The Mutagen

Hellfire Club, New York City 10:30 A.M.

The blaze of sunlight shown through the window cast an awkward light on the luxurious table that sat between the members of the elite club's inner circle. Donning his Keijijo Elite robes and the mask of his own creation, the Air Apparent stood before the members of the illustrious clan, illustrating the event that would take place later on in the day.

"Andres has been so kind as to lend us his expertise and technology in this form of a map of Helsinki. This," he said, lifting the 3-D, topographical display up to highlight the sky lining hotel that housed the Trinity base of operations. "Is our target. The heroes operate out of this location. I will be taking the direct route with a few others as well as a seasoned tactical squad of ex-militia to handle civilian population. I'll need people to enter from the upper levels as well. We need to bottle neck this collection of heroes. Though they have numbers, a strategically sound attack will allow us to prevail. Now for the target."

The map dissipated and a life like projection of the mutant girl, Kari, appeared in the former's stead. "Sources say Kari is housed deep within the complex. Making me suspect that she is on one of the top three floors, which seems to be inaccessible by any aerial means. Plan is we push our way through, conduct a full search of the skyscraper, and eliminate anyone who gets in our way." Milo stated with a cold dark demeanor, amplified by the lack of empathy in the face of his mask. "Questions?"

Trinity HQ, Helsinki 1:00 A.M.

Night had fallen upon Finland's capital city, a crescent moon's gaze illuminated the sky as Tranquil sat above a rooftop adjacent the headquarters with arms crossed, resting upon his chest. Soldiers gathered on the ground below, securing the perimeter. No traffic beyond this point in time would be allowed in or out of the Hotel, until the target was secured.

A small leap sent the Tranquil down towards the pavement with speed, yet a soft, silent landing was followed by a cofident strike that parted the solider's formation. A smaller unit broke off to assist the Keijijo Kaze inside. Entering the building with Milo at the squad's helm people became alarmed, their hushed cries silenced as barrels were brought up to eye level.

Rushing the desk with invisible speed, Milo addressed the woman who was mere inches away from pressing a button to alert the team members of the impending attack. "Ah ah ah, now you really don't want to do that do you?" he questioned with a playful tone, yet the cold, emotionless stare of his mask intimidated the attendant. The two shared a moment of gazes before she broke the stare and slammed her fist down on the button. "You don't scare me," she snarled, but her body language told an all together different tale. Alarms sounded, the blaring noise ushered in the arrival of armed forces ready to meet the opposition. A firefight broke out immediately between the two parties. The woman's eyes returned to the mask of Milo and he simply shook his head in disgust.

"You see? You've started a war." A hand shot out with fierce speed and clutched the woman's neck. Her feet kicked and flailed about as she struggled, in an attempt to free herself from his unrelenting grip. Bullets whizzed past the two as one guard took aim upon the Keijijo Bravehart. "And for starting this war," he elevated his voice above the gun fire so that she could hear him as he rotated her around. "You will be a casualty. The guards fired again and this time the bullets found a target, but it was not Milo. The attendant was used as a shield, her now lifeless body tossed in the direction of her murders.

Using the body to conceal his approach Milo rushed the two men guarding the staircase. They trained their weapons on him but their fingers were too slow. Before the trigger was pulled the aerial assailant came down upon the duo, thrusting his palm into the neck with enough force to sever the spine. Continuing on he ascended the stairs with haste, in hopes that the true opposition had not gathered a response unit yet.

black boxers and a blue robe.

Bishop rose from a shiftless sleep off of the loft bed, arms extending backwards in a deep yawn before reaching the kitchen and the almond milk on the counter taking a large gulp. Soft music plays from the overheard speakers as he walks around the counter to look out on the picturesque frame of his window. Looked like the front of a post card, 'In another universe, wish you were here.'

His moment of meditation was broken like the bottle in his hand, turning with a stiff neck to see a pale yellow face wrapped in thin black cloth firing a semi automatic, "Hands up! Do not attempt any movements or I will open fire" He said in a second language accent.

Bishop obeys, raising both hands upward and turning slowly to have his back to the intruder, "What's this about?"

"Silent! Where is the girl?" He chucks back and forward the metallic lever beside the semi-auto

Looking over his shoulder Bishop's eyes are calm as an old war veterans. "Look...I just yesterday joined this team. What girl are you talking about."

The ninja's crescent eyes turn to thin slits as he attempts to read the hero, "The one named Kari."

"I can take you--" Turning with electric speed his thick arm whips the half broken almond milk bottle at the assailant's face, a thin slice piercing the front of the nape of his neck just above the collar bone to spray a thin line of blood like a packet of popped ketchup.

Removing his robe he already strategized three facts. This man wasn't alone, ninja's never are. They must be sweeping through random wings of the building killing personnel and taking team members hostage, or trying. They still haven't found that girl yet.

Reaching for a wall communicator he presses a black button going to the office of Maya Lopez, not knowing the functions of the building yet "Maya...?" The abrupt meeting was awkward at first, "New Guy!" Really? He thinks, "Yeah, it's me. One of the intruders just bum rushed my front door. I got some info out of him, they want some girl named Kari, is she on the team" The line goes silent for a moment. "Yes and no. Renezvous with any members of trinity force you can and maintain contact with the team."

"Copy. I'll be out there in five minutes." Her tone almost drew a picture of the vein pulsating from her forehead, "Why?!"

"I need to take a sh!t and get dressed. Almond milk." Letting go of the comm he refuses to waste any more time, his face stern and serious as he closes the bathroom door and picks up a copy of men's illustrated.

The Hellfire Club, New York City 11:45 A.M.

The Hellfire Club’s brilliant White Knight Milo Archer’s overview of their plan of attack had been quick and effective, leaving everyone in attendance completely aware of what their goal was and how to achieve it. Valerie had listened in relative silence, abandoning her high fashion style for a provocative look more ceremonious to the HFC, attending the meeting mostly to supervise. Without a single complaint regarding the Keijijo Kaze’s debriefing, the White Queen gave her Black Queen and best friend Mercy Sheridan a quick but heartfelt see-you-later before retiring from the Inner Circle’s war room to her private quarters within the establishment’s expansive townhouse.

Laying on her side atop the California king inside her room while stroking the dark coat of one half of her Doberman pair, Valerie had left her fur-detailed white cape against the bedroom’s sleek hardwood floor, leaving her clad in nothing but a white corset, thong, and thigh-high boots. While the attire was a little less tasteful than her own personal style, she wore it out of symbolism for her rank within the organization, as many a White Queen had before her.

The Upper East Side vixen had little to do in preparation for the attack, as she didn’t plan on getting her own hands any more dirty than would be necessary. It was uncharacteristic of the telepathic beauty to partake in a field mission at all, preferring to leave those sort of affairs to her inferiors, however the prize of this outing had sparked her interest enough to tag alone and take care that nothing went wrong.

Helsinki, Finland 1:00 A.M.

Finding a penthouse suite in Helsinki had been effortless for the well-connected socialite, even with her request for a view of the Trinity building. Currently lounging with a glass of champagne in front of the suite’s decadent fireplace, Valerie looked down upon the HFC’s target building with an expressionless gaze, almost as though the White Queen was suffering from boredom. Glancing at a clock hanging in the room she took another sip from the glass, patiently awaiting for her time to expend her particular talents in aid of her HFC brothers and sisters.

Standing up she moved slowly to look out the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the wall of the penthouse facing the Trinity HQ, her attention focused on a nearly invisible group of men making their way subtly from a nearby building to the hero headquarters. Had she not obtained the foresight as to what Mr. Archer’s infiltration team’s route would be, she would have never detected their movements, which were aided by the black cover of night. Taking that as a signal her time had arrived, Valerie shifted her gaze back to the Trinity building with a frigid intensity in her pale blue eyes.

Even without optical vision inside the building, Valerie’s telepathic abilities granted her easy detection and attachment of the majority of the base’s human defenses’ minds. With a simple thought, the White Queen’s advanced telepathic prowess allowed her to make each and every one of the Trinity’s mentally vulnerable members’ greatest fears become a reality within their own minds. From her lavish hotel room she could see their nightmares unfolding before her: some believed they were being buried alive, set on fire, or mauled to death by savage animals. Others held less physical fears, such as the loss of loved ones or failure as a savior of mankind. No matter the scenario, every one of her targets fell helpless to the extreme mental anguish. The psychic torture would continue until her Hellfire associates had finished their jobs inside the building, and Valerie had no problem watching the suffering unfold from her undisclosed location inside the penthouse right across the street from her victims.

Silence, nothing but the sound of her own breathing was heard as the assassin for hire sat in her room, meditating, her version of sleeping. Just an hour of meditation would allow her to be fully rested for up to eight hours, none of this 'sleeping' while you lay vulnerable in a bed. Her mind was focused on the beating of her heart, a slow, steady and strong beat as her lungs filled with oxygen. There was nothing like spending time alone, even though she knew there were cameras in her room... for security reasons.

But then her concentration was broken as an alarm blared through the building. The assassins' eyes quickly opened as she instantly leaped across her room, grasping onto her Vernichtung Klingen she slipped them on without hesitation and in a blink of an eye, vanished. Appearing in one of the many narrow darken hallways she saw a group of men turn the corner, rushing at her. Pulling her amrs back the teeth of her blade were exposed as her slightly leaned forward, her eyes focused on the group of five that aimed their guns at her, stopping in their tracks.

"Homicide?" one of them spoke in surprise, they knew of her, and were obviously confused to why she was standing in the hallway of a hero team.

"Where's the girl?" The leader of the group shouted, his gun raised at the assassin, he would be the first to go.

The girl? They must have meant Kari, they were here for her. What type of idiots would attack a facility that housed super powered heroes? Even Cassandra knew this was a stupid move. Whoever coordinated this, was sloppy, and now these men would die by her hands. "You shouldn't be worrying about the girl right now." With that the killer phased into the ground.

The group of men looked around aiming their guns as they slowly maneuvered through the hallway, knowing that Homicide would attack at any moment. Sweat began forming along their forehead as they became paranoid with every step they took, and then, it happened. Homicide appeared above them, coming down and jabbing her blade into the leader of the group's head, her blade piercing through his helmet and skull as if it was paper as she then vanished with him into the ground. The now group of four were shouting at one another, their hearts racing as they began shooting at shadows in the dark. Panic was setting in. The blood stained assassin then phased through the wall in front of them as they all began shouting, shooting their guns at her as the bullets phased right through her body. At the last moment she solidified herself, grasping onto two of the men's arm and teleporting them out of the hallway and two miles above the HQ, letting them go she allowed the men to fall to their deaths as she teleported back into the hallway, right next to one of the last two men. Swinging her right arm upward her blade sliced into his gun, splitting it in half as he shout out in fear as she thrust her left arm forward, her blade sinking into the man's chest, the ends coming out of his back as his body became limp. Jerking her blade out of his body the lone solider let loose a volley of bullets, two hitting her left leg and one hitting her right shoulder. Growling in annoyance she pushed herself forward, leaping up in the air her body twist until it was horizontal to the ground, as she slammed her foot against the wall of the hallway the blade that was hiding in her boot shot out like a ballistic knife, slamming into the man's neck as he dropped his gun, blood gushing out as he gagged on his own fluids before falling face first, dead on the ground.

Letting out a heavy sigh she walked over to the man, jerking the blade out of his neck and putting it back in the boot as she looked at her own wounds, digging her blade into her flesh she managed to scoop them out, making a bit more of a mess than she hoped, but was done. The killer could feel her wounds slowly begin to heal. Pulling up her comlink she cleared her throat before speaking. "Trinity, this is Homicide, the army attacking the HQ, they're looking for Kari." she spoke before slipping her communicator back in her pocket as she began to march through the hallway until she stopped dead in her tracks. Her mind became fuzzy for a split second as she shook her head for a moment. What was that? Looking up her eyes widen to what seemed to be fear, her body froze in place as she stared at the young woman before her dressed in purple and black. Her long black hair covered most of her pale face, each of her hands holding onto thin blades as smiled at the assassin.

