Lily's Story

“Here you go, Ms. Clarkson. Good luck out there, eh?”

Lily accepted the envelope of Thai baht from her then-employer, whom provided room and work for the past couple of months. It was only recently that the Order of the Light enforced new workplace rules that rendered the factory a hazard, and put the poor guy out of work until he signed up for some upgrades to the factory. Opting to simply retire, the mid-60’s man simply decided to sell the land back to the government, pay the last of the wages, and take the rest down to New Zealand. The employer sent Lily away and called for the next worker in the now-inactive factory.

Lily checked and counted the bills to observe that the land must have been extremely valuable to the Light. The envelope contained a whopping fifty-two thousand baht. Granted, that only converted to roughly $2000 in the West, but it was easily enough to keep Lily on her footing for a month until she found a new job.

She slipped the cash out of the envelope and into her wallet- a theft-proofed case she had snagged on her way out the door a few months back after ditching the previous owner’s belongings. The wallet itself looked to be made of some sort of cloth, but within was a protective layer of metal. The wallet had hidden pockets, but she opted to slip the cash into the main pocket designed to hold the bills.

Being what she was, muggers had never been a concern.

“Lily, hey!” one of the other workers called to her as he stepped out of his small, well-used, 90’s-era Japanese car. The boy was ninteen, but was shorter than Lily by a head. His english was good, but thick with a Thai accent. He was a nice enough sort, but Lily personally didn't want to build too many relationships. She wanted to remain friendly, yet nondescript.

“Sup, Mick?” Lily asked. She hadn’t learned enough of the language to actually converse in the native tongue that Mick was more comfortable with, but she did know a fair number of phrases that would be handy for a tourist.

“Do you need a ride back to the city?” Mick’s question was delivered slowly and with deliberation, with an ounce of nervousness thrown in for good measure. Apparently noticing this, Mick produced a pack of cheap cigarettes.

“Nah, I’m good,” Lily replied casually as she shoved the wallet back into her pocket. She did, however, produce a lighter. She approached the shorter man and lit one up for the guy. “I’m actually gonna head to Bangkok.”

“You not coming back to Phet Buri? Bangkok is a pretty far away place.”

Lily shook her head. Her short locks wrapped around before settling like before. “I can manage. Thank you.”

Mick seemed suspicious, but he didn’t appear dumb enough to confront a woman who, though younger by three years, was taller by a head, and looked quite strong even under the hoodie and pants. Frustrated, Mick took a drag and slipped into his car. Lily, however, stepped down the gravel road towards the highway.

She strolled along the side of the road as more and more cars passed by her. After half an hour, the last of the employee cars passed. Another half-hour later, the tell-tale thumping of helicopter blades echoed across the distant mountain range.

Lily pulled her hood over her head and glanced back. Far in the distance, above some trees, two VTOL craft were approaching the factory’s location. She barely made out a recognizable symbol on the sides of the aircraft. If she weren’t familiar with the symbol at all, she wouldn’t have known it was the same one that was plastered on many a wall back in the lab she broke out of. Lily leaned against a tree and tried to listen. There were no other sounds for a long time.

But then a bang echoed through the open road of the forest. Lily’s heart skipped a beat, wondering what happened. Was that a gun? Overcome by curiosity, Lily slipped into the forest and bounded between the trees. From there, she took off her sandals and broke into a sprint through the forest. Though she wasn’t a meta with super speed, she did have extremely powerful legs, able to beat olympic athletes with ease with every stride.

It took her a few minutes to retrace her hour-long walk, and there she hid amongst the jungle shrubs to get a better look at the Factory. One of the factory doors had fallen down, a member of the Light was lying in a stretcher pulled from a VTOL. One look at the mangled leg and the blood spatter along the top edge of the door told Lily all she needed to know: The Light were completely right in saying the factory was a hazard.

The ex-employer had fainted, no-doubt from witnessing such a sight. Another Light member was waving the boss’s fan in front of his face to give him some air.

Lily would’ve sighed in relief, but she didn’t want to attract attention. Rather, she was grateful that it was only a fallen door instead of some murder with unusual reasons.

The door itself had been left open for years, she remembered another employee say. It got jammed back in ’98, and the boss decided to move into the factory itself to keep an eye on it at all times. The only other option was to bring a heavy vehicle this far out and unjam it with the sheer weight of the machine. Lily didn’t blame that the guy desperately wanted to retire. Her only question at that point was why the Light wanted a rickety old factory to begin with.

Lily slipped back into the forest again and moved swiftly to make it back to the highway. A few minutes later, she was back on the gravel road, with sandals on, and wiping sweat from her forehead to hide her signs of physical exertion. She forced herself to breathe slowly so that she could avoid rousing suspicion.

She checked the position of the hot sun beating down on the land around her, and determined which way on the highway was North. Afterwards, she took off her sandals once more and jogged at a more normal pace. She didn’t want some passer-by to spot her bounding barefoot with huge leaps.

The first car within the next half-hour that approached from behind was a farm truck. The truck slowed down, and a bearded farmer called, in Thai, “/Need a lift?/”

“/Where you go?/” Lily asked in her choppy tourist-tier variant as she pulled her hood back.

“Bangkok.”

Lily got out her wallet. “/How much?/“

The farmer waved his hand. “/No pay./ You look too pretty.”

Lily blushed at the flattery, but smiled and nodded nonetheless. She climbed up onto the back of the truck and sat amidst some tied-down ice boxes. “/Besides, I do this all the time,/” the farmer added before the truck resumed the trip, “/You’d be surprised how many people walk on the highway. Wife tells me I shouldn't because of dangerous folk./"

Lily did not understand fully, but she did get the gist of what the farmer said. She chuckled before pulling her hood back up and rested against one of the ice boxes. If Lily had walked, her trip would have taken a day. If she used her strength to leap across the landscape, she would have made it in an hour. The farmer’s truck arrived at the city borders in an hour and a half.

She hopped off outside the farmer’s market and waved goodbye to the farmer. She then dug her hands into her hoodie pockets and strolled amongst the slightly shorter masses. She kept her eyes up, and an easy smile on her face as she walked. In her mind, she ran through plans on what to do next- either find another place to stay, or a place to work- preferably both.

