Nothing to Fear

Danny looked down at the Blisstech turquoise outfit. A turquoise skirt with boots, a white unitard, and turquoise gloves, all accompanied by red ribbons on the chest and lower back. "I look ridiculous."

"You do not." Ashley turned her head back wearing a similar outfit, but with black instead of white for the unitard. "You look just like the rest of us."

"You look ridiculous." The high ceilings of warehouse let Danny's voice carry a little more than she would want it, but the feeling was all the same.

"Bliss found the intel. Bliss gets to call the wardrobe. And, it's somewhat functional. It is nanotech." The shaking of Ashley's head to dismiss Danny's complaints did little to modify her voice, but it did give her differing vantage points of the room around her. "A lot of crates. Bliss gave me where to find ours."

The warehouse fell to repossession after the owner stored a number of questionable items for a questionable client. Then, they never received their money. Now, the content of the warehouse was going to fall to public auction. Of course, Bliss could wait til then to buy the items her enemy the Monarch built to counter her, but this would save money. And, no one knew the items were here, so it would take little to no time to get what she wanted.

On the otherside of the medium sized warehouse, Bliss checked the serial numbers. "Not it." Her light bounced to the next. "Still not it." Each number kept moving to a nonsensical next iteration in the pattern. "Who organized this?" Her boots were as black as her skirt and gloves. Everything else on her white.

A low growl sounded from one of the crates. It drew Bliss over. "Sounds like it doesn't like me." She checked the serial number. "Of course it wouldn't like me." Jackpot.

Up in Portland, Oregon, Markus had been lying low in the city after committing a few crimes against humanity. Using a child's own intestines as a noose, phasing his hand through a man's chest and removing his heart from his body, and more fear inciting things.

Mr. Diamanten, out of school for the summer, strolled through the city streets. He enters a local pizzeria, lazily waving to its owner. The man at the register would wave back and initiate the conversation.

"The usual, Diamanten?" He would whip out 3 massive pizzas, thick crusted with cheesy crust. Literally every topping one could imagine. This beast of a pizza couldn't possibly fit in this skinny 16 year old boy. And there are THREE of them.

"Y-yeah. Gotta keep up my sssstrength!" Markus would sniff and run his finger past his nostrils. He'd shudder a little and start fishing out his wallet. He slaps a 20 on the countertop. "H-here. For my m-main man."  He'd grab the 3 boxes and head outside.

Suddenly, his phone would buzz in his pocket. He'd flip it out and answer it. An old Spark dealer nicknamed 'Tar' he used to hang with. Owned a warehouse in Palo Alto.

"Oi, Marky boy! I need a job done. I got my warehouse repossessed and I had a bit of stuff from this Brit. Real fancy meta killing shit. One of my boys let me know about a break in going on. I can't let it get into the police's porky palms. I know you can get down there quick so I called you first. Think you can handle it?"

"I-I got you, Tar. Want it to hurt, quick, or do you want a mess? Or just a scare?"

"Surprise me. I wanna hear about this in tomorrow's paper. If I don't, I'll give you a low rating."

The line is cut. Well, he'll have to get a move on. But first, PIZZA TIME! His skin would turn dark and shards would start tearing through flesh, turning it to a rocky, jagged surface. Hot red streaks appeared between these rocky plates. At high speeds, he'd start consuming the pizza from the boxes, tearing through them with serrated teeth.

After finishing the pizza, he'd do some stretching and blast off from Portland. Hot orange streaks trail behind him as he travels at around Mach 13 along Interstate 5. In 4 minutes, he'd be in the city of Palo Alto. He'd weave between buildings as he makes his way to the warehouse.

Upon arrival, he'd enter the building at high speeds, assessing the situation. A few women breaking and entering. What they're looking for, he had no clue. But he had to stop them from finding anything incriminating. Maybe he could just scare them away? If not, he'd be forced to slay them. Meh. Frightening them would probably be for the best.

In his vision they'd be practically still. A slight bit of movement, but not too significant. He'd use a movable staircase to climb up a large storage shelf. Above the girl who was alone he'd begin to knock over containers and boxes in order to try and crush her or just make her jump. Either would do.

He'd move over to the other two girls searching about. He'd shift a large crate above them and set it in motion. It would begin falling through the air...

"Someone was busy." Bliss shined the flashlight into the crate. Lines of grenades all lined a few egg carton crates, while a few reinforced nets with a small cannon to launch them hugged the sides of the crate. "He put a lot of stock in this stuff, but I'm pretty sure I could handle- what was that?"

