Did You Get What You Wanted?

"Hello, Jerod. I must say that I'm a little disappointed that you keep disregarding what I say." the Outsider says "I've been trying to make things easier for you, but you seem to want to resist my efforts. That's sad. So, I guess I'll stop helping you."

He fades from view "However, I'll tell you now, for the last time, something bad is going to happen soon. I'll leave you to find out what, and how to stop it." he says.

Jerod shook his head, that told him absolutely nothing. Like usual.

From a logical stand point, it has to be related to those he 'Gifted'. He doesn't really bother meddling otherwise. Maybe Miss Charrity is in danger?

It would do him no good just waiting around so he went to find Marcen since he had a good knack for seeing things.

Marcen's knack for seeing things, stems from his observational skills and his deductive reasoning. After all, information gathering and espionage were his specialty.

Right now, we and buddy were going over old log entries. Marcen couldn't shake this feeling that they had encountered a 'powerful psychic' once before. Though he was sure he hadn't joined the team yet.

It would be nice to have a strong psyhic or really any kind on the team to round them out but Jerod doubted it would happen.

"Marcen, Buddy, we need to talk. Our 'friend' contacted me again about some bad news." Jerod started.

Marcen frowns at this news "I didn't detect any Outsider energies. I'd better do a full, level-1 diagnostic on my systems. This means I'll be offline for a few hours. But we won't lose any functioning systems." Buddy explains.

Marcen was focused on Jerod [color=white]"If you can, could you tell me what the Outsider said, word for word if possible?"]/color] he asks.

Word for word, Jerod gave what the Outsider had told him just moments ago.

Marcen was silent as Jerod told his tale. The gears in Marcen's hear were turning and when Jerod finished, Marcen hits his link "Ramona, could come to the conference room, please?" he asks.

Then focuses on Jerod "If we can be sure of one thing, it's that the Outsider doesn't get in touch unless it involves those with his brand, right? Well, it just so happens we have not only one person with his brand on the premises, but two." he points out.

"Do you mean miss Charity? That's the only other I know of, unless Hitomi has one." But Jerod didn't remember that ever being mentioned until now.

Ramona came inside not too long after.

Marcen shakes his head "No. She's at her apartment. I'm talking about You and Vlad. He's locked up in our containment unit and with Buddy offline checking his,systems, we've got no one to watch it incase a systems failure." he explains, knowing that Ramona would know what to do,

He even added the additional exposition about Buddy to drive home the fact that no one was monitoring the containment units. Which also housed the Hunters who attacked Jerod and his daughters.

Jerod frowned. "Of course..can't believe I forgot that."

"I'll get to it. I used to think we had more then enough members but at times like these maybe its not enough." Ramona headed to the containment just in case their company got excited and free.

* *

Natomi, Alice and Ness were pretty close to the base. She hoped Jack arrived back soon; Ness seemed to be in the middle of something important so they shouldn't hold them any longer then needed.

Just to be on the safe side, Marcen decided to go to Charity's apartment and keep an eye on it. He informed Ramona to contact him as soon as something happens, if it does, and he would do the same.

When Ramona got to the containment unit, everything was green and things looked normal. All detainees were where they were suppose to be.

* *

Ness stops and looks at the store. He wasn t impressed by the location or front of the 'super heroes' base. What if a villain followed them back to it? The surrounding businesses and innocents would be in great danger.

Ness would have to give them some pointers on how to super hero. Because clearly they don't have much a clue.

If asked, Natomi would actually agree by ninja standards the place was woefully insecure and Macen probably felt the same way. She didn't say anything to Jack about it due him having the most experience. However, at the end of this day despite all that experience fact remained this wasn't his world, so maybe it was a good idea to get input from people who lived there. But could also be Jack was in the process of doing more and this was just the start.

"We'll, here we are. It's not much and doesn't look the part, that's the good thing. The bad thing not too sure about security front side. Anyway our leader should be back soon."

*That's putting it very mildly.* he thinks, but doesn't say anything. Instead, he puts his a finger to,his forehead, frowns, then three of them to it "No. He won't. He and Manny won't be back for about three days." he says.

He frowns "Your containment grid is going to fail very soon... And someone is going to attack who they think is a rabbit girl." he says in an even tone.

He lowers his hand and looks to Natomi "It would seem this is a bad time for a casual house visit." he says, almost sarcastically.

Alice looks alarmed by the bombs Ness just dropped and in a very casual and relaxed tone no less "We have to get in there and help!" she says, her eyes wide with panic.

Ness looks over to her "I got a better idea. You stay out here..." he says to Alice, then looks tp Natomi "And you go help the 'rabbit' girl." he says.

Alice launches into a protest "What? Why do I have to stay behind? I can be very helpful in a battle and you guys will need me to deal with that guy who can stop time!" she points out.