There were many shops. Lily had planned to get some more suitable attire for the summer, but she didn’t have any place to store it- not anymore, anyway. Her single-strap backpack carried everything she ever needed- a well-used brush, a swiss army knife, a water flask, and a change of clothes- a tank-top and pants that were lighter than her jeans- which had been stretched from the sheer exertion of her strength. She opted instead to head to a tea place. There, she could get a bite to eat, some gossip, and change to use at a laundry place.

The Farmer’s Market faded behind her along with the thickest crowds. She occasionally glanced behind her to make sure no one was trying to sneak her backpack open to nab something, but no one seemed to try anything. Despite her efforts to try to blend in, she did stand out amongst the people on this particular street by at least a foot. Then again, it was a while since she was in a large public place like this- she had spent most of her time in the old factory or the smaller Phet Buri.

Her sense of sight improving slowly since she broke out, Lily could spot small features of many. Above the heads of the crowd, Lily spotted two men in recognizable suits. The men were unfamiliar, but the suits were distinctly tailored for Light personnel. She had seen many of them when she was held in the old laboratory.

The two men appeared focused, and it took Lily little time to follow their gaze to spot a nervous, panting, blue-haired boy holding position outside the tea shop that Lily had planned on visiting. She didn’t stop walking, mainly because the crowd wouldn’t stop, and someone may eventually run into her and find that she stood as an immovable object.

Instead, she continued navigating like an ordinary civilian towards the tea shop. She accidentally bumped into the closest Light member, and issued a quick, ordinary apology. The crowd was difficult to navigate; it seemed to be entering Rush Hour. The bumped Light member, however, seemed stunned at the sheer force that bumping into Lily had inflicted upon the man. “/Holy shit!/” the man cursed in his native language, /“I think my arm’s dislocated!/”

Lily’s eyes widened ever so slightly, and her heart skipped a beat. She glanced back when the man issued a groan of agony. The other man moved around to the dislocated side and helped pop the shoulder back into place. The crowd seemed to part around the two, though none stopped to help.

The girl failed to acknowledge her own strength, and now she’s caused a scene. Her mind was throwing curses at her own ineptitude, but she did not express any of them on the outside. She instead allowed the crowd to wash her away, and get her close enough to slip into the tea shop. Once inside, she headed to the counter and ordered a pastry. She tried incredibly hard not to break out a nervous sweat as she waited for the pastry. She produced a bill from the wallet in her hoodie pocket, ready to get change. She kept an ear out for the men if they were approaching.

(Sorry guys I got flooded with schoolwork.)

"Buzz off before I bounce this quarter off your nose and into your pal's eye." Anthony said holding the quarter in between his fingers and twirling it eagerly with a smile. He watched the two men look at each other confused before they looked at him and advanced with a knife in one of the man's hands. Anthony kept his word and threw the quarter causing it to bounce off the unarmed man before blinding the other man's left eye. Anthony let a baton slide out of the sleeve of his other hand as he kicked the unarmed man in the stomach. The armed man swung at him with the knife and Anthony did a flip over the knife and landed on the other guy's back knocking the man down so they were back to back on the ground. Anthony threw the baton and it hit the armed man in the wrist causing the knife to fall as Anthony rolled to his feet and caught the knife. Anthony smiled and stood kicking the man in the thigh before throwing the knife into the man's foot. "I've got better things to do then stop to thieves." Anthony said kicking the man in the face.

He heard the sirens coming and left heading for a safe place to hide near the airport. He noticed a girl bump into a few bad dudes and decided to follow as unseen support. "I'll teach Queen that I can do things on my own without his help. I'm free and alive anyways and he isn't here so I already won." Anthony said heaving his bag onto his shoulder higher hearing the compound bow and arrows clinking together in the bag. He tapped a person and watched them trip onto the floor in front of the light agents as he entered the Tea shop. He stepped up to stand right next to the girl and he chuckled. "Smooth. Real smooth. I hope you can run quickly or you can follow directions because if they walk in I might just be your best bet of getting out safe and unseen." He didn't take his hood off or look at the girl in case she was a fake in which case he'd be ready to fight her and he'd strike first before getting away due to sheer luck. "Luck? What luck? I make my own luck of course I'll get away."

It had been maybe fifteen, twenty minutes, and Aurora had just started on her third glass of “cha-dam-yan”, when she couldn't help but feel as if someone was watching her. She'd been power-studying a Thai phrasebook a tourist had foolishly left on their table when they went to the bathroom (the literal translation of the name of the tea was “cold black tea”, by the way). The Speedster had figured out a while back that her speed could, with a little effort of will, be applied to many other things besides running. Like reading and absorbing information, for instance. It wasn't a perfect process of course, she had to really focus on it, and sometimes it took a few readings to properly register things. Now, Rora was merely skimming things, and if anyone happened to glance her way, it'd seem like she was simply flipping the pages, pausing a few moments to read a phrase here or there. Which, honestly, was more or less exactly what she was doing, only a fair bit more rapidly than the average person.

Intent as she was, Aurora hadn't noticed the cab pull up or the red-haired boy get out of it. It wasn't until a few minutes of that feeling of being watched nagging at her that she finally did look up, catching his gaze with a slightly quirked brow for the barest of moments. Just as quickly, she cast her gaze around the rest of the rapidly filling street outside the tea house. Damn... Was she ever glad she hadn't been too focused on her 'studying'. There were two Light agents standing right across the street, no mistaking those uniforms. They were obviously looking for someone, Rora could easily tell, because they were trying so hard to act like they weren't....

Gods dammit, were they already looking for her? How the hell did they even know she was here, let alone on this continent? Sipping her tea casually, as if she wasn't going nearly ballistic on the inside, Aurora wished she hadn't taken a window seat. Her own selfish thoughts were soon quickly abashed, however, at the appearance of a wild-eyed kid a few years her junior. He'd stopped just outside the tea house, looking like he just sprinted a few blocks to get here, and seeming quite frazzled about something.

One of the Light agents was speaking into a radio or something, then affirmed whatever orders they received. Both agents' attentions were solely focused on the blue-haired boy now. Rora called for her bill, figuring she'd need to do something. But, as she waited as patiently as she could, a tall, solidly built girl came sweeping down the street and accidentally bumped into one of the agents, causing a bit of a commotion. The raven-haired girl was already at the counter ordering something by the time they sorted themselves out. Sighing in exasperation, Aurora slipped the phrasebook into her backpack, threw a few more Thai Baht notes on the table, and stood, heading towards the counter herself.

