Knightwatch Night Patrol

Knightwatch Locker room. It’s a Saturday night and Xiao’s school friends are overseas. Tonight she was going on the classic patrol.

The Knightwatch underground base was an intelligent structure, the hallway or room in use lighting up specifically only where it would be needed. The doors were frequently tracked sliding doors, walls were smooth finished white concrete, broken up by intervals of columns and convenient base terminals. The floors were large navy blue ceramic tiles while the ceilings bared the utility busways, the rest covered by acoustic board.

Her standing locker contained her costume, a custom made outfit that snugly fit around her large frame and looked like dark body armor. She slips into it and straps in, the memory weave, nanofabric material melding into itself to make a seamless fit. She then puts on the gloves and boots, needing nothing more than letting the memory weave close it around her.

She inspects herself in the mirror and finds nothing out of place. Once ready, she steps out of the locker into the gathering lobby, well lit and having a homier ambience with its wood panel floors and cove lights along the wall. She waits for her patrol partners for tonight before heading to the base garage.

While waiting, she heads into the adjoining snack lounge to grab snacks for patrol. She grabs a bottle of brewed iced tea and orders a pizza on the Pizza Vending Machine, which really didn't need money since it was Knightwatch Exclusive. She watches the machine as it put together a seafood pizza step by step, tomato sauce, two kinds of cheese, slices of salmon, halibut, anchovies, squid and shrimps, all pre-seasoned with spices... then baking behind some glass... Technology was wonderful.

The Knightwatch locker room was a neat idea, and being a part of the group meant that he could take advantage of it, not that he hadn't done so in the future. The blond oaf looked into the mirror, fixing up the shaggy blond hair that sat atop his head, humming something to himself as the piercing blue eyes peered back into his own. His dad was busy going on a date with his other dad, which meant that he would have to take up the Knightwatch duties, granted he already did that within his time anyway. Of course he would be working with a Ranger within his prime, and that meant that he would likely be able to see why this guy was so great.

With that done, the Ethereal would make his way to a small locker, digging through and pulling out his superheroic suit. It was composed of a fiber that was flowing with ethereal energy and one that would synchronize with his own energy and repair itself upon taking damage. Nothing that was really amazing, but it did keep Ryan from having to go around without any clothes in the middle of an intense fight. It was a semi-tight suit of a white color with lines of a light blue that resembled Pure Ethereal energy with a hood that he could place over his head, as well as a small mask.

”Yeah, now I feel all official.” he muttered with a thick irish accent, flexing slightly well defined muscles and mostly just pumping himself up. With that done he would enter the lobby section where someone else was waiting, a female of impressive height, which Ryan offered a friendly wave to as he sauntered in. She was standing next to the snack section, one that Ryan and his father had seen to personally getting made, grabbing himself a bottle of Gatorade and watchign the pizza that was in the making.

”Nice lookin pizza ya got there. I would have preferred something with more meat and less fish but looks pretty good.” He noted with a smirk accent still thick, taking a sip from the blue Gatorade within his hand.

Jason stared at his locker, the door on it wide open. In it was hanging a dark blue super suit. Jason had been told it was made out of some memory latex or something, but he really didn't care. It was fireproof and it was his. His very own super suit.

And it was awesome

He reached out to touch the material and it even felt great. There was one thing though. He turned the chest piece towards him so he could see the front. No logo. Jason frowned. He wouldn't even know what to put as his logo in the first place though. Good thing he was weeding his superhero tshirt already. He'd keep it underneath.

He began to out it on but found it a little... Hard. The memory latex r whatever it was was freakin hard to move into place. And it stuckkkkkk. Jason had to remove it from his butt crack to make sure it didn't mold funny down there. It was a struggle but Jason finally got it on properly. He looked at himself in the mirror rolling his shoulders to make sure it was fine. Then he put out some flames. The whole suit went up just fine, no resistance. Dowsing them was just as easy though now th suit was black. After a second or two it dare back down to it's dark blue color.

Sweeeett.

Jason threw on his boots on, but left the gloves behind. Might interfer with some finer fire work if he need it. Satisfied he went outside into the hall wear the others wear waiting. He jogged over waving.

"Hey the... OH PIZZA"

Jason slammed into the vending machine nearly tipping it over. His face was glued to the window.

Ohhhhhjhhhhjhj man...

