Welcome to the world. (Hope you survive the experience!)

Drugs had come back into his neighborhood.

Stephen Harner, aka: The Wraith, had fought hard against the lowlifes that had sold and spread poison in his home turf. It had taken time, plus a few broken bones and a lot of intimidation before the dealers finally got the idea that doing business in the Wraith's patrol area was less than profitable. Now a new crew was trying to horn in on the seemingly open turf. It seemed that a new round of lessons was in order.

The individual dealers had been easy enough to chase off. Low level rank and file was usually fairly easy to spook. Especially when you started knocking them out without anyone getting so much as a glimpse of you. Finally a few of them had spilled the name of their source. That was what the Wraith was staking out this evening.

They looked like an ordinary group of "good 'ol boys", five men gathered around the tailgate of a truck parked in a small lot behind a closed country-themed bar with a big keg in the back and lots of beer being passed around. For a while, Stephen had found himself doubting that these men were what his investigation had said they were...until he saw that every one of them was packing heat, and that they were keeping an eye on both entrances to the parking lot at all times. They eyed anyone who happened to pass through, and not so subtly flashed their weapons if someone came too close.

Finally the ones the cowboys had been waiting for showed up. A medium sized car and a white delivery-style van drove into the lot and parked a short distance away from the party. The occupants silently emerged from their vehicles...eight males and one possible female...it was difficult to determine gender because of their shaved heads and grey camouflage clothing. All of them were not being subtle about their own weapons.

The good 'ol boys stopped talking and got serious. They approached the skinheads warily, flanking the one man who was presumably the one in charge of their little group. Half the skinheads opened the back of the van while the rest faced off with their customers.

Stephen didn't like the odds. Fourteen armed individuals, neither group looked particularly trusting of the other. He'd be stupid to try to take them all on himself. He noted the plate numbers of the skinhead vehicles and decided he'd just wait until the deal was over...then take on the pickup after they collected their poison. He'd have to settle for tracking down the skinheads later.

yay, Jeannie liked California it was a fun place to visit
and best of all it had Disneyland! jeannie loved it there which could be easy to guess by her Mickie mouse shirt, but despite being there mean times her terrible sense of direction lead to her being lost again on the way.

she spots some cowboy looking guy huh was a rodeo in town? that be fun to see too, but first, she needed to find out where she was and how to get un-lost. huh, some solder or maybe hunter looking guys showed up to talk to the Cowboys.

surely someone in the group could give her directions. so she wanders over to them. umm excuse me but would any of you know how to get to Disneyland from here?

the airport here is like so big it's almost its own city, so a few wrong turns and I'm where ever hear is.

The facial expressions of both the skinheads and the "cowboys" were nearly identical. They were all frozen in a kind of paralyzed "WTF"-ness.

Wraith, too, held a similar experssion under his mask.

That girl is going to get herself shot! he thought as he vanished from his perch into a shadow above and behind the rednecks. Silently he took his fighting chain into his hands. Maybe he'd be able to get one or two of them before the rest blew her away...

"Get out of here, kid," one of the "cowboys" said in a vaquely European accent.  "Grownups are talking."

"I don't know," the lead skinhead said., leering at the girl. "Waste not, want not and all that."

"We didn't come here for this," the cowboy said. "Flag down a cab or something, kid. Somewhere else."

Sometimes, he thought he often abused his powers, but they were his to use, right? And he wasn't using them for any nefarious purposes, so no one had a right to complain if he did a few favors for himself with his abilities, right? To catch a flight from New York to Los Angeles would take him close to seven hours, and that was like eternity to him. But if he ran, he could be there and back in like four hours, or less, if he pushed himself. And to push himself, all he needed was food. So, why not?

It was fun, running the 'cross country', zipping past cars and people so fast they were barely aware of his presence. He had a backpack in which he had put enough food for a hearty meal, but he wouldn't eat all at a go. He would make certain 'pit stops' and refuel his energy reserves. Oh yes, he also had a camera. He had wanted to take some pictures of Hollywood and all its attractions. Personal shots might give him an edge in his term paper for the general course, and he needed all the edge he could get, since it wasn't science related. But, he didn't want anybody seeing him move faster than the speed of sound; he needed to maintain his secret identity, so he would embark on this project as the Interval Kid... which is currently what he was doing.

