Heroes: The Road of Good Intentions

[Cynical Cat]

"For recon? Just myself. The party gets to big and its not a recon, its an assault team."

[B4UTRUST]

Bowman nodded.
"Fine. I'll get you the file on the new guy and give him a ring. You can talk to him yourself."

-----------
Kubira glared down at Ghost and rose up slightly and dropped all her weight back down on him. Ghost fell back to the floor, the breath being forced out of him.
"Master said for you not to move."

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost growled and rolled hard, trying to throw the girl off him. "Tell your master I don't listen to him." He swung a closed fist backwards at the girl. He was done playing nice.

[B4UTRUST]

Kubira fell onto her back as Ghost rolled over. She landed with an omph escaping from her. Then she caught the fist to the face, causing a small cry of pain.
"Meanie!!!"

She shifted back to her wolf form, saliva dripping from between her fangs. She growled, the sound issuing forth from deep in her throat. She leaned down, maw inches from Ghost's face. She growled again, letting him see very plainly exactly how many razorsharp fangs she had to sink into his throat.

[Cynical Cat]

"Great," said Blackheart. "He can join the rest of the team in the asylum."

[LadyTevar]

Argent faded away to the shadows again, leaving the bull to snort angrily and try to lock in on her once again. She snarled as one of Warpath's little 'insect bites' stung her. Did the damn doctor think that Kyosuke actually *NEEDED* help? Of course, it didn't help that Blast and Legacies were sitting on the sidelines, either.

She 'surfaced', taking a look at the battlefield. Ghost was pinned by the wolf, Hotfoot seemed to be stuck in the patch of magic she should have warned him about. Dammit. Oh, yes... and the bull was charging her way again, having found her.

Time to do a little charging herself, then.
Once again taking her dragon form, she slid through the shadows between herself and Kubira like a dolphin skimming just under the waves. Focused on Ghost, the silly wolf-spirit had only the barest warning before the shadow-dragon fountained up out of the shadow underneath her. Carrying the wolf in her jaw, she took to the air in brief flight, giving the entire room a lovely view of her silver-tipped obsidian and jet body.

Then she gave the spirit wolf a toss towards the hovering figure of Warpath. Let him deal with her.

The odd thought passed her mind, wondering what Kyosuke thought of her Chi-lung form now that she was truly a dragon, and not just a vague shadow-shape. A lesser 3-toed dragon, but still a more potent symbol than his wolf, ape, and bull.

[frigidmagi]

Blast had observed the mess quietly trying to pick out a target, in all honesty he was tired and confused and just trying to find something to shot... Ah Fuck it, when he had ever done the smart thing anyways.

He aimed and fired, a sun bright of energy hissed through the air to slam into the monkey standing in front of the Japanese magician.

"Surrender or the next one is yours." He declared to the Japanese man.

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart leaned back in his chair and phoned the new guy. "Hello?"

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot blinked as his feet refused to come up from the floor, the adhesive magic of Kyosuke's spell working just as it was intended. He looked up at Kyosuke, thinking as quickly as he could. The man's lips were moving, albiet slowly, and the room was quickly becoming a chaotic mess. He concentrated on his shield as it flared brighter and brighter, attempting to burn through the sticky substance. Just as Kyosuke finished the last words of his chant, the speedster was off again, narrowly avoiding the lightning bolt that was aimed at his position.

The man was smart, but he was slow, just human. The pet things could be a problem, but that wasn't his major concern at the moment. Ground was out, but ground wasn't the only way he could come in. Building up speed by running on the outskirts of the skirmish, Hotfoot built up for a flying tackle, launching himself through the air at Kyosuke, remembering at the last moment to dampen his shield enough to prevent burning the man alive.

[B4UTRUST]

Makora flew backward from the blast. Smoke wafted off of his chest as he skidded to a stop several yards away. The ape blurred and shifted, taking on a human form, tall, but lean with ropy muscles.

Makora rolled over onto his stomach, and then pushed himself up to his feet. He turned and faced Blast. With a primal roar that had no business issuing forth between human lips Makora charged at Blast. He jinked left and right, the dexterity of the ape showing as he closed with the young meta.

Kubira let out a yip of startlement and pain as she was picked up in the dragon's maw and flung earthwards from above. Her paws clawed uselessly at the air as she fell towards WARpath.

Kyosuke glanced first upwards at Argent who became a dragon. He hid his shock well, his face utterly blank. It was surprising. The demon side of her was further in control, brought closer to the surface.

A blast errupted near him, jerking his attention away towards its origins. The young meta, Blast, had attacked Makora and ordered his surrender. He didn't even have the chance to respond. He was taken to the ground from behind by a flying tackle.

He fell with the weight on top of him and he rolled as he fell so that Hotfoot was on top of him and he was flat on his back. He felt his breath rush out of him as he hit. His eyes looked upwards into his attacker's, figuring out that it was Hotfoot, the speedster. In the back of his mind he was also thinking about Blast's threat to attack him next. He had to do something to buy time to figure out a new strategy.