*DING*.... *Whrrrrrr* ...*Hsssss*
Once the pizza was done it was conveyed onto a waiting carton made from 100% recycled material. The end of the Vending machine opened to let out the steam and the wonderful smell of several kinds of sliced up seafood on Dragon Girl’s pizza. She looked at it with sheer bliss.

“Yes it is. I love seafood.” Xiao said with a smile, and then looked at Ethereal. A new member.

Xiao also looked at Ace, first time she seen him on base. Not too long ago, Dragon Girl was the rookie. She recalled her first mission with the angel girl Eclipse, and now it seemed they had new members. She laughed at Ace’s antics at seeing the automated pizza machine. Xiao had a similar reaction. “Well... you don’t need to just look you know! Members can have their own made. But we’re due out in fifteen minutes. The city is getting quite troubred ratery.” She then paused for a moment, before clearing her throat, switching from her engrish accent to a more ‘Heroic American’ accent.

“So you two are going on patrol? Can either of you drive? I call shotgun, I tend to ah... step on the break too hard. I’m Dragon Girl by the way.” Xiao was a meek and kind girl, but Dragon Girl was confident and friendly to all, so now was good a time as any to be in character.

Ryan watched the pizza with hungry eyes, something about how the steam curled from the top causing his mouth to water as he let the blue orbs follow it hungrily. The male inhaled, taking in that sweet scent of pizza as he sighed contently and a goofy grin would plaster itself across his face, the newest member of knightwatch crossing his arms over his chest with the gatorade bottle still clutched within his hand. ”Oh it even smells nice.” He said wiping away the small amount of saliva that had begun to drip from his mouth in a thin line from the side of his mouth, taking another swig of the drink. He considered making himself a pizza, perhaps one before the long night of patrol but within an instant someone slammed into the side of the maker and caused the blond male to nearly jump from his skin.

Xiao said that members could have their own pizza made, but then Ryan remembered that he could have started one, but his mind had registered that they would need to wait until her pizza was done before he could make his own. "Yeah, city has been troubred ratery. Specially with all of the crooks from New York movin down here.” he said agreeing, nor even really noticing that he had managed to speak exactly as she did, even though he managed to skew it with his own thick irish accent, his eyebrows knitting very tightly. The female would ask if they were going on patrol, and of course the answer for him would be yes.

”Yupp. Sampson was s'pposed to be goin on patrol tonight but I ended up goin instead. I can drive though, got my license and everythin.”” He said flashing a bright white smile as the girl known as Dragon Girl would introduce herself. ”Oh, my names Ethereal. Mage extraordinaire at your service.”

"You think if I put some extra heat on the pizza it would cook extra fast? Maybe I could get it done in the fifteen minutes.... Wait... Nevermind."

Jason had tried something like that before with cookies. He had damn near burned down his house trying to speed them up. His mom nearly whipped his behind off for that... But he had still gotten the cookies ahead of time. He even enjoyed the black husks of once what were cookies. Something about his ability to manipulate his body into fire made him a lot hungerrrr them most people. He could eat and eat and eat but it was just a few hours till he was hungery again.

Hi stomach rumbled in protest as he unglued his face from the machine to looks t his patrol mates. One was a Chinese lady that was the dragon girl. Jason didn't see any dragon parts poking out and was a little disappointed. He wanted to see te dragon breath fire. The guy though spoke like he was a lepercon. Made sense since he could do magic, but He didn't really look like one though... Again, disappointing. So he was with a non dragon dragon girl and a to talk lepercon. Least they seemed nice.

"I'm Ace! Guess the fancy term for me is a pyro kinetic but..."

Jason held out his hands which burst into flames

"I'm just a pyro."

He dowsed the flames quickly now.

"I can drive! But no license yet. But I don't think someone's going to pull us over anyways"

“It’s nice to meet you both, Ether and Ace. Er, We could try that... but there are rules... well... good guide lines... against using our powers like that inside the base. Especially near machinery. We can try it outside though... some time.” Xiao said, a genuine worried voice at Ace’s suggestion, if only because she too had caused her own accidents on the base in her first days, punching very large holes in the training room and requiring completely new equipment to accommodate high strength heroes.

Once the three were acquainted Xiao came up with the basic roles each one would cover. Naturally she was the cover. “Well you boys don’t worry. If we run into trouble you can take cover behind me. Nowhere else is safer than standing next to dragon skin.”

