Aftermath

The Academy of Higher Learning (formerly known as Hero High) was successful in it's mission of training various supers in the use of their abilities. With all of the government aid, the school year went off with only minor blips. The Heroes were able to do what they were mandated to do in protecting the students (children and adults) and the school itself, against any possible threats for a full year. Mainly because there were none.

The school year was pretty boring. There were a few missions that Strike Force, the Heroes proteges, carried out, but nothing big. Julian, who was the schools government liasion, informed the Heroes of a few people who might pose a problem for them and the Heroes investigated. Finding nothing, they left it alone as they didn't want to be the cause of something. Especially Ben and Katt, who had recently welcomed their baby girl Alana Jordan Mason into the world after a brief pregnancy by Katt do to magical and feline factors.

During the day of graduation for some of the students (which were held in the large auditorium of the school), there were hundreds of people present: students and staff (obviously,) the Heroes, Strike Force, Julian and representatives from some of the various governments who were involved with the school, as well as the families of many of the supers graduating.

The ceremony was short and sweet. Ben said a few words along with Julian and some speakers from the assembled governments and a few other people. The presenting of certificates began and then all hell broke loose.

Several explosions rang out all over the auditorium. Just as the Heroes were hopping in to action, another explosion erupted from under the stage. There were other explosions going on all over the rest of the school as well.....

-Skip ahead 3 months-

The explosions utterly destroyed the school and killed hundreds. The Heroes and Strike Force were no exception to the loss of some of their members. The aftermath from all of the destruction was excruciating. Not only did the group of governments cancel their support of the school, they also held the Heroes responsible for the deaths of students from all of the respective governments.

Saying that with all of the technologies, psionics and magicks at the Heroes disposal, this should not have happened. This, in turn, cause the surviving Heroes and Strike Force members to be come outcasts. And not only from the governments but also from the super community, as well. The explosions and resulting deaths had been made known worldwide and this caused supers as a whole to be more publicly revealed than they ever were.

They were completely banned from ever opening any more schools, teaching any one, and they were also banned from using their powers in public lest they be seen as breaking the law and arrested right on the spot. In the end, what was left of the teams were forced to disbanded.

As if to add insult to injury, supers were being murdered. When the now defunct Heroes tried to work to remedy this, they were all arrested. They were guilty of nothing seeing as they did nothing but speak to each other. However, the registration of supers was made mandatory after this and it was now illegal to have unregistered super powers.

The killings continued and almost nothing was done about it. That is, until a group of supers, calling themselves The Crusaders, rose up. They were nothing like the Heroes. They cared nothing for the law and did what they had to do to save fellow supers. They also had no problem using lethal force against anyone who threatened them or stood in their way. They set up an underground community for supers and many are being saved by them. They also extended an invitation to anyone who wanted to help them in their crusade.

Whoever is killing supers is unknown. The former Heroes are still trying to figure out what happened at the school. Will anyone join The Crusaders? That's all up to you.

So how will YOU deal with the aftermath.......