As Hotfoot was on top of him his fingers moved quickly but deftly, scrawling a form on the floor. Dust, dirt, sand and grit kicked up, billowing out and sweeping around the room in a storm of small particles meant to blind and interfere. A minor annoyance but one that would buy him a small amount of time he hoped. He now needed to figure out how to handle Hotfoot.

[LadyTevar]

Argent smirked, first at the feeling of shock Kyosuke managed to hide from all others at the sight of her dragon-form; and then wider as Hotfoot hit him hard and pinned him.

Then the sand-storm hit. Her silver eyes slitted against the stinging grit in the air, her not-so-solid form barely affected by the winds rolling about. The storm would be murder on Blast, Ghost, and Hotfoot's senses, but to her, it was a sudden banquet of dark, roiling shadows. Shingure-san just made a bad mistake.

She reached for the shadows, and they found her targets for her. Like massive weights the shadows bore down on Kyosuke, Makora the ape-man, Kubira the wolf-child, and Basara the bull, pinning them firmly to the ground without touching any of Mirage team.

Well ... except for the good Doctor, who found his mecha slapped to the ground hard enough to bounce.

Still, to add insult to injury, in the minds of those Argent had pinned came one painfully intense emotion, with all the power of a command.

**SURRENDER**

[Dark Silver]

The slam jarred him briefly, the safety precautions Stone had built into the armor allowed him to take the impact well enough.

When Argent's emotional command boomed in his mind, the portion divorced from the human psyche, working the controls of the armor, took over.

"You first" Warpath said, as the Dragon suddenly found itself under near constant assault by the low powered repulsor bolts from the armor.

[LadyTevar]

The sandstorm absorbed some of the sting, her semi-solid body taking far less damage than her human body would. It was annoying as a bug flying around her, and she swatted the source as casually, sending the mecha tumbling over the floor to hit against the wall. Like Kyosuke, the mecha was then pinned by shadows so tightly the metal groaned at the joints.

Argent's voice was calm as it came over the Team Comm channel. "Doctor, I now understand why Blackheart was so annoyed by my actions. When a supposed teammate decides to help the enemy you're fighting -- even if this is a training exercise -- she or he should not be surprised when they are punished."

[Dark Silver]

"Four vs One in a team combat is hardly training, and I didn't recall saying whose side I was on before the battle began." he replied calmly over the comm.

"At anyrate, don't you think your taking a training excercise a bit to far? Last I checked, power levels should be restrained as not to actually hurt your teammates - otherwise I'd have put you into medical by now with the shots you took."

The groan of the suit was a bit alarming, "Now...if you don't mind...would you let me up before damage the suit enough to cause me to repair it?"

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot cursed as Kyosuke disappeared in a puff of dust. The specks flared against his shield and he looked around the room. The man was gone and nowhere to be found. This was really weird...was this really training?

The voices came through his comms, and he was grateful for not having to try and piece together what was said in their frame of reference. "Hey Doc, what happened to the 'team' part of the team building? Last I checked, you were supposed to be on our side, maybe you got the memo?"

The young man's shield continued to flare as it devoured the specks of sand that impacted it, unaware of what they actually might be.

[Marcao]

Elias Dubois slipped into his apartment and locked the door behind him before smoothly making his way towards his living room. He was well aware of some of the issues that had been occurring in the world at large. He was starting to realize why some people considered the phrase may you live in interesting times a curse. Still, he did not have many complaints about his own present situation. His life was comfortable and each day brought with it the promise of something new. Years before when he had been a wide eyed dreamer full of idealistic zeal, he had arrogantly believed that his job would simply be an adventure every day. That perception had been shattered beneath the losses he had seen the various units he had been part of take, and the losses that he himself had inflicted on others. The moment that he had truly understood that he had killed before and would more likely than not kill again; idealism seemed to take the back seat to pragmatism.

He sat down on his living room’s couch, his laptop pulled towards him before it was turned on. The boot up sequence took mere seconds and after he had entered the sixteen digit pass code necessary to gain access to the system, he began his usual routine of checking his mailbox for any new messages. His bare feet felt cool against his carpet as he found one new entry in his mailbox, a moment later his eyes were scanning over the body of the message. He was being reassigned? Hmm, that was new. His eyes continued to read over the letter, it carried within it the usual Ultima panache but the gist of his assignment was very, very interesting. Team Mirage, Blackheart’s team; He had always wondered if he would have an opportunity to work with Blackheart. The man had quite the reputation and while he had seen him several times during his tenure within Ultima, he had never had the privilege of working by his side.

Nonetheless, as pleasing as the prospect was to work with the Blackheart was…Team Mirage’s reputation was somewhat unsavory. He did not have too many specifics of course, his clearance level did not go that high but the rumors went that no team had the penchant for destruction that Mirage did. Not that destruction in of itself was something that he shunned, but he tried to keep it to minimum unless absolutely warranted. Ultima was fighting for the hearts and minds of the average people in the world after all. He went silent for a moment considering where the path before him would lead. This may be just the change of pace he was looking for. The truth was he was growing too comfortable in his current surroundings. It felt good to be wanted.