In about two hours (mainly because he didn't put too much stress on himself, and spent a lot of time being distracted), the Interval Kid had reached his destination. Feeling he had made a bit of good time, he decided to do a bit of sight seeing, and take his pictures while he was at it. And, that was when he saw a sight that triggered every 'hero' vibe in him. About a dozen men, looking like they were armed and dangerous, and just one normal looking girl among them? He had to do something. He was a superhero, after all. The pictures could wait.

He didn't want to come in running; that might give them the excuse that he started it. No, he would come all civil-like, and if they saw reason, then no one would be hurt, and everyone would be happy. If, however, they were not reasonable, well, he was sure he could hold his own, and if not, he could run away with the girl.

The Interval Kid ran as close as he could without being seen, then walked out into full view of the shady looking individuals. He had noticed one of them leering at the girl, and hopefully, his presence would give the skinhead second thoughts. "Hello, citizens. How's it going? I don't hope there's any problem here."

He was a superhero. They ought to respect his outfit and back down.

Los Angeles.  Many of her people lived here...once. That was almost two thousand years ago. Now...she sighed heavily.  Native Americans like herself are unlikely to ever live here again.

Medicine Woman had come here to find if American Indians had left anything of their heritage here. Instead, she found Jeannie Rose, some guy she never saw before (Wraith)...and Skinheads.

She'd overheard what one of the Skinheads said.   She smiled to herself.  She knew what Jeannie was capable of thanks to at least two times when she worked together with her so long ago.

Medicine Woman approached a bit closer to the gathering.  She was now two feet from them.  She spoke to the one who leered at Jeannie: "I wouldn't do what you're thinking of doing to my friend here (Jeannie).  There won't be enough left of you  to take to a hospital."  Her voice was casual, almost flippant.

"And...you'll have to get by *me* first..."  In a blur of motion, her bow was ready.  An arrow was pointing at the fool who actually thought he could take Jeannie on.

She shared that "I-know-what's- going-to happen" smile with the fellow holding the chain (Wraith) and the other fellow who she spotted arriving towards the crowd (Singularity).

"The fuck?" one of the skinheads shouted in alarm as the metahumans showed up...first the kid in the wild blue outfit and now the female archer.

"You set us up!" a second skinhead roared at the cowboys.

"Waste 'em!" the skinhead leader commanded, whipping out an ugly looking pistol. He pointed the weapon straight at the men in front of him, not caring that the blond girl was right in the way. The other camo-clad thugs pulled out the weapons they had on hand and pointed them every which directiion.

The cowboys went for their firearms as well, producing much better quality pistols and a sawed-off shotgun. An instant later several things happened at once.

There was a flash and a bang, and a massive cloud of smoke exploded in the midst of the gunmen. At the same time the girl in the middle was suddenly enfolded in the strong arms and fluttering black cloak of a stranger who seemed to have dropped out of nowhere. Less than a heartbeat later the girl was atop the roof of the bar and out of the way of danger. The skinheads and the cowboys shouted incoherently in alarm all at once.

"Stay here," a hooded and cloaked figure told the girl harshly.

Normal human reaction time for untrained civilians ranged from three to five seconds. The newcomers had that much time to act before the shooting began.

oh, dear Jeannie thinks maybe she shouldn't have bugged these guys, she didn't know they were in the middle of something.
then some hero guy pops up. before she can answer him

her friend the medicine lady joined them, she seemed mad at the cowboy guys will them and Indians don't get along sometimes.

huh, she seems to have wandered into something, then there was a puff of smoke and some batman ninja grabbed her. and stuck her on the roof?

i just wanted to go to Disneyland darnet
Jeanne's weird luck seems to have struck again and she was in the middle of some kind of gunfight now.

huh, she didn't think she'd need a gun at Disneyland pretty sure your not allowed to have them there anyway so she didn't have one at the moment. unfortunately, that left her in a sticky situation.

she looks around for something she could use as a weapon, huh not much on a roof darn. nuh now what to do

As the hooded ninja leaped off the roof and back into the smoke cloud, Jeannie spotted a tool box partly concealed near the edge of the roof ledge...containing a nail gun. The cartridge looked like it was good for about ten shots...maybe.

oh yeah that could work Jeannie smiles picking up the nail gun, huh might as well take the whole toolbox it's other stuff could help if she ran out of nails.

right now how do I get down, huh well I supposed I can wait, tell I'm out of bullets high grounds better for shooting she looks down from the bar and see that the cowboy and army guys both seemed to be bad so there her targets than.

huh, not the best gun but Jeannie was a really good shoot so she could work with this. she opens fire on the bad guys aiming at there hands to get them to drop there guns

It was interesting to see how everything happened so fast as soon as he introduced himself. Of course, from his perspective, humans were always slow, but still, it had been like everyone was just waiting for him to show up, before everything tumbled to bits and pieces. The Interval Kid smiled as the thugs began pulling out their weapons. "Okay, I see what this is. You guys just never seem to know when you're way in over your heads."