Several months ago

“Alright guys, listen up! We’ll go over the mission objectives once again.” Leon, Strikeforce’s leader, spoke up. He had been sitting in a spare seat of the jet, meditating for the entire trip, and only when DJ announced that the target had been sighted did the teenage hero snap into action. When he was sure he had everyone’s undivided attention, he started speaking again.
“Our target is this seemingly inconspicuous cargo train below us,” Leon began, nodding at DJ, who wordlessly brought up live footage of the train chugging along below them. It seemed like any other train, but of course, that was the idea. “The intelligence brought to us by division A leads us to believe that the people responsible for the Feral kidnappings are using this rail line to transport captives to other cities. According to the intel, there is an 85% chance that this very train we’re following is harboring captives as we speak.” He let this sink in. Liam, who was also a Feral, showed no outward signs of anger at the atrocities Leon spoke of (most likely due to the nanotech suit that covered his entire body), but Strikeforce’s leader could almost sense the fury emanating from him. Liam was only here to supervise Leon, as this was the first time in months since Leon had been on any kind of mission. Andrew had seen to that. But Leon was determined to show Andrew, show everyone, that he had regained the composure he lost in his attempt to kill his former best friend, Lucian.
“What about the remaining percent?” Uriah spoke up. Leon turned to face him.
“The other possibility is that the kidnapping bastards have become aware of our surveillance, and are instead transporting the captives out of the city by truck. Division A volunteered to follow the trucks for us, just in case. In other words, our only responsibility right now is to this train.” Uriah nodded, looking back at the view screen. The area they were flying over was bare and barren, with hardly any trees in sight. It made sense that the kidnappers used this particular line to conduct their ‘businesses. Transporting Ferals by plane simply wasn’t a possibility. While this method was slow, it was far more discreet.
Leon moved over to an equipment rack, and slid a communicator over his ear, indicating that the others should do the same. “Our mission is to investigate the train, disable its security, determine whether or not there are Ferals here, and if there are, transport them safely to the jet using the winches. If there are no Ferals, we disable security and get the hell out.”
There was a soft hissing sound, and then a roaring whoosh, as Leon opened the back hatch of the jet. “The train’s security is impeccable,” he announced, his voice cutting through the sound of the wind over the communicators. “We cannot get too close with the jet, even in stealth mode, so we all winch down. The jet’s secondary security will activate the second we touch down, so let’s all sync up so we land together - All except Liam. Is it ready?”
“The update just finished.” Liam answered, as an indicator inside his helmet flashed green. “The suit now has complete remote control over the jet.
Leon nodded. “When everyone else is about the land, move the jet out of firing range and back into stealth mode, then join us. I want you to be the first inside, looking for the captives.
“OK! Is there any questions?” Leon looked around, making eye contact with each one of his teammates. Apart from Liam, there was also Caleb, Uriah, DJ and Samantha. The others were either still recovering from Pintar’s latest assault, or else assisting the even less manned division A, led by Zero and Vincent Adal. Leon had decided, after a few days consideration, that this team would best suit the mission objectives and everyone else had agreed. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?
“No questions? Good.” Leon said, flashing Sam a brief smile. “Strikeforce, move out!” and just like that he leaped, not even bothering to grab a winch, instead letting the suction of the jet blow him straight out. “YAH-F*CKING-HOOO!!” he shouted, but his voice lost in the rush of wind as he spiraled through the air.
“Crazy bastard,” DJ muttered as he secured himself to a winch, and launched out of the jet with the others, save Liam, in a much more controlled manner.
There was a small explosion of power as Leon righted himself, and started zooming towards the others. The meditation on the trip over had paid off. He harbored no illusions about keeping pace with the jet, but after months of training, he was easily able to catch up to the train. “I heard that.” He said over the communicator, in a mock chiding voice.
“Good, can’t have not you thinking you’re a crazy bastard.” DJ quipped.
“Oh, yea?” Leon shot back, but before he could say anything else, the group landed together, and everything changed. The second their feet touched the top of the train, and the winches automatically unclamped themselves, all hell broke loose. Along strategically placed vents in the roof of the train, gun turrets began popping up and sighting their targets. Leon flexed his fingers and blew two of the turrets to pieces before they could begin firing. As one, the others leaped into action. Caleb and DJ dived to the ground as Uriah did his best to deflect the hailstorm of bullets that flew their way. Meanwhile, Sam had gathered the power of darkness around her, and in one swipe, cut the remaining turrets to ribbons.
But this was not the end of it. Mechanical arms began popping up from under the lip of the train’s roof on the sides, each supporting its own turret. Caleb got to his feet and sliced two of the arms away with well-aimed lasers shot from his hands, or perhaps it was the glowing power of luck that DJ has summoned with his shamanistic powers that spread to cover the roof the carriage. Leon was silently impressed. Clearly, he had not been the only one training hard these last few months. Leon moved to take down another turret, but a gun shot from above blew it right off the arm. Liam suddenly shot into view, grabbing the mechanical arm and swinging it down towards the side of the carriage. There was another gunshot, and Liam was inside, shards of steel flying in his wake.
Inside, all was dark, but Liam’s suit instantly responded to the change in light and switched to night-vision. What he saw, the monkey boy did not like. There was nothing living in sight. The train’s security had prevented an external scan, but after a quick examination, Liam could tell there were no life forms anywhere on this train, save for the other members of Strikeforce up above. And then he saw them. Everywhere on the train. On the floors, the walls and ceilings. Everywhere. Numbers going backwards - A countdown.
“Liam! What’s going on?” Leon’s voice sounded through the communicator. Liam opened his mouth to respond, but then he heard something move behind him. Impossible? No. Only one thing could fool the suit’s sensors. Liam began to shout, but he was stopped violently by a flash of light that hit him with tremendous force, blowing him through the roof straight into Leon, who was standing above. The two tumbled across the roof. Leon slid forward like a baseball player and grabbed Liam’s tail just in time to stop the monkey boy flying off the end of the train. Liam leaped back up, landing lightly on his feet.
“We have to leave, now!” he said to Leon, his voice tinged with real fear. “The trains rigged to explode! We have minutes!”
“But who attacked you?” Leon asked, bewildered, watching as Liam’s suit began to melt, revealing the youthful face and the white fur that surrounded it. Liam’s eyes were as fearful as his voice.
“It’s Ghost Squadron.” He said quietly, looking away. “There’s no one else it could be.”
Leon nearly blanched. “Call the jet back!” he said, shaking Liam by the shoulders. “Now!”
“I can’t,” Liam said, even more quietly. “The suit’s busted; it will take a while to – “
“LOOK OUT!” Caleb shouted, somewhere in front of them. They turned, just in time to see a blur of heat, and then a man, materialize at the other end of the train. There was no mistaking that armor, even less so the laser sword dangling at the hip. Ghost himself had appeared before them.