Ness raises ab eyebrow "Finished? Good. For starters, the guy who can 'stop time' will go after You first, for what you did before. Secondly, he won't be along. There's a half dozen ex-hunters in there looking to hurt people." he points out.

"And lastly, someone needs to be here to clear out, or protect, the innocent civilians incase this spills out onto the streets." he states "Remember, to be a Super Hero, is to put the safety of innocents above All else. Including stopping the bad guys or even your own safety." he says.

He looks to Natomi and nods, before heading on inside. He had little doubt he would be able to get inside. From the look of it, the main computer was offline. That would make things a bit easier.

Natomi knew Ness was a physic but how did he know who Emanulle was or rather his nickname every had taken to calling him. But she had more important things to worry about. She didn't know them but she was giving them the benefit of the doubt, besides it wasn't something she'd risk.

"I'll be back. Alice, let the others know of our guest." The ninja turned and soon she was gone, not knowing Marcen was already there.

* *

Kobe did hope his student was staying at of trouble she couldn't handle but despite all her training, she did some times think with her heart instead and being with a group of super heroes, that was bound to have things happen. Of course it wasn't like anything was happening with them just this very minute.

Elora would have just said he had mentally jinxed it.

Ramonas lik chirps "Marcen here, we have a hostile making amove against Charity. It's the wind guy from before. I'm on scene." that was on an open com, so anyone with an active link would have heard that.

* *

Back in the base, the ower to the containment grid suddenly shorts out andhe entie base goes into red alert status. he main lights go dim, the back up lights kicking in, and a low alarm sounds as red lights pulse on the walls. It was all very Star Trek-like.

At the strorage chamber, the air lock cycles and when it opens, Vlad was standing there. He looks a bit disorientated, but it doesn't last long. He smiles a sinister smile as the other storage ar locks cycle and open, releasing the ex-Hunters.

* *

At Charity's apartment, the 'Marked One", as Marcen has taken to calling them, walks up to the apartments and seems to throw something, which causes a massive wind storm to cut throug the apartment!

There was a loud scream and the marked One walks over to the destroyed building. There was Charity, a support beam pinning her leg nd she had several cuts and gashes on her.

She looks over to the Marked One with fear in her teary eyes "W-why...would you do this?" she asks "I've done nothing to you, so why?"

The Marked One laughs "For the longest time, I've always felt worthless and could do nothing right for anyone!" he says, almost yelling "But the Outsider said that if I got the other powers, I would be unstoppable and No one would disrespect me!" he yells.

Charity looked close to losing it "You're insane! Why would you go after me?" she asks, trying to free herself.

The Marked One laughs an crazy laugh "Because you're the weakest one I've come across. Youre weak and helpless and now there's no one who can save you!" he says, raising his hand.

Charity's eyes suddenly get hard "That's where you're wrong." she says and suddenly throws the support beam at the Marked One and jumps high into the air and i a sudden POOF!! of smoke, Charity was gone and Marcen was there!

"All right, keep me informed." She wanted to help but things were dire here so she couldn't just leave. They probably really did need at least a few more people on their team as they were stretched thin at the moment. That and some added security measures, it wasn't as secure as it could be, so maybe Natomi and Marcen could help with that. They Were, after all, ninja.

Then the power went off line and Ramona cursed before arriving there in an instant. She did worry about her family but Jerod was smart enough to keep Aiko and Kimiko out of trouble, there was also Sam and Hitomi probably knew how to take care of herself.

* *

Natomi arrived seeing the wrecked apartment. Oh no.

She quickly made her way over but cautiously for anyone that was still hostile in the area. Hopefully Marcen had gotten to Charrity before the creep did. She knew that Outsider jackass was bad news from the start but how they'd deal with them she didn't know. Maybe Jack's friend Will could, he was supposedly a deity and guardian after all.

As soon as Ramona arrives, everything suddenly Stops! Vlad was using his Outsider ability to slow time to a stand still. It wasn’t an unlimited ability, so he would have to leave soon enough and that might be a problem, based on what he was seeing here. The doors slid open, which meant they wouldn’t move an inch until he stopped using his ability and with this, rather attractive looking woman ready to tear him in half, he would rather avoid that.

He looks around and smiles. To everyone else, it looked like Vlad simply disappeared, which meant he was now on the loose in the base! However, there was only one way he could have gotten ut of the detention area. At least, the containment area, and that was through the air ducts.

Luckily his Outsider abilities recharged at a decent speed, as far as he was concerned. Still, he would as soon avoid any confrontations. He kicks out a vet and drops down and curses *How in the Hell big IS this place?* he thinks, irritated to find that he’s Still in the detention area.

”Jail break not going as planned?” Ness asks as he stands there, holding a baseball bat ”Take it from one who’s broken out of some of the hardest, most impossible jails and prisons in the galaxy, it’s not a good idea to let yourself out. It never ends well for someone.” he says, shouldering his bat.