A low creak began to set in. "Is something moving?" Yes, something was in fact moving from above Bliss' head. While her reflexes would never stand out as superior, Bliss managed to get enough telekinesis up to throw the crates to either side of her. Explosions tore out of one of the crates, blowing Bliss back through the line of crates. "Gotta be more careful. Everything is explosive."

"What was that?" Ashley turned to the side where the explosives sounded out. "Bliss! Please be okay."

"It takes more than that to kill Bliss, don't worry." Ashley put her hand on Ashley's shoulder as Ashley moved by. "And, she may have caused the explosion herself."

Danny failed to hear the shift of the crate from behind her as she offered her words of comfort.

"Let's hope." With some sympathy in her heart, Ashley turned around. Her eyes grew wide with fear as the crate fell towards Danny. Without time to stop the crate, Ashley instead used telekinesis to throw Danny out of the way. The crate hit the ground, unleashing a grenade with a blasting noise, sending Ashley and Danny to the ground covering their ears.

Mad Dash would watch the grenade go off. He could outrun sound so it couldn't affect him. Something like that. Anyway, Markus was surprised at the three surviving. Those heavy crates could flatten a car! They were able to dodge them... Still have them a little jolt which gave him a little jolt in power. He'd flex his fingers, feeling more speed pour into him. More power.

"Let's see. Perhaps I could use some of this guy's stuff. I know he probably wouldn't say yes if I asked, but, he isn't here.."

Mad Dash would grab several sonic grenades and run back to Bliss. Time to teach these thieves a lesson. He'd drop the grenades but as soon as he released his grip, they'd start falling in extremely slow motion to him. This allowed him to set them up in aanner that would set them all off at what appears to be an instant. Or so close to instant that the difference is insignificant.

"Yes, this will certainly give this one a scare. And maybe some bloody ears."

Bliss pushed the hair out of her face. Nothing broke. On her at least. The boxes and crates around were shattered and destroyed, but nothing about her seemed broken. "Stupid fragile packages. Does no one know how to sort things?"

Bliss pulled herself out of the crate, rubbing her head. The rest of the warehouse sounded just as poor and mismanaged. "Ashley!" Bliss started to call out- but she did not like the answer she received.

A string of grenades rang out against the walls. Each one struck a blow against Bliss. One hit her high. One hit her low. One hit her inside her head. One hit inside her ears. Bliss put up a defense of her ears with some ice, but the ice barely did anything other than ice her pain once everything passed by.

"What the-" Bliss managed to get to her feet, but unfortunately found herself back on the ground. "Shit." Bliss dug her nails into what she believed was the ground, but found nothing more than grinding against the solid ground.

"Probably best to pick them off one by one. Just like the movies! It would also ensure victory..."

Mad Dash would make a beeline for a crate labeled 'Conveient Coil'. He'd grab a roll of the wire and dash toward Bliss, swirling around her like a cyclone! He'd start wrapping her up in the wire, raising dust up into the air. If she's successfully wrapped up, he'd deliver a kick to the wrapped up wire person, his legs powerful enough to knock her into a distant crate. He'd move on to Danny.

Mad Dash would analyze the girl, appearing frozen in his vision. He'd inspect her wrist, a turquoise bracelet catching his eye. It'd probably net him enough cash to buy all the substances he could want. Maybe he could perfect Spark... Or he could steal the substances. But this path sounds a little more fun.

Mad Dash would at first try yanking the bracelet off to find that it's relatively stuck in there. A few more tries and nothing.... Idea! He'd never really used phasing on other objects, but this was a good place to start. Markus would begin vibrating his hand at high speeds, inching it closer and closer to the wrist. As he touched it, he'd select it and almost make it an extension of himself. A truly astonishing skill. And suddenly, he'd yank it from the wrist, phasing it through effortlessly. Wait.. His demon form doesn't have pockets.

"Well, poo. Guess I'll dispose of it. Later."

Mark would toss the bracelet on top of a crate and begin wrapping Danny up in coil as well, entirely forgetting about Ashley's existence. If successful, he'd deliver a swift push kick to topple the Sphinx.

The sounds of each one of the grenades still rang through Bliss' head. She called for Ashley, but did not actually know if her voice was carrying or not. Still, the warehouse was empty, so it should not take too much difficulty to get in touch with them- however, the immediate danger subsided, and the break is was still a crime, so Bliss began to try and pull out her communicator.

As her arm began to move down to her side she noticed it could not move. Then, her arms could not move. She tried retreating, but wires bound her legs before she could muster anything. "A trap!" She tried hobbling around. "A security alarm?" Ice began to form around her hands, but her strength waned with the strength of a kick, thrusting her into a crate.

"Ashley!" Bliss yelled- knowing this time it was as loud as she could get. "Trouble!"

