The Academy of Superheroes (IC) (PG-13)

[InfraredHero]

Seeing that Lucas wasn't intimidated was somewhat reassuring to Evan. It meant that he wasn't seen as a threat, and Alonzo didn't sound like the kind of guy that would have people who might threaten him around, so being seen as almost helpless was Evan's best bet on staying around to help with finding Austin. For the remainder of the ride Evan would stay silent, unless directly spoken to.

--

"I believe I know this Alonzo's type," Alex joined in on the conversation. "If he is using Austin for his own gain, he wont give him up easily. And it'll be pretty obvious that we are here for Austin, so I suspect Alonzo wont let us get anywhere near anything to do with him. If we don't all trust each other 100%, it will be impossible to achieve anything here. Lucas, you live in this city, so you would know best about what Alonzo will be having Austin do."

Alex directs his attention to the other students. "You guys are Austin's friends. I'm sure you can talk him into stopping before he goes too far, but that doesn't matter if we can't get to him. I'm also going to say that there will be moments where your powers will be helpful, but be careful with using them too much. If we let ourselves be seen as too dangerous, Alonzo will throw us out. Or worse.

Once again Alex directs his gaze to Lucas. "If you've ever been to wherever we are being taken, your inside information could be valuable. If that is off the table, then I just need to get a moments look around and I can remember it. We need to know the board if we are to play in this game, if you'll excuse the analogy." Alex took an apple and started eating it, getting some nourishment before things really started to happen.

--

Back at the academy

In her office, Belinda Littmann was fiddling with a stack of papers, trying to find a specific one. After a minute she pushed the stack aside and grabbed another from a cardboard box on the floor next to her desk. Many powers had been documented throughout the past years, and she was trying to find anything out about the powers that the Mercenary possessed, for any counters, but her search was coming up fruitless. Annoyed, she threw the stack of papers down, then left the office, slamming the door behind her.

A teacher was walking through the hall as it happened, and he tried to walk by casually, but he had an alarmed look about him. "Have you seen my son lately?" Belinda asked the teacher. "Yeah, I think I saw him in the gym a bit ago." The man replied as he continued walking by. "Thank you." Belinda said, then walked off to the gym. 'That's right, this should be one of his training sessions.'

[NovaStriker]

Ryan didn't like the way Lucas was heading towards them, because the gang boy wasn't aware about how things worked with them. Unsure about his and the other students safety, he would take this chance to ask Lucas about Alonzo's actual plans for them and Austin, since it seemed that Alonzo knew from the very beginning that they had powers; which happened to be really fishy.

"I'll take my chance to ask." Ryan said with a serious expression on his face. "How does Alonzo know that all of us have special abilities? Sounds like he knows about the existence of people like us."

As he waited for Lucas answer, his perception of the aura was regaining it's usual range. Now he feared about shifting into a werewolf at the wrong moment when they got out to run the errands for Alonzo.

[Price]

Lucas had taken questions in hopes of building a bit of trust between him and the group, but it seemed now that was wishful thinking at best. He listened intently as Talia spoke, before Alex and Ryan each chimed in with thoughts of their own. He kept his arms crossed but nodded a bit to show he was listening. First he addressed Alex. “Well, it’s a club...” Lucas said simply. “Three stories, a stage, open dance floor, and a VIP seating area. Basically, it’s a huge open area with no cover. If things get heated, we’ll all be dead before we hit the floor. That means nobody, and I mean nobody uses their powers. Alonzo has a general rule against killing kids, but if any of you attack first...or if he even suspects that you might attack, that rule gets thrown out the window. Keep calm, do what he says, and don’t be heroes. Got it?”

Next the boy turned his attention to Ryan. Was this kid serious? Nevertheless, Lucas did his best to give a straight answer without attitude. “Superheroes, if that’s what you choose to be called anyway, aren’t a secret kid. Everyone knows Frozen Ice or whatever the hell his name was did some cool shit back in the day. As for how he knows about you specifically, well...let’s just say Alonzo has connections. He can get that information with the snap of his fingers...and that’s assuming Austin didn’t just flat out tell him everything.”