Along the way, something caught her eye, sitting under an empty table. Checking that nobody was paying attention to her, Rora diverted that way and snagged a notebook or journal of some sort. Not really the prying type, nor exactly having the time, she simply tossed it into her bag as well.

"Smooth. Real smooth. I hope you can run quickly or you can follow directions because if they walk in I might just be your best bet of getting out safe and unseen."

Aurora froze in her tracks, not having seen the owner of those words enter. Yet another fairly interesting individual entering this particular tea house. This was getting a bit fishy... She tossed her hood back over her face and tried her damnedest to fade into line like just another tourist behind those two at the counter. It was also a bit exciting, and Rora wasn't about to miss out on anything despite the fact that she probably should already have been out the back door by now...

After pocketing her given change, Lily didn’t turn to face the boy, seeing as she was focusing on the pastry and tea she ordered. Judging by the boy’s forward attitude and the subtle threat disguised as a pick-up line, this kid was either a Light member, or a fugitive meta like herself. She decided to go for something completely neutral and picked up a nearby paper with classified ads that she couldn’t actually read. “I’m sorry, do I know you?” She asked with nary the faintest tinge of annoyance in her voice. “Is that some kind of code, meaning you know a place with cheap rent? ‘Cause that’s what I’m looking out for.”

She was confident that her being washed away by the crowds allowed her to escape the Light members she accidentally bumped into. She was also confident that they were not after her specifically; they were after that blue-haired boy. She was not entirely sure where this other, non-blue-haired older boy’s loyalties lay, so she opted not to mention that the Light members were going after Little Boy Blue.

“I’m also looking for a laundromat.” Lily casually added after taking and swallowing her first bite from the pastry. She slightly turned her head so her large blue eyes can get a real look at the seventeen-year-old who seemed to be threatening her. She hadn't noticed the nearby red-head. “Do you know where the closest one is?”

A civilian woman on the other side of Lily chimed in. She appeared to be a Thai woman in her late 50's with graying hair. Her wrinkles strangely seemed to make her beam with youth. "You look for room? I know some places," her English was surprisingly good.

With a smile, Lily turned to the woman, and engaged in a conversation about good rent rates, and the cheapest laundromat that isn't a wreck. There was mention of this one laundromat run by a "horrible man," as well as talk about an apartment close to the outskirts that was far cheaper than anything downtown. It was also newer than the older buildings, and was quite comfortable.

As far as the Light members were concerned, it would appear that a tourist was chatting it up with a friendly local, with a suspicious-looking boy hanging close.

"ฉันรู้ว่าสถานที่ไม่กี่และฉันยังเห็นคุณชนคนเหล่านั้นออกไปข้างนอก คุณคิดว่าพวกเขาก็จะลืมและปล่อยให้กับเหยื่อของพวกเขา คนร้ายที่อยู่นอกจะไม่ลืมและปล่อยให้ไป" Anthony said in Thai before repeating it in english to make sure she understood. (I Know of a few places and I also saw you bump into those guys outside. You think that they'll just forget that and leave with their victim. those gangsters outside aren't going to just forget and let go.) Anthony laughed at how naive the thought was and how he'd handle the problem. Anthony grabbed his bag and started rummaging through his bag to grab his bow as he got up. He pulled out a small crescent shaped object that quickly unfolded into a full sized bow. "ไม่ว่าถ้าคุณกำลังจะไม่สนใจพวกเขาแล้วฉันจะจัดการมันเองและให้แน่ใจว่าพวกเขาอยู่ลง"(Whatever If you're just going to ignore them then I'll handle it myself and make sure they stay down.) He put a red domino mask on and pulled out his quiver as he stepped into a stairwell that led to the roof of the building.

He was going to wait for the girl to get to the roof and decide what he'd do with her but if she just left he'd still knock out the two light agents. He started looking at his home made arrows before finding two stun tipped arrows. He started to take aim before shaking his head and pulling out his special hay maker arrows and starting to adjust for the boxing glove tipped arrows. He would take his time and wait for them to make a move on the target they had in mind before he knocked them out one at a time. He would then go for a rescue regardless of who the target was. He had no moral or contractual obligation to stick his neck out for anybody but he figured no matter how their powers were different they were family, Right?

Lily ignored the boy- mainly because she didn’t understand the majority of what was said, but also because she was already in a conversation with the 50-something-year-old woman. It would have been incredibly rude to break it off, which would catch the attention of the Light. When the senior civilian by-chance glanced pat Lily, her expression went from friendly to outright terrified. Noticing the sudden change, Lily turned to see what the older woman was looking at.

The boy from earlier had just pulled a red hood over his face and produced a goddamn military-grade bow. What is with this kid?! Lily wondered incredulously. She turned back to the older woman and tried to calm her down from the sight.

Too late, the older woman screamed, and now everyone’s cover was blown. Civilians turned and got a glimpse of the retreating hooded kid with the weapon, and they in-turn informed those next to them with their own sounds of terror. Chaos ensued as the light members got a good look at the one in the hood. They radio’d in for backup. Lily wrapped her arms around the older woman and issued some encouraging words. The poor old thing was having a panic attack.

If the Light members had, despite all odds, identified Lily, they certainly didn’t care anymore now that an armed individual suddenly made his presence known in a packed public establishment.

Lily knew one thing for certain: If she wanted to get out of this and have a chance to rent a flat, she needed to do anything except follow the stupid boy.

Mika gave himself another second to before finally entering the tea shop. As he made his way back to the table, panic filled his chest. His uncle's journal no longer sat upon the table.

"Where is it?!" He whispered to himself. Had a agent of The Light come in after him and found it? No more than likely someone had grabbed it because it was a black leather book. He had to keep that as his only hope. If the Light got their slimy claws on it, he would never forgive himself. It didn't help that the last photo of him and his uncle was in the inside cover.

"Ok I can find it, maybe someone on the staff put it in the lost and found." With that he head towards the counter.

When the girl had left her seat, Howl assumed he had been wrong maybe she had just be lost in thought. What did bug him was when she walked past another table and stuffed the journal in her bag. As he walked to the entrance of the shop, he saw a boy with blue hair possibly a year or two younger then himself catching his breath.

As he found a seat for himself in the shop he order a cup of black tea. As he waited for it to be brought out to him he took a quick survey of who was in the shop.