Danny heard the scream hit her ear. "Ashley, go put out a distress call. This was a stupid idea to begin with, but we'll make sure Bliss is okay."

Ashley nodded in agreement and ran outside to get better signal.

Danny sped forward, forming a turquoise shield and crossbow to keep danger at a distance. Danger did not comply. The first swipe hit, but did not manage to knock her off her feet. A bolt launched in the general direction, shattering some crates. A second attempt failed to knock her down. "The bracelet!"

Too late, but Danny realized the target. And, as she looked down at her bracelet, she watched it disappear. Her constructs faded- replaced by wire wrapping her up. "Bliss! Ashley!" Danny could only maintain her balance. "Help! Hey! Help!"

She could not maintain her balance against a swift kick and to the floor she went.

As Mad Dash successfully dispatched two of the girls, he realized they couldn't be calling out between themselves. There was another. Walking outside in his time, he'd see a girl, the third one, calling for backup. Markus would walk up to Ashley and pluck the communicator from her hands.

"She's pretty cute, right Markus? I feel like playing with this one.."

"Don't be weird, man."

The demon within wants to put on quite a show for Ashley. Into town he'd speed, slashing the tires of vehicles in motion with long, jagged talons. He'd phase through a building, grabbing a man by the leg and hanging him upside down with a rope atop the building.

In what seems to be an instant, he'd have committted several heinous crimes. The swerving cars and person dangling by their foot would inspire a lot of fear in the citizens of Palo Alto. He'd swiftly run back to the warehouse before Ashley. Mad Dash's powers only grow with the more fear he absorbs. Now, time to show the thieves a good time. Or the worst time of their lives.

"Who do I call?" Ashley held the device in her hand. "Danny is already in there. I should just call Chelle. That will fix everything." Taking a breath and working the controls, Ashley began to enter a channel with Chelle- until the device no longer rested in her hand. Stolen.

Hoodwinked. Whatever. Ashley looked around. "No security system does that." Her brow furrowed. "Someone else must want whats in there. And, that thing might be Bliss."

The door opened just as easily as it had before. The warehouse fell quiet. No turquoise constructs. No ice. A few destroyed crates around the place, but nothing too bad. With trepidation and caution, Ashley pushed forward.

"How did you wind up tied up next to me?" Bliss raised her eyebrow to Danny.

"Shut up, Bliss." Danny leaned forward, pulling herself as far from Bliss as she could.

"I don't know if I'm more disappointed in me or you." The pull from Danny tugged Bliss closer. "You. Definitely you. I guess I need to make up for all of this."

"Ashley!" Danny yelled. "Ashley! We're over here! Next to a bunch of crates!"

"Good description." Bliss started to try and move her bound form closer to one of the chest. "Let's grab some crap from this crate, get out, and then find out who attacked you- and more importantly me."

Mad Dash races back in before the two girls, speed built up to around Mach 14.5 nearing his highest. Now for just a little jolt. Maybe he could scare the third girl by using the other two as bait... He'd appear between Bliss and Danny. He'd grab Bliss and Danny and put them in some folding chairs from a crate. He would tie their already bound selves to their own chair. And put them a good distance from each other.

"So, you're Bliss and you're Danny. And the third one is Ashley. Well, my name is Mad Dash and I will be your speed demon today. I'm glad we're all getting to know each other before I end up slicing you to bits. And don't try to escape. That'll just ruin my plans."

Mad Dash would speed next to Ashley and scream "BOO!" as loud as possible. His screech could probably hurt someone with a sensitivity to noise due to him being inches from her.

"So, Ashley. Ash. Ashlyn. Ashie-pie. Whatcha doing? Wanna help out your friends? I mean, you were calling someone with this here communicator." He'd wave around the device she tried to use to call for backup. "I could kill you, the girls, read about your family and kill them too in under an hour. Well, if they live overseas maybe just touching an hour. Anyway, just come with me."

And in a few seconds, if he could grab her, he'd boost her over to her friends. If she's taken with him, she'd experience a great deal of wind in her face along with dust particles flying about.

When Ashley reaches the girls regardless of whether she was taken with Mad Dash or going on her own, Mad Dash would seemingly be standing behind the seats of her two friends his left hand vibrating at high speeds. Two Mad Dashes?

"Alright, alright, alright. Let's get down to business. Which of these two do you prefer? Danny or Bliss?"

Voices drew Ashley closer to the center of the warehouse, but this type of plan found itself unraveling before Ashley many times. Enough for her to have a few notes on the subject. A tingle of energy began to form at the tip of her fingers.