With that, the car jerked to a stop. Seconds later the doors opened. “Here we go...” Lucas muttered. The makeshift ‘team’ was greeted by a welcoming party of huge, bulky men with guns strapped to their sides. It looked like there were at least six men just waiting outside the car. The group was ushered out and prodded along like cattle to the pen; the doors swung open. The club was just as lively as it had been on the night Austin arrived. The massive dance floor flicked to different colors every few seconds, strobe lights assaulted the students to the rhythm of the obnoxiously loud, bass boosted dance music. The club itself was dimly lit, but the strobes and stage lights accounted for that problem with ease. The crowds of people dancing paid no attention to the strange kids that had just entered the building. The guards practically pushed the kids along to the VIP table where a sharply dressed man sat, a knowing smirk on his face.

“Well damn...I guess the kid was right. He thought y’all might show up. The name’s Michael Alonzo, I run this city. Have a seat, have a seat.” The booth was large enough for the kids to sit in, and there were extra chairs around just in case. The guards practically shoved the students and Evan and Lucas into the booth, giving them no real choice. “Ey Lucas,” Alonzo started with a tisking. “I shoulda known from the get go that you’d get yourself involved. Ya just can’t stay outta trouble lately, can ya?” Alonzo paused to take a long chuckle before looking the group over. Meanwhile Lucas looked around nervously, expecting a bullet to the head at any second.

“All right, let’s lay down the ground rules for our little chat, shall we? Nobody uses their powers...especially you, Janette, is it? Lie detection and mind control...impressive. You’re definitely gonna come in handy,” he added that last bit with a small, devilish smile. “If ya do, I have ‘round twenny guns pointed at Mr. Michaels’ head here...and it’d be a damn shame for bloody brains to stain this nice tabletop.” Alonzo raised two fingers in the air, signaling his men to reveal the red dots of their laser sights aimed at the teacher’s head. The lights blended in with the strobes, so that the crowd didn’t panic; but the students and Evan would have proof that Alonzo wasn’t bluffing. The dots covered Evan’s forehead, and his temples. Even still, with three stories and blinding pulsing strobes it was impossible for the students to locate all the gunmen. Alonzo signaled them again, and the dots disappeared. He had made his point. “And ‘fore any of ya ask...Austin’s fine. In fact, he’s here in da building. Now, how’s bout a movie?” The kingpin slid a tablet over to the group and waited for them to press play. It was a camera recording of Austin’s brutal takedown of Alonzo’s men in the club.
“Now, ‘fore we have our discussion...I have a nice movie presentation for you." Alonzo laughed at the footage. “Poor Eddy...he ain’t recoverin from dat one anytime soon. Heh, heh, heh...did ya know yer friend had that in em?” The crimeboss laughed again before suddenly regaining his composure. “Champagne?” He asked, during himself a glass.

[NovaStriker]

Ryan and the others were finally taken to Alonzo's headquarters, which happened to be inside a VIP club that was owned by the crimeboss himself. Lucas was right to have his doubts about him, since he was too naive to many things related to the outworld, since he had lived a peaceful life in Canada with such really good parents. The situation would be putting him to test right now, and it seemed that things were getting far worse with Alonzo pulling the strings by taking Mr. Evans as a host.

It was like being taken into the scene of a noir film, without the possibility of doing something against them. Ryan was really nervous after hearing Alonzo's remark about blasting Evans head into pieces, if any of them tried to use their superpowers to play heroes. The thing was, that in his case, he couldn't take control of his transformations with the moon up in the sky during the night. He feared things could get harsh if the shift happened during the wrong moment, which could end his mentor's life. Now he had to play a facade, so he couldn't be seen as the weak link of the team due to his lack of malice.

All of them saw in a tablet what Austin had done to a bunch of criminals while they were heading to Atlanta. Austin had dragged the whole team into a real mess and unfortunately, the bystanders would be paying the price for his mistakes. Ryan was disgusted by the idea of working with this man, in order to save Michaels from a dead sentence. Also, when
Alonzo mentioned that Austin was inside the same building, Ryan was feeling anger and the urge to rip him apart personally for taking all of them into this. Ryan remained silent and kept paying attention to his captor, so he didn't took him as a rude person. For now, he would have to accept the crimeboss hospitality.

[InfraredHero]

Evan could tell they had reached the Club before the limo even stopped, as he could hear dozens of peoples thoughts fading into his head. At first it was much quieter than the thoughts coming from the others in the limo, but eventually it got to the point that it was just a big blob of noise. As the group was escorted into the club, Evan quickly scoped out the area to get a feel of where they were, and any possible ways of navigating around if he needed to.