There were only a few that caught his attention. One being of course the young lady who had been staring at him as he entered. There had been another boy he had caught sight of before entering. He had been attempting to talk to another girl who instead was more interested in holding a conversation with an elderly woman. Finally the Blue haired boy had entered and was now searching around a table for something, it was the table that girl had grabbed the journal off of. Had it belong to the boy. Looking once more to the boy he looked on the verge of tears as he began to talk to the bartender. Howl couldn't watch this anymore, he stood up from his seat and leaned against the counter beside the brunette.

"Dū p̄hm mị̀ thrāb ẁā t̄ĥā khuṇ s̄ạngket h̄ĕn tæ̀ wārs̄ār thī̀ khuṇ xeā... Mạn pĕn k̄hxng thī̀ dĕk yākcn mī..."
(Look I don't know if you noticed but that journal you took...It belongs to that poor kid there...) Pointing to the blue haired boy.

"P̄hm mị̀ thrāb ẁā t̄ĥā khuṇ cảpĕn t̂xng chı̂ ngein h̄rụ̄x xarị tæ̀ c̄hạn ca thảh̄ı̂ khuṇ cạdkār thī̀ khuṇ h̄ı̂ c̄hạn wārs̄ār læa c̄hạn ca h̄ı̂ khuṇ mæ̂ẁā khuṇ ca k̄hāy dị̂ mī mti h̄ĕn chxb?"
(I don't know if you need the money or something but I'll make you a deal, you give me the journal and I'll give you however much you were gonna sell it for. Agreed?)

Well... Shit. That could have gone better. Aurora continued to let the situation unwind around her for a few more moments, absorbing every single detail she could. The two Light agents were already calling for backup, the masked bowman surely picking his shots on the roof by now, and tall-hot-strong girl was trying to placate one of the civilians. Rora could see the indecision painted on the girl's face. So, she made the decision for her.

”I'll go handle Robin Hood, you stay here and run another one of your... blindsides,” the Speedster muttered with a chuckle in tall-hot-strong girl's ear after closing the distance. ”If you need to. I think they're waiting for reinforcements; which gives us five-ten minutes tops...”

With a wink and a smirk playing about her lips, Rora turned to dash up the stairs. Only to find the boy that had been staring at her earlier directly in her path. He was spouting something in fairly fluent Thai that she only clung to thanks to the phrasebook. As she processed the words, her expression edged toward dark a bit, though remained passive-aggressively neutral.

“K̄hāy dị̂?!?”(Sell it?) Now, outrage and indignation coloured her checks as she exclaimed in a passable Thai accent. “Læa h̄ı̂ kæ̀ p̄hū̂ pricks s̄æng nxk? C̄hạn khid ẁā mạn pĕn dĕk, p̄hmca klạb pị k̄heā thạnthī thī̀ p̄hm dị̂ mī xokās̄.” (And give it to those Light pricks outside? I had a feeling it was the kid's, was going to return it when I had a chance.)

It was near-fluent Thai, with what few words and phrases she knew, but enough to get her point across. Her pacing was definitely a bit choppy, bit too fast, but, that was how Aurora was, always in high gear.

Sighing -almost growling- in exasperation, the deep purple spikes of hair puffed out and swaying with Rora's sudden motion. She swung her right hand halfway round and aimed a slap squarely on the boy's cheek, if it wasn't being deflected. It was fairly hard, but Aurora held way back on it. A warning. A statement.

”How dare you compare me to those K̄heī̂yw thī̀ p̀ā waiting outside!?” Rora shot back with an apt Thai curse, gearing up for a follow-up slap, but stopping herself, continuing in English more quietly now. ”Look, I dunno who you are, but get out of my way... I've got a manhunt to stop. Maybe you can help tall-h-... tall-girl with her blindside when... if it comes to that. Tell 'em... I dunno, tell 'em he and/or I went out the back door...”

Confidence crept back into her tone and features as Aurora spoke, tossing her hood back over her head and face, hoping her slight hesitation would go unnoticed. She stepped nimbly around the younger, if taller, boy, and took the steps up to the roof two-three at a time. As soon as the roof access door was closed as quietly as possible behind her, Rora glanced around for any other eyes, then darted to one side and a pace or two behind the masked bowman.

“Is that really a good idea?” Aurora trilled softly, just maybe loud enough for him to hear, from that spot, then zipped to another. ”You think you're Hawkeye, eh? And what're you planning on doing when their cronies arrive? Peg every single one of them, passively or... otherwise... Then try to find asylum when the entire city is being turned upside-down to find you, your bow, and your arrows?”

The Speedster had settled on a corner wall overlooking the street, sitting casually cross-legged just out of view from below. One way or another, she'd probably get out of this, already could have mind you, but she didn't. Aurora was now set on her decision: resolving things peacefully and slinking off to fight another day (perhaps even with allies)...

”Ehh, don't listen to me, you're the man with the big-bad bow with fancy arrows and a sorta cool mask...” Rora said quietly, eyes focused on the agents in the street, ears straining to hear the first siren (though hoping against hope it wouldn't come), and both fists curled tightly around her spiked brass knuckles 'neath her hoodie pocket. “Mạn pĕn thāng leụ̄xk k̄hxng khuṇ, pheụ̄̀xn h̄ım̀ k̄hxng c̄hạn... I'll try to help you and the others get out of here regardless of what you choose. Pord cả wị̂ ẁā mæ̂ kranận thī̀ khuṇ leụ̄xk ca p̄hlk ra thb t̀x nı chīwit p̄hū̂ xụ̄̀n ṇ cud nī̂ … Mị̀ pheīyng tæ̀ khuṇ xeng. ”
(It is your choice, my new friend... ;;; Remember, however, your choice will impact others' lives at this point... not only your own.)

”We don't have much time, either way...”

Well... the git certainly didn't give her much time, that was for damn sure... The first arrow was already flying after he muttered some insult, then the other in quick succession. Rora was already on her feet, diving for the fire escape ladder that dropped just inside the alley. Bracing each foot on the outer rail of the ladder, she looked up to see the archer swinging across the street. Without another moment's hesitation, she slid quickly in a controlled manner down to the alley below. Pausing only slightly to tighten the strings of her hood, she dashed into the street onto the just now recovering Light agents. Incapacitating them wouldn't be terribly difficult, as they hadn't been looking for another attacker.

