Transfer: Annual (Seductress X Sail)

[Seductress]

Poison X Comics Proudly Presents...
Transfer Annual ​

Does evil ever truly sleep? Yes, during the day. That's why The Night Watcher liked doing his patrols during the night. Conner showed up at HQ an hour before sundown, around eight PM that night. It wasn't just some random night of patrol, he had to ask Iron Head or Torrent to cover his patrol. No, The Night Watcher made a promise a few nights ago. When the weak and less knowledgeable call out, it's a superheroes' job to answer the call. Anyone who could reach out and admit to their weakness is someone that Conner could appreciate without giving it a single second thought. The man showed up to the underground base in his normal clothes. Everyone else who had been scheduled to defend the city during the day was leaving as Conner was getting in, which was perfect for him. Every night of scheduled patrol began the same way every night; he poured himself a fresh cup of coffee, and then checked the emergency contact line for any urgent calls that required his help. When there wasn't anything that required the dope to drop everything and get in costume, that's when his true routine was able to take flight.

The best thing about the emergency line is that the entire head quarters had speaker systems all around. "Surround sound" was an understatement. It's amazing china couldn't hear the alarms whenever there was a code red. Sometimes, those speaker systems were misused; usually when Conner was alone in the base. He couldn't seem to find Boris or Egghead, and he had searched high and low for them both. It was time to get this party started. With his phone plugged into an aux cord that Conner had personally rewired into the main speaker system, the pounding sounds of the intro that belonged to Toronto local band Vias rang through the main headquarters as the first song off of their Deflower EP started. His hour long workout was changing now; he had upgraded from reps of 100 to reps of 200 hundred, and increased the weights he was using by another hundred pounds. He wasn't as strong as he felt he should be, and needed to hone that all together. Even in the facilities gym and weight room, the music was pounding. Conner couldn't even hear himself grunting as he worked with his new system. Two hundred push ups later, two hundred sit ups, two hundred bench dips, pull ups, crunches, squats, after all of his main exercises and stretches he could actually feel the improvements making changes to his body. He was in the middle of of benching at least 350 pounds when he realized the time. He told Transfer to meet him at 10 o'clock, and it was already 9:30. Losing track of time was the worst, but nothing the man couldn't handle.

Boris had been working on a few alternative suits for Conner, kind of like Batman. They were meant for specific situations, specific villains and different sets of circumstances. Conner decided to stick with his regular, every day costume. The only modification that had been made to it was the bullet proof cape that the damned Russian fastened for him after his cape had been burned to a crisp at Inova Fairfax. Sacrifices were to be made in the world of hero work. There was a room dedicated to experimental, alternative costumes for all of the team, but most of their costumes were to be kept on Mannequins in the main lobby, where the team gathered and monitored the computers and police scanners. It was like their own Batcave. Who wouldn't want to have a Batcave? After dressing himself, Conner decided to skip visiting the war room. Yeah, Pearson and Taffer had all of Conner's illegal weapons confiscated from his basement, and was told that he can use them whenever a mission called for lethal force. He had no way of justifying bringing an M16 and a bazooka to train a kid, so he kind of had to keep his weapons there.

The Harley Davidson Fatboy that was deemed The Night Cycle tore through the night. It was a quiet, mild night. Something that The Night Watcher didn't mind, but knew to enjoy it while he could. With his cape fluttering behind him in the wind, The Night Watcher felt as though he was free. There was no chains to hold him back whenever he was on the Night Cycle, and he couldn't get enough of being on it. Was this why he did what he did? So that he could feel indestructible? That would most likely be the least admirable reason for doing what a superhero does, but still, there must have been more to his intentions than that. If only Conner could remember everything, then he could figure out why he does what he does. Instead the brain damage, according to Boris, caused Conner to lock out most of his true past, fabricating an identity that feels far too natural. How could he have made all of that up? His life, his parents, his brothers, the condo they lived at? Was this all just a false memory, and he was actually selling mini putt to a bunch of twelve year olds? That wouldn't be ideal, but Conner wanted to figure out who he really was. Pearson's men were starting to treat him like a threat to public security, when the only person he was a threat to was his own personal health.

"Transfer? Are you here yet?" The Night Watcher called out as he tucked his motor cycle into the far corner. He had parked himself in a back alley, the spot he told Transfer to meet him. That's where he generally enjoyed to start his patrol. This alley had become almost like a third home for him, and considered it yet another base of operations.

 

[Sail]

In simplest terms, Transfer was anxious.

