We Are One 2.0

[Gunneh]

"Stand back, Hatter," a frightened voice called from behind the black ski mask. "I'm not afraid to waste everyone in this place, and that includes you!" The near stutter in the man's voice brought a smirk to his face and a deep laugh from his chest. You see, the Mad Hatter isn't like other heroes in the city if he could even be called a hero at all. e was just a slight bit tetched in the head, a little insane in the membrane and he was probably even less worried about the lives of the hostages than this man said he was.

"I've no doubt of that, sonny boy," the Hatter replied, one smooth white hand gliding to the wide brim of his hat, his fingertips tracing the edge as his eyes never left the gunman, "but I must insist that you put the weapon down in any matter. You see," his voice was silky smooth, his walk almost hypnotic, "this world is a difficult place to survive in. One could even say that, to survive, you must be....mad as a hatter. Fortunately, I am, but unfortunately for yourself...well...you are not."

A few more steps closer and the smirk broke into a grin. The gunman was frozen in his tracks, his gaze transfixed upon the Hatter as he advanced. Suddenly, he's in arms reach and he takes full advantage of it, his hand wrapping around the barrel of the weapon with a nearly inhuman speed as he yanked the weapon away from the gunman and turned the sights on its previous owner. The gunman's hands shot up above his head and he became visibly more shakey. "N-n-no," the man stuttered, "please don't kill me! I'm only doing this to pay for my mother's operation! Come on, man!"

"The law is the law, my good sir," the Hatter replied, pulling the rifle in closer against his shoulder. "Granted, I'm not usually one to follow the law to the tee, but I'm allowed a double standard. Mad as a hatter and all that, you know." No other words were spoken as he pulled the trigger tightly, letting three bullets spray into his flesh from his wait to his nipples. The body convulsed for a moment as it fell to the ground, but then the life leaked from the gunman slowly. The Hatter reached down and grabbed a handful of ski mask and yanked it off of the man's head, the smile leaving him just as quickly as it came. The smooth skin and baby-like features of a young man no more that 19 years of age stared up at him. "Stupid boy," he said, throwing the mask down on the man's face. "Fucking stupid, stupid, STUPID boy!"

He growled and snatched up the bag of money that laid next to the young man and turned towards the door. An old man in a security guard's uniform walked up to him with arms wide open, as if he were waiting for the money. "One moment," Hatter replied, opening it up and snatching out twenty $1,000 stacks of bills and tossing the rest to the old man. He stuffed the stacks into his pockets and threw up a wave to the wide eyed old man, his grin finally returning. Hell, he even whistled a happy tune as the sunlight struck him in the eyes. He pulled a pair of rose tinted sunglasses from his jacket pocket and slipped them on in one fluid motion.

Century City was bustling on this cool spring afternoon, but he couldn't sit and admire the weather for all of too long. The car, a jet black Aston Martin Vanquish, sat along the curb directly in front of the bank. He chuckled to himself and slid into the front seat, his eyes briefly meeting the gaze of the blonde in the driver's seat. "Drive, dearest," he said sweetly, rolling his window down in enough time to see the cadre of police pull up and rush into the building. Another chuckle and then he pulled the hat off of his head and tossed it into the back seat.

"You're going to sit back for the rest of this, sir," she asked.

"Why not," he replied coolly, "I've done my part and I'm exhausted. Might as well let ol' Tommy boy take it from here. Head towards that dreadful place that Fiere calls a place of business."

[Inerio]

Madeline Conner sat, in a rather bored fashion, in the front seat of a rather ritzy black sports car she hadn't been arsed to know the name of. However, she did know it was ritzy enough that Hatter told her should she scratch the paint she'd have to disembowel herself. Lucky for her being inhuman helped with driving. She wasn't distracted by fatigue and all the other fixings that made being human oh so troublesome.

Granted, she'd been quite distracted when "Paparazzi" came blasting on the radio. But, that was neither here nor there.

Like "heroes" she and Hatter were part of an on hand team that ventured out in the city to stop wrong doings. Well, if it benifited them. In this particular instance Madeline found herself sitting outside of a bank. As usual, Hatter would most likely take a sum of money as "compensation" for saving their lives and money. In Maddie's opinion whatever Hatter took was a small price to pay to rescue someone from mortal peril. Then again, she'd come to find that most people don't appreciate life until they die.

Especially when you get brought back as an android dedicated to serving a madman.

Hatter slid into the seat, tossing off his hat nonchalantly. Flooring on the gas pedal Madeline backed up and made a sharp and possibly dangerous turn to the left into an alleyway had another car been in the way. With a steady hand and a careful eye Madeline drove down four or five path's that may have been less than a foot wider than the car. While she couldn't be arsed to care that the car she was now driving at 201 mph down a sidewalk had six speed transmission or that it had 520 horsepower she did know that if it got ruined she'd get ruined right along with it. Except in a slow torturous manner. Had she still been human she'd be inclined to think Hatter was a sadist, but there weren't many others put through horrific episodes like Maddie was.

Which, in it's own manner made her feel special. An odd kind of special, a begrudging special. But, still special regardless. Her eyes left the road for a moment, meeting her reflecting, then looking over to Hatter.

"I hope you've transferred over to Thomas or however the hell you two switch places." Maddie had always imaged the act of transferring personas to be a lot like riding an elevator or passing one another on the stairs. However, she couldn't be sure seeing as for all she knew she only had one personality. Well, that and an alter ego. But, that didn't quite count when looking at someone with a serious mental illness. "Because, I'm not going to take you, Hatter, into Feire's job. That would just be cruel and unusual punishment."

The blond turned into a parking garage. The sound of sirens blared in the background. While driving off like a drunken bat hyped on speed straight out of the devil's asshole may not have been the best idea it did get them to where they were going. She could only hope no one saw them get to the garage.

The parking garage was a dimly lit area, dank and damp. Her mother, when she was younger, had once made a rather dark joke saying it was rape central. Maddie was inclined not to believe so, considering the fact that almost everything made an echo within the garage. If someone was getting robbed or raped, you'd know. A good criminal would wait it out for them to travel into the streets. Taking the key out of the ignition she turned to Hatter.

"Are you Thomas yet?" She asked in an almost haughty fashion. "Say something only Thomas would say."

[Gunneh]

He smiled softly and took her hand, his eyes locking onto her own as if he were looking directly into her soul. "Maddie," he said, "from the first time I laid eyes on your battered form on the street that night, your blood stained hair shining hauntingly in the pale moonlight, I knew that I needed you in my life. I guess what I'm trying to say is...well....I love you, Madaline."

Maddie's lips pulled taught into a frown.

"Hatter, I don't think Thomas would reminisce about how he found me mangled in the gutter." Her tone suggested she was anything but amused. "Now let Thomas out, we're running late."

"Fine," Hatter replied playfully, "I can see that you're absolutely adamant about avoiding an absolutely adventurous outing with yours truly, so I'll let Tommy come back up. Just remember, Maddie, that he will NEVER be as much as fun as I am, and you know it." His eyes closed tightly and a grin spread wide across his face. "He might be the one that your heart belongs to, and you might be the owner of his, but I'll always be that annoying third wheel. Only problem is, you love me as well. What a conundrum, dearest."

Madeline, still scowling, closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. She let out a disgruntled sigh and shook her head as she slouched back into the drivers seat. Hatter was right, as he usually was. Though, that didn't change the fact that he'd have to be kept under control. While he may have been. . . Endearing, in his own manner he was still a danger to the public. He had no conscious, and she had to kept him under control. Which was hard, considering her obedience. The sooner Feire was back in the group the easier the one man crowd control would be. Turning back to Thomas, who seemed to be in a daze, she slapped his cheek lightly.

"Come on hun, we have to pick up our little Kitty cat."

Tomas eyes sot open and he ran a hand trough the messy mop of hair atop his head. "Of course, babe," he said softly, Hatter's manic grin suddenly being replaced by a smile much sweeter than anything the Hatter could ever even think to muster. "Question, though....Why do I feel as if I've eaten a pound of jelly beans and other assorted candies?"

"Hatter decided to have a 'small' snack on the way to the bank," Maddie replied.

"Of course," he said softly. "That man is going to make me obese one of these days...." His voice faded out and he sighed, throwing the door open and stepping out slowly. He stretched and shut the door, his gaze moving around the parking garage as if he were looking for something or someone. No one was here, no one had followed them, but he couldn't help but be a little paranoid. Finally, a calm rushed over him and he smiled.

The walk from the parking garage to the Lucky Star wasn't long, but he made sure they walked slower today. For some reason, he felt off for some reason. He wrapped an arm around Maddie's waist and held her close to him as they walked through the door into the cafe. It was hustling like always and he spotted Fiere in her maid outfit directly. "There's our little kitty cat," he said pointing her out from across the room. "Chesh," he called out, hoping to catch her attention, "get your ass over here!"