After a neat roll, she came up swinging with one of the boxing glove arrows and sent one agent on his ass with a swift hay-maker punch. Then the other took one, two, three jabs to the face with a bare left fist, before taking a few swipes himself. But no matter where he struck, Aurora was simply not there, or merely deflected. This agent got smart, though, and pulled something like a tazer from his belt into play. Rora was suddenly behind him, landing a few kidney shots as she bore the arrow into the man's wrist holding the tazer. It connected, briefly, but her hand followed through on the strike and just barely grazed the contacts.

A wall of noise and pain jolted through her, even at the momentary touch. Staggering back several paces, she dropped to one knee, as if finished.

”Ah, you like our new Clap Stunner, hmm?” The agent chuckled, sparing her the Thai, flipping a dial on the device, charging it up as he advanced upon Rora. “You'll love it more on a higher peak...”

But Aurora was already reacting, swinging around with a roundhouse kick that collided with the stunner, driving it back into the agent's chest. She didn't stick around to watch, picked up the other arrow, and disappeared down the alley across the street. It didn't take long to find the masked archer, and when she did, she merely threw the somewhat comical arrows in his face. Without even uttering a word, Aurora scampered up the nearest accessible roof and swept off to some nearby hiding spot, hoping things would cool down...

Despite the quick words from the speedster, Lily merely helped the old woman onto her feet and moved to get them both out of the tea shop. The many patrons initially crashed against the open door’s frames like a floodgate, but some civilians managed to take command and help funnel the people out in a more orderly fashion.

By the time the second arrow was loosed from the boy’s bow, Lily was setting the old woman down on a bench. It was close, but not terribly so. The elder would be safe there amidst the clearing-out civilians.

“I’m going to help more people,” Lily explained before beginning to head out.

A weak “Thank you!” followed Lily amid the screams of everyone on the street. Lily grabbed her black hood and pulled it over her black hair once she was out of view from the elderly woman.

She kept her head tilted low as she approached. She stepped quickly on the opposite side of the street from the tea shop. Her eyes darted between the windows and the rooftop, where she spotted the hooded archer just beginning to swing across the street.

Lily wanted to catch up to the boy and make him pay for causing such a scene. However, that strange, speedy girl’s words came back to her. Five-ten minutes tops. Lily’s jaw clenched tightly as she pondered her position. Reinforcements- Chances are some of them would actually recognize her as the one who escaped. She was lucky that the first two did not recognize her- or even get a good look at her- but she wasn’t about to test her luck further.

A red blur caught her right-side peripheral vision as the speedster crossed the street to the next alley. Lily glanced once more up and down the street, and then followed suit towards the alleyway. After running normally around the corner, she removed her shoes and held them in her left hand.

The alleyway was much like others. There were a couple of dumpsters on either side, as well as many piles of things that escaped said dumpsters, or were simply left by lazy pedestrians or the wind. Beyond the panicking civilians passing by the entrance without glancing into the alleyway, and the currently calm far end, there was practically no one around.

That is, no one who isn’t a meta-human. Between Lily and the other end of the alleyway was the hooded boy and the speedster. Her hood covered the top side of her face with shadow, but she had no doubts the two of them would recognize her getup. The speedster didn’t seem to turn, instead opting to zip up a building wall- no-doubt to hide until things cooled down. The bowman- on the other hand- was too dangerous to stick with.

Lily froze at the sight of the kid with the bow, as any civilian would if they spotted the initial cause of the panic. She didn’t want to use her powers; the evidence of her strength would catch the attention of even more Light members in the long run. It’s not every day a human being could punch a hole through solid brick and metal. She considered using a fraction of her power instead to leap up the nearest building. She wasn’t certain how powerful a jump she would need to perform, and if she put too much power into her legs, she would easily crack the asphalt beneath her.

Her eyes caught sight of a fire escape with the ground ladder still up. A jump of such a small height would be nothing to Lily. She picked up the pace and leaped up to the metal railing. She grabbed on and pulled herself over onto the metal platform. She glanced back to her launching point only to see that the most damage she caused was create a subtle circle of swirling garbage. Give a decent wind, and all evidence would be wiped away just as quickly as it was created.

The civilian wave had passed, so no one passing by the entrance was looking into the alleyway. Satisfied, Lily turned and bounded up the rickety metal stairs. As she climbed quickly up the fire escape, her mind focused on the information she received from the elderly woman.

On the other end of the alleyway was a street that had a good laundromat. There were several decent apartments to rent along the outskirts, but Lily never got a specific name. She would need to get a good look at these outskirt apartments before she could determine which ones to look into. However, the laundromat took priority. Her clothing must have smelled like sweat by now, if the early day of walking, running, and riding on an open-back track didn’t cut it.

Once more, her thoughts drifted to the boy with the bow, and how she wanted to slap the kid for causing such a scene. It took most of her willpower to put these thoughts to the back of her mind. However, Lily’s thoughts drifted to the potential for long-term hassle on her part. She never checked the tea shop for cameras. Would the Light confiscate the security footage to try to ID the bowman? Would they spot Lily? Would they recognize Lily? The tall girl figured it would be very likely, especially since the boy approached and spoke to her as if they were friends. At the very least, the local police would want to find her to interrogate her regarding the boy.

Lily stopped three quarters up the fire escape, and glanced down to the boy with the bow. He may have single-handedly blown her cover in more ways than either could imagine. The thoughts continued flooding in her mind. No… she tried to control her breathing. As the severity of her situation really dawned upon her, her breathing stopped for beats at a time.

A fire escape was hardly the best place to have a panic attack. It took all of her willpower to focus on continuing to the rooftop. Some of her barefoot bounds began to propel her greater distance, which began to bend a few interlinked bars in the mesh-like platforms.

”Damnit, girl,” she told herself right before she reached the rooftop. Once she was over the parapet, she was finally free to let loose with her panic attack. She dropped to her knees and yelled in frustration. “Great! This is just PERFECT!”

She rose a fist to pound the rooftop, but her panic faltered, and she regained control once more. She instead slapped the rooftop with the same force as an ordinary man. Beyond a slap of flesh on concrete, no damage was dealt, and the girl felt no pain whatsoever. Lily’s breathing slowed as she slowly regained her composure. Despite the ruined plan for a normal few months in Bangkok, one thing became certain: Lily had an opportunity to find her mother once more.