When Evan, Lucas, and the students, were sat down in the booth in front of Alonzo, Evan did his best to single out the bosses thoughts. When Alonzo told them about the guns pointed at his head, Evan knew it wasn't a bluff. He knew how to spot lies from peoples thoughts, and Alonzo showed no sign of it. So he was either telling the truth, or he was a really good liar. And yet both were probably true.
After the security footage ended, Evan wanted even more to get Austin away from all of this before he did something he'd regret. "The way I see it, we're the ones with the upper-hand here." Evan spoke adamantly to Alonzo. "By now you know what Austin is capable of, or at least somewhat. And if you know even just half of his power, you would know he isn't someone to mess with." Evan paused for a moment to lean on the table a bit. "And how do you think he would react if he found out you harmed his friends? I know I'd hate to be on the receiving end of his anger." Although Evan spoke boldly, inside he nervously hoped that Alonzo didn't do anything drastic against them.

[Sparkz]

As soon as the club doors opened, Cat's sensitive nose was swarmed by the smell of sweat, alcohol and certain other things that she didn't want to get into. This was going to be fun. She grit her teeth and tried to not purposely breath in through her nose. She already was overwhelmed, she didn't need any more help. She made her way to the table where, who she assumed, Alonzo was sitting. She didn't like the looks of this situation. The fact that there were so many other smells in the air, she wouldn't be able to sniff out Austin even if she had to. Not unless he was close. She highly doubt that Alonzo would show Austin to time so soon.

As Alonzo laid down the rules, she looked around but the lights were messing with her vision so she looked down at the table. All in all, she was impressed with Alonzo. She wouldn't underestimate him. Especially now that he already revealed that he had gunmen on their teacher. Cat couldn't help but to wonder how many guns were train on each of the students. Even if Alonzo didn't kill kids, she doubt that he wouldn't hesitate to hurt them.

As the man showed them the video of Austin, Cat retained her straight face. Austin was brutal. Efficient. But brutal. It was hard to imagine that it was him under all of that stuff on his face. Granted, maybe that was the point. Cat remained silent for now as Mr. Michaels spoke. He was playing a dangerous game here. Very dangerous indeed. They all were. After he finished, Cat looked at Alonzo. "You say he's in the club, right? Why can't we see him? Or at least have proof that he's alive."

[Price]

Alonzo glared as Evan spoke, not backing down in the slightest. After a few seconds, he made a signal to his gunners and the red dots lighting up Evan's face disappeared. The guns were still trained on him though. "Well I guess if nuthin else, ya got guts. And you'd be right, teach, except for a few things..." the kingpin stopped to take a drink before resuming. "I got an army to use...a thousand on one kid, no matter how batshit crazy he is...no matter how brutal he is...a thousand to one is still a thousand to one," he said with a chuckle.

"Oh, ya thought I wouldn't kill the boy? Ask Lucas over there if I get too attached to get da job done. He's got the scars to show otherwise..." As Alonzo said this, Lucas shivered in his seat yet again. He was obviously having a flashback to that encounter with Cesar. "The moment Austin steps out of line...I kill em...same goes for you...got it?" As if to illustrate his point, he twitched his index finger and a bullet whizzed past Evan's head. The shot was so close that it nearly took the hair off of the man's sideburns. "And don't forget...the boy's here cuz he wants to be here...."

Alonzo turned his attention to Catherine. "So you're the smart one, eh? Alright...proof of life...that's fair enough. As I said before, Austin's in the building right now. He's on a...'mission' for me. You'll all get ta see em soon enough....but remember, look don't touch. There's a concert starting in a few...you'll see our boy then..."

Lucas nodded, doing his best to both maintain his own composure and keep the gruop calm from the litttle power demonstration with the shot just moments ago.

[MysticOtaku]

Talia felt her stomach doing quiet somersaults as the limo stopped. She did her best to keep moving and avoid the prods and pushes of the guards' guns, but it was hard not to take everything in. As they entered, the strobe lighting and atmosphere assaulted Talia's senses. After the, albeit, temporary calm of the limo conversations, the sudden change sent her heart thundering again. Her eyes scanned around the room, as if she expected to see Austin stood in a corner, or opening his arms to welcome everyone with hugs. It was ridiculous and she knew it, but that receding area of hope in her heart couldn't help but shout louder than her head.