Vlad laughs and gestures with his robotic hand ”You’ve Got to be joking! You are all this place sends to stop me” he asks ”A Child with a wooden bat?” he chuckles to himself.

Ness shrugs ”The others are busy with greater threats. I’m all that’s goona be needed to take you down. The question is, do you want the easy way, or the Really easy way?” he asks, resting his bat in his free hand.

Vlad clenches his robotic hand ”I choose the Really easy way!” he glowers as the Outsiders brand glows on it.

* *

The apartment building looked like it was in shambles, but there wasn’t a single person hurt. In fact, there wasn’t a single person in the area. Marcen must have suspected a possible attack and had everyone clear out before it happened, just incase.

And speaking of, Marcen and the Marked One were still battling it out. It seemed that everything Marcen threw at the Marked One was deflected by the wind power he whielded and so far it consisted of Marcen attacking and the Marked One putting up a wind sield and then blasting Marcen, who simply dodged.

The sound of emergancy crews could be heard as well as some black vas showing up. It seems the Hunter Alliance had shown up after calls of two super powers fighting. Though, in truth, Marcen’s only Real super power was that he was a Zoanthrope, but at the moment, that was besides the point.

The Hunters surround the Marked One and Marcen, ready to take them both down. Good guy or not, Marcen as, at present, a threat. But Marcen noticed this and stood down to lethe Hunters do their jobs. Jack would need to seriously talk with them about stepping on eachothers toes.

The Marked One was little match for a group of highly trained professionals who delt with super powered threats like him daily. It was at this time Marcen appreciated their skill, if not their tact. One of the Hunters was getting a statement about he powers of the Marked One an relying it to his fellows.

The so called Hunters, sadly had no ability to sneak past sneak past a certain half deity which meant of course they had to deal with Ramona. Which also meant, they would be knocked silly again before they knew what was going on. Some were considering they should of just taken their college passions in retail.

* *

Natomi had seen the fight and was going to jump in to disable the target, that was until the Hunters came. Seeing as Marcen stood down, she did as well, blending easily away. When it seemed it had settled down somewhat, she made her way over to her friend. "What happened?"

As Vladimir charged at Ness, he uses his ability to stop time so he would have the upper hand in he battle and so he could end it quickly and leave this dungeon. His adversary seemed frozen in place, which was what he was counting on as a blade pops out of his robotic arm and he slashes directly at the young man's heart!

However, at the very Last second, Ness suddenly dodges the attack and cracks his bat, hard, against Vladimir's back, sending the man tumbling to the ground.

Ness hefts his bat against his shoulder again"Yeah. That just happened." Ness says "Funny thing about moves that manipulate time, they never seem to work against me and your is no exception" he says.

Vladimir slowly gets to his feet. His Stop Time didn't work, but he had  many more abilities that he could use against this punk!

Ness cocks his head slightly "A punk, am I?" he asks as he points a finger at Vlad "I'm now going to grant your wish and end this quickly, like you wanted." he says in a low, pissed tone "SLEEP!!" he yells!

Some invisible force seems to hit Vladimir and his eye rolls in the back of his head as he falls to the ground like a sack of bricks,unconscious. Ness walks over to one of the wall panels and hits the open cam "To whom it may concern, I have taken down the psycho with the robotic arm. Feel free to collect him whenever you wish," he says, switching the com off.

* *

After Marcen was done answering questions from the Hunters, they decided to let him go with an 'official warning', but telling him he did good by clearing out the building and calling them.

Marcen looks over to Natomi, once he was away from the Hunters "Jerod got a message from the Outsider, warning him of an attack against one of the Marked Ones, as I call them, and since we knew of three of them, we, me and Ramona, decided to divide our efforts." he explains.

"I went to look out for Charity, since I knew where she lived and Ramona took the Containment area, since she could more then handle the villains we have there. " he continues "Once I got here, I convinced everyone to evacuate the building, then took on Charity's likeness, figuring if there Was a attack here, they would come straight for her and I was right." he tapers off.

"Well, I'm sure you know what happened soon after that. The maniac attacked, I found out he was a loon and the Hunters arrived to deal with him." he finishes.

Ramona made short work with her 'enemies' she had to deal with, making it quick and painless. They might of been pond scum but she didn't have to sink down to their level, being with Jack and such aside. Then she heard the com from Ness.

Hm..that's interesting.

She looked around for anything she could use to temporary bind them, cuffs would have to work for now until they got things back and working. They honestly should probably turn these men into the Hunter Alliance, she heard they were doing better these days.

"That was awfully short. You must be the young man the others were looking for." Ramona went to secure Vladimir. "Though, I wish it was under calmer circamstances, its nice to meet you."