"...Lessandra..." Cassandra spoke out, knowing who it was... her younger sister. One of the only things Homicide feared, was being forced to fight her own sister. But not just any sister... she had two other younger siblings, but Lessandra... she was unstoppable... unkillable... and that's what Cassandra feared the most. Not the fact she had to kill a sibling, but being forced to kill a sibling who cannot be killed and being killed herself.

But outside of the killers mind, Homicide was looking at nothing in particular, nothing was in front of her, it was like if she was looking at an imaginary friend that only she could see. "Cassandra, it's been a while, how have you been, big sister?" Lessandra's voice was as chilled as Homicide's, her expression was an amused one as she ran one of her blades along the wall.

"You can't be here." Cassandra tried to tie logic in to this, last time she saw her sister, father had forbid Lessa to fight, and Lessa was fearful of one thing... their father.

"You didn't hear? Father's dead, which means, I get t come out and play." Lessandra strut up to her sister, she was a bit taller, looking down at her. Her younger sister was always jealous of her, wanting to have become the family's true assassin, feeling that she was stronger and would represent the family better. Since Cassandra became Homicide, she always knew one day... this day would come, when Lessandra would come to kill her to take her title as Homicide. "What's wrong? You look... a little worried." she smiled, the heat of her breath pressing against Cassandra's face as the two siblings stood face to face, tension rising. "How about we settle things like hold times?" In a blur of motion Lessandra was now across the hallway, moving faster than Cassandra remembered.

Twirling her blades in her hands in a teasing motion she gave a chilled chuckle, while Cassandra hesitantly got into a fighting stance. The two Jaeger sisters stood across the hallway from each other, their eyes locked onto one another as they prepared to battle, to see who was the ultimate killer.

The Hellfire Club, New York City 11:45 A.M.

The 14th Daimyo of the Yamato Death Clan was getting inpatient with all the talk of invasion and stood in the frame of a large window anxiously with his arms crossed,his mind moving at speeds incalculable. He rarely attended the meetings held with his decadent peers due to his interest in other endeavors that could be categorized as world domination and scientific exploration ,but today was entirely different and the topic gave him a rush of euphoria as the objective became clear. Akira had been furiously researching the Mutagen for months now,attempting to replicate the phenomenon of genetic altering and was on the cusp of cracking the god codes so that he could accelerate the effects of his Power Capsules;making the changes to a person's DNA permanent. This was it. A world changing ability in the hands of a girl not that much younger then himself, was being guarded in a fortress like skyscraper that was a base of operations for a collective known as the Trinity. This would be his chance to solidify a monopoly in the mutant/human wars that were soon to come following the strategic implementation of the White Knight's inglorious plan to capture this person from the clutches of the self-proclaimed heroes. He laughed a little bit,showing the other members a flash of his adolescence and sheer excitement for such a opportunistic moment that could change the climate of the battle that was just beginning to brew. It was time.

Helsinki, Finland 1:00 A.M.

The assault began with the masked enigma Milo Archer leading a squadron of highly trained militants straight into the lobby of the glass giant, with his moves synchronized with his subordinates, perfectly executing the plan that was discussed earlier with an unmatched fluidity. The Young Yamato could hear the action began and itched with anticipation as he awaited the signal; screams of terror being telepathically induced by the White Queen who was seemingly invisible as she was luxuriously perched above the actual fray. He admired her superb taste in tactics of torture before initiating the second phase of invasion by dashing at full speeds in a sequence of extremely agile flips and aerial maneuvers on the rooftops parallel to the towering fort of Hellfire Club interest. He found his assignment the most exhilarating because of the immense danger he was literally throwing himself into by attacking the upper-levels of the building, his speed rapidly picking up as he slightly telekinetically pushed his own body to gain more momentum before abrasively crashing into the Trinity HQ after going airborne with an undeniable stylistic series of aerial rolls fueled by his psychokinetic enhanced torque. He was in.

Immediately he was greeted haphazardlyby a cadre of the most elite armed guards the building had to offer and questioned as if he was just a young hero-in-training who mistakenly entered the building in an obscene manner. It must have been the combination of his colorful shinobi garbs that resembled a "super heroes" outfit and his young physique. The Overdrive Assassin laughed maniacally with deadly undertones that went unnoticed by the small group of soldiers,and before they could train their pistols on him after realizing he wasn't a cadet of the Trinity they were brought into a death dance that they could not return from.

AO dispersed diversion pellets from under his hooded cloak and soon the entire hallway was a scene of thick smoke and a hail of gunfire that he carefully and dexterously avoided with ballet-like maneuvers before drawing his shinobigatana(short-straight ninja sword) to perform his well-placed slashes at the vital arteries of his opposition. Their lives were ended with his swift cuts and their blood now artistically painted the bright white corridors in an abstract manner as the smoked died down . Akira smiled and pulled his hood over his head as he made his way deeper into the headquarters with a ruthless intent to kill in the name of his and the Hellfire Club's glorious endeavor.

The Hellfire Club, New York

Situated inside the enigmatically isolated Inner Circle War Room, the aristocratically prominent club's hierarchical members indulged in the fundamentally necessary briefing regarding the Hellfire Club's impending infiltration of the Trinity Headquarters. The luminously showcased holographic projection stylistically presented a visually aesthetic display of the Trinity's primary nexus of heroic operations. Socially obligatory politeness and characteristic composure dictated the entirety of the Knightfall Don's cultured demeanor throughout the duration of the informative gathering. Certain that the collectively amassed Inner Circle representatives had acquired appropriate awareness of the strategically formulated courses of action coupled with required information centered on the heroic faction's location, Andres elegantly rose to both feet at the inevitable conclusion of the admirably organized gathering.

Steps of aristocratic poise halted a mere foot from the martially potent White Knight, Milo. Arms regally folded behind his back, projecting a cultured flair and postured class, the White King smiled with atmospheric charismatic appeal, "You have a talent for speaking", an incipient jest imbued with good-humored intent predating Andres' following words, "I won't be joining your infiltration squad, you know this. But I will give you assistance. I do not doubt the abilities of those you've chosen but we must be cautious, no?". A brief pause prior to conversational resumption, "I predict that the Trinity members will somehow detect your presence, making this more difficult than we'd hope. The man I've assigned to aid you is Xenon. Watch him very closely, his lack of pragmatism could persuade him to turn on you. Be prepared. Also, I have this". Calmly unfolding both arms, the Calculating Catalan Cobra fitted his right hand into the pocket of his designer Zegna dress pants. From it, his hand emerged holding a metallic bracelet of captivating craftsmanship. Placing ocular emphasis on the bracelet as he presented it before Milo, Andres continued, "In preparation for a potentially inevitable conflict, I've developed that bracelet. Upon the wearer's mental command, it will activate. It will detect the electro-chemical signals between your neural synapses and..", a controlled chuckle escaping him, "Ah forget the science mi amigo. To put it simply, when you want it to, the bracelet will form a physically impenetrable quantum shield by appropriately interacting with the projected energy from the bracelet. Because it is quantum interaction, it will structurally strengthen the projected energy's subatomic makeup. It cannot be broken".

"In addition, the bracelet will allow me to... communicate with you, mentally. Think of it as telepathy. If you find yourself in combat against an opponent particularly difficult to handle, speak to me through the bracelet with your thoughts, and I will give you my tactical input". Lightly patting the White Knight on the back, the sartorially exemplified Catalan Maestro advised, "Good luck my friend. I predict a hectic night for all of us in Helsinki", before departing.

Helsinki, Finland

Fitted into a luxurious, three-piece, two-button Ermenegildo Zegna Centennial suit, flawlessly augmented by the stylish appeal of an accompanying vest of classy panache followed by the joint inclusion of a lavish silk tie. The sartorial perfection culminating with an elegant cotton-silk, and collar bar wordlessly speaking volumes of the Knightfall's habitual attire-oriented regalia. The Cultured Catalan's smooth raven hair, stylishly cut short and close to his head around the back enabling fashionable blending of the sides into the top layers with maintained length for a showcased back sweep and suave presentation further enhancing Andres' entrancing, immaculate appearance. Isolating himself from the HFC infiltration squad, Andres occupies himself in a twenty four hour, five star restaurant of undisputed extravagance. The restaurant's positional approximation to the Trinity Headquarters rendering it a plausible location for the perpetually dapper Spaniard to indulge himself in high-class enjoyment with sufficient distance from the inevitable conflict while simultaneously remaining within appropriate distance for his evolutionarily escalated sensory to enable his studious analysis of the ongoing events within the Trinity building. Relying on the M.D.D.S. for the technological establishing of computerized communication with Milo through the quantum entanglement of qubits between the White Knight's bracelet and the M.D.D.S., Andres awaited any communicative attempts from Milo.

Helsinki, Finland ~ Five Minutes before alarm goes off ~

Pacing up and down his private quarters in the base the Mutant Maestro was obviously having second doubts about his role in aiding the Knightfall ally in kidnapping the girl, he was currently unaware of the real malicious reason behind the kidnapping being involved in the HFC however he would not doubt Andres's decisions just yet... for only Andres out of anybody in this world had even shown him the respect he felt he deserved after saving Venezuela and the mutants inside, saving kari from the clutches of the kidnappers previously and all this "Trinity" team had done so far is condescend him and raise suspicion without a proper need...the trust in the team was already undoubtedly wavering. And that was all going against Xenon's mind and indecision...if they had just shown him the respect, the dignity which they showed themselves without making him feel like an outsider he might have refused to help Andres...yet, how could he refuse his only true ally in this hostile world? He sat crossed legged awaiting the inevitable call to action, a single dark sword displayed seemingly harmlessly over his lap impatiently waiting to be used if the situation called for it.

Helsinki, Finland 1:00 A.M.

On cue as he had predicted the alarm sounded beckoning the team and associated security to be called into attention as the Maestro was unaware of the subsequent attack force entering the base not actually being told much about this operation...only that an associate named Milo would be greeting him, walking outside of his room blocking out the sounds of the alarm as to allow for full senses to be brought back into action through a telepathic intrusion into his own mind ignoring the sound he looked to the side as two of the guards usually outside of his room fell towards the ground shaking in terror, running however hesitation he intruded into the minds of the guards and upon entering realized they were having a telepathically induced attack being bestowed upon them "What?" Shaking his head clearly confused he grabbed one of them by the head cutting off the telepathic attack with his own defenses easily realizing that this was not a specific attack rather an attack done against the entire facility, the other man was still in pain.

Walking over he then tapped the man on the forehead ready to remove the telepathic hold on him then backtrack the telepathic intrusion and find Valerie... however the instant he touched the mans head ready to perform the move a gunshot rung out spraying blood onto his chest, the trinity guard cried out in pain as two more bullets pierced through his abdomen then another two bullets collided with the opposite guards head causing a deadly explosion of brains to fly in all directions. Xenon instantly looked at the attackers and without hesitation clenched his left fist causing asphyxia to come about the attackers until they simply died, Walking over to the three dead Ninja's he eyed them up.... not sure totally of who they were. "This is wrong, I never agreed to this" Stepping over the dead bodies he touched the wall as he sent out a telepathic radar sense all around of the building locating the exact positions of each and every human inside without any trouble....again though, he could sense a telepathic intrusion circling around of the base...this would not be allowed, not without a power struggle, dropping his blade as both arms palms interlocked creating a fist he then shot both arms outwards attempting to backtrack the telepathic intrusion to the owner and attack whoever was doing this with his own telepathic attack, focusing on eradicating the mental link he/she was currently residing over the base@valerie_huntington. Unaware of the current status he then stopped the intrusion not totally caring if it has succeeded or not as he made his way towards the brunt of the fighting.