“Strikeforce! Lay down your arms and surrender at once!” Ghost’s voice was just as cold and callous as Leon remembered. “You are in grave violation of protocol. You will all appear before the council for your transgressions.”
“What the heck is that in his hands?” Whispered Sam over the communicator. Ghost was holding what appeared to be portable linear cannon, larger than Sam’s whole body, and it was aimed right at the group.
“I have no idea, but it sure as sh*t did a number on my suit.” Liam muttered, scratching at his exposed face.
Leon paid no attention to the others. “Strikeforce division S has no limits on its jurisdiction, Ghost.” He said, loud enough for the older hero to hear. “And I’m sure your precious council will love to hear how you attacked one of our members without warning.”
“The monkey is not officially a member of your team, Leon Astra.” Ghost replied smoothly. “Tell your group to stand down, now, or I will open fire. Quickly - This train is about to explode.”
“All according to plan, I bet!” Leon retorted, an edge of bitterness is his voice. “Is it company policy for your superiors to sabotage our work as much as super-humanly possible?”
“I had nothing to do with this,” Ghost said, a bite of impatience creeping past his calm demeanor. “This is your last warning. STAND DOWN!”
“You’re full of sh*t,” Liam said, finally catching on to Leon’s plan to stall. It was only a matter of time before the suit rebuilt itself. After that, Ghost would have do deal not only with Strikeforce, but the full power of the jet as well. “There is no way you came here just to apprehend us. What’s really going on?”
“I have no reason to answer that,” Ghost said, sighing. “I warned you kids,” He added, before opening fire.
“URIAH!” Leon shouted, but Uriah had already begun to move, diving straight toward the blast of the light that flew towards the group. For a split second, it looked like Uriah could not handle it, but then with a loud sizzling sound, the ball of light bounced back towards Ghost, who disappeared in a flash, dropping the cannon in the process. It clattered off the train and was immediately crushed under the wheels. Ghost reappeared, this time with a pistol in hand, and fired two shots at Uriah, who deflected them off to the side. Ghost cocked his head, as if amused with Uriah’s display of power, but he could try anything else, Sam appeared before him in a rush of black smoke.
“You aren’t the only one here who can teleport,” she snarled, a wisp of darkness snapping forward and tugging the gun out of ghost’s hand. They both disappeared at once. What followed was a thoroughly confusing scuffle, as the two disappeared and reappeared up and down the train, others completely powerless to do anything but watch them, Sam attacking with tendrils of darkness, Ghost with his bare hands.
They suddenly reappeared, Sam wearing a grimace of triumph as Ghost lay unmoving, wrapped in chains of darkness at her feet. “How dare you try to kill us!” she shouted at him, her fury taking over as the darkness around her grew to envelop them both. What was happening inside was anyone’s guess, but it definitely didn’t sound pleasant. Random tendrils of darkness shot out, pulverizing the rising rock formations on both sides of the train, but strangely missing Leon and the others. Even in the throes of her rage, Sam clearly knew what she was doing.
A loud scream issued from the inside of the dark sphere, which collapsed immediately afterwards. Ghost was standing over Sam, his laser sword now in hand, and glowing red. “Damn witch!” he muttered, but his voice was unheard over the sounds of outrage from the members of Strikeforce. DJ rushed forward and seized the arm holding the laser sword, but with a move so fast it was imperceptible, Ghost shrugged the alien off. Liam, moving with even greater speed, tackled Ghost head on, grabbing the laser sword by the hilt and throwing it off the train. As the two rolled around, Sam slowly got to her feet. She had a deep cut in her shoulder from the laser sword, but she was already beginning to heal herself. Leon could see the muscle and bone underneath. “Bastard!” he swore, starting towards Ghost, but a hand stopped him. It was Caleb.
“Leon, up above!”
“What now!” Leon snapped, glancing skyward. His jaw dropped. Several black shapes were flying towards them at terrific speed. As they got closer and closer, Leon recognized their shape.
“Attack drones.” Caleb said, guessing what Leon was thinking. “How much power and wealth do these kidnappers have?”
“Forget them!” Leon said. “We attack Ghost, now!”
“No!” Sam said, looking at Leon. “Leave Ghost to us. You have to take the drones out. You’re the only flyer.” The truth of her words sank in, but Leon was still furious. He shot up into the air without another word, moving to intercept the drones. They began to open fire on him, but with some well-timed shockwaves, he was able to throw the attacks off.
Meanwhile, back on the train, Liam and Ghost were having it out with unmatched ferocity. In a fair fight, the monkey boy reckoned he could best the soldier in hand to hand combat, but Ghost was teleporting around the train with such speed that not even Liam’s highly developed reflexes could keep up. In a few seconds, Ghost had knocked Liam backward with a well-placed kick to the face. For a moment, Liam thought the attack had blinded him, but then he realized that his suit was starting to crawl its way back over his face. It had finally repaired itself. DJ and Caleb both attacked Ghost simultaneously, and Liam used the time to issue quick mental commands to the jet. It shimmered into view, its shadow dominating the battlefield. A gun turret slid out of a compartment on its underbelly, and began firing on the drones Leon had not yet managed to destroy.
Ghost threw both Caleb and DJ off without much difficulty. He looked up at the jet, then back at Liam, putting two and two together. He started towards Liam, but was suddenly was snatched from behind by a fast moving blur – Leon. They shot to the far end of the train, and Leon let go, clearly intending to throw Ghost off the train altogether. The soldier, however, regained his senses and teleported at the last second, grabbing on to the ladder at the end of the last carriage.