In more complex terms, he dreaded the future. Every thought of what could be had undertones of "Am I really the right person for this power?" Of course, the more reasonable version of himself railed against the thought, knowing that someone who had never known power was best for it. His thoughts continued to assail him as he slid his left glove on.

He had managed to get a hold of red spray paint; his stolen pistol now seemed to melt into his costume. He looked at himself in the mirror, "You've got this Kallen. Night Watcher knows what he is doing." He flicked the light off as he pulled his pocketknife from the sink. He socketed it into the small pocket stitched into the base of his right wrist before turning and exiting his bathroom. He closed his eyes, letting his feet take him on the path down to the base of the building while he focused on the bits of pain within himself.

His awareness extended throughout his body as he became aware of each intricate system pulsing away within his body. He pulsed a bit of energy at his heart, slowing its beating ever so slightly before returning to full control of his body. He continued forwards, walking down the back alleys and dark streets of Washington. "Where exactly was our meeting place again?"

Smartphone on, he scrolled through he and Night Watcher's messages; soon he found a message detailing the location, and he powered the screen back off and began on a slight jog. He rounded the final turn, and spotted Night Watcher from afar. "Hey," he said as he closed the gap, "I'm here."

 

[Seductress]

If The Night Watcher were to tell anybody that he understood Transfer's powers, he would be lying. It wasn't just his continuous trauma caused brain farts that made it difficult to understand. Conner had a very simple set of powers; superhuman strength, and minor invulnerability. The complex and complicated powers some people had just didn't register easily with the man. The Night Watcher did two things whenever he came face to face with an evil doer, and that was pound the hell out of them until they couldn't move, and secure any innocent lives. He was described by few as a "master strategist", only because he knew how to use his teammates' powers in sequence that would contrast properly in a combat situation. In order to attribute Transfer to the team properly, it was imperative that The Night Watcher understood Transfers' gifts.

Waiting on Transfer to arrive, Conner pulled his phone out. With the rise of meta-activity, various YouTube channels have been focused on analyzing, dissecting and ultimately giving their opinions on the metas and supers. That school of thought could be compared to the various YouTubers who have been reporting on the Onision events, and shedding light on internet drama. The other school of thought, however, was brought by negative YouTube news reporters, in the same vein as InfoWars, and over the top negative reporters. Conner enjoyed keeping up with all of these videos, especially one specific channel who attempts to guess everyone's secret identities and origin stories. His absolute favourite videos were by a man named Levi LeTerd, who was basically a textbook mixture of Alex Jones and J. Jonah Jameson. He liked to yell and scream and curse about how The Hoods & Capes are a danger to national security, editing footage taken from various fights and encounters to paint Night Watcher, Transfer, Iron Head and the bulk of the group in a nasty light.

"You find the place okay, kid?" Conner called out to Transfer as he turned the corner. Conner took a few steps forward to greet Kallen, but he found his feet stopping as he looked down at his phone. He had found a video titled Night Watcher's Identity Revealed? which opened with a clip of The Night Watcher holding the back end of a bus, as it teetered on the edge of a bridge, threatening to fall forward into the water. The last couple of kids were seen evacuating from the yellow and black striped bus, seconds before Conner used all of his might to pull the bus up, spin it, and throw it into what looked like some sort of hostile robot. Instead of finishing the video, Conner kind of just chuckled and tucked his phone back into his utility belt.

"Okay, before we get started," Conner said as he offered a handshake to the youngin. The Night Watcher respected the traditional handshake; it was both a greeting filled with respect, and a way to introduce oneself. After receiving Transfer's help with Surge and Sadist, and the Fairfax attack, he had the utmost respect for the kid. "What is the best way you can describe your powers? Using as many, or as little words as possible, what can you do?"

 

[Sail]

Transfer returned the handshake with a similar level of gusto as he examined his surroundings; tall buildings surrounded him, rising high above his head. "Uh, so, I've had them for about a week or so, haven't been able to thoroughly test them. But, from what I know thus far, I am able to directly manipulate the atoms in my own body, but I can only seem to modify things relating to pain. So like, I can heal an arm if I lose it, but I have to give up an equal amount of flesh across the rest of my body. The pain level in my body cannot change, but its location and effects can."

He flicked out the knife, "With enough time, and physical contact, I can exert this same influence on another human being." He drew the blade across the pads of his fingers. Then, he focus on the individual skin cells-felt the nerves screaming out for help from his brain-before he pulsed a small amount of energy at the self-inflicted injury.