[Guest]

Busy busy busy! She might as well have been the white Rabbit with how late she was to work today. All she could do was apologizing profusely to the manager and pray he didn’t fire her. Of course, he wouldn’t dare dream of firing pretty little Fiere. She was their best waitress and she was also the cutest. That girl could rake in more money in one day than most of those other girls could in two weeks. After her meeting with James, the blond haired girl rushed out onto the floor and she began to daily routine of charming customers and taking orders.

The day seemed to drag on to Fiere. She hadn’t heard from Thomas/Hatter or Madeline all day. She hoped they were okay. Of course, every time sirens went wailing by, she envisioned the Hatter had gone completely mad and Madeline was right at his side. The poor Cheshire Cat was always worried those two were going to get into trouble without her. If they ever did, she knew Hatter was to blame. Madaline couldn’t deny him anything he asked for, so she would just have to go along for the ride.

As she moved among the tables, her ears would twitch now and again. That caused some of the patrons to stare and ask how she made them do that. Used to these kinds of questions, Fiere told them that her father was a mechanical genius and he had even made a small mechanism that made her tail move as well. All of the little Japanese wanna-be’s love it and more than a few had asked her for their own pair. Fiere would give them a price and they would all look at her in shock and pout like children who had been denied a sucker.

Fiere found herself “entertaining” a few teenage boys who came in here to stare at the girls. Of course, who wouldn’t stare when they were forced to wear these small, skimpy maid-like outfits that were hot pink and white with a damn ribbon on the chest. They screamed “rape me!” Not to mention, these were the kinds of guys who had cat-girl fetishes, so it was only natural they would pick Fiere to harass. She was the only one around here who was a living, breathing, authentic “cat-girl”.

“So, Fiere, what are you doing tonight after work?” One guy asked, his hand moving dangerously close to her ass. She glared at him with deep purple eyes and slapped his hand away from her bum.

“I’ve got plans already love.” She shook her finger at him as he tried for her ass once more. It was then her salvation hollered her code name across the room. Looking over, she spotted Hatter and Hare. With that signature Cheshire grin, the girl ran over to the two, completely leaving the table of boys alone and with angry looks on their faces. Her tail began to wag in a very happy manner as she hugged them both and led them to an empty table. “Be right back guys.”

Fiere ran back to James’s office and told him she was taking her break. He nodded and shooed her away with his hand. Still grining, the Cheshire Cat returned to her Wonderland friends and she sat across from Madaline. “So, I heard a fair share of sirens this morning. You two keeping out of trouble while I’m at work?” Fiere didn’t have to work, but she chose to. Hatter always “made” enough money that all of them could easily live without ever having to work. The only catch was Fiere would have to listen to what Hatter told her to do and she wasn’t down for that. He was a little too sadistic for her taste.

[Gunneh]

"I stayed out of trouble, Maddie stayed out of trouble but I can't promise the same for Hatter," he said with a smile. "However, we do have enough cash on hand though to upgrade our equipment significantly, plus just enough to do...well...whatever else we want to do." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, his gaze drifting across the cafe.

It amazed him at how many people actually came to this place. Apparently, it was considered cool to act as if you were Japanese, but he never really had seen it the same way. His eyes came across the table of guys that Fiere had been waiting on prior to her coming over to them. One man in particular shot him the dirtiest look he had ever gotten, but he just smiled. Wait, was that his smile or Hatter's?

He wants to rip your heart out, Thomas, Hatter said within them. Why don't you go over there and pay him that same courtesy before he has a chance to do it to you? It'd be easy, you know...just take him outside and over towards the parking garage-

Stop it, Hatter, Thomas replied. There's no way that I'm going to sink to that level.

Well why not, Hatter asked. They've -all- been making undeserved passes at the Cheshire Cat, and you know absolutely none of these dirtbags deserves to get in you kitty cat's pants, do they?

Less pigishness, but I would have to agree with you, Thomas said. I guess there's a first time for everything, huh?

Quite right, my good friend, Hatter said. Well, if you're not going to fix it one way...fix it another.

What do you mean?

Buy it. You've got 20 grand in your pocket.

For some reason, it clicked. It all seemed logical, and yet...wow....He was going to get chastised when they all got back to the mansion later that night. He stood with no particular purpose and made his way towards the office, feeling Maddie and Fiere's eyes in the back of his head.

James was at his desk much like he always was. Thomas didn't exactly know him by name, but he had spoken to the man a couple of times. He threw a nod towards Thomas and Thomas returned it. "Hey James," he said, taking a seat in front of the man's desk.

"What's up, Tommy," he replied.

"Well, I've got a proposition for you, Jimmy."

"What's that?"

"Well....I want to buy the cafe," Thomas said.

"You....you want to buy the Lucky Star? Just...on a whim," James asked.

"That's right. So how much are you asking for it." His hands found their way into his coat pockets, his fingertips grazing across the bills.

"Um...well....I'm...not sure," James replied. "Business has been down slightly, and it's been harder to get by on the rent.....I have been meaning to find a new apartment...."

"I'll tell you what, Jimmy," Thomas replied, pulling $10,000 out of his pocket. "$10,000, straight up. We'll deal with the paperwork some other time, and you can stay on as the manager. One thing, though: You make Fiere a manager as well and keep her off the floor as much as possible, savvy?"

James was wide-eyed and speechless, but he managed to force a nod. Thomas smiled and tossed the money onto the desk before turning and making his way back to the table he had been sitting at. He was met with questioning looks, but he just motioned towards the door. "I own this place, now. You get the rest of the day off. In layman's terms, let's go home, boys and girls."

[Edon]

Jeremiah squeezed his gauntleted fists, staring out across the cityscape. The hero sighed softly as he stepped to the edge of the rooftop. He could feel the cool spring wind buffeting against him as the police chattered away in his ear. It was mid-afternoonas he listened intently to the various police transmissions. After a few seconds something caught his attention.
"We've been cut off from the grid and the emergency power is dwindling!" shouted a panicked man's voice. A loud rabble was rising in the background as cell bars were drummed and pounded on by the inmates.
"Requesting immediate back up, there's going to be a riot, oh god ohgodohg-" the transmission cut out and faded to static. Jeremiah's stomach jumped into his throat as he mulled the information over in his head. Without thinking any further about it he slid the visor of his helm down with one huge gloved fist and pulled the belt holding his sword taught across his waist. Once secure he pooled his energy into his suit, pushing and straining to polarize and lift it. The air around him crackled and buzzed with energy as his feet slowly left the ground. His body tingled as the hero drifted slowly into the air. He lunged forward suddenly, lines of electricity sparking behind him as he sped towards the prison. As he flew he could feel his hands shaking and his whole body seemed to tingle. This wasn't from the flight or electricity, it was his excitement building and welling up from within him.

It had taken only a matter of minutes to arrive and several other police cars were gathered around the front of the prison. Lines of inmates were being directed into parked buses, dozens of police surrounding and supervising them. As the Centurion landed a police captain came rushing up to him. Before the captain even spoke the hero was already surveying the scene. Several of the prison blocks were smoking and the ground within the barbed fences was covered in trash and broken furniture. It was a nasty scene that only seemed to be getting worse.
"Glad to see you Centurion, I need you to move in with SWAT and get the power online. We're moving the non-violent criminals out of the facility and some of the more aggressive ones we were able to get our hands on. But, at least seventy percent of the prison population is still inside. Some of them may even be armed! Luckily the prison only carries rubber ammunition..." Explained the Captain, his hands were noticeably shaking and his features were obviously gaunt with worry.
"I understand." Growled Jeremiah, in a deep and soft tone. The simple response seemed to calm the captain as he stepped away silently. He slowly manuvered around the gathered police cars to the armored SWAT members, each with a rifle in hand. They were standing in a semi-circle around the hood of a police car, several maps and graphs strewn across it. When the leader of the squad noticed Centurion approaching he motioned for his men to part, so they did. Each man nodded to the armored hero approaching and he returned the gesture in turn. Without any sort of introduction or speech the SWAT leader continued to explain the plan to breach the prison.