* *

Natomi looked at the retreating Hunters then back to Marcen. "On my end, we did find the person we were looking for. Not exactly what I was expecting but they were definitely it. That aside, what about Charity? If she's not here I doubt she knows her apartment is busted. It wasn't our fault, but still I'd feel bad if we didn't offer a place for her to stay until her stuff got in order. If she doesn't have anywhere else."

Ness nods with a smile "It's good to meet you as well. Say, I like you. You have something this generation is sorely lacking, manners." he says as he looks over to Vladimir "One moment, if you will..." he says as he places his hand on Vlad's robotic arm.

He frowns for a bit, then looks over to Ramona "You might want to place this fella in your highest containment unit until you can figure out what to do with him." he says "He's more dangerous then he lets on and he already has a bunch of 'Outsider' powers. He's only after Jerods to strengthen his. Same thing with Charity." he points out.

* *

Marcen shakes his head "No, no. I talked to everyone and gave them enough of a head start to collect what was important to them and sent them to a guy who owes me some favors. He'll hook everyone up with a new place to stay. Fortunately there were less then a dozen people living there." he explains.

He looks around, the Hunters were finished and the emergency crews had taken over. It was time to go now. Marcen, like Natomi, fades into the background, like a ninja should. He looks over to his fellow shinobi "We should head back to the base. It sounds like they've had some trouble there as well." he states.

When they get back to the shop, Alice was waiting outside ,looking a bit upset about being left behind. She was probably upset that she was still being treated like a kid, though she legally was still a kid.

Ramona completely agreed with that, she was going to ask how Ness knew all this information already but dismissed it considering.

"Figured. It's still offline but it should be back soon, hopefully." She didn't want to put them in just for them to get back out. She decided to get a hold of Alice for a update. "Everything is clear, you're free." She then turned it off. "My name is Ramona by the way."

She needed to talk to Jack about a number of things, but she would be waiting for a bit.
* *

Which was odd, only because at this point Alice should be eighteen at this point, that aside culturally what was considered a kid in Japan was different.

Alice seemed a bit upset and she mentally sighed, should have known. She had a feeling of what she was a bit put off about; it didn't take a rocket science and Natomi was a people person. "Macen, go ahead, I need to talk to Alice alone for a quick second."

Ness nods to Ramona "You can call me Ness. Good to meetcha." he says "If you like, I can send this guy to the Phantom Zone where he can never escape or hurt anyone ever again." Ness suggests "I learned how to do that from the Kryptonians and in return, I gave them technology that would enable them to save their planet from blowing up." she explains as if talking abut the weather.

* *

Since she was 16 when she was turned into a Heartless, and since Heartless don't seem to age ,and since she was technically from America, Alice was still, legally, a minor. Marcen nods to Natomi's request and heads on in.

Alice watches her teammate had in, then looks over to the kunoichi, a puzzled look on hr face "What's up, Natomi? Did you guys stop the Outsider's goons?" she asks.

(I did realize something. Ness was able to pick up Cadmus thoughts, but he didn't feel any of that sort with Alice like she wasn't there)

Ramona gave Ness a almost odd look at those words. "You're a dimensional traveler." It was a statement, not a question. "And while I'm partial to that idea, I don't think its something that should be decided between just us; since there is no going back from that once its done."

*  *

Of course there was if she still aged mentally, but no one was sure as she was the only Human Heartless(natural) around. And even then she wasn't turned by a normal Heartless, so really who knows.

Natomi nodded. "We did. And I just wanted to apologize. I might be over thinking it, but I feel at times we cuddle you being over protective of you. You're not a little kid, and if you ever feel that way then let us know. More then just teamates we're suppose to be friends, and friends talk to each other."

((Indeed. That tells us something about Alice.))

Ness chuckles "That's a big assumption. I could be an alien and, despite them being in works of fiction here, Krypton might actually be a real place in the universe." he points out, good naturedly "As for the Phantom Zone, you'd be surprised how many Actually escape. Mainly because of poor surveillance and not taking the proper precautions." he says with a shrug.

"You know, if you need your boss here, why don't you just contact him and tell him what happened? I'm sure whatever he's doing or whomever he's doing it with will understand This was an emergency, after all." he suggests "It would also make explaining why I'm here easier, because so far no one's told me nothing  useful."

* *

Alice blinks in surprise "Oh. Um, thank you. I appreciate that. Now if only the others would see me in the same light as you do. While I believe Sam does, and Maybe Marcen, I don't think Manny or Jack do at all." he says in a slightly irritated tone.

She heaves a sigh that sounds like the weight of the entire world were resting on her shoulders "But, I suppose that's to be expected. I mean, look at me. I haven't aged a day since I was sixteen and both Jack and Manny have daughters, Jack's daughter is about My age, so it makes sense that he would treat me with kid gloves." she says,sighing again.