the girl had been the one who had almost killed Alica, she hadn't deserved to die. What was she...12 at the most, and had left the world with not even a trace of her true self. The only dead person Dara had seen before now had been her dad, and the memories she had pushed away for months finally made their way through. Kissing his pale cold hand. His still chest with his suit concealing the large hole in his heart. His saggy eyelids closed forever. Her being helpless and unable to do anything then...or now. A woman dressed for a certain occasion was cradling the girl in her lap, worry slapped across her face. Dara followed her gaze which led to a man nearby with a hand as black as death itself. "Shadows." Alica whispered beside her. Dara assumed Alica was thinking the same thing she was. This had to be caused by the Bellphim villain. She didn’t understand how over the past two days, they kept associating themselves with bad guys. She was always up for the next big adventure, but this was not fun at all. Real life was mocking her. Dara walked closer to the woman and she sat on the concrete step beside her. She lightly touched the dead girl's knotted hair, pushing her bangs out of her closed eyes. "Is there anything we can possibly do?"
Monsoon ft. DaVinci, Reflect After putting out many of the fires the young fire-girl had caused, Monsoon and DaVinci found themselves outside with Shoshanna and Reflect, as well as a few other characters whom Monsoon was not aware of. He knew there were more people in the city with powers, but he'd hoped some of them had better powers. Perhaps those present had more powers than he was aware of. DaVinci walked up to the young girl, laying dead on the steps of the school, and took notice of Reflect's hand. "What happened to your hand?" Reflect sighed. "Some shadow man pierced her, and the shadows consumed her to dust. Using my powers, I reversed it and brought her body back." He looked down at his hand. "Obviously at a price. Clearly, these shadows can't simply be stopped, just moved, transferred, call it what you will. They have an appetite that needs to be fed." Monsoon shook his head. "Well, it all seems justified then." He walked over to the girl's body. "She died for her crimes, and you took her curse for yours." He shrugged, turning to the newcomers. "Now, who do we have here? Perhaps you'd like to join my group of heroes to defend the city?" DaVinci closed his eyes and sighed.
Dara White For once, Dara sat still, listening intently as two other costumed men casually talked of shadows and death with the other. They obviously knew each other. Who were these guys? "Now, who do we have here? Perhaps you'd like to join my group of heroes to defend the city?" One of the men had turned toward her and Alica. He stood above her and Dara quickly got up from where she sat, adjusting her clothes as she did. She narrowed her eyes, while she studied him carefully. The man wore an odd costume of shorts, no shirt, and helmet that looked like a shark was eating his head. Dara couldn't really believe it, an offer to be a superhero? If only it wasn't coming from such an...interesting man. Oh well, she wasn't exactly 'normal' either. "My name's Dara. I'm here with my friend, and if you see a large dragon or an alien girl around, they're with us too," As she mentioned Rue, she couldn't help feeling a twinge of guilt, "I'd like more info on this superhero group. Not sure you'd want me around though. I attract danger like none other." Dara laughed, flicking a stray piece of hair out of her eyes.
Alica Jennings "Well, it all seems justified then." He walked over to the girl's body. "She died for her crimes, and you took her curse for yours." The superhero looked up at Alica and Dara and asked if they would like to join his superhero clan and Dara responded that she wanted to know more but Alica had something more pressing on her mind. "It wasn't Sarah's fault!" She said emphatically. "She was being controlled by Bellphim. That shadow villian." The man stared at her for a moment. "Perhaps she was, but if that was the case, she still should have been in control of her decisions. She could have stopped once Bellphim was away from her." Alica looked aside angerly. How could this superhero have no empathy for this poor girl. Then she looked up and saw the carnage around her. The burnt bodies of children and the school house on fire. He hadn't seen what she had. He hadn't seen the girl with the vacant look as she called that shadow villian "master." He hadn't seen Bellphim brutally kill a hero and give his powers to her. All he saw was the reckage and death Sarah had caused. She nodded sadly. Distant voices entered her mind. <Oh my....What happened here! Where are the people who did this?> <This is going to be one heck of crime scene.> <Those are superheroes over there? Did they do this?> "Police are coming. They are starting to suspect us. We should go somewhere safer." Alica said. Monsoon nodded. "Agreed." He handed everyone a small device with a screen and a blinking dot. "This is where our headquarters are. I will meet all of you there within the half hour." With that, he dropped into a large puddle and flowed into a manhole. Alica stared vacently into the manhole. She had just been invited to join a superhero team; So why did she feel so terrible?