They were inside cell block D, the only one standing in the way of the prison generator. The generator building it's self was at the center of the prison, and cell block D had been the least populated of the blocks surrounding it. So it was an obvious choice for the SWAT to pick as their entry point. Each man on the team, Centurion included, was tense with anticipation. It only took a matter of minutes for the first of the prisoners to arrive. Each carried a bright orange riot shotgun. The prisoners stood at the far end of the prison block, a simple hallway with barred rooms to each side. There were three of them, advancing slowly behind a food cart with a thick metal door tied to it. Centurion motioned for the SWAT to take cover as he focused his energy to his palms. The air seemed to crackle and spark around him as the hero dumped more and more energy into his hands. The trio of prisoners noticed this and began to charge, firing wildly at the armored Centurion. The rubber rounds bounced harmlessly off his body as he finished his charge, looking up at the barreling cart and men behind it. Centurion released all of the charge at once, blasting the cart backwards with a scalding gold bolt and scattering the three inmates across the ground. The SWAT team in turn surged forward, binding and dragging away the inmates as Centurion and the rest moved ahead... The battle for Century Prison had just begun.

[Guest]

It was a nice day. The sun was shining and the air was despite being in a city, nice and clear. It was a great day to be out and about. Well at least it was if you appreciated those things. If you didn't or in the Phantoms case couldn't well then it was merely another day in a long existence. He walked slowly down the street mingling with the crowd. It wasn't very hard after all as he only had to walk through those who got in his way. He walked on and then suddenly felt a brief flash of pain in his side. Someone next to him was wearing a watch with genuine gold in it. The touch of it to him even when out of sync and through clothing began to burn. His clothes in that had even begun to char. He had though by that time moved away and so despite his suit being slightly ruffled he was perfectly fine.

He saw something that was really an everyday event. Some old lady standing beside the busy street waiting to cross it. He began to simply walk by her then he realized. It was a golden opportunity. He hadn't really planned to do anything malicious or destructive today but the unpleasantness of bumping into that person with the gold watch had soured his already rather bleak mood. He decided that he would at least attempt to humor his malicious side and his rather old withered looking body moved forward cautiously toward the old lady. He noted that the cars were going by rather fast and the Phantom smiled. His face twisted for a second as he concentrated and time seemed to slow down. Everyone moved as if they were in molasses or some other thick viscous fluid.

That was as expected and his stride lengthened and he with some effort made his hands manifest fully into the world. It took something out of him to do it. He felt a sudden drain on his energy and he acted quickly to achieve what he had planned to do. He pushed the old lady from behind just as a truck came crawling by to him. Then he relaxed his hold on reality and on time and then truck struck the old woman and there was a great squealing of brakes and several screams from passerby. One particular would be hero tried to grab him and hold on to him only to find his hands pass through the Phantom. He simply kept on walking. Leaving the confused man holding a handful of air. A faint chuckling drifted back from him as he simply walked through the side of a building and disappeared.

Later after several more hours of simply walking through the city he simply walked through the wall of one of the cities more seedy bar type establishments. He was not a big fan of the environment and was thankful that for some reason he was able to still sit down. He sat in the back of the bar and just waited. In truth he was willing to work with charlie primarily because he was bored. It was just part of his life to him but he had figured why not win for once. He had always been on the fringe why not use power to take what you want for yourself, he thought again. He did think but mainly he just waited, the others would show up soon if they actually had a sense of time.

[Inerio]

Having known Thomas for five years(agonizingly long when she thought of Hatter), she could tell when he was having a mental argument. Way back when he used to make utterly ridiculous facial expressions. However, Maddie had rid him of that. Still, that didn't stop some facial movement. His eyebrows usually wiggled an odd amount when he was talking to Hatter. Or, at least when Hatter was getting to him.

Luckily, whatever crisis that was going on in Thom's mind was averted. Madeline let out a small sigh of relief as she played with a wrinkle going down her dress. Life was easy when Thomas fought the good fight. Mostly because it meant she didn't have to get into any sticky situations. Madeline liked to remain stick free. However, what came out of Thomas' mouth next surprised her.

"Oh, how great." She initially responded with a strained smile. The sudden shock had made her forget to blink, giving her a bit of a deer in headlights look for a minute as the customers and staff stared at the man next to her in disbelief. Due to the fact that blinking wasn't a necessity for Maddie she usually forgot it often in dismaying situations. Being snapped out of her state of her state of shock by the sounds of chair legs scrapping the floor Maddie's eyelids opened and closed like a hummingbirds wings.

"Thomas, honey. . ." She began, straining her smile. She scuttled over to him, her heels clacking in short steps due to the restrictions placed upon her by her dress. "Thomas. . . " Her mouth opened, then closed, then opened once more in a fish like manner. "Thomas I. . ." She clamped her jaw shut in order to find the right words. Before meeting Thomas Maddie had once been an outspoken and abrasive person. The "lessons in manners and other sundry etiquette as Hatter had put it had changed that.

"Thomas, you know that as your partner I support and love everything you do." She began, warming her smile and voice. "But. . ." She placed a hand on top of his, cocking her head to the side in an almost erratic manner. "Don't you think that you could have used that money on something a little more. . . . Progressive? I mean, was that necessary darling? At all? Necessary at all?" She repeated a few words, brushing her hair back for a moment and then turning to Feire.

"Feire!" She began, taking the girl off and away by the waist and leading her out of the building. Thomas was a frivolous spender, and Madeline was cheaper than a two dollar whore. Not to mention all the paper work she'd probably wind up filling out. It wasn't as if she was made to do it, but she just didn't trust Thomas with paper work. After all, one minute he was Thomas and signing his name like he should and then the next minute he was Hatter making important documents into paper cranes and lighting them on fire. "Let's go to the car!" She then muttered under her breath. "Far far away from the place that's eventually going to become my responsibility."

[Magix]

It was a day much like any other in this city. There were people out and about, cars driving in the street, and the sun shining bright in an uncloudy sky. Personally Zen, or Shadow as he was often refered to as, would've prefered the sky to be covered with clouds to block the wretched light. Unfortunately it wasn't as he hoped leaving him with two choices. Stick to the dark alleyways or wear a his hood and a mask to cover his face from the light.

Zen, decideding the first wouldn't be any fun, went with the latter of the two. And so he walked down the street covered by his hooded cloak, a pair of black leather gloves, and a custom made mask. The mask resembled the famous picture of Comedy and Tragedy, the left being Tragedy, and the right Comedy. The mask just suited his personality as he found comedy in tragedy.

It was then that he saw a blind couple walking down the street with their seeing eye dogs. What a delightful bit of fun they could be, thought they did seem like a bit of an odd couple. He smiled under the mask as he created a ball of shadows in his hand.

He waited until they finally got to the end of the corner, next to the street. He threw the dark ball past the dogs into traffic. It was funny how they couldn't control their urge to chase the ball. The two stupid dogs dragged their owners directly into the traffic. Screeching tires could be heard for miles and the resulting wreck left the couple and their dogs lying in a pool of blood dead.

With a laugh he took out a gold pocket watch. "It seems I'm late." Just then a few police officers pulled out their guns, ordering his immediate surrender. He just let out a sigh, transforming his body into shadows and escaping with ease. He reappeared outside the bar. Tucking the watch back into his cloak he entered the bar heading straight for the back.

Once in the back he took off his mask and looked at his comrad who had already arrived. He finally just ordered a drink and sat down. "Hello Phantom."

[Squall Reyes]

Smoke rose from the tip of the cigarette to join the rest of the white mist that was forming in his office. All the doors and windows where closed, keeping the room pitch black with the exception of a lamp on at the desk and a light shining on the wall behind the desk. Smoke continued to rise from the large expensive chair as it faced the wall. It occupant admiring the trophies he had hung to the wall, their cases so well kept and clean that they gave off a mirror shine. The almost pristine cases however could not diminish the evil and pain of the trophies it kept. On the top right was a frame which held the blood stained armor that seemed to be stripped right from King Arthur’s court. The label on the bottom read, “The White Knight, Empire City. 2007”

A light chuckle left the chairs dark frame as is occupants mind began to fill with the memories of his battles and victories. The chair suddenly spun around to face the desk and Charlie took a long drag of the cigarette. Reaching for another trophy he kept on his desk, a Diadem, the kind worn by the Roman emperors of old. The tag inside the glass read, “The Emperor, Empire City. 2008” Charlie smiled at this one, this was when he broke the spirits of Empire City. This was when he took over, because the city had no more heroes to save it. Least heroes who could stand up to him. Charlie put the case back down, while snuffing out his cigarette in the ash tray and pushed away from the desk.

Time to get to work he supposed, as he walked to the door in the back of the room. Charlie smiled as a black limo sat already started with a nervous looking driver opening the door for his passenger. Charlie took a moment for himself to stretch as he stretched he looked down at himself and made a mental note to get his suits cleaned when he returned, but he had little time to think about his manner of dress as he had much to do before he met with those two idiots he had under his thumb. First things first though, he had to stop by a very important alley. Charlie took out his pack of Treasurer Cigarettes and began another beautifully tasting puff of its cancer ridden death. Well death for anyone else but him he thought with a chuckle as he got into the limo.