A force of speed lifted Bliss, taking her to a folding chair and further binding her. "Speed demon?" Useful. "Ashley! It's a speedster! He's fast, so just hit him when he's going fast and he'll probably explode!" Bliss tried moving her hands, but it failed, then she watched Danny get the same treatment a few feet away from her.

A voice Ashley most of the time liked hearing rang out. "Good to know." The focus she gave to Bliss alleviated the fright she showed when Mad Dash showed up. A blast of energy shot from Ashley's hand, hoping to connect with Mad Dash. If she could not connect with the first shot, when he tried to take her away, she would begin a plan of pulling crates around her, hoping to trip up Mad Dash in his way.

"You're a little late in the killing a family department." Ashley hopped towards a few crates to give herself cover while she continued to move towards Bliss' voice. "Except for Lil' Bliss, but she's an odd exception to the rule." The path to Bliss and Danny offered no obstacles, but the position Bliss and Danny were in would.

"Oh good." Bliss leaned back. "It's a picking dilemma between you and me. Not to brag, but I'm sleeping with the person making the decision."

Danny leaned forward to try and look Bliss in the eye. "Speed guy, can you gag her? I think it would make it scarier or- just do me one favor."

It would make sense two of them came. It explained how they captured Bliss and Danny. But, Ashley knew she needed to do something other than pick. "I think there's a better way to handle this. Just picking is too slanted. What if I have to guess which one you want me to pick and if I get it right, you let both of them go?"

Mad Dash would dodge the first energy bladt as Ashley attacked him. However, the second caught him off guard despite his senses and grazed him. The fact that he could be hit at all caused him to curse aloud.

"Shit.. For that, I'll make sure you get a bunk under a non potty trained toddler in hell."

The Mad Man would speed back to the two tied up, and seemingly become two individuals. He listens to Ashley's offer and likes the sound of that.

"Alright then. That sounds like a plan! Remember, I could slay all of you with a thought. No tricks, no sly actions. No helping her out, you two or I'll kill both of you anyway."

Mad Dash would begin the choosing process. Only two of them so it's 50/50. He could say Bliss but that's be too obvious. So Danny. But that would be obvious too since she's expecting him to choose Danny because Bliss is to obvious! Ah, she'd gotten him. Well, he could think faster than she could. A lot faster. He'll just have to see how this turns out. Or maybe he could just kill them anyway if she wins...

Ashley watched as he joined back together. Another variable came to her mind, but for now, she touched upon other factors. The easiest solution would be to pick Danny, because it would cause more trauma to Ashley to lose Bliss. But, Ashley also thought of something beneath the surface.

"You didn't ask me who should be let go, you asked 'who do I prefer'. So, whichever I picked would have no bearing on who you chose. Therefore, you planned on dispatching both of them, but letting me think I had a choice. It's an unfair gambit, but one that could be seen after looking through motivations." Ashley prepared to defend whichever of the hostages he lunged for.

"Good job, Ashley!" Bliss laughed a little from her chair.

"I hope that works." Danny sunk her head down.

"You wanted me to call 'Bliss', and then whomever I called would be the victim. You might even let Danny go after that, because it would be tense for me to have to work with Danny after she knows I offered her as a sacrifice." Ashley looked to Mad Dash. "So, the person I prefer, is you."

"Hey, I said no trickery or sly actions! But that was pretty smart. You'd be a good host."

Mad Dash kicks Danny's chair toward Ashley. It'd slide across the concrete creating a sharp scratching noise as it scrapes against the surface.

"You said you liked that one so you can have her. However, Bliss dies."

His hand would vibrate at high speeds and he raises it high above his head, preparing to plunge it into her heart when suddenly someone new arrives.

Mad Dash's new for would crash through a glass window above their heads, landing on a crate high on a shelf. He'd rise from his position, planting his hands on the hips of his black and white suit.

"I am the light that shines in the night! The bright that cuts through the world's blight! The Nightlight! It's day, but whatevs. You may have heard of me. I heard there was a bit of trouble in Palo Alto and decided to stop by."

"Who are you?"

Nightlight would sigh his reply.

"I helped defeat some Equalizers in LA. And you're next, villain!"

Mad Dash would look away from the 3 girls to face the new force for good.

"She did not say she liked that one!" Bliss shot forward, unable to escape her chair. "She said some other stuff that ultimately led to saying you would pick me because she likes me-"

"Is this really important right now?" The chair with Danny slid across the room. None of the bindings came undone, but the immediate threat passed by.

"Stop!" Ashley tried to grab Bliss telekinetically, pulling her away from danger.

Before danger could land on Bliss, a new challenger entered. A challenger capable of giving enough of a distraction for Ashley to work on getting Danny untied from her chair.