Gruff coughed as the tree knocked him into the school building. It pinned him, but not for long. In a few chomps the tree was off of him and in his belly. He growled before growing again. His head was level with the school roof now, he towered over the woman who had thrown the tree at him. She would pay for that. Gruff would eat her! Yes. He liked that idea. Picking up a large boulder that had come with the tree he charged. He threw the rock towards the woman before barreling towards her behind it.
Shoshanna Underwood Two young ladies had arrived, but Shoshanna paid little attention to the conversations around her. She could only think of the dead girl. Where were her parents? What would they think? What would she say to them? She remained on her knees, cradling the body as Monsoon and DaVinci arrived. The former offered the two girls a place on his ‘team.’ One introduced herself as Dara, but the other only spoke up in defense of the deceased. "It wasn't Sarah's fault!" the other girl explained. "She was being controlled by Bellphim. That shadow villian." Now Shoshanna looked up. Bellphim? The monster had a name. She laid Sarah’s body down and stood to face the girl. She had so many questions, but there were more urgent matters. The girl said the police were coming. That was bad for Shoshanna; she needed to get away from here. Monsoon seemed to have the same idea. He handed out tracking devices to guide them to his headquarters, before liquefying and vanishing into a nearby manhole. The moment he was gone, there was a loud crash as the other villain broke free of the tree Shoshanna had pinned him beneath. He grew in size and hefted a boulder over his head as he charged at her. She didn’t have time for this. The police were coming. She decided to let them deal with the monster. The giant tossed the boulder at her. Shoshanna ducked, grabbed hold of the grass at her feet, and held on tight as she created a zero-gravity field around herself. With no gravity to bring it down, the boulder sailed over her head and across the street, where it crashed into the side of a building. Gruff lost his footing as he found himself unweighted. His momentum carried him right past her and across the street as well. Gravity returned and she stood, looking at her friends. “We should go. I'll see you soon,” Shoshanna said. Gruff had crashed into the wall, but he recovered quickly. Police cars were arriving now. They can deal with him themselves, Shoshanna thought as she took to the skies and vanished over the roof of the school.
Draco Draco struggled blindly with the rage burning through him, his dragon side was busy tearing a hole through one of the buildings near the school at least he had managed to stop it killing anyone, At least he hoped so some of the dragon fire had caught to a few buildings bringing them crashing down. As the dragon snapped at a large cabinet a huge boulder smashed through the wall hitting it squarely in the forehead. Suddenly the dragon rage dissipated leaving Draco in an aching body, well at least i know now lose control and just get someone to throw a bloody big rock at me. Draco looked through the hole and saw Alicia and Dara standing outside the school looking around desperately, well this building is gutted anyway. he stuck his head through the hole and using the powerful muscles in his legs and shoulders pushed up causing the building to shatter into pieces and get him through. He heard the police sirens, great try to help and cause more problems well done Draco. He looked around and saw a huge man blearily getting up from a wall near him. Well i dont have to guess much to know hes not friendly he walked over to Dara and Alicia flicking a car to go tumbling over hitting the man squarely in the chest. <Alicia, Dara we have to get out of here those police arnt going to be friendly and ive got enough bullet holes in my wings today, jump up rue can get back to my cave safely im sure shes a clever girl> he laid down so they could climb his side to his back.