He decided not to take on all of them at once, because from what he'd heard the lady with the bow say, the unassuming girl in the Mickey Mouse tee shirt most likely had her own special abilities. In truth, the Interval Kid was starting to get excited. Working alongside other metahumans, in the fight against evil, well, wasn't that the beginning of a superhero team?

There was a sudden burst of smoke which enveloped everyone, and instinctively, the Interval Kid quickly backed out of the smoke, unsure as to whether it had been introduced by an ally or enemy. Then he remembered. His suit had something for situations like this. Quickly, he drew the goggles over his eyes, and activated infrared vision mode. This way, he could still manage to see heat signatures through the smoke and figure out what the thugs were up to.

He dashed back in. Somehow, Mickey Mouse girl had changed position, and was armed with a nail gun, which she used with impressive accuracy against the hands of the thugs, obviously to disarm them of their weapons. That was sure to draw some blood, and while Interval Kid didn't really like divesting people of bodily fluids in combat (save spit, due to a well placed punch), he had to admit that it was a good strategy to put them out of commission. His own way of doing things was more dramatic, though.

The thugs, especially the cowboys would suddenly feel as though a wind briefly blew past them, and they would notice that their guns were gone. Some meters away, the Interval Kid stood, a pile of about six guns at his feet, with a look of mock surprise on his face. "Seriously, guys. Where did you buy this stuff? Guessing that one's a Desert Eagle, and this? A sawn-off shotgun? Thought they were extinct, but hey, what do I know? Anyway, shouldn't you guys instead be investing in your kiddies' education or something?"

In the first couple of seconds of chaos, the Wraith used the cover of the smoke to brutally take down two of the armed skinheads. One was curled in a ball holding his arm while the other lay sprawled out on the ground, unmoving. Then came the hail of nails from the rooftop. Skinhead and cowboy alike found themselves dropping their weapons and yelling in pain as the small nails impaled the backs of their hands.

Then the Interval Kid blew through, utterly disarming the cowboys and scattering the smoke much more quickly than the Wraith had anticipated. The Wraith's chain flew out and caught a skinhead by the wrist. A yank bought the thug sailing towards him, whereupon the young man's face met with the Wraith's armored fist. Three down, six skinheads to go.

The cowboy leader yelled one word. "Truck!" Immediately three of the cowboys climbed into the back of their pickup while the other two scrambled for the cab. It would cost them several more precious seconds before they could get in and get it started. One of the skinheads rushed to the van's driver's side to follow suit. The remaining five skinheads still seemed determined to make a fight out of things, despite having had their hands injured. They fumbled for knives and motorcycle chains as they chose their targets. Three rushed the blue-clad boy while only one seemed to want to take on the Wraith.

Medicine Woman's target yelped as her arrow pinged off his belt and dropped his pants around his knees. He tried to take a step and fell, dragging his companion along with him. There was a great deal of cursing as they fell, leaving only one to actually make it to the Kid..

"You shouldn't have messed with us, pajama-boy!" the heavy man yelled as he lashed out at the Kid with his chain.

The single female skinhead lurched out of the smoke, nursing her wounded hand. She plucked the nail from her flesh and glared at the nearest target...Medicine Woman. Snarling, the noticeably young skinhead drew a nasty looking knife from behind her waist.

"Gonna get me a scalp for my wall," she growled, running straight at the archer.

oh so the boy he sounds like he was about her age was about was a speedster like the flash. neat and a ninja what interesting companions she seems to have found.

they seemed to be making a good team as most of the bad guys were taken down or retreating. that was lucky as she was running out of ammo for her improvised weapon.

to bad speedy couldn't have tossed the baddies guns her way. oh well looks like he needed a hand, using the last of her nails she shoots through the links of the chain pinning it.

and the thug attached to it to the wall. yay, that'll help speedy, now what to do? no more bullets, she looks in the toolbox and finds a hammer For Asgard!!!!!!!!!!!

doing her best impression of the god of thunder she chunks the hammer in the direction of the knife-wielding thug trying to get medicine lady.