Sending out another telepathic signal @tranquil"Where are you?..." Without waiting for reply the Maestro made his way to where he felt was necessary before looking down the hallway as another three guards pointed some kind of Japanese swords in his direction , tilting his head he withdrew his own dark blade speaking quickly "You do not have permission to be here...this is wrong" He darted forwards entering combat bringing his blade upwards trying to slash at the neck of one of the troops, his blade was intercepted as the three worked in unison to disarm him before backing him up against the cold wall, his hands raised in the air "Stop" He would seemingly refuse to use any powers yet, knowing that these three men could be Milos "I am awaiting word from your superiors...I am not the enemy" The troops all looked at each-other slightly confused, without hesitation Xenon clapped his hands together causing a shock-wave to shatter through the air decimating the ear-drums of the three Ninjas as he jumped into the air and performed a telekinetic amplified kick smashing into each of the Ninja's heads snapping each of the combatants necks. Bending over he picked up all three of the superior blades as he strapped them to his back with a makeshift telekinetic rope, picking up his own blade ready for more combat. He awaited word from Milo, uncertain what this would entail.

Previously

For weeks the Trinity prepped for an attack on the Yard, and The Nation of Kalli. One that would see the extraction of Isadora Lebeau, and the removal of Cleopatra Thea. In a surprising turn of events, they find themselves on the defensive; a collection of the world's elite known as the "Hell-Fire Club" have set their eyes on Kari, Can the Trinity defend a battle in their own yard?

NOW

Ziccarra sat with Kari on her lap reading a Cantonese translation of Sin Tzu’s “Art of War”. She thought it to be simply astounding; how Kari read way beyond her reading level. In the waning months after the Queenstown scramble, she and Ziccarra had warmed up well. In the back of Z’s mind her thoughts wandered to DC; he had made numerous threats on Kari, she was nothing more than property to him. Property he’d exploit to make his band of misfits more prominent in the community.

Kari represented the future of both humans and mutants, it was clear why anyone would want her in their possession; but the pressure was on the Trinity to keep her safe. Ironically as these thoughts ran rampant, the night soon would turn hectic.

The alarm began blaring overhead causing both Ziccarra and Kari to jump. Before Z could jump up to investigate, her head began to hurt; someone was trying to infiltrate her mind.Her legendary mask burned the skin from her face in an acidic manner, showing its presence; this allowed her to shake off what essentially was a mental attack…a powerful one at that.

Kari instantly began screaming maniacally; whatever was imposing such a powerful mental will on them was effecting her greatly.

It became apparent that this was an attack, but from who?“Maya what’s going on?” Z asked, over the commlink; Homicide responded first; someone was indeed here for Kari.

“The Supreme Art of War is to subdue the enemy without fighting” Kari whispered, instantly snagging the attention of Ziccarra. Before she could respond to Kari’s quote, ninjas came barreling through the door. The Malagan beauty took a stance before leaning back; she had no intention of fighting them; rather leaving them confused.

Pushing her hands forward, she let loose a powerful psi-shield, this was purely defensive; she didn’t want to risk Kari being injured in the process. Taking advantage of the small window, Ziccarra tapped into her powers.

She cast a level one illusion on the building; the Trinity members would appear as the very Ninja’s being used to take the tower.The Illusion allowed them to differentiate between each other, fighting in her own headquarters was problematic; her strategy for now was strictly defensive.

Casting a tier two illusion to decrease the odds of it being broken; Ziccarra transformed the whole Trinity tower on the outside into a dilapidated building, this was an attempt to keep anyone else from entering the building.

Taking the young child by her hand, both of them froze a tingle went surging through both of their bodies; It hurt. The surge sent the Malagan beauty spiraling one way and Kari in the other. “Did you just absorb my powers?!”

Ziccarra screamed, rising to her feet; as she did so the Ninja’s launched themselves in-between herself and Kari. For the first time since before she had Isadora, she was going to fight WITHOUT her powers, she sent a SOS to the Trinity via, their secured Quantum Crypto tech, alerting the members of her location.

A wily smirk came from her mask, as she nodded at Kari; Kari nodded back as if she knew Ziccarra was going to be ok.

Five titanium alloyed fingers closed in upon the fleshy scalp of a once formidable ninja, his final moments consumed by the cold steel of the Trinity Force's leader, the Metallic Maestro himself, Assault. The 6 foot armoured being stood like a statue within an ocean of bodies, each corpse garbed in the shinobi shozoku of the illustrious Kejijo clan's ninja. The young Stark had not intended to have his efforts at defending his home turn lethal but the relentless waves consisting primarily of the Air Apparent's henchmen had soon weathered his patience and he'd found himself caught within a tornado of bloodshed, not a single drop of it his. He dropped his latest foe with an exponential degree of contempt and ordered Summit to patch him up with the rest of the Trinity. Upon receiving Zicarra's distress call the titanium-clad titan had immediately opted to take the reigns. The mere fact that she had been forced to emit an SOS was a testament to the dire peril of her situation, whatever it was.

Jacob's voice was cold and soaked with authority as he spoke to members of both the Trinity Force and the Uncanny Trinity via their shared comm-links.

"I'm assuming each of you folk are still up and at 'em so I'm going to make this short and simple. Summit's detected an attempted mental intrusion upon all of us, mine was deflected thanks to my AI implants but I can't speak for any of you. If things are happening to you right now that aren't natural then I need you to take a step back and try to will power your way through it. Don't allow your consciousness to be bent, you're the best of the best."

Geez. That wasn't short at all.

The armour-clad avenger detected three more ninja enter the corridor and without bothering to turn he vaporised them utilizing a heavily charged blast of his repulsors. Playtime was over.

"Kid-Vendetta, I need you to get to Kari and Ms. Liafador and hold the fort on their side, the girl is their target and whilst they probably want her alive we don't want Zicarra to get caught in the cross-fire. Dark Vengeance, do your sneaky thing and survey the buildings surrounding the headquarters. There's got to be some enemy back-up around. Alex, I'm coming past you now. Hope you're ready to roll."

The titanium-clad titan strode into one of the Trinity's numerous lounges, recognizing his ally immediately and giving silent approval at his skilful dismantlement of the opposing force. The man was a treasure to the team, and one that Assault valued, despite rarely conversing with him. Allowing Alex to complete his battle Jacob continued to speak, referencing the remaining members of his team calmly.

"What's the new dude's name again? Circuit? Oh oh, Surkit. Alright fellah, I'm going to ask you to secure one of the upper levels, there's just been an intrusion and a mess of elite guards have been eliminated. Be careful, whoever this guy is, he's good. Selina, I want you with Homicide, you two need to get down to the lobby and clear that bitch out. Xenon, I'm going to go out on a limb here and trust you to do your own thing man, I doubt you'd take any orders from me anyway. Lastly I want Spectrion to clear the west wing of the Headquarters, Alex and I are getting started on the east."

So saying, the armour addled Assault punched a hole through an oncoming shinobi with speed and strength rivalling a locomotive and prepared to take back the flag.

@assault:

Stark closed his eyes as past and future events collided within his mind, his own timeline not having this event yet all participating members of this takeover had their own timeline, Valerie having been murdered during a fight with...irrelevant - Assault the pinnacle brother in the Stark timeline was not all that different from the current one however had never had his accident instead inherited Peak Industries once Stark was jailed for crimes against humanity.

Now, in this universe Stark was ready to meet his brother Jacob for the first time with the previous Starks memories and knowing about the suit, possibly the mark three being inferior to his suit currently donned not actually being a standard Peak suit rather an integrated telekinetic nano-bot suit working off of a superior form of the Stark-Bots. The interwoven layout of the suit meant it could now shape-shift due to it not being structurally sound instead being held together (Nano-Bot by Nano-bot) by a thin TK forcefield meaning it could be rearranged into nigh any molecular pattern or atomic form.

Currently in the HFC participating in this mission the inclusion of his brother had incited his fondness to partake in the actual event rather than sit on the sidelines.... his brothers involvement was something which could not go unmet.

Through Space/time distortions being his inherent mutation his atomic structure was displaced into another location and materialized directly beside his brother with palms by his side weaponless. Instead his voice emulator switched on sounding like somebody from Britain, his suit disrupting the signals which Summit would be undoubtedly doing to disclose his face behind of the mask attempting to reveal Starks identity, having practically designed the brothers suit he knew the ins and outs, the strengths and weaknesses and nigh all override command systems...after-all....he had created the mans suit, in his universe. He would not rely on this knowing that any simple change in the timelines would mean his own version of events would be different meaning the suit would be made different, yet he had the memories of the previous Stark....who had made that suit for him, unless it had been altered without Starks knowing he would be in control if needed, Summit could fight against it but that would be unrealistic going by the Mark Threes capacities and the AI's inferior mainframe compare this Starks X-Gene Horizon being like a second brain inside of his own cerebellum.

Now standing beside of his brother he spoke quickly folding his arms across of his white chest "Ah" Walking around his arms unfolded quickly being placed inside of his smooth pockets "You are trying to save the girl?" His voice like a rich British aristocrat "I implore you to forget this impossible task....it would be most unfortunate to see a Stark associate be murdered" Without attacking his arms left his pockets being folded behind of his back, anti-metal talons protruded his fingertips which emitted wavelengths in theory able to cut through any know metal without resistance (Given to him by Quintus Knightfall), they would only be used as a last resort "What shall you say good fellow?" His head tilted to the side eyeing up his brother.

Catalina was once the leader of the Shadow Cardinals, after being poessed by Y-Intercept and used to poison New York City; she was stripped of her command of the Shadow Guard. After the Monarchs successfully took over Venezuela; she talked Isabella Marisol into overthrowing the Red Cardinal leader. Catalina's quest for vengence has not yet come to an end, this path has landed her a spot as a "Black Pawn" in the Elite HFC.

NOW

Ever since losing control of the Shadow Cardinals, the thought of crucifying the Cardinal Christ never faded from Catalina’s mind. Though she did not attain high status within the club, she was able to reap the benefits. Catalina’s head slowly rose from a darkness portal in the ground, as her figure leisurely pushed through the portal; her lone shadow guard stood behind her with its hands folded. “its f#cking cold outside” frost spit from her mouth, she spoke with a shiver; her face slightly discolored.

The order had been given to secure the mutant child Kari; the young girl had been the subject of discussion as of late. She wasn’t entirely sure what the HFC intended to do with the brat, but if it meant storming the Trinity HQ; it had to be big.

The others attacked with reckless intent, killing any security/civilians in their wake. It was clear to see Ziccarra’s use of illusion; all of the possible enemies “transformed” into ninjas wearing the mark of the HFC; she couldn’t break the illusion, but her shadow was not affected.

“Give them hell…” she said, watching as the shadow sentry rushed through a “sea” of ninjas targeting the fakes. The sound of her shadow guard killing the frail guards on the 4^th floor, were silenced by the sound of her seemingly thunderous heels.

Though capturing Kari was indeed a goal, she wanted to let those dressed for combat handle that; her attention was on the hacking of the Quantum Cypto security networks. In the expansive building, the child could literally be anywhere, the networks would allow everyone to her how the Trinity were communicating with each other.

The security door was passcode locked, very typical; pushing her hand through the door, she stepped in as if it were nothing. She rose an eyebrow at the complex system, the room was packed with servers; probably as a fail-safe for the main network.

“This will take a moment” she thought, extending her hands to the power cable; her darkness energy began to surge through the cables. In a few moments she’d be able to decipher the code, allowing her to hear all communication channels in the building. Her shadow returned by her side, waiting for it’s next order.