Alica Jennings Despite the serious moment, Dara gave Draco a large and crush filled smile before jumping on his back. Alica envied the way she was able to just stretch to gain the inches needed. Dara looked back down at Alica and offered a hand which Alica took. Within seconds they were airborne and Alica's stomach was flip-flopping. "Where to, ladies?" Draco's voice said in their minds. "To my house. I need a new shirt." She looked down. "And maybe a bandaid or two." Alica gave him directions and a description of her house. It wouldn't take long to get there at the speed he was flying. After a few minutes of silence she leaned forward and spoke loudly in Dara's ear, to be heard over the wind. "My powers went to a whole new level of weird." "When? How?" Dara yelled back. "When I was having that near death experience. I can hear peoples thoughts now. On occasion. I can't really control it yet." "That is so cool!" "I guess thats one way of putting it." They were silent the rest of the way. An unspoken agreement passed between them that they would talk more when they got to the house. Draco dropped like a stone into her back yard and lay down so that the fence concealed him. Alica slid off and wobbled over to her door. "I don't like flying." "Are you kidding!? It's sooo much fun! Especially on a Dragon!" Alica gave Dara a face and unlocked her backdoor. Thankfully her Aunt was off at work. Dara and Alica trotted up-stairs and Alica got a new pair of clothes. While she changed in the bathroom, Dara began to ask questions about her new-found abilities. "So, you haven't heard any of my thoughts yet...have you?" Dara asked with a tiny bit of hesitancy. Alica laughed through the door. "Girl, I don't need mind-reading to know what your thinking." Dara blushed even though Alica couldn't see her. She cleared her throat then asked, "Can you talk into people's minds like Draco?" Alica was silent for several moments. "Did you hear anything?" She finally asked. Dara shook her head, then remembered that Alica couldn't see her and said, "No." Alica suddenly popped her head out from behind the door, her hair looking like it had been in a fight with a cattle prod. "Do you think I'm gonna get tumors or something awful like that? I mean hearing thoughts CANNOT be good for one's brain." It was Dara's turn to laugh. "I don't think that will happen. Your power may actually be more useful than you think. Like, what if we ran into that Bellphim guy again or another villain, you could eavesdrop on all of his plans before he does them! Alica, you could be a undercover hero." Alica disappeared back inside the bathroom for a few minutes then popped back out. Her hair was neatly brushed and pulled into a pony tail. She had a light purple shirt and a fresh pair of jeans on. She walked over to the trashcan and stuffed her burnt shirt inside. "Shall we go check out this superhero hideout?" Dara nodded, an excited smile on her face. The girls clamored aboard Draco and began following the G.P.S. to their next adventure.
Hugh Killian As the car hit Gruff he shrank back to normal size before disappearing off into an alleyway. Out of sight he headed down into the sewers and back to Hugh. Hugh lay stretched out on his bed, He got up as someone knocked on the door, opening it to find an out of breath Gruff. "Ah Gruff there you are. Did you get the dragon?" Gruff shook his head meakly. "He's too big." "Never mind. I have something to show you." Hugh said going to a door at the side of his room. "Harmony would be a dear and come out here." There was a pitter patter of feet before a small girl in a white dress appeared in the door way. Spotting Gruff she moved behind Hughs leg. "Gruff this is Harmony. Harmony this is Gruff, a friend of mine, say hello." Peeking out from behind his leg a quiet "Hello" could be heard. Gruff noticed a small star shaped mark hidden by her hair. "That's all Harmony you can go now. Bed time soon." Harmony went back into the room grumbling about bed time as Hugh closed the door. "As much as I liked Sarah-" Hugh paused to smile to himself, "-Harmony was far easyier to bring around. And far more powerful. I was going to wait for my next step but now I can move on immediately." It was the afternoon of the next day and everything seemed normal at the bank. Clerks busied about and people qued, men in suits, a women and her child, nothing unusual. There was a creak as the doors opened and a tall man entered. Four more with bags followed quickly behind. No one noticed the last of them locking the door and waiting while another headed to the door that lead into the back of the bank. The tall man walked through the que ignoring protests until he reached the front. Pulling on a mask he drew a gun and shot the mother before shouting to the rest. Almost in sync with him the other men went into action. The one by the cashier door blew the lock off before entering and forcing the clerks out. The others kept their guns trained on the crowd. "Get down now. Good. Now we're here to get rich and you lot have the wonderful luck of being my hostages for today." He stopped as sirens sounded outside. "Oh good, the cameras should be here." Picking up the child he headed to the door, gun pressed to her head. Outside cops stood behind their cars along with reporters and their cameras. One of them pulled out a loudspeaker before addressing him. "I'm officer Thompson. We have you surrounded. Tell us your demands so we can settle this peacefully." Bellphims chuckle echoed oddly around the street. With his free hand he motioned towards the cars. They rose of the ground, crunching as he squeezed his fist. "You have me surrounded do you? I'm not your average robber Thompson." "Well Mr.Psychic tell us your demands then." "Aside from all the money in the bank I'll be taking I want a car, a plane and a visit from the lovely Shoshanna. I know the city has other heros aswell so they can come along with her. But if any try to enter the building I will kill my hostages. You have 2 hours to get me what I want then I start killing." Finished he walked back to the door before delivering a final message. "Oh and the names Bellphim."