The skin returned to its previous state, and a new injury of an equal size appeared on his opposing hand. "I'm sure I can do more with it. I just don't quite know how. I could probably extend the control to allow me to manipulate every other cell type. I think I do it to some degree with my heart, I can slow my heart rate down with a thought."

 

[Seductress]

The Night Watcher brought his hand up to his chin in thought as he listened to him talk. He nodded, trying his best to understand everything. As Transfer gave a very Copperfield like demonstration, it actually kind of impressed him. "Okay," The Night Watcher stated as he took a few steps, closing in on the young man. "So what happens if..." In a quick swipe, The Night Watcher knocked the knife out of Transfer's hand, landing a strike to his wrist. Quickly, Conner grabbed Transfer by the wrist, and rested his palm against Transfer's elbow on the same arm.

"I were to break your arm. You're left with no weapons, and I'm guessing your hand to hand combat skills aren't too honed in yet." Conner applied a little bit of pressure to the elbow. Not enough to break it, or even hurt. It felt more like a poke than anything. "How do you get out of this situation? I have two hands on you, is that enough physical contact for you to instantly transfer the broken arm to me?"

Conner knew he wasn't going to break Transfer's arm, but did Transfer know it? He wasn't being aggressive or agitated, but instead, his curiosity was getting to him. If Transfer wanted Conner's help, then they both had to understand his powers. Only having the powers for about a week meant the boy didn't know the full extent of what he could do, but it left a lot of options open for training. If he were to break his arm under the assumption that he would transfer the injury back to Conner, someone would still wind up with a broken arm. Now that wouldn't be an ideal outcome in anybodies' perfect world. No thank you.

 

[Sail]

"I can't do it instantly yet. I've gotten it down to fourty-ish seconds. At best I'd try to maybe try to just..." Diero's eyes lit up with realization, "I've been going about this all wrong. Every time I try to transfer pain to someone else, I try to spread my awareness into their entire body. But, what's the point in doing that if I'm only affecting one part of their body? I'm certain I can do it way quicker if I just target the body part I wish to transfer it to."

In truth, Diero was worried his arm was about to be broken, but his better judgement said that if push came to shove he could always find a dead body and transfer the pain to that. "Like this..." He momentarily spread his energy into Night Watcher's arm-gave him a brief prick of pain, no worse than a pinch, then pulled it back into himself. "Did you feel that?"

 

[Seductress]

"See, kid? Now you're using your noodle!" The Night Watcher called out in excitement. "You told me you couldn't be a hero because of your powers, you just need to experiment with them a little bit!" Conner released the boy's arm, turning around and wandering over to the corner of the ally. He called out a whoop of pain as he felt the pinch. "Yeah, I felt that. I've got sensitive skin, so be gentle with me." He laughed, shifting through some debris and rubble. Scooping up a nice, solid brick, he turned around to face Transfer as he tossed it in his hand and caught it. "Alright, now line up with the wall over there."

Finally. Conner could finally say this. Ever since watching Dodge Ball: A True Underdog Story, he's always wanted to say a line like this. "We have a better grasp of your powers, but the powers don't make the hero. You need to be able to fight, and defend." Conner cleared his throat, preparing himself for the line that came next. "Now, to test your reflexes. If you can dodge a brick, you can dodge a punch." If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. "I really hope, for your sake, you'll be able to dodge a brick. Because if not, this is going to hurt."

It wasn't a hard throw. It wasn't even overhand. Conner decided to be gentle with him, throwing a nice underhand toss in the kid's direction. He didn't even give him a chance to protest, as soon as Transfer's mouth opened, the brick had left Conner's hand. Evil doers and law breakers won't listen to logic and reason, so I'm not going to either.

 

[Sail]

The brick arced upwards, it's trajectory reminding Kallen of baseball; in no way would a baseball hurt as much as a brick. He thanked the stars Night Watcher had the sense to not throw it at Mach 10 as he surely could have. Transfer knew he could always spread the pain across his body, but it'd be hell to recover from. His power did have an instinctual defense built in that would prevent him from dying, but he'd still be knocked unconscious.

In that brief span of time between the brick leaving Night Watcher's hand and it arriving at it's apex, Transfer side stepped the brick, waited until it had nearly hit the ground, and then attempted to stop it from it from hitting the ground.

The brick missed, hitting the ground with a powerful "THWACK!".

"I can kinda dodge. Maybe I should try pushing my body and see if I can force it to excrete andrenaline? Maybe that'll increase my reaction time and make me a better fighter."