Talia sat next to Catherine as they were squeezed into the booth. She kept herself calm, not trusting herself to even speak as Alonzo spoke. When the red dots flickered to life on their teacher's head, her grew slightly wider as she watched. And yet she forced herself not to react, not to let her feelings win. Out of habit, she scratched at her hand but was careful to keep a constant, smooth layer over any scratches so as not to draw attention to herself. She only perked up when Alonzo mentioned Austin. Talia couldn't help it, her eyes went back to scanning the room, half expecting him to saunter in, do some jazz hands and make an entrance. Of course this didn't happen, instead a tablet was thrust in front of them.

A stab of pain and fear shot through her heart when Talia noticed the black paint still spread all over his face. you look like... a criminal she thought to herself, regretful of how she had said it. Could she have talked him out of it? Reasoned with him... instead she'd just let him go. As the footage began she had to look away after a few seconds, her eyes darting to her lap. If she watched any longer she feared she would cry. It's not him, it isn't him, he's confused, a mess he doesn't know, he has no... control she muttered bitterly like a mantra in her mind. She would not believe it, she knew she couldn't bear to believe it.

[NovaStriker]

Ryan got startled after Alonzo's reaction towards professor Evans remark, because it had done the opposite he had planned. The mob boss stated clearly that he still had the upper hand and that Austin's action had been done deliberately, which started to put their classmate at odds with the other students; mainly Talia, because she couldn't believe the horrid actions of her closest friend.

What took Ryan by surprise, was the fact of Lucas sudden change of attitude when Alonzo gave him a reminder of what he was capable of. The tough street-wise facade had fallen of, though he clearly was trying to keep those thoughts aside. Ryan was losing his composure too, because now everything had turned upside down and bluffing wouldn't work on Alonzo any longer; but he was nervous by the fact that the mob boss had find out everything about the powers the group of students possessed, which only make him feel he would be the main target of the gunner if they knew he could go berserk at any moment. This had become a whole mess and it seemed there was no possible way to get out of it.

At the same time, Ryan began to feel dizzy for a few moments like when his mind had gone back from the mind simulation. This was a clear remark that the serum was reaching its limit, though it seemed something was diminishing the power of the chemical too soon. He now was terrified, since in case he got down to the floor and even wallow while the signs of the change began to appear, this would be a perfect excuse to finish the others for his lack of control over the beast. The idea of being dead right now was lingering on his mind like a mantra, which it didn't sound too bad at the moment.

[InfraredHero]

---

Janette D'ross

---

Entering the club left Janette feeling uneasy. As the group was pushed towards a VIP table where Alonzo sat, she had a feeling she wouldn't like this guy. That thought was confirmed when the man started speaking. His comment directed at her was definitely unwanted. Was this guy seriously going to try to get them to do his dirty work for him? If he did, would they have the ability to even say no? They were literally at gun point. Janette nodded in submission at Alonzo's threat about killing Evan if she used her powers at all. She didn't even want to talk to the man.

Janette winced at the sight of the footage showing Austin taking down Alonzo's men. She was surprised he would actually do something like that since she thought they were finally starting to reach out to him. They just found out his powers weren't all evil, but still he continued down the path of villainy. She just wanted to get him and leave this place with her friends, but Alonzo was staying in the way of that happening. 'I can make him give us Austin. One command is all it would take, then we would all be out of here. And if Austin doesn't want to come willingly, I can make him... No, that's a bad idea. It's too risky. Although Janette was visibly uncomfortable with the whole situation, she tried her hardest to stay calm.

---

Alexander Point

---

Alex kept his gaze to Alonzo, but he jumped in his seat like the others would have when the bullet flew past Evans head. His heart was racing, but he quickly did his best to regain his composure. Once he was calm he looked at Alonzo again. "So what are you having Austin do for you? And what are you gonna make us do for you? Obviously you want us for something or else you wouldn't have taken us here." With his head still turned to Alonzo, Alex tried to see if he could spot Austin anywhere in the club. But there was too much people around.

---

Evan Michaels

---

Evan knew the bullet was coming before it did due to hearing thoughts, so he attempted to prepare himself for it, but it still caught him off guard. After that, he tried to hear Austin's thoughts in the mess of hundreds of thoughts going around at once. But to no avail he couldn't hear the boy if he was even in the building. He could however hear the thoughts of the students, of their worriment, and he wanted to assure them that it would be fine. So he projected his own thought into their minds to send a message. "Don't worry, we will get Austin out of here. Everything will turn out fine." The words would sound like an echo in the teenagers' minds. He even projected the thoughts to Lucas, as he figured there was no reason to hide his powers from the boy anymore. He gave a quick glance towards Lucas to acknowledge that it was him.