Press Manor, Gothic city

Dark Vengeance: Considered to be the "world's greatest detective" by many, one of the most talented fighters in the world with intelligence that makes Stephen Hawking looking like a kindergartner lays in his bathtub filled with ice. Not because of a battle in the never ending war or the prevention of a mass crisis that almost split the Earth in half, no turns out the life of a Malcolm Press is more tiring than it appears to be. Last night he had to stay up late doing paperwork and then he was dragged to a pretentious club by his fellow "playboys", which only resulted to him having to pretend intoxication with alcohol and take a cab with a drunk model to his mansion where he could finally protect his city which was surprisingly quiet for one night, but have to return to his bed where she laid and pretend to have been there all night long. It is a torture for him, he isn't tired he is just annoyed at Malcolm Press "How do other people do it?" Of course other people did have to pretend to be someone they were not; they are simply themselves all the time. "I should go public and be done with it". But that would mean Dark Vengeance would have a face, something that should never happen.

His Trinity communicator rings suddenly rings. “Trinity, this is Homicide, the army attacking the HQ, they're looking for Kari." The Gothic Knight quickly jumps out of the tub and puts on his black tight fitted boxer briefs and quickly goes to his underground HQ in a sprint to get his fear inspiring uniform. After he is dressed he makes his sidekick aware of the situation, which had not even changed last night's patrolling of the city and was meditating like Malcolm had told him to.

Helsinki, Finland 1:00 A.M.

Immediately after they accessed the building through a door they received Assault's message with their orders which Kid-Vendetta followed by opening a door to where Kari's room is. When he arrived he said in a professional tone "Everything's going to be fine". While he fires a charge of controlled heat vision towards the rouge ninjas with enough power not to kill them but knock them out. "What do you want me to Ms. Liafador?" He then saw a copy of the art of war and thought of a quote which his mentor said a lot “All warfare is based on deception.” A proper quote from the guy that dresses up in black to fight crime and hides in the shadows. A certain thrill ran through his spine, things were bound to get difficult and he found weird excitement in that. “Do you know who could be attacking us?"

Unlike his apprentice his job was probably going to be less thrill seeking or at least he thought. The semi-computer on his mask then said "Blocking a level one telepathic wave from unknown source. What action do you wish to make?” Level one? That's the highest level of telepathic attacks. What the hell are we dealing with? "Trace it". Telepathic signals are a lot like cellphone signals and they are as easy to trace with the right kind of equipment without the person sending them being aware of you doing so.

Upon reaching the hotel a certain sense of dejavu hit him, he had been here before as Malcolm Press in one of his business meetings with other major C.E.Os. The service in the place was astonishing but what was really beautiful was the view from the penthouse, you can see the entire city from there or telepathically attack the members of Trinity who are not protected against telepathic signals.

The Dark Detective entered the building through his good old friend the air ducts, it seemed as if he spent more time there than at his own bed whether it was to attack someone or gather information. He had downloaded the air duct blue print of the building so he knew exactly how to get there, but even without the map he also remembered beforehand that there was an air duct in the bathroom. Before silently breaking in, he activates his detective mode to be sure that the target was where he/she believed her to be, looking right at the windows.

Dark Vengeance took a second to scan the area to make sure that there were no traps. Why bother being stealthy anymore he thought while in the restroom. She is staring at the window, it is obvious that she could see his reflection on the bathroom but then again she might be too distracted with her other targets. He deiced to use the stealthy approach out of habit so he opened the door silently to follow by running at speeds beyond human at her but at the same time beyond silent and jumped to attempt a mid-air kick known as yoko tobi geri.

Looking in the mirror Bishop puts on his shirt and jacket. Staring into his own eyes he can't believe the chain of events. Unreal. One minute he was bleeding out in Grimm City, now he stands in the headquarters of a doppelganger Trinity. Or were they the trinity, and he was the doppelganger?

Suddenly he feels an outside sensation, like someone had flipped his brain with a spatula. Shaking his nugget he can feel his brain bounce around. Looking back in the mirror he sees from the toes the shoes swirl from black Adidas to brown ferragamo's, the pants change from loose dark blue jeans to burgundy silk, the jacket now a burgundy blazer. The face staying the same, everything except the eyes turning into bottomless black pits of emptiness.

Punching the mirror he darts out of the room, "Not now...I'm in control...I'm aware, I'm in control..."

"You wish you were don't you. You wish you killed me. Wishes are for bitches, Bitch up."

"Shut up! "

"Make me"

A thick fist slams into the figment, only hitting a cinder blocked steel wall with a trail of dust and an indentation in it's wake. "Over here." A sharp elbow splayed backwards to go through a shut wooden door, again nothing but wood chips contaminated the spotless black marble floor. "You missed! I'm gonna go downstairs, find that girl and....Mm! You think young ones taste sweet?" In the door way Flucks stood blocking the entry to the hallway. Livid, enraged, uncontrollable, Surkit bends low running like a bull to spear the figment who sought to tarnish his name all over again, only to ram a shoulder into the wall outside across the hall.

Six ninja scouts, speaking in foreign dialect drop to one knee, "*Fire!*" A hail of bullets rip into Surkit's clothing, tearing into and knocking him back a step with each ten rounds until finally they cease to reload. Smoke rises from his body as large forearms grip a curled in chest. He looks up with blood shot eyes while the shell casings still smoking drop to the floor with a sound like a hundred quarters.

5 minutes later

He hadn't killed even one of them. A new high for the low record hero.

"You're gonna lose." His counterpart says leaning against a wall

"Back in Grimm I learned something. If you want to take control you can do it whenever you want to, and you had a lot of moments to want to. So I only got two conclusions. You're not real, or you're not in control anymore. Either way. I'm not afraid anymore. "

"Hn..." The figment disappears with the words.

Just then a message relays into his new ear piece

"Surkit. Alright fellah, I'm going to ask you to secure one of the upper levels, there's just been an intrusion and a mess of elite guards have been eliminated. Be careful, whoever this guy is, he's good."

"copy"

@akira_overdrive:

With his abilities albeit rusty, Surkit was fully charged with kinetic energy. His eyes dripping blue lava like plasma as both fist swim in cobalt energy. turning the corner of the 13th floor Bishop looked to his left to see a small man in a hoodie holding a blood drenched blade. He holds up a blazing blue finger to the ninja, walking over to the stairwell.

He melds the two handles into one clump of immovable metal, then steps back, breathing heavily. The only way out was the elevator shaft in the precise center of the floor. A foot slides behind the hero as he bends his right knee towards his opponent. "Shock kick"

Like a bullet out of a barrel he launches head first towards the opponent with his massive body centered int he corridor, his energized feet propelling him forward with his signature move, a thick shin aimed for the masked man's neck.

The search for the target was proving difficult thanks to a number of hindering factors that the Young Reckless would not normally have troubles with. For one his targeting system seemed to be offline and secondly he couldn't pinpoint the girl's chi or telepathic vibes because of an interference being produced by a myriad of other overwhelming energy signatures. On top of his problems he wasn't at his peak psychic power level because after all he was just an adolescent clone who was created by the real Akira in a series of operations involving various other clones at varying ages. This clone was known simply as Yamato-R,and the most dangerous in a cluster of five replicas that were spread across the globe acting out a handful of dangerous missions that would allow the real mastermind Daimyo to acquire more power. A splendid idea that no one was aware of. Not even his fellow HFC members.

Yamato was getting frustrated with the lack of psychic powers at his disposal and cursed his predecessor under his breathe before coming to a complete halt as he re-calibrated his uncooperative targeting system with a snarl that only a young teenager would give. His face showed an anger and youthful spirit which suddenly turned to a face of intense seriousness as his acute senses picked up a single signature approaching his stagnant position. Just as the electrifying man known as @surkit stepped around the corner Akira's radar locator began to pinpoint the exact location of the one named Kari and he hissed in disappointment at the thought of having to waste his time with the "muscle-bound lightning head" but digressed and decided he would indulge for a minute or two because he just couldn't resist his lethal urge to play,even if it was for a little bit. Encrypted code that translated to a dossier on his opponent was sent to the Red Shinobi's HUD which was located in the lens of his domino mask ,as he mentally analyzed the weak-points of the hero who was now charging at him with crackling energy and lightning fast speeds. "Not fast enough!" Yamato yelled out as he nonchalantly and swiftly bent backwards to avoid the blazing kick that was meant to incapacitate him totally. The Pearl Phenom's counter-strike was sent without a second of hesitation and shot towards the man who was now behind him in the form of a devastating roundhouse clocked in at unrecognizable speeds,followed by a flurry of 5 grenades with missing pins and a fluid sequence of dashes which separated him from Surkit in mere nano-seconds.

"Now thats fast! Hahahaha!" the Clone of AO laughed loud enough to hear his own cackling over the sound of the grenades he sent out exploding in the tower. The force of the flames shaking the entire place while AK-47 made his escape through the elevator shaft with a stylish dive and clutch of the elevators inner workings in order to carry himself upwards to the floor that he was targeting. During his short little skirmish with Surkit he decided that instead of hunting Kari down,he would see what the armory had to offer before hand. The Young Yamato dreading the moment when his opponent would try to follow.

"Stupid Electric Man. I got better stuff to do" he said to himself as he reached a few floors above his previous location into another hallway which housed the precious armory of the Trinity. He was getting excited as he got closer.

The Night Before The Attack.

Alexander is a training facility. In his hand is a modified bow, it’s origin was from the same lab Alex escaped from months ago. Like all of his equipment, it is linked to the others. He reaches to his back with his right hand, pulling out an arrow from the quiver. He pulls it back as if he had done millions of times before. His breathing is slowed down, his mind is focused, concentration is key. Always. He lets go one last breath and the string soon follows. The arrow’s speed is immense and the air is useless to stop it’s course.

*Hit*

Alexander’s bow closes to be held in his hand easily, he turns and behind him the arrow is shown. A head shot was not bad for a second day of training, but then again Alexander was made for all of this.

The Attack.

Alexander is and always will be a light sleeper, heavy sleepers die in there sleep more often than the former. He awakens to the sound of a Trinity Alarm going off.

One ring means team meeting.

Two means fire.

Three means Natural Disaster

Four rings equal an attack on the HQ.

*Ring*Ring*Ring*Ring*

It was an attack on the HQ and an attack on the HQ was an attack on Alexander and his newfound home.

Alexander rose from his bed, opening his wardrobe and centered was his gear. He placed on his visor and his suit. He looked at the bottom of the wardrobe and he saw two choices. His usual Battle Sword something, he had trained and used over and over, the other was the Bow and Arrow from the night before.

Moments passed for Alexander to decide, he then grabbed both.

Just as he chose it, there was an intrusion. An intrusion in his mind, it took moments for Alex to concentrate. The Telepathic Intruder was strong, Alex was almost covering in his own room, but then he heard a voice. It was the voice of Mr. Smith (the man responsible for making Alex what he was today.)

Alex saw the man before him, the man was as good-hearted as Alex remembered him. The middle-aged man began to speak, his voice was booming. “Alex rise! You have the power, I made you have the Power! Dammit Alex Rise!!!” Alex began to breathe in and out slowly. His breathing is slowed down and his mind is focusing. Concentration is key. Always. Mr. Smith soon faded like smoke and Alex rose back up.

Just then, 4 Ninjas rush his quarters. They try to pin him, against the wall. It’s useless, his strength overpowers them. They collapse. He instinctively pulls out his sword. The battle is on. They each hesitate a moment and then two rush him .Alex ducks the first’s wild right handed dagger. The Battle Sword pierces the ninja’s heart. His peer feels the blow of Alex’s elbow and then his head is off. The other two rush shortly, much smarter than their predecessors. They work cohesively, their training proves formidable.

As Alexander is caught in a battle he hears Assault, his leader and a man Alex respected.“ Alex, I'm coming past you now. Hope you're ready to roll."