At Liam’s command, the jet descended, and the winches shot out once more. “Go!” Leon ordered, turning back to face Ghost, who had righted himself. “I’ll deal with him.” The others stared at him, but Liam nodded, lifting Sam like she weighed nothing, and grabbing hold of a winch. The others did the same, whispering words of encouragement before being pulled away by the jet.
Ghost chuckled. “You want to challenge me yourself, boy? When I subdue you, Strikeforce’s leader, the others will be forced to attend tribunal.”
“That’s not going to happen, Ghost.”
“Oh! I see. You want to let an exploding train take us both down? Don’t think I haven’t been counting the seconds. You have less than a minute left, so give up this display and surrender!”
“Never!” Leon shouted. Something long, black and metallic shot out from the sleeve of Leon’s jacket, and without any further hesitation, he attacked.
Back on the jet, the others were all recovering. “Keep the hatch open,” Liam said, calm once more now that most of the group was out of danger. “Give Leon a chance to fly in!”
“Something tells me Leon isn’t going to retreat,” DJ replied. He was pointing at the view screen. Everyone looked, amazed at the high definition display of Leon and Ghost. The fight had escalated beyond what any of them had seen yet. Leon was swinging his new weapon, a nanotech serpent, like a madman, firing shockwave after shockwave at Ghost, who was doing his best not only to teleport out of the way of Leon’s assault, but get closer to him too. It was a close thing. Leon seemed unable to hit Ghost, but at the same time, the sheer amount of power he was putting out prevented Ghost from getting anywhere near him.
“He’s fighting desperately.” Liam observed. “In a few more seconds Ghost will have him, unless we -”
“No, look!” DJ exclaimed, cutting Liam off. On closer inspection, there definitely seemed to be a method in Leon’s madness. His attacks were erratic, but after each swing, he moved a step towards the end of the train, until he was standing on the edge of second to last carriage. Ghost suddenly appeared behind Leon, the closest he had gotten so far, but Leon was ready. With a backward swing Leon’s shockwave sliced through the air, forcing Ghost to teleport once again, this time to the end carriage, exactly where Leon wanted him. With a yell, Strikeforce’s leader whirled around, his arm coming up and down again, cracking the snake like a whip.
Like all of Leon’s more powerful attacks, the effect was thunderous. The back carriage tilted, separating entirely from the rest of the train and tipping off its wheels. Ghost realized his mistake at the last second, but before he could teleport to safety, he was thrown sideways away from the falling carriage. The explosives planted on the carriage could no longer take the strain, and detonated ahead of schedule, creating an explosion of impressive magnitude. Leon clapped his hands together, diverting the expanding flames away from the rest of the train with another shockwave. Knowing he had only a few seconds left before the rest of the train exploded, he launched himself into the air, heading towards the jet.
He was not so lucky, however. Ghost flashed before him, and with a near jaw-breaking punch, sent Leon flying off course, above the jet, instead of into its hatch. Another teleport and Ghost was on him again, kicking him down until they both collided with the top of the jet. As the both rolled towards the engines, Ghost made a dive to grab him. ’Strange,’ Leon thought, even as he tried to twist out of the way. ’Why didn’t he just grab me and teleport us both away… Of course! He can’t teleport others, only himself! I’ve got you now, you bastard!’
In a move that caught Ghost by complete surprise, Leon lashed out with the snake, which hooked onto the jet with its fangs and propelled Leon towards the soldier. The two crashed together, and Leon wrapped his arms around Ghost. “Flip the jet!” he shouted into his communicator, hoping to all that was good that it was still functioning. “Turn it over, NOW!”
A second later, the two were suddenly in open space. As the jet righted itself above the pair, Leon shot down towards the train, keeping a tight grip on Ghost, who was struggling to get free. “What’s wrong, can’t teleport all of a sudden!?” Leon taunted, letting go, flipping back and unleashing no less than four shockwaves, one from each limb, directly at Ghost. A four way thunderclap at point blank range. Ghost didn’t stand a chance. He shot through the air like a missile, smashing through the roof of the train, and halfway through its floor, too. The soldier’s helmet fell off, and he cast his gaze around. His eyes widened at the number on the nearest timer. 00:01…
It was unlike anything Leon could have created himself. The heat alone drove him back, and the shockwave of the explosion sent him flying upwards. After righting himself in mid-air, he cast his gaze around. He found what he was looking for fairly quickly - A black shape, flashing away from the explosion as top speed. ’So he did survive… A draw. Strikeforce’s best against a single enemy, and it ended in stalemate. If even one more of Ghost’s team had been here, we would all be dead, or captured.’ It was a bitter thought, but Leon did not have time to contemplate on it, for quite suddenly, his power failed him. Finally exhausted of the energy he gathered on the flight over, he plummeted, until he landed hard on the roof of the jet, which had been brought to a standstill below him. He crawled his way towards the back end, and dropped into the hatch, which closed immediately behind him.
“Are you alright?” It was Sam speaking. Liam and DJ were piloting the jet. Uriah and Caleb were nursing minor wounds. Everyone looked defeated, but also happy to be alive.
“Fantastic,” Leon muttered. “Call the school. Tell them what happened, and tell them that the Crusaders have the green light.”