Shoshanna Underwood It had been years since the last time she’d flown without a police escort. As Shoshanna raced across the city, skimming the rooftops, she felt free. But she knew it was only an illusion. She wasn’t free yet and she was getting tired of waiting. She circled around Pleasant Acres Mental Hospital until she found her window. Once there, she shifted gravity and stood on the outside wall. She could see people on the streets many stories below, but they didn’t even notice her. Shoshanna stomped in the window and dropped into her room, where the gravity returned to normal. She quickly went over to her wardrobe and took out her superhero costume. She didn’t want to show up at Monsoon’s lair dressed in a ball gown. Shoshanna was about to begin changing when she was interrupted by a heavy knock at the door. She quickly answered it, despite being unsure what she would say or do if it was- It was Dr. Lawson and he was furious. “Where the hell have you been!!” he barked and shoved his way into her room. “There was a commotion in the solarium and nobody could find you. I knew you were up to something! I knew you were always a good-for-nothing scumbag and a-” He noticed the broken window, the glass on the floor, and the costume lying on the bed. Before he could say anything, Shoshanna waved her hand and the door slammed shut behind him. With another wave of her hand, she had hi pinned to the wall, helpless. “You don’t know anything about me,” she said in a tone devoid of any kindness. He was absolutely terrified. His hand reached into his pocket, but she quickly sent him flying across the room. He hit the floor and was pinned there by double his own weight. The wardrobe levitated and hung in the air above his head. Dr. Lawson pulled out the remote to her shock collar. He couldn’t stand, but he could punch a button. “Go on and do it,” Shoshanna said. “Press the button. I get 75,000 volts and you get a three hundred pound wardrobe dropped on your head.” “What do you want?” the man pleaded. “Disable the collar.” “Never!” he hissed. “You’re insane. You need to be controlled.” “I am more controlled now than I’ve ever been,” she said and let the wardrobe drop before stopping it an inch from his face. “If I'm insane, it's because you made me that way. The choice is yours, doctor: you can set me free or I can drop this on you, collect the remote from your dead body, and set myself free. Choose.” After a long pause, he pressed a button on the controller. The shock collar snapped open and fell away. It landed on the floor at her feet. Shoshanna looked down on the doctor, pinned to the floor, under the shadow of the big wardrobe. He stared up at her, like a deer in the headlights. She found delight in the look of terror in his eyes. She was thrilled by the thought of crushing him and hearing his death screams… No. I’m not that person anymore, Shoshanna told herself as she slowly levitated the wardrobe back into its proper place in the corner of the room. The doctor got to his feet. She didn’t know what to say to him; every word that came to mind was curses and insults, so she just pointed toward the door. It opened wide, Dr. Lawson was sucked into the hallway, and it slammed shut. She clicked the lock shut. Shoshanna quickly changed into her superhero costume. She picked up the shock collar and remote and clipped them to her utility belt before leaving out the window with a devilish smile.
Alica Jennings and Monsoon Alica and Dara flew Draco as far as they could. They landed next to an unlocked water filtration tunnel. It was big enough for a person to easily walk in however it was not big enough for Draco, who had to shrink back to normal size. The girls continued to followed the tunnel till they reached a short ladder leading up to a hole in the ceiling. If they hadn't been looking for it...it would have been easily missed. They climbed the ladder opened the hatch and found themselves a sort of mansion. The whole place had the theme of water. There were aquariums with exotic fish and a fountain right in the middle of the living room. The walls were different shades of blue, even the carpet was blue, and Alica almost felt as if she were under the ocean. Monsoon stepped out from the other room. "Welcome to my home and our lair, ladies and gentleman. I am Monsoon. I know you three have abilities but I don't yet know your names." "This is Alica, I'm Dara and that's Draco." Dara replied happily. Alica was too nervous to say anything. She was in the lair of a superhero. "It is a pleasure to meet all of you. I have been searching for others ever since I got my own abilities. Please sit." He guestured to couches and chairs. "There are refreshments on the coffee table, please help yourself. I'm sure the others will be here shortly."