“Ready when you are Boss.” Alexander deciding playtime was over and the toys must be put away. Alexander sends a swift back kick to one ninja, it hits his adam’s apple at such velocity he will soon die. He stumbles back gripping his throat and moments later, he will be nothing but another casualty in this war. The other rushes with a blade, Young SMith beats him at his own game, running through him with his blade. The man is shocked, he feels safe. Alex holsters his Battle Sword and begins to walk to his partner. The ninja thinking it is not through, tries to turn, and soon his body collapses upon itself. He is split down his belly button, one half near the wardrobe, the other near Alex’s bed. Alex rushes to his partner in the lobby. A smirk escapes the Trinity Member, he was ready to defend this place, his home.

Ouch!

Why the hell are the alarms going off for? I toss and turn to find my way out of the jungle of sheets that have me contained onto the floor. I'm supposed to be a superhero and falling out of a bed is apparently my weakness.

I throw on a blue shirt with a silver star planted on the chest. I grab a pair of black shorts and my toothbrush and I run outside of my room. Sticking the brush into my mouth I jump up and down trying to fit my butt into these shorts. I walk along the hallway trying to figure out exactly who is trying to attack us.

As I make a right turn I see about three dark figures standing in the hallway. I then stand there with in both of my hands pointing towards them. "Take a step forward and the inside of your eyes will be very min-" before I could finish I'm cut off a ninja star aimed for me.

A blue aura explodes from my hands. I toss the toothbrush into the air. I watch the spiraling green stick slow down until it's frozen in mid air. I glance back towards the men and with a simple wave of my right hand I blow a gust of mist in front of me. The acceleration of the flying object decreases as it passes through the cloud. I take a step out of the way and it zooms right passed me. I reach my left hand out and grab the toothbrush, and with a quick flick of my wrist I aim it for one of them.

A body falls.

The two ninjas besides him look down at their ally to see a bloody stick pointing out of his neck. I literally had no clue that I could do that! They look back towards me. Drawing out their swords they race for me. "Nope nope nope nope" Throwing my hands in front of my face I look through the cracks to see them sprinting in slow motion.

"I'm assuming each of you folk are still up and at 'em so I'm going to make this short and simple. Summit's detected an attempted mental intrusion upon all of us, mine was deflected thanks to my AI implants but I can't speak for any of you. If things are happening to you right now that aren't natural then I need you to take a step back and try to will power your way through it. Don't allow your consciousness to be bent, you're the best of the best."

Good timing.

I certainly don't see anything odd. Glancing back at the ninjas who are still running through the time barriers I threw up I see the body of the dead ninja rising up from the floor. Well um.. I really can't tell if this is that mental attack on my mind or if these are just zombie ninjas.

Selina, I want you with Homicide, you two need to get down to the lobby and clear that bitch out."

Leaving these ninjas behind I back track my way to come across a stairwell. Running down the stairs I find my way to the lobby. "HOMICIDE HELP I CAN'T TELL IF A ZOMBIE NINJA IS AFTER ME OR NOT!"

Wow. The whole entire lobby is filled with people who want to kill me. I managed to catch their attention without being in the room for more than five seconds.

@fallenprophet: @anthony_stark:

The pair of them eviscerated wave upon wave of the masterful yet ultimately unprepared ninja, their villainous efforts at conquering the Trinity's Helsinki headquarters thwarted by the sheer strength of the allegiance's heroic individuals. Assault and his companion Alex tore through the shinobi shozoku clad warriors with a fluidity almost impossible, considering this was the first time they had fought together with the exception of daily Trinity Force training simulations, which were rather impersonal in nature and not quite as challenging as hordes of Kejijo clan ninja.

Upon clearing yet another floor of the home base yet refusing to let their guard down, the sudden appearance of the ingeniously disguised Alternate Anthony Stark and his rather obvious interest in Assault lead the young avenger to enjoin his ally to continue their march of defiance by his lonesome. Without averting his gaze from the eyes of the obscured White Bishop, Jacob spoke to Alex, his cold, prejudiced voice nearly freezing the entire building over.

"Go on without me, man. I'll take this joker."

Summit had tried, and failed, to calculate the identity of the snow-suited figure not a few feet from them, and upon doing so had detected deliberate attempts at keeping the AI implant out. Whoever this being was, he knew far more about Assault than any previous foe had showcased. Jacob was immediately cautious, struggling to keep from tearing the very head of this man's body off for imposing upon his home. He spoke unflinchingly, his armoured frame practically statuesque.

"Who are you supposed to be? I figured you folks'd be after the kid. I'm afraid I'm going to have to implore you to surrender this endeavour -- "

The near-literal ocean of ninja corpses strewn out among them was undeniable.

" -- You're frightfully outnumbered, chump."

So saying the titanium-clad titan brought both arms outwards in a feint, making it appear as if he were aiming to strike the hooded being before him, instead bringing his shoulders back, a movement that allowed his chest to protrude and with the fluidity of a well-oiled machine release a unibeam concentrated at 68%, enough to level the Trinity HQ itself. The blast was focused so as to strike only the White Bishop's body mass, allowing the only collateral damage to be that of the walls of the base.

The frontal force of the villain's foot swings at break neck speed to lay into Bishop's thick head so intense with honed power his body does a 90 degree sweep, his face hitting the wall as feet graze the opposite one to to lay full body on the floor. Just a she registers the attack he can feel five spheres roll in line with his vertabrae, his mind assuming explosives but his body registering only enough to brace his super hardened fingers into the concrete floor to brace.

The blast b lows the doors off of every room and leaves a browned hole where the powerhouse's shirt used to be, luckily his pants were the same ones he wore when he was found those weeks ago.

Coughing he lets out a cloud of pitch black smoke and gasps for a fresh breath a few times.

Ripping off the shirt with one hand he stands and gives himself a once over, before barreling down the hall, sinking his grip into the steel frame of the elevator and throwing his own mass feet first upwards to curl forward and land precisely in the frame of the next two floors up where he had seen the downward cascading light of the armory.

"See you later Samantha," Jason said waving as he exited the University of Helsinki. Tonight's lecture was riveting as the class dissected the Quantam Theory. He found his instructor thoughts on quantam entanglement a bit far fetched yet the excitement of it all was undeniably alluring. Little did he know what kind of surprise he'd been in for upon his arrival home.

"Hey Jason," Samantha managed, catching up to the articulate american her hip swaying stride. She was a rather pretty, curvaceous girl. A brown eyed brunette at a size of five four and was a bit thick for her height at about 120 lbs but nothing that would detract from her natural beauty. With a glowing smile she grasped Jason's shoulder and pulled him around to face her. "Going home so soon?" she asked rhetorically, continuing before the obliviously uncomfortable soldier was able to muster a response. "Why don't you hang around for a bit. We can grab a bite to eat." Her smile was a main stay as she cupped Jason's palm within her own and started to pull him down the street.

Veiled infatuation carried him alongside her, still incapable of truly grasping what was going on. "My friends say your a super hero because you live in that hotel across town." Leila stated, trying to bring conversation into the awkward silence.

"Do super heroes live there?" He asked, pretending to know nothing of what she spoke. "Well yeah, we see them coming in and out all of the time. Its like there hideout." Jason chuckled, then thought to himself, "So much for secrecy."

"I pretty much keep to myself so I never noticed." Leila seemed bemused by this statement, smirking, unwillingly to accept it as the truth. Jason was never a good liar.

"What's the new dude's name again? Circuit? Oh oh, Surkit. Alright fellah, I'm going to ask you to secure one of the upper levels, there's just been an intrusion and a mess of elite guards have been eliminated. Be careful, whoever this guy is, he's good. Selina, I want you with Homicide, you two need to get down to the lobby and clear that bitch out. Xenon, I'm going to go out on a limb here and trust you to do your own thing man, I doubt you'd take any orders from me anyway. Lastly I want Spectrion to clear the west wing of the Headquarters, Alex and I are getting started on the east."

The communicative chatter rang out from his pocket in the form of unclear static for Samantha. "What was that?" she asked, glancing down at his trousers. They were a playful bunch, and often got physical in their play. This physical comfort made the girl instinctively reach for his pocket, almost sure she would retrieve some super communication device. With inhuman speed Jason parried the oncoming hand and hastily pulled Samantha close then gazed into her amazed eyes. "No. But, I gotta run. Mom's in the hospital and its my turn to spend some time with her. Call me!" He explained, finally realizing as their bodies touched that Samantha was mystified by him for some reason. She seemed to eat the words up as he stepped away and started sprinting in the direction of the Trinity Tower. "He's definitely a super hero." Were her final words as she watched him round the corner.

Upon arrival Jason approached from a low rooftop across from the Hotel. To his disbelief, armed units were stationed in front of the entrance and they looked mean. He would have to enter the building from an ascended level if he wanted to avoid an immediate firefight which would delay him. Wasting no time Jason took off into a long leap that sent him flying through a fourth floor window. The glass shattered and the American Avenger, dressed head to toe in his star spangled, red, white, and blue uniform, rolled along the ground, rising to his feet with America's shield brought up to bare. Now in the security room, he found a woman around his age tampering with the systems. Beside her was a welling darkness in the form of a black, shadowy mist.

"Let's make this easy. Stop what--" His sentence was cut short as the black mist disappeared. His danger sense activated rapid motion as the hero swiveled around, intercepting a whirling kick with his right forearm that was trained for his head. The shadowy mist had adopted the form of a dark combatant and the two engaged in a cinematic display of acrobatic combat which ended in a powerful kick that thrusted the shadow into a mess of dummy servers used to confused anyone attempting to hack the system. Drawing his combat knife Jason tossed it to the left of the woman's head, intentionally off target, with the hope of gaining her attention for a small moment. "Stop, turn around and go home," he stated as the martial arts shadow rose to its feet and reclaimed its stance beside the woman.

Homicide stood still, their eyes focused on one another as she took in a deep breath. Her body tensed as she watched Lessandra, running her blades along the wall as she began walking towards her. Then… her communicator went off.

"I’m assuming each of you folk are still up and at ‘em so I’m going to make this short and simple. Summit’s detected an attempted mental intrusion upon all of us, mine was deflected thanks to my AI implants but I can’t speak for any of you. If things are happening to you right now that aren’t natural then I need you to take a step back and try to will power your way through it. Don’t allow your consciousness to be bent, you’re the best of the best."

"A mental attack?" Cassandra spoke as she looked up at Lessandra, it made sense, giving a smirk she stood up straight, giving a scoff as she retracted her blades. "Nothing but a pitiful illusion… I should have seen right through you."

Phasing through the floor she began another assault, her bullet wounds healed as she spear tackled one of the soldiers from another group, phasing through the floor instead of landing on the ground his back slammed into the ground as she dug her blades deep within his chest. Another one down. Standing up the blades dripped with blood as she smiled to herself, being on a hero team was more fun than she thought.

Then Assault came through the comlink again, this time, throwing out orders. She rolled her eyes, the lobby? With Selina? She didn’t have anything against the girl, but why wasn’t she sent to teleport Kari out of the building? She could get her clear across the country in a minute flat. But no matter… she was paid to take orders, and she’ll kill every one last of those damn pawns in the lobby.

"HOMICIDE HELP I CAN’T TELL IF A ZOMBIE NINJA IS AFTER ME OR NOT!"

The frantic voice of Selina filled her ears as the killer blinked for a moment, she did she just Zombie Ninja? Superhero’s worst fear are zombies? Without hesitation she began sprinting through the building, being on the ground level she phased through the walls, one by one until she hit the lobby. Dozens of soldiers were seen in the lobby, Trinity ground level security versus the opposing unknown force. A bullet grazed her cheek as she took cover behind a wooden desk. Looking around her eyes caught Selina running away from… well nothing of the obvious, but the way she was stammering around, she was asking to get shot.