Crusaders? No, Division A.
Division…
Crusaders…

Thousands of miles away, in the present day, Leon Astra woke with a start.

The sky was a crisp sky blue with fluffy, white clouds sporadically rolling through it. The smell of the reasonably warm summer day had whiffed through the area, along with chirp of birds and the convoluted hum of the audience. Ben took note that there was an undeniable harmony to the picture and the sounds that accompanied it.

The audience members who were in their seats were conversing with one another; the staff members on stage were talking amongst themselves; and the graduates below were impatiently waiting to get this thing over with. Somehow, everything seemed to fit together perfectly. A man dressed in a simple black gown with two white stripes falling down either side of the chest area stepped up the wooden podium and began to speak.

“It is with the greatest of honors that I present this graduating class their Certificates of Completion. This certificate signifies that its receiver has completed the necessary training needed to assimilate into everyday normal life. With this certificate, we know that the receiver has gained control over their unique and impressive abilities. This certificate states that the receiver has endured many long hours of discovering a whole new aspect of themselves. It is with this certificate that you all become sentenced to death.”

All of a sudden, the beautiful, sky blue, summer day turned into a gloomy, red, fiery nightmare. Fire erupted from out of the ground as it began to rip apart. Many of the members of the audience had fallen into the fissures or were incinerated by the flames. The stage where Ben and the rest of the staff were sitting was spared only because the piece of earth that it was resting on had floated into the sky. Everything below had been engulfed in one big fire ball when Ben looked over the edge of the stage.

Everything had happened so fast that the witch had no time to react. When he tried to make a move, Ben couldn’t get up. When he had looked down at himself, he saw that he was chained to his seat. He was a pretty muscular man and combined with his magically induced super strength, the chains should have posed no problem to him. When he had begun to chant a Freedom incantation, he heard an eerie, wail-like laughter. It sounded like several voices muddled together behind the sound of a loud screeching noise. When he looked behind him to see if any of the other teachers and staff were having the same issues, he saw a burning group of people who were tightly holding on to their seats. The way they looked at him gave Ben the sense that they welcomed the fire. As his friends and teammate’s skin bubbled and burned, Ben was yanked out of his seat and off the floating stage to the fire below.