The dark limo pulled up to an alleyway no more than 5 blocks from the Century Prison. It was still early with many of the cities residences still asleep. Except for a few, like the fellow who exited a car the car which had just pulled into the alley as well. He was dressed like a cop, a good enough reason for Charlie to kill him but this cop was special. He was one of the main guards at the Prison, and more importantly, he had a price. Charlie window rolled down as the cop reached the window. “You start it today. I want EVERYONE out. We need this little party to last a while.” Charlie pulled out a large bound wad of hundred dollar bills and handed him one then another. “30 Thousand now. The other 30 when the job is done. And it will be done or you’ll find your badge a trophy on my wall.”

Hours later....

Charlie was an hour late, and he didn’t care those two idiots could wait for him. He had done much work, the riot was well under way and he had marked every building for destruction on a map. As the limo continued through out the city Charlie found himself with a little time to spar as the limo made its way to the bar. With a bored sigh he turned on the TV as he pulled his pack of cigarettes from his coat. “....tury Prision is still in the middle of perhaps the biggest riot of it's long violent history. We'll keep you updated on this breaking story. Moving on, two horrible car accidents involving the elderly and the men whom witnesses are describing as ‘ghosts‘. Witness say they saw th....” As the TV continued the story Charlie crushed the 30 dollar a pack cigarettes in his hand. Charlie slowly pulled a gold ring from his coat pocket and put it on. He did the same with 3 others as he took a deep breath, his body was calm, but his eyes had fire.

Charlie opened the door calmly enough and motioned for the bar man to get out. After a quick nod of acknowledgment the bartender disappeared to the back of the building. Charlie took loud deliberate steps behind the two figures in the back of the bar. "Shadow....Phantom. Please continue your drinks." He said as he approached them his eyes wild with fire. He stood there a few moments, letting the tension build. Then suddenly he let out two punches to the back of their heads, a gold ring covered one for Phantom. He wasn't even sure he hit them, those slippery fuckers, but took a several stops back his chest huffing and puffing in a rage he had held back till now.

“Are you two fucking stupid! What the hell were you THINKING!?” Charlie walked beside them swiping the glasses off the bar causing all manner of nasty crashing sounds. “We are not some run of the mill, purse snatching, OLD PEOPLE KILLING VILLIANS! You not only made the city aware of your presence but you also showed them your god damn POWERS! We are blowing up the buildings of rival crime bosses and citizens alike to show that I are not to be fucked with. That WE are level A bringers of death and destruction. Not some level Z one shot and drop purse snatchers.” Charlie suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out a map of the city with red circles made around several buildings. “The cops and several of the heroes should be busy with the riot I paid at the jail. So you two blow these fucking buildings sky high, and give this city a REAL introduction.”

[Guest]

Ah Hatter. He was always getting into trouble. It never seemed to fail. The purple eyed girl was just about to speak when Thomas got up and walked back towards the office. Her ears perked up and her tail began to wag slowly as she watched him go inside. Those sensitive ears picked up every word of the conversation and that familiar Cheshire grin spread across her face. She watched Madeline get up and soon the girl followed after her. As Thomas came out of the office and back towards the door, he announced he owned the place and she got the rest of the day off.

A loud giggle escaped Fiere and she turned back to the guys who had been hitting on her. As childish as it was, she stuck her tongue out at them and then allowed Madeline to lead her out of the café by her waist. She could hear one of the guys call her something as she left, but Fiere ignored him and continued on with her Wonderland troop. Once the group was outside, she threw herself at Thomas and her slender arms wrapped around him in a tight hug.

“You are the best thing that has ever happened to me!” She told him, kissing his cheek ever so lightly. Thomas and even the Hatter where like her older brother[s]. Fiere looked up to them both and they kept her safe. Of course, if she had been older, she might have looked at them a different way. Even that thought made her ears twitch and her cheeks flush a slight pink. It would be nice to have a lover, but that was something to think about when she was older. Fiere was still a child compared to most and she acted like one as well. Even as mature as she seemed at work and even around Madeline, the Cheshire Cat was very naïve and more innocent than most thought.

Fiere gasped loudly and ran back inside the Lucky Star. She had forgotten her out of work clothes! Oh she could be so scatter brained at times. It took her less than a minute to come back out with her new outfit. “Sorry guys. You know how I can be sometimes.” With a grin on her face, she crawled into the back seat of the Aston Martin and proceeded to change out of her maid outfit and into a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt with the Ace of Spades on the front of it. She took the pink collar from around her neck and replaced it with a black one made of leather. “There. That’s much better.” Even the round pupils of her eyes returned to their normal slit-like state.

As she laid her head back against the seat of the chair, she heard the screeching of tires and screams of people. There were two separate incidents her ears picked up and she pouted slightly. Sometimes being neutral in this metahuman infested place sucked, but other times it paid off. “It seems the villains are up to no good.” Her voice was soft and child like as she spoke those words. A small pout played on her pale lip, but it was soon replaced with a smile. “Oh well. We’ll get to play later I suppose.”

[Baker]

The bustling city seemed to have just another normal day, the traffic ran through at its normal slower than shit pace. James Michael Carvin waited in a side alley, waiting for a chance to begin down the sidewalk with the people. James pulled the hood of his jacket and stepped into the crowd of people as someone collided with him.

“Watch where you are going, asshole.” The man that collided with James regained his balance.

“Sorry.” James then started walking down the street again. A hand grabbed him on his right shoulder.

“Maybe if you took that damn hood down, you would be able to see.”

James’ tone became relaxed. An amused smirk came across his face. He turned he head slightly to the right. “I suggest you move that hand or you might not be able to use it for a while.”

The man’s grip on James’ shoulder tightened, “Oh? Well, come on little man, I want to see you do that.”

James took his left hand and pulled his mask down, changing from the normal light mannered James, to someone who put fear into every criminal in the city, Ruhe. He took that same left hand and clutched the man’s wrist, ripping the grip away off of his shoulder. Ruhe twisted the wrist over his head and turned around, revealing who he was to the man. “Now you will wish you had just let me go.” The man let out a scream as Rehu took one of his fingers and ripped it to the side, snapping it. Ruhe gave the man's hand one last crushing squeeze before he let go, letting the man scream his heart out to the people on the street.

Ruhe let the man sit and revel in his mistake, he wanted to teach that man a bigger lesson, but, he didn’t have the time. He heard something about a riot at the prison, a lot of those prisoners he put in there himself. It should be some fun to put them back in their place.

Ruhe made his way towards the side of town with the prison, he could hear the sirens from eight blocks away. The atmosphere was intense and every officer on the outside of the prison sat almost in fear of the riot, Ruhe let out a little smile as he approached the front line of men. The Police Captain came over to him, "Not my first choice for help, but, we need it. Out men have already entered through cell block D, want me to radio to them you are coming?" Ruhe gave the captain a stupid look, "Well, I would appreciate that, especially since I don't want to be shot by the damn people I am helping."

He walked over to one of the officers that was holding a rifle, Ruhe looked at the officer's belt, he had a pistol as well. Ruhe motioned towards the pistol with his hand. Looking towards the captain, the officer looked for some reason to deny Ruhe of the weapon, but the captain shook his head and motioned towards the gun. The officer reluctantly handed over the pistol to Ruhe. Ruhe took the gun from the officer's hand and made his way into cell block D.

[MoiraofWords]

Enter a (questionably the?) hero.

He resides within a room filled with many eyes, constantly watching, never moving. The light reflects off of them at one point, resulting in an annoying glare. But for now they can't see anything, or feel anything. They are dolls, toys, lifeless action figures. They reside within the room of Chester O'Connor, who you may better know as the Animator. But you may not know that he was sleeping.

A life of a hero isn't easy. In fact, he couldn't understand how most superheros did it. Did they all have a great inheritance fund that allowed them to spend the night and do nothing in the morning? Some people actually had to work for it... making it quite hard sometimes. But his sleep was broken as sirens screeched past his apartment. Sometimes life was tough.

After quickly dressing, Chester had a problem. Was it time to wear an outfit yet, or work by proxy? It was quite a conundrum, being someone with a secret identity. Well, someone without a good costume anyway. Chester sure couldn't think of a suitable costume. And spandex showed uncomfortable flaws....

Maybe the best idea was to dress up as someone else entirely. Someone... anti-Chester. Someone more athletic (something that Chester DID need to work upon), with hero like qualities. Someone that he wanted to be.

But for now, hiding within shadows would work the best. A reputation could only help when the image was finally made. It wasn't as if he had any practical plans going on anyway. Being the Animator was going to be tough.