"Selina!" Homicide hissed as she teleported away, suddenly appearing next to her teammate and teleporting back behind cover, pulling her down forcefully as she slammed her back against the wooden frame, her bloody hand over her head to make sure she didn’t try to look up to see the commotion. She had to calm this girl down, ‘Do you want to die?!’almost left her lips, but she cleared her throat as she looked down at her teammate. She needed her to focus, not be scared. "I need you to focus Selina, we need to clear this out, we have to stop them before they get deeper into the building, ok?"

The young hero nod her head, good, she understood, she was focused.

"If you use your powers to slow down time, can you do so without slowing ME down?"

Her teammate blinked her eyes for a couple of seconds. "I-I don’t know, I’ve never tried it before."

Sh!t, well at least she was being honest. "I need you to try, I’m going to teleport as quickly as I can and take out as many of them as possible, but those bullets are going to slow me down, if you can slow them down I can work faster." Lifting her hand off her head she pulled up her lower facial mask up to the bridge of her nose. “Schlafende Hunde soll man nicht wecken."She mumbled to herself before vanishing from cover.

"Ooooh, we're the hellfire club! We have super powers! We ARE going to waste a bunch of time and get sidetracked with members of the Trinity! WE ARE JUST COMING FOR THE BRAT, even though we could do like a list of other shit too!" POW! The black knight of the hellfire club said in a mocking tone while repelling down the side of the building, a satchel filled with high grade explosives slung around his shoulder. The Miami born villain really did have a disdain for his members getting sidetracked, let alone anyone he runs in an operation with. His efforts would be separate from the main mission, in charge of placing the cherry bomb on the top of the invasion, something that would leave the mutants burning and crippled.

Finally, POW! ceased his descent when he arrived at the designated breaching point, giving the metal a few gentle taps of his fist. "Oh crud..This wall looks PRETTY tough! If only I had some sort of gauntlet that charges kinetic energy into a destructive force!" He gave a few light hops off the wall before pushing off of it with full force, swinging away from the wall while charging up his kinetic-smashers. "And...POW!" The crook shouted his own alias while pointing both of his gauntlets at the wall, unleashing a massive beam of energy that suspended POW! in the air from so much force. His entire body shook, causing him a great deal of pain, even with his protective suit on. Finally though, the wall gave way and was shredded like cardboard.

Guards were quick to inspect the loud breach, smoke still in the air. Before they could react though, POW! came swinging in and fired a few volleys at the closest guards. The rest would counter with gunfire of course, which only made POW! laugh while putting his fists up to create a quick kinetic shield, tossing bullets in stray directions. Not being able to hold it any longer, he threw the field forwards, knocking the guards a good ten feet away and most likely breaking a plethora of bones in their body.

"The doctor...Is in! No wait..That doesn't really work for me..Ahh whatever I'll figure one out later" POW! pondered as he stepped over the defeated guards, starting his mission to bring this place down.

@spectrion:

The knife hit the wall right beside Catalina’s head, until then she remained completely uninterested in the squabble between her shadow and the Trinity member; but it soon became apparent that the Liafador would have to deal her own cards. Catalina let loose an intoxicating smile before sizing her opponent up. Stout, Easy on the eyes; and spoke with an authority that created. goosebumps on her skin.

The Shadow Cardinal was ready to pounce again, but Cat quickly intervened; opting to uncharacteristically handle this fight herself. “I am not going anywhere; As a matter of fact” she said, slowly sauntering towards the star spangled hero; as she did so a veil of darkness followed behind her.

“Consider this a hostile takeover” gesturing both of her hands outward; the impetuous Shadow Guard, assimilated to its master; sharing the genetic code taken from the Trinity hero. Catalina could feel his DNA temporarily binding with her genetic make-up.

“This must be what it feels like to be you” She said, shooting him a characteristically Machiavellian smirk. Catalina was the only Liafador to ever have powers at one point, which called into Question if she was like Ziccarra; but what made her powers so different; was that she could absorb the entire genetic code of a person with a slight brush.

Extending her hand out, the shadow guard once again ran feverishly towards the hero. It’s master quickly pacing behind him; preparing a strategy; opening a portal to his right blind side; Cat stuck her hand inside to cheap shot him; while her shadow guard left its feet opting to return the gesture with a jumping, spin hook kick towards Spectrions’ chest.

An all to familiar voice resonated within his subconscious. The rather aggressive individual from Kalli. This was The Knightfall A-List's contact? Milo was disappointed. Using the quantam bracelet's telepathic transmission capabilities to contact Don Andres. "The defector is not going to comply, determining a different course of action. Any suggest--" an uproarious tingle in the back of the Keijijo Bravehart's mind, symbolic of a negated telepathic intrusion disabled his connection to the Knightfall. But subsequently came a sense of familiarity with the specific mental energies that attempted to control his mental chakras flow. "Ziccarra," he said to himself as the five man cell of clones laid waste to the security on the current floor.

Rounding the corner he spotted @xenon_ approaching with a myriad of weaponry, undoubtedly reaped from the corpses of his men. They were expendable, thus no ill will harbored. The clones formed a a shield of bodies in front of the Keijijo Kaze before he addressed the so called god. "Your, services, will be no longer necessary. I will not demand submission because of your connection with a comrade, but if you intend to stop me, I will be forced to embarass you." Milo said staunchly, arms folded as each of the clones took off with incapable speed.

@selina_stone: @darkknightdetective: @assault: @surkit: @homicide: The clones had an existent objective in mind. The esoteric league of doppelgangers operated on their originators metaphysical sensory function. With many fully engaged in this incursion their energies became a beacon for the masterful Milo. Each clone was dispatched to intercept and assist in the capture of trinity members. With 1/5 of Milo's strength he believed the clones would be of sufficient strength to at the very least weaken his foes, softening them up for the others to take down.

With her first mental assault having been completed successfully on a majority of the Trinity’s members, Valerie knew it was only a matter of time someone found her. The cunning White Queen would never be naïve enough to have expected her penthouse suite to be the most discrete hideout, and had made preparations for when she was found.

Sitting behind her in one of the suites plush chairs, a woman casually twirled a freshly-sharpened blade skillfully between her fingers. Her features were beautiful in a wild way, her long brunette locks and striking blue eyes giving her naturally elegant features a dangerous semblance. Her body with lithe and toned like a dancer’s, a façade to the strength behind it. Clad in tight black body armor designed to protect her without limiting the full abilities of her agility, the woman’s beauty combined unsettlingly with her intimidating appearance.

After high school, Valerie had left her socialite ways behind her to partake on a variety of business and political ventures to build her multibillion corporations as well as aristocratic reputation. Her actions took her all around the world, where she met a plethora of powerful men and women unlike those she had grown accustomed to in her teenage years as a Page Six Upper East Sider. One of these people was Madison Vaughn, known professionally as Kalliste. Instantly impressed by her unrivaled combat abilities and talent for getting the job done, Valerie was quick to hire Kalliste for a few personal assignments and their business relationship quickly grew into a strong friendship.

Upon the initial prospect of infiltrating the Trinity HQ, Valerie knew she would have to take the mission into her own hands to trust it would be done successfully. One quick phone call to Kalliste and the former MI-16 agent had been awaiting the White Queen’s arrival inside the Helsinki penthouse, unbeknownst to the rest of the HFC. Now the two shared the space in comfortable silence, both femme fatales aware of their jobs and both unshaken by the chaos caused by the early morning’s events.

The air ducts. Clever, but cliché. Both Valerie and Kalliste expected the arrival of a Trinity member eventually, however it had taken longer than anticipated. With Kalliste’s presence in Finland unknown, whoever had triggered Kalliste’s superhuman hearing on their way up to the penthouse suite would undoubtedly be targeting Valerie in an attempt to stop her mental sabotage. But whoever the rogue Trinity member may be was of no concern to the White Queen. With Kalliste ready to fight off anyone who entered their suite, Valerie remained completely focused on manipulating the minds within the Trinity HQ.

Although the mental manifestation of her victim’s greatest fears had turned out to be a sufficient distraction, causing psychic anguish was not the main goal of Valerie’s assault. Rather she acted to test which minds within the Trinity were vulnerable to her telepathy. And the one mind she counted on being unprotected had been more open to her than she could have possibly hoped for.

As suspected many of her targets had discovered the nature of their fears, and disconnected themselves from the mental illusions. Needing another way to deteriorate the Trinity members the White Queen switched her mental intrusion from illusions to direct psychic torture, attacking the minds of her targets with what would feel like intense flames within their heads. Only those with the strongest of mental willpower would be able to escape the brutality of her attack as she moved onto phase two of her telepathic barrage. Searching for one mind in particular she located the purpose of the HFC’s invasion – the mutant girl. Having entered her mind so easily with her first mental attack, she hoped taking control of it would prove just as effortless. With the majority of the Trinity’s members occupied by fighting the other HFC, Valerie was clear of any obstacles in the way of her mentally controlling the mutant girl to leave the Trinity HQ and walk straight into the grasp of the Hellfire Club.

@tranquil:

The Maestro idly folded his arms as he was addressed by the man rather obnoxiously, without saying a word he simply stood to the side allowing him to pass without resistance. Bowing his head down in disrespect of himself knowing he was allowing one evil to pass without a fight....but, the fate of the mutant race depended on such an act. Before the man would have passed he then stopped, possibly speaking to the man who had his back to Xenon as he dropped his arm down to the ground with two of the blades from the corpses poised downwards, sending the Air Apparent a telepathic signal instead of a verbal talk "Attack me" Raising both arms he outstretched both swords, sending them flying towards the Keijijo Master aiming to impale his legs, without waiting for the outcome the Maestro darted forwards attempting to swiftly punch Milo in the back or stomach with a fist depending on if he turned around, no knife or daggers, simply a fist.

The Office Of Dr. Laurent Troyce, A Day Later.

The imp had taken his place at the office of Doctor Troyce, after a call from his good old therapist. Sitting face to face with the doctor he was curious of the subject he was brought here for. Although he was called to be here the doctor sitting right in front of him was looking rather surprised of his arrival. ''Are you allright, Mr Fleischer? Did something happen?'' the doctor talked with a concerned look. The imp looked at the man's face with questions and uncertainty. ''You called and asked me to come, doctor. Don't you remember?'' He could feel that he was missing some important thing in this situation though he was unable to detect. ''I see... Do you remember your travel to here? Can you name me a few details before your arrival in here?'' An unintentional anger filled his mind with the thought of being the subject of an unfunny joke. ''Off course! I was at...'' The last memory inside his mind was from a few days ago. ''I don't remember. But... Why don't I remember?'' his trembling voice showing his loss of proper thinking and some unpreditcted fear. He put his hands on his head. The feeling of a coagulated blood had made him jump from where he sat. Walking in a fast phase like almost running he looked at a mirror. On his body there were stains of blood and a few tears on his clothes indicating a fight from those missing days. ''Don't rush or you will exhaust yourself. Come take a seat. We don't know the source of your current state. Let's be cautious. This could be a side effect to a physical to pshycohological trauma. But you needn't worry for I am here to help you as I always do.'' The doctor's certainity in his voice had made a command effect on his uncertainity filled mind. With unquestionable trust to the doctor, he laid down with his curiosity and fear of his missing days.

Helsinki, Now.

The Imp came out without a sign from the shadows. ''I give you my apologies for not being with you, today. I wish you luck with and give you a blue pawn to command.'' Sending a mental message to all Trinity members in The Black Bishop's voice, he jumped between dimensions to the Trinity HQ. Unsheating his swords he swang them to get some slices from the two guards around him. Without announcing his arrival to his adverseries he took another teleportation jump. Under the command of Black Bishop he was ordered to get to the girl. Staying within shadows he was taking jumps one after another. His head was clear than ever. He didn't have any distracting thoughts and he was free of personal morales. He was here as a pawn here, a weapon to be used not as an individual. Ninjas got passed from in front of him and the oncoming sounds indicated the presence of a Trinity member. To avoid the unwanted conflicted he changed his course. Taking direct orders from the real players of the HFC he was headed towards the upper levels where the girl was kept.