Just before he met the flames that seemed to reach out towards him, everything was extinguished. All of the fire had disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared and the ground was instantly whole again and Ben hit it hard. He felt his insides burst and his bones crush on impact. But that wasn’t what caught his attention. Even though he had hit the ground, he felt as if he were still falling. Not physically falling as he could still feel his crushed body on the ground above him. This felt like his mind, or rather, his spirit had been tossed out of him and was hurtling down below in to complete darkness. He knew that he was falling at an intense speed because the air was being sucked from his lungs and he was no longer able to breathe. Suddenly, he felt himself stop.

Unable to move in complete darkness and still trying to catch his breath, Ben felt himself right and his feet were on firm ground. A speck of light was glowing in the distance and he was drawn to it. He felt him try to make his body move as fast as it could but he felt as if he were running through very thick water. However, the speck of light grew brighter with every step he took until he passed through it and was back where he started: the school’s auditorium.

Everything was as it was: the sky was a beautiful clear sky blue; the warm summer temperature was soothing to his skin; and birds were chirping. He was back in his seat on the stage. His body no longer felt broken and separated from his spirit but whole and strong again. When he looked out into the crowd he noticed that everyone was looking dead at him. He thought that strange and looked behind him. At that moment, some of the audience members began to disappear in a puff of smoke. As he stared at the staff on the stage with him, some of them disappeared in a puff of smoke as well.

Then they began to change in appearance. While there was no longer any fire present, the people left on stage with him looked to be getting burned alive. Their skin bubbled up in some places while turning a charred black in others. And they started to walk towards Ben. He backed away from them, his own teammates. Jordan, Tori, Julian, Jane, Simon and the rest of the staff present on the stage. Not realizing how far back he was, Ben fell off the edge of the stage and again hit the ground hard. The wind was knocked out of him. As he got up, he saw that everyone else who hadn’t disappeared from the audience was changed just like the ones on stage. He saw a charred Naomi walking towards him and not too far from her, an almost unrecognizable DJ in his alien form and fellow witch Daniel who was missing the left side of his body.

As he turned to escape, he was met by what was left of Andy. Just the top half of him from the waste up was crawling towards Ben and the left side of his body was burned so bad that it looked close to ash.

Ben woke out of his sleep with such a start that a pulse of magical energy erupted from him, blasting out all of the windows in his room, shaking the entire house, and setting off several car alarms. His 7 month old daughter Alana was screaming from her room and Katt hopped out of bed to go to her. Ben just sat in the bed, drenched in sweat with his long jet-black hair matted wildly all over his face. This wasn’t the first time he had awakened from a nightmare this way. When Katt came back in the room holding their sniffling daughter, all she could do was look at Ben with a pitying and sorrowful understanding in her eyes. She knew exactly how he was feeling and there was nothing she could do about it.