 

[Seductress]

The throw was actually kind of disappointing, in a sense. The Night Watcher knew that he could have done much better than that, but his target was Transfer. There was no way he would actually throw a brick at the kid, especially since he knew that if he did, all of Transfer's teeth would be scattered on the ground in front of him. The last time The Night Watcher checked, that sort of activity isn't how teammates treat each other. Maybe if it was another time, another place. But right now, it wasn't appropriate.

"Alright, let's test that theory," The Night Watcher felt the interest officially returning to him as he started cracking his knuckles. "Now, Transfer, what I'm about to do," the hero said as he took a few steps forward. "Is really going to hurt if you don't succeed in this theory. I am not going half speed, I am not taking it easy on you. Consider this a bit of a fight simulator, because the only way you can get me to stop attacking you is by either getting knocked out, or if you can figure out a way to level me to the ground."

One more step. Two more steps. Another step. The Night Watcher was now where he wanted to be in terms of distance from Transfer. With his right leg he stepped forward to build momentum, his arm cocked back which quickly extended as he stepped into the punch. The punch was aimed toward Transfer's head. The next attack was a left punch aimed toward his mid section, followed by The Night Watcher bringing his left knee up toward the stomach, the same spot the punch was aimed for.

The International Space Station
408 Kilometers from Earth

The ISS had been around for over twenty years at this point. With a fully populated crew of six people, both Russian and American, it was home to many different experiments and knowledge seeking missions. With the station's altitude, gravity would be 90% as strong as Earth's. Given the fact that the station itself was in orbit, everything inside the ISS was in a constant state of weightlessness. The crew had gathered around the windows of the station as the anomaly came to fruition.

It could have been a black hole, but black holes looked a lot more menacing, and intimidating than this did. It pretty much looked like some kind of cosmic butt hole, that looked like a purple cluster of stars manifesting itself in the endless void. It wasn't a black hole, or a cluster. It was much, much worse. All of a sudden, the asteroid burst from the anomaly as if it was some form of a portal. It wasn't just a small asteroid, or a meteor. This was a large rock that was ready to wreak havoc and destruction.

Before any of the astronauts were able to make the distress call, the rock of death had broke through the space station, leaving nothing but rubble and debris. Their bodies floated around aimlessly, their lungs rupturing, and the oxygen in their body causing their bodies all to expand like balloons. Six more human beings lost to the dark expanse of space, as the great ball of death entered earth's atmosphere.

 

[Sail]

One. Transfer attempted to move his face out of the road. A bright white filled his vision for the briefest of moments before warmth and stinging pain consumed the left side of his face. He groaned in pain as he attempted to think of a counterattack, a way to implement his suggestion he had made.

Pale white light reflected off Kallen's glass Pikachu statue that sat upon his bedside table. "Papa, I don't wanna go to bed. Mama said that since I made her so happy today...I didn't have to."

"Son, you made me happy as well, winning that spelling bee for us. But-"

"Papa, why did I make you happy? What makes people happy?"

"There is a structure in you and I's brain called the 'amygdala'. And you know we are happy when you are proud of yourself. We are happy that you are our son. Now go to sleep child, tomorrow is a big day." He planted a kiss on his forehead before turning and leaving the room.

Two. The punch smashed into his upper stomach, air being caught in his lungs. He pulled his mental presence deep within his mind, searching for his amygdala; he whispered his thanks to his parents for teaching him anatomy since childhood. He fired a blast of energy towards it, unsure of what would happen-

Three. Night Watcher's knee made contact, but Transfer had managed to brace himself just as an odd sensation washed over his body. His heart rate began to pick up, his body began to feel lighter, and he felt a strange sense of something-was it confidence? For the first time since he gained his powers, he actually felt like what he imagined a superhero would feel like. The cars on the street seemed to slow down; not to a crawl, but to a light jog. He looked Night Watcher in the eye and grinned as he positioned his arms in an defensive stance.

 

[Seductress]

Was it unfortunate that every strike The Night Watcher had thrown was landing? Oh yes. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt the poor kid, but with that being said, his blows weren't full force. Even half speed for a man with Conner's strength was a little too harsh for a kid of Transfer's stature. Back in '12 The Night Watcher had punched through a brick wall to grab a villain by the name of Ghoul by the chest piece of her costume, and pull her through the wall and toward him. To say that the man was strong was a bit of an under statement, but he could be a lot stronger. In fact, he was a lot stronger, he just hadn't realized it yet. Certain things take time to develop and be discovered, and that was exactly that.