''Where to now?'' He whispered to anyone listenning him. As he heard some foot steps he jumped and stuck to the ceiling. Using some very slow movements he kept going silently. The guards, in search of any hostility had come looking. The imp took out a knife from his belt and threw towards one of the guards neck and seemingly vanished from where he once were. The guard screamed with agony but the knife had allready given him a death sentence. The other one turned around and looked for any sign of the unknown killer but after hearing a gas sound the only thing he could feel was the sword that had gotten thtough his chest. Stylishly sheating his swords back he was once again back to his course.

@fallenprophet:

Following his team leader's orders, Alexander had strived onwards, eliminating more and more ninja as he mobilized and discarding their lifeless, defeated beings without an ounce of remorse as per his training. Any creature with operational eyes could see that the man was a machine, refusing to let up for even a second, each movement weighed and pre-meditated. It was as such that he garnered the interest of the Hellfire Club's second Black Bishop, Crowman.

Moments before clearing the corridor, Alex would witness the formulation of a being, seemingly manifested by the bare amount of shadows in the corner of the hallway and comprised entirely of them. Complete with ominous horns and a crimson crow insignia upon his raven-clad chest, the Black Bird of Bereavement stepped out of the darkness and flashed a quick grin at the approaching, mystified Alexander.

"Amazed? That's splendid. I would hate to have made a bad first impression."

Without pausing Crowman committed his entire frame into an attacking manoeuvre designated to wipe the candle flame that was the Trinity members life away instantaneously. He sped at his opponent with speed rivalling a full-on locomotive, his legs pumping like pistons and his black-masked face contorted into a gruesome smirk. Closing the gap between both men within less than two seconds the Winged Weaver of Woe brought his face down towards the floor, allowing his entire being to follow the momentum caused by the movement, and propelled both legs up into the air behind him in a death-defying front-flip; both feet intended to strike Alexander in the square centre of his broad chest and launch him through the floor beneath him, carried on by the sheer force of Crowman's assault.

@tranquil: @xenon_:

Seeming visible unconcern, evidently conveyed by the debonair White King's flawless facial features, perfectly fabricated apparent disinterest in present events dictated by a frenetic confrontation between the aristocratically peerless Hellfire Club, and the morally righteous Trinity Foundation. Indulged in the luxurious service ostentatiously provided by the meticulously selected five-star, twenty four hour restaurant, the Catalan Knightfall's indirect involvement regarding current occurrences deceptively furthered the cabalistic collection of social juggernauts' inevitable objective of global prominence. Mentally formulating preparatory plots and contingency plans in anticipation of a plausible subsequent encounter with the heroic faction in the future, the Knightfall Don nonchalantly dismisses an approximating waitress with effortlessly exercised verbal charm, expertly coupling verbal eloquence with an exotic accent for the projection of atmospherically entrancing magnetism. "Not now mi querida", a quickly cast wink predating following words, "I am still searching the menu. But bring me a Gold Label scotch whisky. Gracias", a briefly manifested smile of mesmeric appeal concluding his politely voiced request.

With unforeseen immediacy, the M.D.D.S.' technologically originated quantum entanglement with one of the elementary particles subatomically constructing the structural makeup of Milo's bracelet, experienced unanticipated severing. Instinctively assuming aristocratic posture while simultaneously leaning into his chair, a calmly escaped sigh forsook Don Andres' physical frame, "Disappointing". Unaware of the ensuing physical confrontation occurring in Valerie's strategically selected penthouse suite, Andres opted to divert a substantial bulk of his attention towards prioritized matters. Readily transitioning the M.D.D.S.' focus towards the detection and subsequent studious analysis of emitted metaphysical energies from Milo's relatively approximated presence, the Master of Martial Arts Perfection was rapid in the instruction of the M.D.D.S. to meticulously entangle itself with an ethereal particle composing the White Knight's mental metaphysical makeup. "The termination in our communication was not something I predicted to happen so soon", he admitted, having managed to establish a somewhat crude method of mental communication with the Hellfire Club's premier White Knight. "Hmm..", momentarily pausing as evolutionarily heightened sensory perception detected the distinctly patterned electric fields generated from Xenon's minuscule muscular movement. "So I see Xenon is with you. Is he making things... difficult, senor?".

Showcasing authentic gratitude at the arrival of his requested alcoholic beverage, Andres chivalrously issued a subtle inclination of the head prior to the resumption of pseudo-telepathic conversation, this time however, opting to technologically entangle the M.D.D.S. with the neurons responsible for neural oscillation in Xenon's central nervous system for established mental communication. "I see you are attacking my ninos. Xenon, this must stop. I thought you a reasonable man. Your moral boundaries limit not only your potential but the possibility of the mutant race's survival", he continued, relying on verbal eloquence and persuasive charisma for conversational coercion. "If you don't help in this current endeavor, you are willingly risking the fate of our kind. You were willing to sacrifice your emotional bond with Cleo and Kali for the betterment of our people. My friend, don't tell me that tonight you'll choose to toss us aside because of your moral struggles. Your ethical values do not supersede the importance of the survival of mutant kind. You are one individual, with ideals that are subjective. Surely, you don't think it correct to value your sense of morality over the lives of millions of mutants. But I'll say no more mi amigo. The decision is yours to make. What you think is moral, or the fate of our people". Transitioning M.D.D.S. communicative efforts towards Milo, he instructs, "Stop whatever is interfering with the link between myself and the bracelet. If you can".

@_pow_:

Ziccarra staggered back, falling viciously on a table; the loss of her powers completely negated her ability to fight, depending solely on lightening like reflexes and reactions times; the ninjas quickly got the best of her. She could feel the concerned eyes of Kari spectating from afar; rising from her harsh landing she still tried to reassure the child she’d be ok.

Wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth; she prepared herself to continue combat with the ninjas; making sure she was always in-between Kari and the ninjas. Arriving just in time behind the commotion was Kid-Vendetta, he wasted little time in aiding Z in getting rid of the ninjas. She had to give it to the Darkknightdetetive; his young apprentice proved to be more than a “side-kick” tossing himself fearlessly into the battle.

Z collapsed on all fours trying to regain her breath. “Protect Kari” she gasped, clutching the young child’s shirt. “Wait…where did she go?” her eye’s surveyed every part of the room; Kari was nowhere to be found. The tingling feeling that ran through her body; when she and Kari made contact returned. Pushing herself off the ground; her semi staggered towards the door.

The battles between the HFC and Trinity could be felt throughout the tower; with each blow thrown she could feel the Trinity Tower quiver. “Trinity, this is Ziccarra; Kari is loose in the tower; I believe whatever hit us with that telepathic blast is” For some reason Z stopped mid-transmission, was she too being effected by the telepath?

Stalking down the steps, she tried her hardest to locate Kari; but it was to no avail. She had already presumably left this floor. Extending her hands down; she could feel her energy surging through her body; Kari must’ve temporarily disabled her powers.

She watched as a figured cloaked in darkness; quickly defeated a few of the Trinity Guards. Standing in black light at the end of the hallway, the Malagan Chameleon cast another illusion; a somewhat faulty illusion at that.

The illusion made it appear like there were two Ziccarra waiting at the end of the hall; when it actuality; Ziccarra used her flash step technique; to gain close proximinity. “WHO ARE YOU WITH!?” she screamed, sending a piston like punch towards his face.

Undisclosed Location 24 Hours Pre-Assault

The crepuscular rays of sunlight that escaped the clouds and wove through the trees illuminated the forest floor where Madison had been living. She was gathering branches to make a shelter where she would camp for the night, her body skirting around the forest with speed, the sound of cracking branches echoing throughout the tall evergreen leaves. The noise scared prey and attracted predators. Madison heard many heartbeats that belonged to what sounded like the indigenous grey wolves. Unruffled she continued to gather wood, and within minutes the wolves appeared. As soon as their gaze met Madison's wild eyes they whimpered and retreated into the woods. After they had gone the assassin shot her right leg into the air to break another branch, her leg came down with a force unnatural to the woods but her leg stopped mid-thrust. Madison felt her mind being contacted by a familiarcontractor and friend, Valerie Huntington-Whiteley. The message was just a time and place, and with that Kalliste left her natural retreat.

Helsinki

Kalliste had gone to the nearest airstrip where the White Queen had already set up a helicopter for take off. Wearing ripped jeans and a torn shirt she hopped into the bird and flew it until she reached the destination. After landing the helicopter Kalliste assumed that Valerie would have arranged for the absolute best so she took the room key that she had found on her seat and walked to the penthouse. The key activated the door and inside the suite an armored body suit laid on the couch but first Kalliste needed to shower. The steaming water felt refreshing as it dripped down her tanned hourglass figure. Just after rinsing off the suds that covered the assassins body, she heard her friend enter the room. Madison wrapped herself in a towel and walked out to greet her friend. After exchanging greetings Kalliste had been informed of her mission which was to provide prime physical protection so that the White Queen could solely focus on destroying the minds of their opponents. Kalliste only agreed to the mission because she thought the target would be apprehended either way and if Kalliste could have any part in it she would try to make sure no harm came to the child.

The beautiful blonde walked with grace and power like a lioness toward the floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the point of attack across the way. Kalliste dropped her robe and walked to the window to get a better view with her suit dangling on her lean toned arm. At the window she stepped into the suit, it fit like a glove hugging Kalliste's curves just perfectly. However she couldn't get the zipper so she walked to the telepath for assistance, her hands were cold on Madison's bare back and caused her to shiver from the chills. After the suit was on the deadly brunette looked at herself in the mirror, she hadn't seen herself for over a month and her appearance was still so striking that she herself was taken back, her dark brown hair hung in a high ponytail that ended just below her long neck, and her eyes were so blue and beautiful but there still seemed to be a savage aspect to them that was intimidating. Her train of thought was broken by the muffled sound of movement in the air vents. Kalliste put her two pistols in her side holsters and grabbed her freshly sharpened knives in each hand. "We have company, air vents, two points of possible entry in the bedroom and bathroom." The lack of response was a sign that Valerie was doing her job perfectly. "No need to worry I'll handle it quickly and quietly." Or so she thought. A minute later Kalliste heard a thud in bathroom that sounded like a man landing and with that she took cover. A man quietly stepped out of the bathroom and launched a kick in Valerie's direction and Kalliste engaged combat and prepared to intercept it. Kalliste felt the strong force of the flying kick as it dug into her chest, breaking many ribs, just after her ribs made a loud cracking sound as they healed back into place. Kalliste took her hand which still held a knife and tried to thrust her weapon into his gut. The other knife was following behind quickly a successful hit would leave two open wounds.

@assault:

The white bishop contorted his body side-wards as the beam of pure concussive energy blasted past his chest, utilizing his temporal manipulation making himself faster than the beams velocity enabling him to move out of the way avoiding damage, the beam suddenly turned around in midair like a water bending controlling a stream of water, Anthony Stark had enabled his superior abilities and was able to actually control raw energy like this by tapping into the frequencies of the inferior blast through his years of advanced technology in the alternate reality. Pushing the energy outwards as it curved around of his white frame elegantly redirecting it back towards of the titanium man as his arms followed the beams blast, connecting with the younger brothers chest causing for the suit to simply go into a state of shock. "Forgive me.." In the blink of an eye the white bishop darted forwards with nimble footwork accelerating to incalculable speeds while simultaneously disabling nearly all technology within his brothers suit to allow for a successful attack.