Andrew Brok sat up straight in his chair with a sudden shout, banging his leg into that of a nearby table, and knocking a glass to the floor with a smash. "Damn," he muttered, although he didn't feel angry. Andrew rarely felt anything as of late.
"Andrew?" a voice sounded from a nearby doorway. A short young man, covered head to muscular tail in white fur, was standing at the far end of the room, looking at what had just happened. "Everything alright, man?"
"Nightmare," Andrew said monotonously, without looking at Liam. This was Andrew's house, previously belonging to his adopted father, Terry Broad. Having been exiled from Russia, Terry had not had much money, but the house was generous enough, and too spacious for just one person. Andrew had allowed the monkey boy to take the second bedroom. After all, the one place they had all called home was now lost, and they had to find whatever place they could now to shelter themselves from the wrath of the rest of the world.
Naturally, this had not stopped Liam from taking night time walks every now and then, but Andrew was a different matter. The spark had left the once proud and powerful Elemental. There were times Liam felt that Andrew's soul had left him completely, but then again, Liam thought occasionally, that wasn't far from the truth. Jane, the swords-master, the fastest being on earth, Andrew's wife, had been one of the worst casualties the school had suffered during the attack. It was through her efforts that more than 100 people were saved, but she had tried to rescue even more, and so had fallen to the power of multiple explosions.
The grief Andrew was feeling was worse than anything Liam had ever seen in his time as a hero. It was hard to live with someone so utterly filled with despair, but he had no choice.
"you had a nightmare?" Liam asked, wondering when the last time was that Andrew had slept at all.
"Ben," Andrew replied, still with the same monotone. "I could feel it."
Liam nodded. This house was a fair distance from where Ben, Katt and their little bundle of joy now lived, but Andrew's powers of detection had few limits, especially when it came to someone as powerful as Hero High's former Dean.
"He must really be feeling it," he muttered, too quiet for Andrew to hear. "Anyways," he continued, louder this time. "I'm going... Shopping, be back soon."
To Liam's great surprise, Andrew gave a grunting snort. It was the closest thing he had done to acknowledge any of Liam's jokes in a long time. The monkey boy smiled, and walked back to his room. There was a black shimmering mass filling the doorway. Liam moved towards it without any hesitation. As he crossed the threshold of his room, the black mass wrapped itself around him, and in seconds, had become the suit everyone was familiar with. He turned and left the house, taking great care to lock the door behind him. Like a shadow, he disappeared into the night.

~~~

Leon woke covered with a thin film of sweat. It was still night, as he could see out the massive window that covered most of the far wall. Even he had to admit, it was a good view. Leon never stayed in one location for more than a few days, a precaution that had saved his life more than once. This time around, he had commandeered the penthouse of a very luxurious hotel. It had everything, even its own fully stocked fridge, which Leon had made sure to make good use of. He rarely had the time to enjoy good food.
Knowing full well that getting back to sleep was futile, Leon forced himself out of bed and into the shower, all the while thinking. 'That dream again.' It wasn't even a nightmare, and yet, Leon always woke up shaking in the wake of its vivid realism. It had been Strikeforce's last mission. Leon had been set to graduate, but before that he had to prove himself worthy, especially after the incident with Lucian. The very thought of that walking corpse had sent Leon's blood boiling, but he mastered himself, and after a few months of excruciating training under Andrew's watchful eye, he came back into his own, more powerful and in control than he had ever been.
Or so Leon had thought. His encounter with Ghost. His inability to do anything but watch as his home was destroyed before his eyes. It was too much for Leon's pride, and he fled the city. For the longest time, Leon struggled with what had happened. Nothing that he had learned as a student and hero could have prepared him for this. There were times Leon wished he could have died too, but before he could even attempt to slip the noose around his neck, someone came to him. Someone with a vision, an idea. Leon was given a chance, not to undo all that had happened, but to salvage the situation. To give all supers the chance they never could before. To change the world forever.
Leon was promised the freedom to do as he wished, how he wished. To find those responsible for all the evil that had been brought down on him. To use his considerable power without limitations. To bring justice to the world. All he had to do in return was swear his loyalty, prove he had the courage to do what was necessary for the sake of justice, and place a mark on his right shoulder, so that all would know who he was - A crusader.
And so Leon became Ouroboros, an enforcer for the Crusaders. Leon worked alone, rarely if ever interacting with others in the organization. He never met his superiors, his orders being sent directly to the phone they had provided him. As long as he followed the instructions sent to him, he was given the right to do what he wished with his free time. It was an arrangement Leon was perfectly happy with. After all, there were other matters he had to attend to.
When Leon was dressed and fed, he made his way to the roof. As he was standing on one of the tallest buildings in the city, the wind was strong, and he could see the lights of the city below him. He was about to sit down and enjoy the view, but his phone began to vibrate. "Oh, hell!" he muttered, fishing it from his jacket pocket and looking at the screen. What he saw was surprising. Come to base
"So much for rooftop relaxation," he sighed, putting the phone away and straightening his jacket. He walked to the very edge of the building, taking a final moment to enjoy the breeze, before he allowed himself to fall over the side. As always, flying was exhilarating. Leon wondered if he would ever get used to the feeling. He pulled up sharply, changing direction to where he knew, and few others did - the nearest Crusader's HQ was located. It was the first time Leon had been called in since he had first joined. 'This ought to be interesting.'