There was a chance in the way the kid had positioned himself. His stance was different, and there seemed to have been a bit of a jump in his step (so to speak). What's going on in that head of yours? The Night Watcher wasn't done with his attacks, no not yet. He brought his right fist up, jabbing toward his face, then quickly adjusted the position of his arm, jabbing his stomach. To finish off the test of reflexes and movement, The Night Watcher wrapped his arm around Transfer's waist, digging his shoulder into his stomach. He stood upright, taking a step back and tossing the kid into the mid-air.

Please, please land on your feet. Use that confidence and catch yourself, please kid. Conner stood upright and watched Transfer. He wanted to see what he would do, how he would catch himself, or just let himself fall. Any superhero needs to have enough respect to catch themselves, not letting themselves fall. It's one thing to pick yourself back up after being knocked down, that's a very admirable action that brings out the best in a hero. With that said, if a hero can catch himself before hitting the ground, that shows the drive and determination to prove adversity wrong. He who refuses to be taken down by the attacker that wishes to see him dead, is he whom refuses to fear the face of death itself.

The attention was taken off of Transfer, and brought to the night sky. The Watcher turned around, his back now to Transfer, his head looking up at the sky. He watched as a collection of what looked like asteroids burned through the sky, followed by a wreckage of debris that must have been from some sort of space stations, or rocket ship, or satellite. From the looks of it, the majority of the wreckage was hurling itself toward the main circuit of downtown Washington, and the metallic pieces of debris and space junk wasn't burning to the point of disintegration. Death was about to rain down upon the masses of Washington DC. The only people who could do anything about it was the two that stood there in this very alley, training for the real thing. Well, this was the real thing.

"Well, kid," Conner called over his shoulder as he made his way to the end of the alley. He pulled his Harley out from behind the dumpster, mounting it. He held out a helmet for Transfer, knowing he wasn't invulnerable like he was. "Think you're ready for an evacuation?"

 

[Sail]

Wow, I actually did it? No screw-ups, no glitches, nothing of the sort. Man, it feels great to have powers that actually work. Kallen held his head high, almost seeming to perch his chin atop a pillar- one hundred and twenty-five degrees of pure, unbridled chin tilt. A series of warm tones rushed through his body; they seemed to sprout from the tips of his toes, a sweeping crescendo of bliss throughout his body. Of course, all musical pieces had a conclusion, Transfer just hoped his had enough measures to outlast Night Watcher's attacks.

A sharp series of notes; Night Watcher's elbow swung backwards before lurching upwards into Transfer's chin. Kallen held his opening note, following every fold in Night Watcher's deep black armor as he watched the fist soar through the air. Transfer took a single short step backwards-a brief rise in the musical piece-before he spotted his teacher's arm rear back for what seemed like a second attack. A slow backing snare roll, with a bass drum hit at the end of each measure. Kallen tightened his stomach muscles, and threw up his arms to defend against the elbow to the stomach.

The music stopped just as Transfer saw Night Watcher's feet shuffle towards him. His heart rate returned to what it was before his targeted amygdala strike---

I still feel glad that I managed to evade two punches of one of the most powerful heroes in DC. And then, the anxiety returned, washing away whatever confidence Kallen had built up.

--- Arms wrapped around Kallen's midsection, knocking him out of his thoughts. He felt his diaphragm constrict---

A small soldier, armed with the power of andrenaline, ran up the network of neurons, leaping from axon to axon. He sped along the myelin sheaths, coating every square inch of the entire nervous system. His cloak swirled from the wind that danced around his form; a large emblem-the emblem of the Reactionary Vanguard-shifted back and forth.

---I can't do this through unnatural means, so how can I salvage this? Three point roll, just like I learned in scouts!

The music began once again-a sharp high note as concrete dug into his elbow-before it returned to a low trill. He let his momentum carry him forwards until his shoulder impacted the ground. Pain exploded through his body, yet the music of the adrenaline calmed his nerves, kept him thinking about the task at hand. Thin armor plating protected his back as his roll completed; a crisp, clear "do" completed the second song. "I'm good! I did it Night! I did it!"

Kallen grabbed the helmet from The Watcher's outstretched hand. He slipped it over his head, a slight discomfort as it had not been fit for him, as he climbed onto the back of the bike. "Yeah, ready as I'll ever be. Uh, are we doing this evacuation due to," he pointed at the streaking hulk of debris streaming from the sky, "that?"