His clawed fingers scratching an X into the chest of the suit as his fists simply smashed through the metal physically grabbing the Stark brother by the chest and ripping him out throwing him onto the opposing wall without hesitation before running up and attempting to punch the man in the face with augmented super strength, hopefully knocking the brother out without any lasting harm.

@anthony_stark:

And just like that, Jacob Stark was enlightened as to how skewed his confidence was.

The building trembled underneath the might of the Assault armour's unibeam, bracing itself for a frightfully powerful wound in anticipation of the blast. Rescued by an unlikely saviour, the alternate Anthony Stark refused to waste time in proving to his younger brother just how much better than him he was, how much better than this reality's Anthony Stark he was, how much better than everybody else he was. The beam struck Jacob directly in his chest and he experienced brutal pain, the sheer magnitude of the agony dwarfing that of his accident all those months ago, wherein he had been severely crippled and comatose for a week. How unfortunate that this time, he would not be allowed the luxury of sleep, his conscious form suffering the seemingly relentless jolts of affliction throughout his form. It was as if every single inch of his being was being dipped in the sun, practically wallowing within an inferno of exponential value. He wasn't allowed a moment's reprieve, the suit instantaneously torn apart by the White Bishop's otherworldly claws and cast aside as if mere trash.

Strong fingers dug into the young Stark's flesh and he experienced a brief weightless flight before his body made contact with something and he was on the ground again, senses absolutely massacred and his vision white. He felt himself reach out in a futile attempt at defence, his hand slapped away immediately, treated as if it bore the insignificance of yesterday's news. A shadow formed in the colourless light that was his vision and Assault's AI implant Summit, with a metaphorical dying breath, sent out a message via the comm-link, seconds before a stone-laced fist struck Jacob Stark and shattered the frontal section of his skull, his brain bouncing about pathetically within his head.

"Man down."

The world was black when he hit the dirt.

Armistice had been watching the carnage unfold from within the Trinity Tower with none of the players on either side aware of his presence, much less his very existence for the most part. He had not been there since the very beginning, but it did not take long for Wilhelm to alert him as to the congragration of metas all with ties to the newly reestablished Hellfire Club decending upon a very distinct destination. Upon arrival he had chosen not to involve himself in the many smaller conflicts erupting throughout as his concern was not tied to either faction, while he did not want to see anyone meet their bitter end as he stood aside there was something far more important to attend to.

Someone is going to need to recruit some new ninjas, this place is turning into a bloodbath.

Gliding along the floor under full spectrum stealth he had surveyed the situation as it unfolded around him, the Hellfire Club had taken the Trinity defenders completely unaware and unprepared, never expecting a direct strike upon their very home. They were on their heels and being pushed back at every turn, his intention had only been to observe as was his custom but with the situation now very much in doubt he would be forced to play his hand. There was an innocent among them, one who had been pulled into the metahuman chess game before her time, far too young to even shoulder the burdens of being a girl much less the rope in a tug-of-war between differening viewpoints she did not even understand.

Everyone treating her like a weapon to be held over others, and pretending they actually understand who and what she is.

Armistice caught up to Kari as she wandered the hallways under the sway of the subtle telepathic prodding, while the others clashed in a traditional manner one of them was actually savvy enough to use a more elegant solution, one that he was about to no longer prove effective. Kneeling down in front of her he allowed her to walk directly into his expanded field, the very moment she entered his sphere of influence it was as if she disappeared to one and all concerned. The armor and it's defenses against telepathic and technological intrusion now shared between the two and he could see her as she shook her head as if just waking up from a dream, startled at the appearance of the single red eye and dark armored from in front of her.

Armistice - "No need to be afraid Kari, I am not here to hurt you. I know I look scary but I'm only here to protect you."

He ran an armored open hand along her cheek in the hopes of being the slightest bit reassuring under the circumstances, all the constanst changes had to be taking their toll on the girl.

Armistice - "This place is no longer safe, too many people looking for you and willing to do anything to get their hands on you, I'm going to take you somewhere you do not have to be used by others anymore. I do not have time to explain anymore right now, but I promise you answers soon enough little one."

In a flash of collapsing darkness the two were teleported away, to any and all involved it was as if she had been removed from existence itself. For now the combatants would continue to clash in a futile struggle, unaware the very prize they seek was no longer there.

@shanana: POW! cocked his head at the sight of two women who looked alike stood at the end of the hall. "Ah..Alrighty then, little creepy.." He said rather unimpressed, or rather arrogantly. Raising his gauntlets without another word, the invader released a quick blast of energy towards the two figures, expecting that to be that. But of course, it wasn't, as soon as he finished blasting, a woman was right in front of him, catching him completely off guard. "MMF!?" Was all he could mutter when her fist was driven into his face, almost knocking him right on his back. It was clear this woman was strong, stronger than any normal human, POW! didn't have to hold back. "WHY ARE YOU YELLING!?" POW! shouted back while firing one blast at her simultaneously with a blast towards the ceiling above her, hoping to just crush her and be done with it.

Blue patches of smoke unveil from my hands as they travel through the air. Bullets race for Homicide's body as she teleports through the lobby slaying anyone who gets in her way. She asked me to do one favor. The only way the two of us could use our powers together in order survive tonight. She wants me to do what most would find to be impossible. She wants me to slow down parts of time.

I'm a Mutant. We are evolution's next answer in Survival of the fittest. No one is killing me tonight, or taking that child.

I concentrate on every object in the room as the blue mist travels past it. I could feel my mind wrapping itself around anything that comes its way. Five bullets aim for Homicide's thigh. I slow them down to the point where they are frozen in mid air. Once she teleports out I fast forward them to hit a ninja. Causing this one to fall down.

Sh!t. There is a Ninja falling from the ceiling, and this one is aiming for me! Without thinking a blue breeze forms around him. Encasing him in a floating bubble. To him he is still falling, but luckily for us he's stuck in mid air.

I continue to freeze any bullet I see that might hit her. Occasionally I would slow down the speed of a Ninja if they were a bit too close to reaching any of us. With only a few of them left in the Lobby I become caught off guard for just a second.

Glancing at my right arm I see a drop of blood. There are more on my shirt. I press my finger against my face I feel it dripping off of my chin. I follow the trail leading up to my nose. What's wrong with me? Wiping the blood off of my face I continue to aid Homicide at my best.

@catalina_liafador: "I am not going anywhere," Was the statement that spurred Spectrion to action, but he stifled an attempted dash as he noticed the woman's flesh flirt with the shadows that molded around her. Slowly she stepped forward, commenting on what it 'feels' like to be the American Avenger. A small hand ushered in the reemergence of the shadowy combatant who surged forward with a tornado kick guided for the starry emblem that sat upon his chest. Upper echelon martial artists training and precognitive sense allowed the hero to grab the foot using his free arm. His shield was raised up high as the warrior intended to break the leg with a mighty strike of his shield.

The strike was interrupted by a grueling punch that seemed to manifest from nowhere. This action caused the American Avenger to drop the shadow's leg, which resulted in and instantaneous kick being let loose the moment equilibrium was regained. Jason's body hit the ground hard as the foot made contact with his chest. A slide continued after the fall, his body pulling to stop after colliding with another dummy server. The punch that caught him by surprise had not triggered his danger sense for some unknown reason. Brilliant, millisecond connections were made in the young polymath's mind, leading to the deduction that the woman's interaction with the American Avenger had given her the genetic ability to bypass his preemptive reactions.

The Shadow was relentless in its continued assault the moment Jason kipped up. Acrobatic evasion and precise defense allowed the American Avenger to constantly remain a step ahead of the impending danger that was the colossal, mind blowing strength of the shadow's strikes. An opening revealed itself as the hero bounced about the security room. Heavily involved in pursuit of the spandex clad opponent the shadow had forgone all thoughts of possible defense. When the shadow believed Jason would bounce away from a whirling kick the American Avenger ducked below the leg, using this moment to pivot around and deliver a strike from his shield to the leg that the shadow was standing on. With the primary opponent downed temporarily he took this next second to throw his shield.

Trajectories had already been accounted for the moment he planned to attack. The shield would ricochet off multiple angles to direct itself to towards the woman's back, with the intention of temporarily debilitating her so she could be taken into custody. To ensure that the shield would connect Jason rushed her from the side, his aggressive approach telegraphing an intended strike that would never come. Hopefully she would be confused by the mixed signals being sent and she would remain stationary.

@andres_knightfall: @xenon_: @assault: @armistice:

The mutated might of his throw was impressive. The swords cut through the air with deadly precision, and had the Tranquil been a foreigner to combat, he would have fallen, knees capped. Yet with literal lightning like agility the Keijijo Kaze artfully sidestepped the oncoming projectiles and transitioned to an immense sprint towards his opposition. Nigh instantaneous movement placed him before his foe and as the fist was launched the Air Apparent stepped in, swooping right as the punched veered well over his head. A crippling strike was cocked and ready, yet Andres emergence on the subconscious plane of communication stifled the offensive force. Backing away Milo began to investigate the whereabouts of his clones sensing that Andres had penetrated the thoughts of his opponent as well.

"The signal's all cleared up on my end. Whatever you did established link." He said as his focus drifted to the minds of the dispatched. Battered, broken, and defeated, the man in the iron suit laid out on the upper floors. Subsequently following a savage beating delivered by a slightly, out of place, member of the team. Nonetheless, he proved that he could be counted on by his visceral display. With a curt nod of respect towards the White Bishop the clone hefted the body onto its shoulder. Once obtained the clone vanished, taking the body to a dimension outside of the current one, suspended in time accessible via his chakra potaru amulet.

Meanwhile the next clone was coming upon the top floor fast, utilizing a devastating series of dashing palm strikes to overwhelm the opposition that sought to impede his transit. Then he spotted her. Kari stood besides some dark entity barely made out among the chaos before the two figures disappeared completely. Despite his extrasensory perception there was no trail left behind. The objective had escaped their grasp.

The clone dispersed and the original absorbed the information of the trinity member's capture as well as Kari's abduction by an unknown sources. A grimace sat behind the emotionless projection of the mask, useful in such situations. The White Knight had failed to acquire the girl, as well as a sample of her DNA that could be sufficient for reproduction. Yet all was not lost. The damage dealt here today would not soon be forgotten. The Hellfire Club had shown their ambition. There will be time to find the girl, it was all just a matter of patience. "The target has left the building. Tell everyone to pull out Don Andres." Were his final words before vanishing into the night.

Catalina

The Trinity Avenger, did an expert job at matching her battle witted Shadow; it was through this that Cat could see the weak points in her shadow’s offense. His ricocheting shield pelted against her back quickly sending her down on the ground. The sound of her body smashing against the floor was, silenced by the thunderous sound of the Tower turning on itself.

Pressing her hands into the floor, a darkness portal opened; swallowing both Catalina and her shadow. This mission was a bust.

Ziccarra

Kari was nowhere to be found, eventually Ziccarra’s link faded, it was as if Kari disappeared instantaneously.The Trinity were heavily backed into a corner; trying to defend themselves against an unknown opponent. Things took a significant turn for the worse, as the constant use of powers, and damage; caused the tower to release a loud wail. “That is not good” She said, taking a moment to heed the warning sounds of the imperiled tower.

The intruder, quickly bounced back from Ziccarra’s flash punch; by launching a blast into the support celling for the floor. Not one spot was safer than the other; the falling debris buried the Trinity Leader temporarily immobilizing her. She could feel the tremble within the Trinity Tower; soon it’d be reduced to dust, and ash. Channeling her molecules, the Malagan speedster vibrated right through the debris. Huge chunks of ash fell from her hair; blood drip down the corner of her mouth.Holding her injured ribs, Z messaged through her comlink.

“Trinity, Kari’s been taken…Maya; teleport everyone away from the tower….” She said, feeling herself starting to separate. “Samantha activate emergency self-destruct protocols”