It was no more than three and half minutes later, when he had placed the lap top aside and was half way through a glass of cranberry juice that his cell phone rang. He had three phones, and this one was the one that he had given the bureau. His eyes flickered towards the watch which circled his left wrist and grinned. My, my, someone was not wasting any time. He already had his suspicions when he picked up the cell phone and brought it to his ear.

“Hello?â€

[Cynical Cat]

"Yes," Blackheart replied. "Are you the poor bastard who has been roped into joining the madhouse that is Team Mirage?"

[Marcao]

He found himself smiling beneath Blackheart’s words. So far, so good. He had always wondered what it would be like working under a man with his reputation and so far he was not disappointing. He had served alongside and beneath a wide array of individuals during his tenure in Ultima. The majority of them had lacked his apparent sense of humor.

“In a manner of speaking sir.â€

[Cynical Cat]

"Is that of a wrecking ball and not without good reason," Blackheart finished. "The team has problems, I'm not going to bullshit you about that. Considering the circumstances it was thrown together under, it should be a complete trainwreck. Despite its problems it has done some good and it can get better. Why don't you head down to Ultima HQ, meet its members, and see for yourself. It will also make filing the paper work for a transfer easier if you want to bail the hell out before we start swing the big metal ball again."

[B4UTRUST]

Kyosuke was pressed to the ground by the shadows, pinned. The command to surrender resounded through his mind. It had the opposite effect on Kyosuke. The idea that the demon woman would invade his mind angered him, infuriated him.
"Han'yō, Zakkenayo! Omae o korosu!" (translation: Damn demon half-breed, do NOT fuck with me! I will kill you!)

His bokken slid through the shadows to his hand, flaring to life as it encountered the demonic presence. He grasped the handle, the wooden sword glowing brighter, driving back the shadows.

When he was able to move he stood. With his free hand he flexed and moved his fingers. The effect was immediate and obvious. The summons were released. The three Shikigami disappeared to whatever realm they dwelled in normally. The dust clouds likewise vanished, leaving a calm following the storm.

Kyosuke was a very rare person in a world of metahumans and monsters. He was a Yamabushi, a demon slayer. Bred into a life of discipline and training he had none of what metas did. He had no superspeed or strength, no enhanced durability or invulnerability. He couldn't control the minds of men or turn back time. He was a human who from day one had been outnumbered and outgunned and had learned hard lessons in making up for his lack of metahuman abilities.

And now he was angry. His mind had been invaded, his own thoughts manipulated, however slightly. He flipped the bokken over in his hand so that the blade pointed down. With a thrust that lacked superstrength but possesed a far different type of power he buried the blade into the gym floor. The preverbial gloves were off.

Kyosuke began to trace the symbols in the air for a defensive ward for himself so that he could gain the time neccessary to pull off his next attack. Each symbol hung in the air for a second after it was finished, emblazoned upon nothing.

[Marcao]

The more he listened to Blackheart the more he liked what he heard. He found himself grinning for a moment as Blackheart finished his thoughts for him. It was not exactly neither the image nor the words that he had in mind but they fit.

“That sounds about right sir.â€

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart headed down to the gym to see if his people were any less dysfunctional without Saibot. This Tachyon guy was potentially a huge asset having the ass kicking combo of high powered energy blast, force field, and combat teleportation. The fucker could even hover, which meant that even if you chucked him off the side of a building and he carried the KE with him in teleporting, he would still be fine. Christ. Good thing he was on their side.

He stopped outside the door. Three out of five they weren't playing nice. He put his hand down on the door and turned the handle. Time to see if he was right.

[Hotfoot]

Powerful though Kyosuke was, he had one enemy above all others here: Time. It wasn't that Kyosuke lacked time, but rather, time was something Hotfoot had in abundance, and that much time was a danger to anyone it would be arrayed against.

Hotfoot saw the runes being drawn in the air as he saw the expression on the man's face. This had gotten very serious. He might not be empathic, but he knew how to read basic emotions, especially when they were slowed down into a crawling scowl. "Sorry dude, but looks like you're getting a little too into it." The message was not transmitted, even though by the time the rest of the team heard it he would have done what needed to be done.

He sped up before the first rune was half-done, launching himself into the air again from behind Kyosuke. Just before the rune was finished, his elbow swung into the back of Kyosuke's skull, not hard enough to kill, but enough to knock out, or at least stun, a grown man. Twisting in the air, he pushes off of Kyosuke's shoulders, propelling himself forward again as he set up a second run, in case the first did not take down the demon hunter. The passes would continue until the man had fallen or he was forced to stop by some other means. The fire shield was kept as low as he could manage, but given the strength of the attacks, Kyosuke would still feel the plasma heat his skin painfully for the brief moments of contact.

[Dark Silver]

Warpath received Hotfoot's message just as he Kyosuke got pissed off, and the boy acted against him. But he was already replying, "As i just said kid, Four on One wasn't a fair fight, especially in a training excercise. Plus one of our teammates is busy trying to crack open a multi-million dollar suit of power armor, so could SOMEONE get her off before I'm out of commission? And worry about Agent Shingure? He looks rather upset..."

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart stepped in to the gym, looked around and congratulated himself for being right. They were playing rough, but they seemed to have managed to avoid having seriously injured each other so far. "Everyone playing nice?!" he shouted.