The Interval Kid was having the time of his life. The way everyone pitched in all at once, like they had choreographed it prior to this time... Okay, truth was, it was all very disorganized, but hey, it was fun all the same, and they were somehow getting the job done. Now, here was the fun part. He had just single-handedly taken their guns, and still they decided that only three of them could take him on. That was just sheer hubris.

The word "truck" barked by the cowboy leader obviously spelt that he wanted to get away. Instantly, he was distracted, his mind abandoning the three that had teamed up to fight him and considering how best to stall the would be escapees from making like the wind. In a fight against another metahuman, especially one that could move faster than normal, it would have cost him, even if his opponent was slower than he was. However, a well fired arrow from the Amerind lady not only comically took his pants down, but caused him to lurch into another skinhead, taking both down together. The clamor of their fall brought the Kid's mind back to the present scenario, and he realized that he'd just been aided. Grinning at the Native American woman and giving her a thumbs-up sign, he sprinted off a second later, at his signature superhuman speed.

It so happened that he moved just as the remaining skinhead tried to whip him with his chain, dodging the brute effectively and leaving him behind. He had been distracted for a reason, but now, he knew what to do. And the few seconds the would be escapees needed was more than enough for him.

There were three cars, if the Interval Kid was counting right: a truck, a cab and a van. Each person that took the driver's seat was visited by a blur of blue, just as he tried to fit the key into the ignition. And in that moment, the driver would realize that the keys were gone. Then he came back to his previous position, a vendetta on his mind.

He ran past the brutish thug that had tried to strike him, twice. The first time, he snatched the chain clean out of his hand. The second time, he wrapped the chain around the man's feet and tripped him up, knocking him to the ground as he did so. "'Pajama-boy'? Seriously?! You're one to talk, you know, what with the way you look and all that. Ah well, I guess you can't even recognize class, even if it slapped you in the face."

He noticed Mickey Mouse girl throw a hammer at the female skinhead (wait, he thought women liked their hair!) with a comical battle cry, and he smirked. He was sure they would make a very good team, but the ninja guy seemed a tad too serious. Who knew, he might still have a swell sense of humor. The Interval Kid ran over to him and dropped the filched car keys into his hand. "I don't know if ninjas ride trucks and stuff, but you can have these. Trucks are too slow for me, anyway."

The large skinhead that the Kid had knocked over with his own chain could only wheeze a bit, since he'd been winded by his impact with the ground. He tried to grab at the Kid's feet, but the young superhero had dashed off before he could even move.

The Wraith stopped and stared at the Interval Kid for a moment. His face was completely hidden by his mask but his body anguage suggested that he didn't quite know what to do with the Kid. In fact this was his first encounter with any sort of metahuman and he wasn't certain how to react.

"Uh...sure," the Wraith said as he closed his fist around the keys. His voice was slightly distorted but the owner of the voice didn't sound too much older than Kid himself.

Inside the van the skinhead searched for several more seconds before he realized the keys had been stolen from him. He swore sulfurously and kicked open the van door, intent on making a run for it. The pickup's driver also fumbled around a bit before he came to the same realization.

"Scatter!" he shouted as he scrambled to get out of the cab. His companions did likewise...only to discover that they had partly trapped themselves. There were only two entrances to the lot...and one of them was being blocked by a woman with a bow. No one wanted to risk getting an arrow in them, so all five cowboys bolted for the other exit.

"No you don't," the Wraith said, more to himself than to anyone else, and he took off after the cowboys.

On the ground the two skinheads who had gotten entangled with each other kicked themselves free and stood up. They looked around and saw how badly the others were getting thrashed...and lifted their wounded hands in surrender.

The female skinhead staggered when the hammer hit her solidly in the back. She also swore extensively and looked back at the scene...and saw that her fellows were getting their butts handed to them. She looked up at the blond on the roof, then back at the archer. Figuring that the archer really didn't have the guts to shoot her in cold blood, the woman charged at her...this time with the intention of slamming into her and breaking free past her.