But the man would not be defeated. He went around his room, collecting the items he would need for his plans of action. Of course, a good thinker is always prepared, but thinking was a skill that was steadily improving. A silent note to self was made: A tool belt or not tool belt: that is the question! At any rate, he collected one of those robots that had the tape cassettes and the walking functions along with a recording functions and set action phrases, and a vial of "special materials" and storing them within a back pack. It was time to work. If he could get there in time.

In a move severely unChester-like, he exited his apartment and climbed down the fire escape, rushing towards the path that the police cars had taken. Occasionally, he got confused, but asking the civilians always helped.

"Oh, the ruckus? A prison break, that's all. But I'm not worried, the policemen can handle it," said one innocent bystander, giving Chester the vital information he needed. Luckily, he was a convenient distance away from the prison, as part of an unfortunate coincidence to be able to afford the rent, and was able to get within the perimeter.

After holding on to the robot, he awoke it, and instilled his will into his construct. It hobbled over to the closest policeman, who was startled when it began to speak.

"He-llo, po-lice of-fi-cer, wo-uld you like to re-cie-ve some as-sis-tance?" The police officer shook with surprise, picking up the toy and inspecting it, triggering a muted click as the tape on its chest whirled.

"I don't remember them toy's speaking like this one just did," he said, bemused. He quickly ran over to the captain, who listened to the repeated message. "Well that's quite odd... but isn't this just a toy?"

As if it was aware, the toy stated, "Do no-t be con-cern-ed po-lice man, p-ut me down and le-t me do my j-ob." The captain shrugged and put down the toy, which hobbled off into the distance, returning eventually to Chester who was waiting for it. After hearing the recorded messages of the policemen, he started running off to the closest statue nearby. After slathering on his own seal, he ran to the next statue within the vicinity. This couldn't be done with just normal objects-- it'd require more substantial figures. As he left the statue, blocks away, it broke free from its pedestal and started walking into the jail, "programmed" to deal with any of the escaping prisoners.

[Edon]

The dark concrete cell block reeked of cordite and sulfur from the intense gunfight that had just finished between the SWAT and the inmates of the prison. They seemed to know exactly where the police were attempting to breach the prison, something that troubled Centurion. It either meant that the prisoners were becoming organized or that elements of the police were leaking information. In any case it was bad news.

The SWAT officers who were used to long standoffs and quick stormings were obviously fatigued mentally and physically from the lengthy assault down the hallway. Two more men left to escort the three new prisoners back to the police outside as the squad leader rallied his men into action again. The ragtag group of SWAT and Centurion continued their march further into the cell block.

Almost to the end of the block, the squad leader's radio squawked into life. The officer gave the order to halt and retreated slightly. The man nodded and whispered quietly into the radio piece, apparently speaking to the captain outside. The conversation broke down into yelling for a moment but this stopped as quickly as it had started. After another minute or so the man simply hung his head and conceded the argument to his superior. Obviously strained, the squad leader returned to the gathered SWAT and the Centurion.
"Ruhe is on his way." Announced the man flatly. He had a look of disdain on his face as he spoke and several of the men shook their heads. They began to murmur amongst themselves, looking to one another for consolation at the news.
"Any help is welcome at this point." Growled Centurion softly and angrily, looking up at the police officers. The men shrank back at his sudden scolding and grudgingly nodded in agreement.

Centurion had to admit however that the Ruhe's tactics were questionable on even the best of days. He had never worked closely with the young man before, but had heard of his notorious fight against the criminal elements within the city. They often involved rather vulgar techniques. He sighed softly to himself at the indignation of having to work with a "vigilante" and tried to steel himself for the fight to come. With an order from the squad leader the team to continue onward. They were only a few yards from the central building.

[Magix]

Once receiving his drink, Shadow sat back and put his feet up. Phantom seemed pretty silent as usual. He was a ghost man of few words twoard Shadow. Of course it wasn't a problem, Shadow wasn't a big social talker anyway.

Shadow closed his eyes while waiting there to give the illusion that he was waiting there for much longer then he actually was. By the time Charlie finally came in, Shadow was only there for about 15 minutes. Phantom was waiting the longest. How long that was however, Shadow was unsure.

Shadow had a feeling that Charlie was going to hit them. He wondered why though. He hadn't done anything he didn't normally do. As he continued to ponder this, wondering if he should turn his body into the shadows, he felt a fist slam into the back of his head.

Throwing his head foward and placing his right hand upon the contact point he couldn't help but yelling. "What the hell?" He removed his hand to see if there was any blood but it hadn't broken any skin. A bit harder though would've broken skin for sure. Any answer he needed was quickly given to him though. Well not so much given, as it was screamed.

Zen spoke out grudgingly. "It doesn't matter if they know my powers or not. If they do not know who I am they will not fear me. I must ensure they fear me. They must know by whose hands they are suffering and only when they want to die, may they live."

Zen sighed and stood up. No matter what he said it wouldn't change a single thing. "I apoligize sir. I will use more discretion from now on. Only when it is appropriate will I make a move making myself known."

From that point on Zen looked over the map. He had his targets. It would be easy for him to plant bombs and escape without a hitch. It was also easy for him to watch the repercussions from the safety of the shadows. This was a great mission for him. After all he did love explosives. "So what are we using today? C4 I assume?"

[Guest]

The Phantom had not been drinking after all he couldn't really do that without great effort and he didn't have much real need to drink or eat anyway. When Charlie had spoken he had turned. He was not one to trust anyone, wether he could throw them or not. Because he had turned the Phantom saw the murder gleaming in Charlie's eyes. At first he thought nothing of it but then he glimpsed the gleam on Charlie's fist. As charlie had swung he had moved slightly to the side and the fist had missed but not by much. The nearness of the gold was still unpleasant and his ancient skin cracked where it had almost hit him. His face twisted into a ancient withered sneer.

He took a step away from charlie as charlie stepped away from him and shadow. He was not happy with this latest development. He listened to what was said but his face was still twisted in anger and annoyance. Especially as Charlie began to rant and rave about how they had killed old people and showed powers. That was just plain idiotic thought phantom. After all he couldn't not show his powers. He would be out of touch no matter what happened and Charlie couldn't really expect otherwise. At least it seemed like that to him. He readied himself to speak and the Charlie spoke again. Showing a map with places they were supposedly supposed to blow up. Yet another misconception charlie seemed to have about him. It was difficult to act upon the world, so how was he supposed to bring the explosives to blow up a building? He would go along with the plan for now though. After all he had time on his side. If Charlie's plans failed the Phantom knew he could step in and take command.

The Buildings that were marked on the map would likely be guarded heavily by the criminals who used them as a base. But it was highly unlikely they would be able to do much to him when he attacked and he took some satisfaction in that. Then he heard as shadow began to speak of how to destroy the buildings and his suggestion of C-4. This reminded Phantom of something else that could be a problem. He waited till Shadow was done and then he spoke himself.

"You seem to have overlooked a rather basic fact Charlie" He spoke softly as he almost always did. As if the person listening was not worth hearing him angry. "You seem to have forgotten that for me to transport objects long distances is not an easy task nor one that I am suited for. I can however keep the heroes occupied fighting me while shadow would plant the bombs." His pitch changed slightly as he spoke becoming more neutral in tone. "As shadow said though more information is required."

[Squall Reyes]

Charlie raised both fist up again in direct view of the others. But then took a deep breath and put them down, raising one hand to rub his temple. "You idiots really think I would let you go out there without more of a plan. I wouldn't trust you fellas to bribe a cop! No. No. Here's what's going to happen. Shadow, YOU'RE going to be the one with the bombs. I've got 2 bags of C-4 right here." With that Charlie reached under the bar and pulled out two large backpacks and dropped them on the bar. "They are all set with 5 minute timers, you boys will have to move fast from building to building. You should have enough to plant TWO charges per building. It won't demolish most of the structure but no one will be renting there for a while. "

He glared at Shadow, "That shouldn't be a problem right?" His eyes moved from him to Phantom, he smirked a bit seeing the cracked skin of the old geezer. "Red looks good on you old man." Charlie pointed his gold ring dressed finger at him to make his point. "Since YOU can't do much in the way of carrying or planting without pissing yourself. You will just have to be the look out for any police or Heroes who might have grown wise to out little 4th of July theatrics. Keep. Them. Busy. I don't care what it takes I want this city burning. I want to take out the competition now. I want what we do to be on EVERY 24 hour news station for the next month." He looked at both men for a few more seconds of silence cracking his knuckles before waving his hand as if to shoo them away. "Get out of my sight."