 

[Seductress]

The Night Watcher's head nodded. "Yup, that looks just as dangerous as any villain I've ever encountered." His hands revved up the engine of the Night Cycle, preparing them for the quick, bumpy ride ahead. "Hold on tight, we don't need you falling off now." And with that, the two were off. The engine stalled as Conner held down the breaks while pressing forward on the throttle. As he released the breaks, the bike shot forward through the ally with great speed. The bike, in The Night Watcher's mind, had a heart and soul of it's own. It knew when the city was in dire need, speeding through the streets with a great sense of urgency. The bike barreled down the should-have-been empty streets, the engine working it's hardest to speed the two toward their targeted area.

The streets of Washington should have been empty at this point in the night. People should have been in bed sleeping, or at their night jobs or in police cars patrolling the streets for shenanigans. Instead, people were grouping outside of their homes, pointing and gossiping as the sky fell upon them. They might have been out of the danger zone, but they couldn't help but admire the macabre beauty that came with the imminent danger. The space rocks and debris cut through the sky, leaving streaks of crimson oranges behind them. The fire from the objects in orbit looked like they were creating bloodies gashes through the night. It was like artwork; the blackened sky the canvas, and the destruction serving as a palette of dark, warm colors. It shouldn't have been as comforting to look at as The Night Watcher thought it was, considering each piece that fell was basically an angel of death hurling toward the earth to do fate's work.

[FONT=Marcellus, serif]As the two arrived on seen, people were fleeing in mass hysteria. The bike came to a screeching halt as Conner could already feel the heat before the impact even hit them. He slammed his foot against the kickstand and jumped off the bike. "Alright, let's get to work," Conner called over his shoulder as he assessed the situation. Apartment buildings, high rises, two buildings that could be classified as sky scrapers, a night club and a handful of bars and restaurants. It was going to be a pain in the ass to dictate which buildings would have more people in them, and should be higher on the list to evacuate. Apartment buildings might have housed a lot of people, but clubs and bars, downtown DC on a Friday night, now there was going to be plenty of people in them even still. The sky scrapers were mainly office buildings, meaning they should be closed and emptied for the night. "Alright, kid, I'm going to start evacuating, I need you to lead the crowds toward Seventh street. That should get them all out of the direction of the-"[/FONT]

[FONT=Marcellus, serif]Night Watcher was cut off quickly. The first piece of falling sky had made contact. It crashed against the apartment building a couple of yards from Conner. While the asteroid had broken apart when it hit the Earth's atmosphere, but the products created were almost the size of a utility van. They were big, very big.

As the first meteor barreled into the side of the building, crashing through concrete and brick like a wrecking ball, chunks and pieces from the building came hurling toward the street. The Night Watcher lunged forward, wrapping his arms around a terrified onlooker. While most of the people who were out for cigarettes or wandering the cold streets had run away, some people still decided to stay thinking it was a meteor shower. As the debris fell with a desire to kill, The Night Watcher flung the person out of the way, no doubt hurting them in one way or another. He wasn't able to get himself out of the way, though, putting his arms up in front of his face and letting the bricks shatter and crumble against him. The joys of being invulnerable.[/FONT]

The rock tore through each apartment on every floor until it reached the third floor, where it finally came to a stop. The owner of the apartment felt the impact, and then smelled the fire that came with it. As he investigated his living room, he was the large hole in the ceiling that it had caused, the rock itself nuzzled into a crater in the floor. The man, probably named something like Ian or Raul (he looked like an Ian, to say the least) reluctantly approached the alien rock. His curiosity got the better of him, as his presence seemed to make the large stone glow a pale green. That's when the mutation began.

"I'm okay!" The Night Watcher called out to his companion. While Transfer's performance back in the ally was enough to get a smile and a laugh from Conner, was the kid ready to take on something as complicated as evacuating an entire downtown district? It was well populated, and a little above the kid's current pay grade. Then again, the only way to learn and improve was to be thrown into the deep end. It was starting. Large chunks of metal and pieces of space station were starting to hurl themselves into buildings, causing explosions and large collections of debris and building came falling toward the ground. It was an extinction level, cataclysmic event. It looked like something straight out of a disaster film. Conner could only hope that destruction was contained.

It burst from a window on the third floor. It wasn't slimy, but most likely rough and brittle to the touch. Like a piece of tree bark. It landed on all fours, like an animal. It instantly caught The Night Watcher's attention, even though it was heading toward Transfer. It started off crawling quickly on all fours, and then stood up and started closing the distance between itself and the super. Conner had to think quickly. He ran toward a dormant car, gripping it by the hood and throwing it through the air, toward the strange looking monster. Whatever it was, it was powerful. It stopped as soon as the car left the ground, and turned to face it. It's chest opened up, like it had an opening in the middle. A large ball of purple, sparkling light that looked like a starry night sky built up in the cavity in it's chest, and barreled through the air toward the car.