Sam sat in hotel room that she was able to get with her father's money, she hadn't see her parents since the explosion and fought the idea of not seeing them ever again. The teen walked into the bathroom and saw her reflection she had dark rings around her eyes and her skin was sickly pale due to the fact that she hadn't slept for days. Sam sighed and covered the mirror with shadows then splashed herself with cold water, it was another sleepless night filled with tormented dreams of her friends and home being obliterated by explosions. The teen looked to the counter and saw the vile of respite that she had bought days ago, she picked the vile up and stared into it, the drug was made for supers and was unlike the other drugs that burned up inside her due to the magic in her veins but respite was dangerous and could kill a super with just one dosage and there was no telling on how it would effect you since it worked differently and other supers. The teen sat the vile back down on the sink she wasn't ready to die yet although she had thought a lot about it, the world was hell and she was all alone in it. Instead of trying to fall asleep again she threw on her shoes and coat and headed out hoping a walk would help her get out of her head.

Down on the street seemed normal but since the ban on powers crime had sky rocketed and super villains were on the rampage but the humans and their government wanted it this way. Sam thought it was funny how she separated herself referring to non-supers as "humans" and now understood why beings from other planets and dimensions wanted to destroy the human race. They were a self indulgent plague on the face of the universe that destroyed what they could not understand or control so wanting to wipe them out before they could spread was understandable. Sam had given up on the humans having risked her life many times saving them only to get spat on and have her home and friends destroyed. Sam thought back to the mission on the train and the fight with ghost, the government's dog, it had to be more then coincident that bombs on the train that were undetectable by strike force and bombs that were undetectable by the students and staff of Hero High were used on both occasions. Sam found herself thinking about this a lot and when she she felt like giving up on life she would remind herself that she couldn't die until the son of a bitches that were behind the attack were slaughtered. As Sam walked down the abandon street shadow energy begun to seep out from her, she hated that she had to hide herself from the world, "Why should I have to hide when I could destroy this city in one night, they should be the ones hiding from me..." Sam said to herself knowing no matter how mad she got she could never take the life of an innocent.

Just as she finished speaking she heard a car coming from behind her and a quick flash of red and blue lights, Sam rolled her eyes and turned to the street as a black and white pulled up to the curve. Maybe they read my mind, Sam thought and let a giggle slip out at the unlikeliness of that being the case. The teen let her hair drop in front of her face and with a little shadow magic covered most of it and leaned over , "Hello officers...were ya looking for a good time or something?" Sam said in a sexy voice and grind as the two cops looked confused at each other. The driver looked back up to Sam and got out of the car, "you know minors shouldn't be out this late how old are you and what's your name kid?" The officer questioned. "Well how rude of ya, didn't ya mama eva teacha manners, never ask a lady her age," Sam said in a southern accent obviously toying with the man. The officers rage was apparent, "Alright little girl we'll just get this sorted out at the police station then we'll see how funny you are then," the man said grabbing at Samantha's arm but his hand would just pass through it. "What the... a super!" the man cried and she could hear his partner get out of the car. Sam phases back a few feet away from the man, "Catch me if ya can coppa," she said and laughed as she faded into the shadows. Sam appeared on the roof top near by and looked down on the man stumbling back and frantically reach for his radio, it seemed the only amusement she got now days was messing with cops and scaring humans she knew she it was wrong but it helped with her forget for a little bit.

"They're going to find us eventually." Pryce leaned against the wall, tracing his eyes over every inch of the room. It was a sparse place, with no windows or doors. At least, no obvious ones. Shelves lined each wall, meant to store quite a few treasures, but they had been empty for years now. There was next to no furniture save a few folding chairs and a single cot, though a new mattress had been added recently. The Shadowman's hideouts weren't exactly made for living in. Ever since the attacks on the school a lot of people, especially Supers, went into hiding. Pryce and Bennu were among them, and having an expert thief for a grandfather had a few advantages.

Pryce continued scanning the room, his gaze lingering on the empty shelves. He felt sick imagining what used to be there sometimes. Priceless treasures, stolen by his grandfather, never to be seen again. Until he got the wrong one. Pryce finished his sweep on the the only artifact still in the room, then turned to look over himself. His skin was still pale, thanks to a life in the dark, but a least he was recognizable as human again. Hadn't been that way he was a kid, thanks to the Blank Jewel hanging on the wall.

"If we're lucky, we won't need to hide for long," Bennu said, interrupting Pryce's thoughts and drawing him back to the present. She tied her hair back into its usually ponytail, then traced her fingers around a point in the wall until until she found the sliding panel. With a deft movement she pushed it aside and stepped halfway through. "You gonna come with?" she asked casually.

"People are trying to kill us," Pryce huffed.

"Yeah, and they haven't managed it yet." Bennu gave a mischievous half-smile, then relented. "They're scared, Pryce. We've gotta show 'em why they shouldn't be." The smile was back, and then Bennu was gone, out into the night.

Pryce sighed loudly. "Alright, I'm up," he said wearily.