He waited for the men to leave before pulling out a bottle of Whiskey, "I'll just be taking this...." He said to himself as he walked out the front door and back to the car. While inside he pushed open a cabinet near buy and brought out a large shot glass and poured himself a drink. Then reached into his coat and pulled out a small device that looked like a cell phone, with a push of a button the screen lit up. What he didn't tell those fools was that each bag contained a GPS tracking chip. He wasn't going to take any chances with this, he'd be a step behind them the whole way, ready to clean up any messes they may had made. He looked up at the driver and told him to stop by a cigarette show on the way to their next direction, he needed to replace his 30 dollar pack of cancer.

[Baker]

The cell block had erupted into smoke and darkness from the loss of power in the riot. The SWAT had already made their way through this whole block already, apprehending everyone they managed to see unarmed, killing others who tried to attack them. Ruhe smiled at the destruction a bit, the darkness, the fear, this was his element.

He looked up to the second floor of the block. He thought it would probably be easier to survey the situation from up there. Grabbing a pipe on the wall and climbing it to the bottom of the second floor, Ruhe made his way to the second floor of the cell block, staying close to the railing and looking onto the first floor cautiously.

The cell block was almost creepily quiet. The fighting must be at a stalemate at the moment, Ruhe figured the SWAT must be at the end of the block, figuring a way into the courtyard, which was probably in full control by the prisoners. An almost silent footstep come from the shadows of the darkness, Ruhe stood cautious of what could be there, and suddenly, a prisoner rushed from one of the open cells.

A swift movement and Ruhe used his legs to take the man down, crashing his head onto the metal railing. The impact cracked the man’s head open, letting blood splatter all over the railing and drip onto the first floor of the cell block. The prisoner screamed in pain, the yells were ear shattering, Ruhe left the man to scream in pain, maybe sending a message to the rest of the prison that he was there, and they wouldn’t last much longer.

Ruhe made his way to the end of the cell block where the SWAT team was waiting, along with that so called “Super Hero”, the Centurion or whatever he was called. Ruhe dropped into the crowd, seeing an officer jump at the sound of feet, he smirked a little. “Come on boys, you can’t show your enemies you fear them, that is how they gain the upper hand. Trust me, I know.” He winked at the end of his sentence and walked over to that Centurion fellow, “So big man, what’s the plan?”

[Gunneh]

It's a distraction, Thomas, Hatter said as Thomas pulled the gearshift back into sixth gear and pushed the engine just a little faster than he probably should have on the crowded streets. The police scanner that he'd installed in the Vanquish rang out with even more hurried chatter about the prison riot, so he was confused with the statement. Still, he held his position. Why are you ignoring me, Thomas? I know that I've steered you wrong before, but there's just something wrong here.

"How could it be a distraction," he asked aloud. His eyes hit the rearview mirror as if Hatter were sitting next to Fiere in the back seat.

Think about it, friend, Hatter said, feigning irritation. It just seems dreadfully obvious that someone, somewhere, planned this little endeavor. I don't know how I know, I don't know -WHY- I know it, but we need to be in downtown ten minutes ago.

Thomas felt the same way as he turned down an alley and made his was towards Old Towne Century City. The streets were still lined with picturesque brick storefronts with wonderfully decorated display windows. Some were lined with posters boasting about a concert in Century Park later in the week, but a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that there wouldn't be a concert.

Stop, Hatter said. We're here.

Thomas pulled into a parking space in front of an antique shop. He hurried from the car, tossing the rest of the money from the bank into the driver's seat. The traffic was dead, there was no one on the sidewalks. Somewhere, a lone dog howled at something. It wasn't right.

"Why are we here, Hatter," Thomas asked aloud.

Had to get to a good spot to see the fireworks....

Suddenly, an explosion ripped through one of the only skyscrapers in Old Towne - a high-rise apartment building - followed by a second that blew the windows and doors off of city hall. Shrapnel littered the pavement only yards away, some of the smaller pieces clanking against the roof of the Vanquish. A scowl crossed his face and he walked back to the car, throwing the door open. he said nothing. A blue gloved and reached into the back seat. he knew that both sets of eyes were on him, but he didn't entirely care. He pulled the hat from the car and peeled the brim back to reveal a razor sharp line of steel that encompassed the brim.

It was silent, his gaze drifting to the smoke and the flames on both buildings. He clenched his eyes shut tightly and sighed, placing the hat on his head softly. A grin spread across his face and his eyes popped open.

"Someone wants to play, eh," Hatter asked no one in particular. "Well, who am I to disappoint?"

[Magix]

Shadow looked at Charlie holding his anger back as he listened to Charlie badmouth them. If it were anyone else they would have been dead after thowing that first punch. "It won't be a problem." That was all he said the rest of the meeting. After Charlie raised his hand, Shadow gently placed the mask and hood back on, grabbed the map and the C4, finally disappearing into the shadows.

In his mind, Shadow didn't need any help. He just began planting the bombs from the shadows. Was Phantom there? Was Phantom even coming yet? He didn't know, nor did he care.

After just a few minutes he noticed a car drive past a building he was in. "I thought the police had issued an order to get everyone off the streets... Damn it. They must've figured out the prision break was a distraction. Great plan Charlie..."

After a quick look he didn't see Phantom. Then again Phantom was a hard one to see when hiding. Zen couldn't afford to risk it though. He took a detenator switch from his pocket and blew two buildings in which he planted the first bombs. One was a tall building owned by a drug lord. The other building was the town hall.

After the first premature detonations, which were about 45 seconds early, Zen used the shadows to set the rest of the bombs. He himself had a perfect view of the car while still being out of the blast radius. He saw a man take a top hat out and place it on his head. One word came to Zen's mind, moron.

The longer Shadow stood there his mind wandered back to Charlie. He couldn't stop thinking about it unless he finally said what he wanted to. Even if it was just to himself. "No you can't trust me to bribe a cop. It's just a waste of time. If it were my decision, I could have half the town begging for their lives in a single night. Night two, they'd surrender the whole god damn town to me. You go ahead and make your assinine plans. A little respect for the two that carry out those FUCK-tastic plans wouldn't kill you though."

Now that Zen was done with ths rant in his mind, he took out the gold pocket watch paying no attention down below. "Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock... Tick....... Tock." Just as th final tock left his lips four more simultaneous explosions occured. Four more buildins owned by gang bangers, mob kingpins and drug lords alike wew blown up. Of course it was as Charlie said, but who cares. The town was beginning to burn at Shadow's hands.

[Inerio]

"You could let me drive you know." Madeline scowled as Thomas drove down the streets, conversing with himself. She didn't like Thomas driving. Then again, she didn't like Thomas doing anything himself. It was the mothering side of her. Then again, Maddie was most comfortable in the driver's seat. She was like a living breathing autopilot, it made more sense for her drive. Still, when Thomas didn't answer she dropped the topic and rolled down the window.

Something told her that the group was going off to do some "hero-ing". Unlike Thomas or Feire Madeline didn't exactly walk about looking like the March Hare at almost all hours of the day. From the glove compartment she pulled on a pair of gloves and brown rabbit ears. She wiggled herself out of a pair of pants and into a pair of shorts while pulling on an oversize bow tie and vest. The quick change wasn't the complete outfit, it was missing stocking and shoes, along with a few other miscellaneous touches, but at least she looked like part of the team.

Just as the car came to a stop Maddie looked up from adjusting a button on her vest. Before she could even pretend to blink an explosion lit up the night sky. Just as it went off she let out a loud sigh, adjusting her "eyes" so that she could zoom into the blast. The cinema always seemed to make explosions more exciting than they actually were. In reality Madeline, or rather March at the moment, believe that when you saw one explosion you saw them all.

"I see shadows, people shadows." March noted as her eyes scanned the blast. An excitement was rising up from the pit of her stomach. The usual day to day melancholies slowly being withered away by the feeling of an upcoming battle, or at least the hope for one. "They could be citizens, or they could be something else entirely knowing this city." She laughed at the end of her little statement.

"So, what do you propose we do Mad Hat?" She asked, her hand on the door handle and a gun in her other hand.

[MoiraofWords]

As Chester was running to the next statue, he heard a loud noise in the distance. It sounded like an explosion, if that was plausible. But then, he hadn't heard much explosions before. They tend to be uncommon, explosions. But therein lied a conundrum. As a hero, it was his job to help people. Could he be of more help to the people possibly injured or inconvenienced by this new event, or by continuing his efforts within the police riot.

But logic took over. He didn't know where the sources of the noise were, or if it was even a problem: he did know that there was a riot going on and that he had already started to help. And if it was a dangerous situation... well, someone else was probably already on the move. Firefighters or some other good Samaritans, they those kinds of things.