Lily would need to enlist the help of that speedster. Until this encounter, Lily did not know of any other meta-humans in existence. It had only been a minute or two since it started, but the panic attack left Lily fatigued. To add to that, there was still a more wide-spread panic happening in the streets. She got off her knees and sat with her back against the parapet. She raised a hand to her forehead and rubbed her temples with her outstretched thumb and middle finger.

Chances are good that the if the speedster wanted to be found, she’d come to whoever was searching. Lily was a fast person herself, but not nearly that fast. She’d never catch someone that fast.

As soon as her feet hit the tarred shingles, the Speedster's mind began racing wildly. More wildly than her racing feet, actually. That second (or third) wind had remained behind with the bewildered and/or unconscious Light agents in the street below. Now, she was moving at the pace of a mundane sprinter, dodging most obstacles rather than vaulting over them as she typically did. Using an air conditioner unit as leverage, she leaped across a gap and rolled to a landing on a slightly higher roof.

Why did she feel the need to put herself out there yet again? Chances were slim to none that there was another Speedster in town, so if those agents she put down got any good looks at her, Aurora would be, quite frankly, screwed. Upon reflection, Rora found that she wasn't actually all that worried, or even remotely irritated with herself for her possibly ill-considered decisions. No... she had done the right thing, and besides, regretting something -anything at all, really- never did, never will, resolve anything.

Her thoughts drifted back to another time when she risked her hide for strangers... not so long ago, actually:

It was closing time for most pubs in downtown London, and Aurora had just been unreasonably booted from her third one. She hadn't been drinking... much. The fake American ID she'd worked so hard for was scrutinised very carefully by the barkeeps, and even rebuffed by the first one. Besides, her first night in London was not about drinking anyhow, but of finding information. And a place to stay of course... but that should go without saying.

A few of the more disreputable patrons in the seedier pubs had hinted at a group of Metas in town causing trouble for the Light every chance they got, though Rora hadn't gotten much more than that; the bouncers had come round and “politely” asked her to leave. So... trying her damnedest to walk in a fairly straight line, she wandered down the alley from the latest pub she'd gotten the boot from. And, lo and behold, she happened upon three Light agents cornering someone who was surely a Meta, or at least a mundane with ties...

“Deirtra Tahnee Harmony, you are under arrest for terrorist acts upon your government, arson, and, of course, being a Meta,” said the leader of the agents. “Will you come willingly?”

“Yeh fawkin' twee bastards can suck it if yeh think I'm goin' wit'out a foight!” The cornered female, in her mid-twenties by the looks of it, replied staunchly in a thick Cockney drawl mixed with something else.

“We figured you'd feel that way...” Came the leader's reply, followed by a swift backhand to Deirtra's face. “Now the brass can't complain if you're... a little worse for wear after we bring you in.”

Witnessing the slap, and not liking the sinister implication of the agent's comment, Aurora couldn't just stand by and let this happen... So, the Speedster blind-sided the agents, first catching the leader in the ribs with her spiked knuckles. Then, while he was otherwise distracted, two swift kicks to the noggins brought the other two down. Deirtra finished off the leader with some sort of mind spike, and the two quickly hit it off as friends from there...

After leaping another gap and somersaulting over a vent fan, her thoughts were ground to a halt as the steady whup whup whup of a helicopter invaded. Finally taking in her surroundings, Aurora found that she had somehow worked her way back near the scene of the crime. Pinning herself against the lower wall of a water tower, she tried to summon the energy needed to phase through it. Not finding it, she dropped into a crouch and slunk around the circumference as the chopper passed almost directly overhead. Looking up warily, Rora was relieved to see it was only a news helo, the nose camera undoubtedly pointed toward the street where the tea house was located.

Not far from where she was crouched, Aurora heard an exasperated shout. Curious, she sidled over to the edge of the roof to see the tall-hot-girl from the tea-shop recovering from an apparent panic-attack. A smirk played about her lips as she settled into a sitting position on the slightly higher roof, facing down on the girl from above, letting her legs swing freely over the ledge.

”What's perfect?” The Speedster trilled, her voice carrying easily to the raven-haired girl. “The fact that mister git Robin Hood has most likely dragged out half the Light on our asses, or you nearly giving yourself up just now?”

(Everyone's tagged because we want this thing to live. We got a defib, let's get that heart rate going!)

Lily flinched, having no idea she was being watched this entire time. It took her a second to realise that it was a girl lazily swinging her legs over the edge. Though Lily never got a solid look at the speedster, the basic descriptors- the colour of hair, skin, and attire, clicked. The knowledge of the encounter a mere minute ago also played a factor in Lily realising the girl was no Light.

Lily huffed in amusement at the question. She replied, “Not giving myself up, but yeah… it’s all perfect.”

She had planned this move to Bangkok ever since she joined the old factory a few months back. The old owner took care of her, understanding her plight as an orphan. The old man’s desires to retire to a tropical island ultimately overtook any desire to adopt the girl, and Lily didn’t want to impose regardless. Thus, Lily had the big wad of cash to keep her on her feet for a few months before she could get a new job. With the Light having a renewed interest in the area, due to the reveal of at least three Metas in the same place, Lily’s plans to lay low were compromised.

So much planning, only to be ruined by a single person completely unrelated. Lily’s patience wore thin. Finally, she threw back her hood to unveil her short, black locks. Her eyes were red, but she shed no tears. “I was planning to have a shelter to run to if I ever got found out, but now I’m just tired of hiding,” She explained as she ran a hand through her hair.

With a sigh, Lily glanced up to the other girl. “I kinda wanna take the fight to them,” she added, “But I can’t do it alone.”

Back when she was in the labs, she learned that the stunners were capable of stunning her, but not subduing her. The Light instead used special cufflinks that applied a constant current of whatever power the stunners used. She only broke out by sheer luck, because no one expected the mood swing she had when she wanted to see her mother. Something that bothered her deep-down was how they knew the cuffs would work.

With a speedster on her side, Lily would have some competent backup to help her against so many with those stunners. She wondered if they would need more than just the two of them.

Loathe as Lily was to admit it, but having Mr. Robin Hood would be more advantageous than not having him. Plus, the Light would search high-and-low for the kid. Lily’s conscience wouldn’t handle letting the inevitability come unchallenged.