"Transfer, now!" Conner called out as he started running, trying to circle around back to the kid. "Attack it or get the fuck out of there!"

 

[Sail]

Vroom. Vroom. Vroom.

Zipping between cars like a fly buzzing through a room; bouncing from lane to lane like a pinball. Brief straight stretches where Kallen was able to take a short breath-filling his lungs with chilled air- before they fell back into the stomach churning twists and turns. Frick, this is fun but I didn't expect to feel sick- maybe if I…

The sickness seemed to scatter as adrenaline flooded his veins. He felt his body leaning into the turns in a more comfortable manner, following Night Watcher's lead. He chanced a brief look into the sky above…

Flames curled around the gun barrel, placing their deadly mark upon the bullet-it sped through the air towards the back of the theater. The heat melted its metal casing as it spiraled across the room, sailing towards its target, a large glass window which separated the movie projector from the rest of the theatre. Glass rained down upon the ground as if a heavy wind blowing a torrential downpour onto unsuspecting citizens.

...and immediately snapped his attention back onto the road before him. Sweat rolled down his face; the large street lights of DC seemed ever so slightly brighter, the glare a stark reminder to keep the hormones pumping.

A soft mumble beneath his breath, likely not perceptible to anyone due to the loud engine noises and the constant buffeting wind, "So, like, those debris falls really only have two possibilites. Either they were intentional, and thus had a heat shield which means something bad…" He trailed off into a thought, or they were accidental, and in that case the original object was massive. Either way, we are majorly screwed.

The Night Cycle came to a sudden stop-Night Watcher leapt from his seat, yet Transfer did not notice the change. Instead, he heard the screaming, the fear the bled from those running away from their very livelihoods-some clutched things he assumed were things they could never replace, such as pictures of relatives, old stuffies that had likely weathered countless tragedies, while others clutched their babies, many of which had been wrapped in blankets of various sizes and prints. This I why I'm a hero…

"...lead the crowds towards Seventh Street…" Transfer glanced around the area, spotting a sign in bright white letters with that very name. He began to make a move towards the area-

An explosion echoed behind him; a thundering shock wave soon had shattered the windows of countless buildings in the area, sending fragments of the translucent silicates cascading onto the streets below. Transfer watched in horror as some of these fragments found themselves being embedded into the various folk running for cover, for safety. No longer was this threat a slowly falling set of rocks; the first had found purchase in the middle of a high-rise apartment complex. Of course, glass wasn't the only threat. Twisting figures of metal, brick and concrete fell to the earth, snuffing out the lives of countless people who just minutes ago were sure of a safe future in the heart of the United States.

Out of the corner of his eye, a blink of movement-a human being flung to the side like a ragdoll. And then, a large, slender beast came forth from the third floor of the now destroyed apartment-it was like one of the old toys he had played with as a child-well, kinda. In all honesty, it had been a Frankenstein's monster of a few old twigs and a Goop action figure, but it still looked kinda the same.

The beast lurched itself at Transfer. A car, flung at it by Night Watcher-the creature paused mid-stride, turning to face the projectile that would spell certain death. It's chest split open, and a ball of purple energy with twinkling bits of white flew through the air at it. Night Watcher began to run towards him. Time seemed to grind to a halt…

"Attack it or get the fuck out of there!" Night Watcher's voice pierced the air with crystal clarity. Why? I'm perfectly…

The creature had snapped its attention back at Transfer. ...I'm a hero to save these people, to give them a chance at life! He sprinted forwards, shifting the sickness within his stomach into simmering pain in his fist. He threw a punch with all of his weight behind it-as it contacted the monster's flesh, he pulsed the pain that sat inside his fist, drawing on the knowledge he had gained not too long ago.

 

[Seductress]

The creature, the strange, extraterrestrial being, didn't prepare to fire when Kallen came toward it. The being didn't even bend it's legs or prepare to fight. It simply took the punch, but was thrown by surprise as the pain zapped into it. Stumbling backwards, the emotions it could portray was shown in it's eyes. There was no facial expression, aside from the perpetually angry tone that was portrayed through the bone that protruded from it's forehead, looking like a very pissed off set of eyebrows. It's eyes narrowed toward the young hero and slowly began to shade in it's white eyes with deep, red scratches. It's eyes grew bloodshot, a signal of what's about to come.