Whereas Chester was considering the scenario, his stone guardian strode through the wall of the jail, entering the ruckus in a shower of rubble. The entrance was surprising, to say the least, and it turned a few heads that were close enough to be distracted. As the statue was emotionless and inhuman, it didn't really care and swiftly smashed its bronze fist into a distracted criminal's stomach, making him crumple to the ground. It's mechanical movements picked up the fallen man and tossed him against the wall.

The statue's eyes scanned the room, searching for the next prisoner trying to escape. As it walked towards the man, Chester had arrived at the second statue. Without pausing to think, he awoke this one in the manner he had awakened the prior one and started running along with to to the jail. His animations only understood simple commands, and he had to be sure they didn't ruin anything. By being close enough, he could make sure they wouldn't harm anyone that wasn't trying to escape.

But while the statue could move at a brisk pace, Chester wasn't in... well, shape. He wasn't the model of peak human fitness. So the statue barreled on ahead while he was left it in its wake. He'd have to deal with that problem before it became too big of a deterrent to his actions, or there was no point to his methods and actions....

[Edon]

Centurion spun around as he heard the scuffle above. A second later the downed prisoner was howling in pain, with the masked Ruhe standing over him. Even though he could not see the young man's face Centurion could almost sense his bloodlust. It made his skin crawl and he gritted his teeth to keep from shouting. A few of the SWAT however weren't as disciplined and let out short gasps of surprise.

With his eyes fixed squarely on the vigilante, Centurion motioned for the SWAT to focus on holding their ground. Each man fanned out and formed a circle around him in silence as Ruhe found his own way down. The SWAT members tensed up visibly as the vigilante dropped into the circle. One even jumped back from the sudden descent.

Centurion didn't move a muscle as the vigilante landed. His features were rigid and focused under his helmet; his fists still clenched. Every inch of his body told him to jab, kick or blast the man to his knees. But he wrestled his emotions to the ground, relaxing his hands. So he listened in silence to the young man, as he lectured the SWAT and asked for instruction. Centurion began to respond in his low and rough tone.
"We're going to charge the central building, through the court yard. Between you, me and the SWAT we should be able to make it..." he paused for a moment and looked him up and down; surveying him.
"You're going to need more than that..." He criticized, turning to one of the SWAT members. He knelt down to where the man was, spoke quickly and quietly then turned back to the young vigilante. He was carrying a shotgun, it's sling covered in red shotgun shells.
"I trust you know how to use one?" He asked, handing over the cocked and loaded weapon.
"You'll be on point unti-" Centurion was cut off mid-sentence as the sound of a distant explosion reverberated quietly into the tall hallway.
"Did you hear that...?" He asked, but before he could get an answer brick and steel exploded outwards from one of the walls. The SWAT members and Centurion spun around and stared at the huge statue. It was looming over an unsuspecting prisoner, now visible in the sudden daylight. The men watched awestruck as the gargantuan bronze man downed the prisoner in a single powerful punch. A few of the men started to raise their rifles, unsure of what to do. Even Centurion could feel his hands crackling with electrical charge out of instinct alone.
"Steady..." He growled, more to himself than anyone else.

[Guest]

Phantom sighed as charlie continued to rant and sound like an idiot. That was something that happened everyday it seemed. Then once Charlie and Shadow both left phantom concentrated. His whole body seemed to grow more solid and he manifested fully. He picked up one of the bottles of expensive wine and drank it down in a single long gulp. Then he phased out again and the bottle fell from his now nonexistent fingers. Alcohol had never affected him but he did like the taste of the finer wines on occasion and he wasn't happy. So today he had indulged himself. He slowly stood up again and simply began to walk. He walked through the wall of the building and down to where Charlie had marked on the map.

A while later he arrived at the site and had stood half inside half outside of one of the soon to be exploding buildings. He too pondered Charlie's idiocy and his dislike of the plan. Phantom couldn't take over the city in two nights like shadow claimed he could. No that wasn't Phantoms style. Phantom was more patient he would always wait for the opportune moment to strike and then he would strike. He had after all spent 50 years haunting an old theater once. He even heard that they had made a play based on that series of incidents as well. He took it as a compliment. Phantom would have used the system of crime already in place. The leaders had no real defense against him. All he would have had to do was go in and threaten them. After all when they discovered he didn't die when they shot him they would give up in fear of being killed. Rule through the careful application of power. Not through flashy displays like Charlie was so fond of.

Then the bombs blew and the world was engulfed in flames. There was to phantom a certain delight as the world around him disappeared in fire and light. Then the as quickly as the fire began it died. Phantom stood well within the blast radius and he laughed. Then he saw the car that had approached. His eyes caught on the strange man with the top hat and the others there. He smiled his old crinkled face twisting into an expression of laughter and good cheer altogether unfitting for the desolation all around him.

Then he yelled out from the destruction to the others who emerged from the car. "Welcome heroes or otherwise. Welcome to my playground. How do you like the bombs. How do you like the explosions the fire to the skies?" He laughed and stepped forward steadily. He moved slowly towards them not halting or moving to avoid the various flaming debris. He simply walked through the flames with no ill effects.

[Baker]

“Fucking right I know how to use it.” Ruhe grudgingly took the shotgun and strap, not his weapon of choice, but, it might provide better use than the pistol in this situation. The shotgun would prove to be much more effective than a pistol against groups.

Ruhe listened as Centurion went on with the plan, charging into the central building through the courtyard should work. Then an explosion went off in the distance, Centurion stopped and everything went silent for a few seconds. “Did you hear that…?” Centurion asked. Ruhe hated those obvious questions, it was an explosion, of course he heard it. “Well, of course I heard it.” Ruhe responded with slight sarcasm.

Ruhe shrugged a little, the explosion would be handled by the fire department and police, this riot was out of their hands, they let the “heroes” take care of the real business. Suddenly a giant bronze hand came crashing into the prison walls, flinging a prisoner against the wall.

The SWAT tensed up at the sight, it was a little strange, but, things have been weirder around here. “Well, I guess we got some help, are we just going to stand here and let the giant do all the work, or are we gonna do our jobs? Come on. I don’t know about you, but I’m heading in.” Ruhe put the red ammo sash around his shoulders and carried the shotgun with two hands.

Ruhe charged the courtyard, “COME ON, LETS GET THIS SHIT OVERWITH!” The prisoners, distracted by the giant, bronze statue, didn’t notice Ruhe charging across the courtyard at their mob. By the time one of them noticed him, that same prisoner had the butt of a gun across his face, another blown away by one pull of the trigger. The real fight was about to begin, Ruhe smiled, this was going to be some fun.

[Edon]

Centurion looked to the SWAT members encircling him and simply pointed after Ruhe.
"Let's take back our prison!" He shouted, his voice echoing down the hall. The men responded in a fury of roars and "hell yeahs" as they charged after the vigilante. The wall of six or so men slammed into the prisoners on either side of Ruhe, bashing, kicking and shooting their way behind him. Centurion was not far odd as he sent bolts of lightning into the crowd, throwing the orange clad prisoners off their feet.

"Push towards the central building!" He roared, over the rabble and noise of the fighting. A prisoner who had managed to get past the SWAT started to sprint towards him, a gun in hand. Centurion simply blasted the weapon from the man's hands, watching it soar into the distance as he scrambled backwards. He did not let the convict escape however, as he delivered a single punch to his head. The man contorted with pain, shouting through broken teeth as another punch sent him unconscious. The combined team was making good progress towards the central building through the court yard.

Centurion couldn't help but wonder how the prison riot had started. It was even stranger still that the prisoners seemed to know exactly where to be and what the SWAT were aiming for. It didn't help by much however, since the few armed prisoners were easy pickings for the armed SWAT members and Ruhe. While the unarmed were simply fodder for the taking. Centurion was brought back to reality however as bullet pinged off his chest piece. The hero looked up to see one of the inmates holding a sniper rifle. Centurion angrily but slowly shook his head as he leveled an arm at the man. The shooter began to grow white with fear as he fumbled with the weapon's bolt. The armor clad hero simply walked towards the man, charging his energy further and further into his palm. The air crackled loudly before a roar of light and heat blasted the man backwards, sending him head over heels into the far wall of the court yard. What remained of the prisoner slid down the wall in a jumbled mess of body parts and blood. The sight would of made Centurion's stomach contort had he not seen the same thing happen to countless other outlaws. His heart did grow heavy though at the sight. If only he had dropped the rifle, he thought. Centurion couldn't afford to sympathize however and tried to steel himself away from the carnage that had become so necessary.