Howl had watched as the both the speedster and super had vanished from the fight but could tell they hadn't left the area, taking out a set of binoculars he carried around he did a quick scan of the area. Finally catching sight of the two on a separate roof top. Now to get their attention without arousing suspicion. He looked down at Mika, whose breathing was slightly more level than it had been before.
"Listen kid, i know you're just recovering from your panic attack, but I'm gonna take a stab and guess you're a Martian Mind?" The younger boy looked at him and nodded. "You think there's anyway you could get those two girls attention?"

Mika listen intently to Howl as he asked his request. Taking the binoculars from him he could see the two he was referring to.

"Shouldn't be too hard." He whispered afraid to raise his voice any higher that it might give away how much he was still panicked. He focused on the two mental waves that he had felt from the two of them early and let his words echo in their minds.

/"Hello there, I apologize for this intrusion into your minds however if it not too much trouble we would like to request your presence on the tea shop roof."/

(Sorry guys I had a really really busy month but if anybody wants to continue I'll be paying on the sight daily.)

Anthony stood in a alley and fired three arrows up and watching them land in a triangle a few feet from him. "Dammit I missed." He muttered causing the two approaching agents to smile and raise their weapons. Anthony put his hands up and looked down so the shadows covered his face while he grinned. He pressed a button in his right hand and the three arrows shocked everything between them. "Oops did I do that? Oh well gotta go guys. See you in the countryside." He said smiling as he started walking towards the end of the alley. He wasn't the most subtle of people but it was highly improbable that he'd get caught by chance.

He had a place top hide that was good enough not to mention his car which also worked when acting casual. It was a rusted out classic of a car from 1969 west Germany. He loved his Volkswagen beetle and would soon be hunting down more parts for it. He always planned ahead for looking for parts after trying to stop a attack from light agents.

[[Unforgivably late... I know, but I'm still posting this. Tagged all 'cuz I'd love to keep going. Here's hoping a few CC's of Adrenaline with help get that heart going! >;3]]

Rora nodded as she listened to the girl's venting, her face mostly impassive. It sounded all too familiar to the Speedster, for the most part. Tossing back her hood to reveal that pixie-ish cut fiery red hair with deep purple spikes obscuring deep blues, she dropped lightly down to tall-hot-girl's level.

”Yeah... Believe it or not, I'm tired of running... Sick of hiding,” Aurora replied, closing the distance between them and placing a hand on the taller girl's shoulder. "I'm more than happy to join the fight. Hell... I've been fighting ever since...”

She trailed off, obviously not inclined to finish that thought. Memories were fine, sure, especially those that reminded one of why they continued pushing on in the present. But she didn't even know this girl's name, so there was absolutely no reason Aurora should feel the need to share. Maybe another time...

“Heh... Let's just say I've been fighting for a while now...” She said bitterly, shaking her head slightly. ”I'm Aurora, by the by... The closest thing to the literal incarnation of The Flash you'll ever find!”

Rora flashed a wink and a crooked smirk at the girl, the prior pensive nature gone as if it never existed. Then, suddenly, she felt a presence coming into her mind, and she stiffened. Thanks to a few sessions with Deirtra, she had learned a thing or two about protecting her mind. As she began throwing up what little defence she could, the Speedster realised it was a vaguely familiar presence. She warily let the message through: /"Hello there, I apologize for this intrusion into your minds however if it not too much trouble we would like to request your presence on the tea shop roof."/

It was the boy from the tea-house, surely. And, casting her focus back toward the tea-house, she saw both the red-head and the blue-haired kid standing atop the roof there. It would be utter folly to head back there, Aurora knew, so she shook her head clearly for them to see, also beckoning a bit with one hand... She then focused on one thought, if the Martian Mind still happened to be peering into her mind: /”No way in hell I'm going back there. The Light'll be swarming that place in no time! Come to us instead?”/

Trying to focus on that thought-projection, Rora turned back to the Super.

”Those two from the tea-house want us to go back, I'm sure you heard or felt or whatever... I don't think that's a really good idea, but I've got your … ahh ... back if you want to risk it...”

The Flash? Lily had never heard of this “Flash” concept. Judging by the girl comparing herself to this “Flash”, it would seem Flash is also an incredibly fast individual. Regardless, Lily did not show her immense relief that the girl was willing to join her. As Lily started thinking on her next move, a voice seemed to permeate within her mind. The voice did not seem to take anything, only use Lily’s brain as a second ear to speak into. It spoke of a request for help. Specifically, it asked for an extraction from the tea shop Lily had just escaped from.

A psychic? Lily was not aware there was one in the area. Matter of fact, she never even knew they existed. Until today, she was not aware that she was not the only meta-human in existence. She did have her suspicions while living in the lab, namely that she couldn’t be the only reason that such a facility needed to be so large and diverse in it’s equipment. Now that the realization dawned upon her, she no longer felt isolated with her hiding her immense power from the other factory workers.

She shook her head out of instinct, and Aurora spoke before the tall girl could. “Those two from the tea-house want us to go back, I’m sure you heard or felt or whatever… I don’t think that’s a really good idea, but I’ve got your… ahh… back if you want to risk it.”

An unusual pause there... Lily didn't understand the pause. Her time in the lab involved very specific, if standard education- especially in language and proper behaviour. The latter of which, she didn't care much for. “If we are considering helping them,” Lily cracked her neck as she bent down to remove her sandals. She didn’t want to ruin them, after all. She stuffed the footwear into the large front pocket of her hoodie. “We need to act now, and fast.”

At that, she pulled the hood over her head, pressed her bare feet against the thick, reinforced cement of the roof, and then launched herself about eighty feet into the air. The sudden force caused a circle of cracks to form around where her feet had pushed. Thankfully, the damage did not seem to cause any amount of collapse. However, there was a muffled shriek from the tenant who lived directly under that rooftop.

The bound was easily enough to clear the distance between that rooftop and that of the tea shop. Lily aimed to land on the thicker, more reinforced parapet, to prevent her tough body to smash right through the roof and possibly the next couple of floors. The landing caused the parapet to crack and buckle. Beyond chunks of concrete dropping into the now-empty alleyway below, the parapet held.

Lily then turned towards the two helpless metas and stepped down from the all-but-ruined slab of roof. “Alright, let’s get you two boys outta here,” she offered both arms, ready to carry at least one. She could carry both easily- that was, after all, her power. Her biggest concern is how they would take the inertia of her bounding. With a reassuring smile, she added, “Come on, I’ll protect you.”

The Super's face betrayed confusion at her mentioning of The Flash, though before she could explain further, tall-hot-girl had said something about saving the two left behind on the tea-house roof and needing to act fast. Then she bounded off their roof across to the tea-house...