Lunging, the speed on the alien was undeniable. Conner could just make out the blur of where it had been. It didn't move like The Flash or anything like that, but it did have some powerful legs, quite similar to how Conner could use his to power up a jump. The alien reached Transfer much sooner than Conner ever could have, especially considering the fact that Conner was already on his way to his comrades side. Conner needed a strategy, which was becoming pretty difficult. The encounter had only just begun, and that hasn't been any signs of visible attack patterns. The Night Watcher couldn't even say that he knew all of the monster's attributes, strength, weaknesses and abilities. Going up against a foreign opponent was always difficult for him, and he was mentally throwing that pressure upon his shoulders.

The opponent reached Transfer, towering above him the same way it towered above Conner. It wasn't exactly a giant, but it stood at least a good head above the young hero. It threw what looked like a punch, but it threw all of it's weight into it, lifting it's left leg to dip downwards and swipe at Transfer's leg. It wrapped it's spike like fingers around Transfer's ankle, swooping him up off the ground. In what seemed like one motion, the boy was being thrown through the air. Luckily, the world had slowed down in Conner's mind - not complete slow motion, just enough for him to see the move happening before it happened.

"Sorry." The Night Watcher grunted as the boy came crashing into his arms. He didn't exactly have time to perfect the landing, but odds are falling into the hero's arms would have hurt much less than taking a plummet into pure concrete. Trust Conner, he knows all about that. Setting him down, Conner looked from Transfer, to the alien, then back to Transfer again. "Okay, so here's the plan. I'm going to-" What was he going to do? He was going to feel that in the morning, is what. Before he could get his real plan out of his head, he found a scaly, green fist cracking upside his head, sending him barreling down the road. Someone's utility van was going to have a giant, Conner shaped dent in it, considering that's what caught him like a bit, metal baseball glove.

The large, hulking figure slowly turned toward Transfer. It took a step toward him, closing in the already small distance between the two of them. It's chest shallowly moved - not in a huff, but in more of a light in and out motion that would seem delayed for a normal human being. It's right hand twitched, as if it wanted to strike, but instead opted for sizing up his opponent, an intimidation tactic Conner had heard about on the discovery channel.

 

[Sail]

Pain flowed from his fist into the creature, but like Newton's law says, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The alien's rough exterior left scrapes upon his knuckles, a trickle of blood dripping onto the asphalt below. An idea flashed into his head for a moment, a possible way to inflict more damage."Maybe I can push the pain triggered in my fist when I hit someone right back into them as I pull away…" He leapt backwards, catching himself with an outstretched hand as he narrowly fell onto his butt. He sucked in a short breath, glancing around the alien. "...but how would that even be possible?" An idea; strike at the softest looking spot.

He slammed his left arm into the ground as hard as he could; pain radiated through his arm as the bone snapped and the ulnar nerve was stretched to its limit. It felt as if the bone itself were on fire, warm and cold existing within its fibers at the same time. He moved his right arm back to where his gun was tucked beneath his clothed, attempted to grab at it---

By the time his hand closed around the pistol's grip, a force knocked him into the air, his feet momentarily seeming to disappear. It was as if gravity lost its hold on Transfer, allowing him to fall into the sky. His heart began to beat faster, but not from the adrenaline pumping through his body. How long would gravity have no power over him? Four seconds.

The four seconds ended not with his back cracking from the force of landing on solid concrete, but with human arms that could contain most of the kinetic energy built up. For a moment, he actually felt safe. The world around him seemed to calm-his gaze became distant, his mind somewhere else. Smoke encroached on his thoughts, slowly choking the life out of them.

The words that came from Connor's mouth made no sense. Kallen heard them through a wall of smoke, though it sounded like hearing through a wall of water. Almost without thought, the body pulsed more adrenaline, struggling to offset the effects of Kallen undergoing derealization. He tried to latch onto the shouts of help from those outside, but could only seem to truly hear the crashing parts of the space station, the crumbling buildings, and the crackling of flames.

His heart began to flutter, entering a slight arrhythmia. Instead of "ba-bum. ba-bum", it became "ba-de-de-de-bum. Ba-de-de-de-bum". He rose back to his feat, only to once again be confronted with the alien. He popped the gun out of its socket, ready to react at the drop of a pin, yet nothing happened. It simply stood there, towering above him, almost seeming to gaze into his very soul. "Connor. I'm going to shoot you in a moment, and then I'll take the pain back. I've got a plan now."