[Squall Reyes]

The door opened with a small ringing of the bells, as Charlie hit his new pack of cigarettes on his palm packing the sweet sweet tobacco tightly into each cigarette. He pulled one from his fresh new pack, lit it and with a contented sigh as he got back into the limo. For several minutes the limo didn’t move, it simple sat there as Charlie took several long drags of the expensive tobacco. On the table of the limo in front of him sat the GPS tracker which pulsed a red light the current position of Shadow and his bombs. The latter being the most important thing on his mind at the moment, but Shadow seemed to be making good time. He looked down at his watch and smiled a little, the first explosion should be occurring any moment now.

He looked up at the driver and told him to start the car and move to the next location as he opened the sunroof of the limo as he stood. He smiled as the wind rushed past him as he ran his hand through his hair, he wanted to see the boom without the barrier of steel and glass. He looked down at the watch and counted down, as he said zero he flicked the cigarette from his fingers and spread his arms to take the full force of the explosions that occurred several blocks away. All though he was still several blocks from the blast Charlie could feel his body soaking up the energy of the heat and force, he felt his sink soak up the bits of ash and dust that fell from the sky as though he were enjoying the rain. Hello Century City! Charlie had arrived and shit would never be the same.

That was the message he was sending, no more mob bosses that were already falling at a quick rate thanks to those “heroes”. No more single person suffering for missing a payment. No this was Charlie’s game now. He had learned long ago learned that though he and others like him had the powers, the humans still had numbers, enough to overwhelm any of them. So the key was to BREAK them. To crack and dismantle the old way of doing things as quickly as the building he just destroyed, the buildings that went from 5 star to condemned in a flash of light. He had to take the humans out of the fight, and by the end of the night with the city burning they would turn to their heroes. Heroes who would could be defeated, could be turned, could be disgraced. In Charlie’s world it was Heroes Vs Villains while humans waited to see who emerged victorious. In Charlie’s world it would no longer be the one who paid for missing a payment…but the whole city.

Charlie smiled at the thought, he took a deep contented breath because of it. And his eyes opened looking in the direction of the explosion to see……a car and a man with a top hat? Charlie quickly slipped back in and screamed at the already shaking drive to stop and pull into the nearest alley. The limo took a quick turn as Charlie listened to the police scanner the major heroes of the city so who could this be? He walked over to the street pulling another cigarette from the pack. As he lit it he slowly leaned out of the alley, though he was still a 2 long blocks away from the expensive car Charlie would take no chances. He slowly reached into his pocket and pulled down a small pair of binoculars. Cigarette in mouth Charlie looked through them at the unexpected spectators and to see what will unfold.

[MoiraofWords]

The Animator was now falling substantially behind his second statue. It was at least a block ahead, and closing in on the jail, whereas he would be unable to see anything at all. Maybe if he borrowed a policeman's uniform... But that would be theft! But it would also be the implement he needed to allow him to get close enough to the riot to make sure his statues didn't harm anyone that wasn't trying to escape.

There would be only two ways to do this-- lure a policeman near or take the uniform from an already downed policeman. But did the Animator have anything that would allow for the second option (he sincerely didn't want to try the first option). Even though the statue continued to the jail, Chester made a detour to a shady ally, which was thankfully empty of any random hobos or muggers. It wasn't always safe these days.

A quick rummage through his backpack allowed him to find the proper toy for the occasion. It was one of those obnoxious toys that flashed and made lots of noises while moving quite fast: the perfect toy to buy for when your next door neighbors are rude and you need to put them in their place! A quick scan of the scene allowed for Chester to see that there was a policeman being taken away. Now was the opportunity he needed.

The toy was awakened and zoomed off towards the policemen, with Chester following it to the side. He barreled for the policeman and dragged him away while the other policemen attempted to stop the annoying toy, which dodged their attempts with an almost sentient ability. "Stupid toy... what kid left this thing out?" said one man, whereas another was shaking his head as he questioned, "What kind of man would even make this toy?"

But by the time they had caught it, Chester had taken the clothes and put them on. It was a tight fit, but it would have to do. No one paid him a second glance, as opposed to all the attention they were lavishing on the now undressed policeman propped against the wall. But just in case, the toy that had been playing dead zoomed off into the distance, going back into the alley that Chester had emerged from, to wait until he was done.

Now he could see, and moved close enough to watch the battle in process. His two statues were cleaning up crime, one bronze, one stone, but the Animator wasn't the only hero helping there. He recognized Centurion from the news reports, and the masked vigilante, Ruhe, from rumors (or at least he hoped it was Ruhe anyway, that'd make things easier.)

It was difficult to see that they were killing the prisoners (in the matter that not only was it morally troubling but it was... troubling to the stomach as well) but he understood that if they didn't, they could become killed instead. So with a heavy heart, he urged his warriors to increase the rate at which they defeated the criminals. Fists of bronze and stone flashed through the air, subduing many a person as they made their way towards the allied faction within the riot.

Even though some of the more foolish criminals tried to stop the statues, or even attempt to harm them with bullets, they were brought down if they stepped into the path of the giants. Only those that were good would be safe from the efforts of his animations. But Chester would have to be wary himself. He was now an open target for any of the rioters, requiring him to retreat backwards and hope that his minions could do the work that he had proscribed for them.

[Baker]

The fight was getting more interesting by the second, another statue had joined, the two giants were cleaning house, but so were Centurion and Ruhe, the prisoners seemed to be losing a lot more moral now that the statues had come into play, they were just fighting to survive now. Ruhe decided it was time to break them.

The Centurion had just brutally destroyed someone. Ruhe smiled and decided it was his turn to do the same. It would be some fun to put a little conclusion on this.

Ruhe decided to finally use the gun he got to really clean this out. He hadn’t used it since that first shot to take out that charging prisoner. Guns weren’t really his thing, to hear the cracking of bones was more Ruhe’s style. A prisoner rushed Ruhe as he stood with his gun, he lowered the weapon and grabbed the man’s arm, whipping him onto the ground and stomping his head into the ground. “Dumbass” Ruhe said as he walked into a crowd, readying his shotgun. “Come on little prisoners, let’s play.” Ruhe smiled and raised his shotgun to chest level, shooting a charging prisoner in the skull. Bits of the man’s head flew into the air.

Ruhe repeated this process with three more prisoners until they finally learned to stop charging someone with a shotgun. Ruhe decided he would have a bit more fun, “Come on boys, you gotta be able to do better than this, you outnumber us by hundreds, I’ll even put the weapon down for you.” He took the ammo sash off of his shoulder and put the shotgun down behind him, leaving if for whoever wanted it, the only stipulation being if they could even get to it.

A few more of the inmates charged, Ruhe spun around one, using his own momentum to throw him ten feet across the courtyard into two other inmates, the other was almost grabbing the shotgun, the prisoner picked it up just as Ruhe got behind him, waiting for the turn around. The man turned, only to see Ruhe grab the gun with one hand, stiffening the man’s arm and using his other hand the strike the man’s elbow inward, dislocating it. Ruhe took the gun out of the man’s hand and struck him over the head with the barrel of it.

Ruhe turned around quickly to smash another inmate across the face, knocking him out with one blow. Ruhe smiled, the end of this fight was near, it was becoming too easy to last much longer.

[Guest]

Fiere still wasn’t used to Thomas talking to Hatter out loud. She sat there; watching him with those purple eyes as he spoke and at one time, she could have swore he was looking in the seat next to her. Sometimes the kitten wished she could see Hatter the way Thomas saw him. She was silent as he drove and when she saw the old buildings of the historic district, a confused look played across her cute features.

The car soon stopped and Fiere looked at Thomas as he got out of the car. What happened next made her yelp and cover her sensitive ears. A loud explosion ripped through the area. She watched Thomas walk back to the car from where he stood outside and he pulled his hat out of the back seat. Her ears flattened against her head as he put the hat on his head and then Hatter’s voice echoed in her ears. Slowly, Fiere exited the car and she stretched her arms up high above her head.

Cheshire looked over at March and she grinned. The rabbit always did look good in her outfit. As for Fiere, a purple and pink stripped shirt appeared over the one she had put on after leaving work. Her pants seemed to change colour as well to match her shirt. Her black ears twitched and she kept the grin on her face as she walked to stand by Hatter. Unlike those two, she relied on her claws and her invisibility to attack. It was all about stealth when it came to Cheshire.

The voice yelling at them directed her attention to a man. He was walking through the flames and debris like it was nothing. Her head tilted to the side and she licked her lower lip a little. “Seems like someone is here to play Hatter.” Purple eyes looked up at Hatter and then over to March. She could move whenever she pleased, but she always waited on Hatter to make the first move. That was how she knew he was being serious about a fight and he wasn’t just going to play around and leave as soon as he got the chance to. So far, it seemed like Hatter was going to stay and have some fun here.

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