Well, wanting to help fellow Metas was all well and good, but with many Light agents surely converging on the scene, it was pretty much suicide. Still... Rora had promised her assistance to the Super, regardless of the inherent consequences. With a sigh, she found the easiest route down to ground level, another handy drainpipe, and vaulted over the edge.

Dropping quickly, though slowing enough to spare herself from injury. (Speedsters had to be especially aware of their physical state, for obvious reasons. If you tweaked your knee or busted an ankle, running at the speed of light or sound would be quite difficult, eh?) Taking a moment to toss her hood back up, she sped across the street and up the fire escape ladder she had so recently used.

Appearing just merely moments behind the Super, she caught most of what the girl had said. Without waiting for anybody to react, she zipped over to the roof-access door and quickly barricaded it with a length of pipe she found. Then, in another moment, she was back at the sides of the other Metas, that selfsame smirk playing about her face.

”We've got to move now or we're all lost...” Aurora said to them. “I'm surprised those Light assholes have taken even this long to respond, but let's not give them a chance to remedy that mistake, mmm?”

Then... mostly aside to tall-hot-girl, she muttered with a chuckle, “Flash was essentially a Speedster, in comic books. I'm surprised you didn't know that...”

Howl had went to answer the obvious super when the speedster came rushing up beside her. She had rushed to block off the door.
"We've got to move now or we're all lost...I'm surprised those Light assholes have taken even this long to respond, but let's not give them a chance to remedy that mistake, mmm?"

"I wouldn't be to worried about them, Light policy dictates if radio silence is not enacted by the chief in charge you are not to engage the enemy, and lucky for us, I happen to be cutting off their radio communications."

He almost burst into laughter when the the speedster mentioned the Flash, she definitely seemed to have the cockness associated with the second flash Wally West, though he didn't feel like getting on the bad side of those who were rescuing him so he kept him mouth shut on the matter.

He looked down to Mika once more, the kid had almost went into shock again.

"Whoa, hey kid," Mika looked up at him with glassy eyes. "I know your freaked but i need you to stay with us, alright?" He gave a slow nod. "Alright." He pulled the kid to his feet. "We need to get him outta here fast, but I don't know which of you would be best to take him, pick. Your either stuck with my smart mouth, or keeping him from going into shock. Take your pick!"

Mika barely was paying attention to what all going around him, no matter how hard he tried he could seem to pull himself out of it. Why was it so hard?

"Whoa, hey kid," He looked up to...Howl that was his name. "I know you're freaked." Understatement. "But I need you to stay with us, alright?" He felt himself nodded yet he felt so detached from himself. He wouldn't of even stood up if Howl hadn't helped him.

Airhorns sounded in alarm as distant tires screeched over the sounds of equally distant automatic weapons. Many of the Light agents broke away from the tea shop a while ago to investigate the clearly higher-priority situation. After all, the two other meta-humans did not seem particularly threatening in the physical sense. The Light agents that remained, however, clearly did not expect a tall, hooded figure to fly in from seemingly nowhere to stamp down onto a parapet.

That crazed lunatic with the bow was, in a word, bombastic, Lily observed. Though lacking proof, she knew the alarms and gunfire had to be from that boy. It would provide an ample distraction, and buy her and Aurora just enough time to extract these two less physically-gifted teenagers and escape. With a little luck, they would leave a trail just cold enough to lose the remaining agents.

“Whoa, hey kid. I know your freaked but i need you to stay with us, alright?”

The red-haired one appeared to be older, larger, and thus heavier. Though Aurora looked incredibly fit, Lily figured that the speedster’s power did not include super strength. In order for the speedster to maintain her speed, the most efficient method would be to let her carry the lighter boy- the blue-haired one with the skinny arms. The boy who almost looked more like a girl than a boy… Almost…

Another reason to take the heavier boy was because Lily had no idea how to comfort the smaller boy. Despite some book knowledge on emotional comfort, Lily had no real experience. Her only reference to that was her memories of her mother. Even then, Lily only remembered mother from images, turned hazy from the long-term effects of whatever testing chemicals the Light injected while she lived in the old lab. All she could make out at that point was long black hair, skin of an identical hue to Lily’s, and a white blouse. During that particular memory, Lily felt happiness and safety- feelings she felt nowadays, but not on the level she recalled.

Whenever she remembered, she also remembered the subsequent confusion and sadness. A second huge figure closing around mother, taking mother away, to vanish behind a curtain of steel-gray. The blast doors of a laboratory. The same ones Lily broke through when she initiated her escape. The sounds of those memories were worse off; they were muffled beyond recognition.

“We need to get him outta here fast, but I don't know which of you would be best to take him, pick. Your either stuck with my smart mouth, or keeping him from going into shock. Take your pick!”

The memories did not give the super any pause. She had taught herself to not be stirred by those memories a long time ago. There was no time for that, after all. Lily extended a hand towards the red-haired boy. “I’ll take smart-mouth. You good with carrying someone, Aurora?”

It did indeed sound as if the Light had other problems to deal with, though the red-headed kid's assurance that they wouldn't move in yet somewhat confused her. Metas came in all shapes and sizes (herself and her new Super friend notwithstanding), so this kid hinting at cutting into their communications wasn't too much of a surprise. Of course, Rora had never encountered someone with this ability, so it was still a bit surprising...

The other boy seemed to be in a state of shock, and seemed quite reliant on the older one's direction at the moment. Taking several deep breaths, Aurora focused on what little energy she had left in reserve and stepped to the younger kid's side. A thought popped into her head, and with little gusto, she reached into her backpack and withdrew the kid's journal, holding it out to him.

”I dunno if this'll help you much at the moment, but I do believe it belongs to you. I couldn't stand to let this fall into the wrong hands,” The Speedster said gently to the freaked out fellow with a small, genuine smile, then turned back to the Super. ”I'm pretty sure I can handle him without too much trouble, but how far is the burning question. I only just rolled into town and I'm pretty much tapped out, what with all the fighting and running...”

Biting her lip with a sigh, she looked around and began contemplating the best route away from their immediate position. Time was their enemy, as usual, though Aurora tried her damnedest not to show her worry.

”I'm hoping one of you folks know of a sanctuary to hole up in somewhere nearby yet far enough away that we won't be leaving a trail for these pricks to follow...”