Now, she wasn’t exactly a leader, but Dragon girl couldn’t decide who to get to drive. She was dreading both prospects equally. “Errrmmm you guys sort out who drives.” She tosses the keys their way.

Xiao carried her dinner to the Knightwatch garage where the group’s small collection of nondescript patrol vehicles was kept. Sadly, members tended to borrow them for long term, and only one car was available – an all American muscle car, lovingly preserved, restored and refitted with the latest technology, save for its original engine, the Pontiac GTO. Its hood was modified to accommodate the massive engine.

Dragon Girl already finished her food by the time she got to the garage, and decided to work the controls that opened the secret tunnel to the surface while the boys sort out who would drive. She gestured them to get into the car... Patrol was now going to start. Who knew what they were going to encounter tonight...

”Its nice to meet ya too Dragon Girl. I do have ta ask, do you breathe fire or is the name some sort of weird word play?” he asked with a smirk and letting his mind run over imagining her transforming into a dragon. The idea was amusing and made the male laugh a little, though he made sure that it was not directed art anyone in particular.

The female said something about hiding behind her when there was trouble and something about dragon skin. 'Alright, but I think I can take care of mahself.” he said with a smirk, remembering that he himself was remarkably durable. Xiao would toss the keys their way, and Ryan would quickly let his hand shoot out, catching ahold of the keys and clutching them tightly as if they would fall out. 'Alright, I call drivin then.” He said with a smirk, looking to Ace with a raised brow as if wondering if he would contest that.

Making a beeline towards the only car parked within the garage, the blond male sat in the drivers seat and pressed the keys into the ignition, twisting it as the engine roared to life. ”Woah, nice car we got here.” He said with a chuckle.

Jason's eyes were still glued to the pizza machine when the Irish dude grab the keys out of the air. Damnnnnnn there went his shot at driving a hot rod. Oh well...

"No problem ma'am, I'm durable but not invincible. Ill do my best, but please he careful around my fire. Burns all the same weither you are friend or foe. I got your backs though, lets go!"

Jason was pumpeddddd and ready to get the hell out there. These guys were fellow merahuman a capable of fighting at the top. The three of them had been roped together in the knightwatch. Let see how well they fought together

He followed xiao down to the garage, staring at her pizza the entire way, jealously. That was forgotten at the sight of the car. Now that was a hot rod. Jason fist pumped again, letting out a small burst of flames. Aw yussss, cool base, cool customs, and now cool cars. This place had everything. Jason got into the back seat ready to go as he cool his flames off. Couldn't lite himself on fire in an enclosed space or he would cook everyone.

"Leta go lets go lets go!!"

Jason was a bit excited for his first patrol to say the least.

Patrol Part 1: 8:00-9:00 PM
The onboard GPS of the Knightwatch car had suggested routes through some of the city’s seedier parts, especially where incidents of metahuman activity seemed to have great frequency. However, the first hour of the patrol proved rather uneventful, as neither the police scanner nor actual patrol witnessed anything more serious than a old lady’s cat stuck down a sewer drain, minor issues that the fire department or local police could handle.

“...Hmm... nothing metahuman related yet... But keep an eye out, and steer clear of the police. If anyone looks at us funny, just act normal. Like, human normal.” Xiao said, keeping her eyes peeled while the person in the back seat had control of the police scanner.

Almost an hour had passed and nothing exciting had happened yet. Xiao decided to chat with her teammates a bit. “So... what brought you two into Knightwatch?”

The onboard GPS had lead them through places where metahuman crimes was likely to happen, and where his father had went through multiple times, and there was nothing. There was nothing actually happening, and while this was a good thing, that also meant that this would be a boring patrol. ”Act human normal? I think I can do that.” Ryan said with a smirk, navigating the vehile as he chuckled to himself, looking ahead as well as for anything that looked suspicious. This slow patrol would go by for around an hour until it seemed that nothing would happen, and Ethereal sighed loudly, looking to Xiao who had asked a question.

”Well my parents were heroes, and one of them actually are apart of Knightwatch, I kinda just joined in with him.” Ryan admitted with a shrug leaning back in his seat as he cruised along. ”Can't say I have any cool story or anythin like that, but there it is.” He said with a smirk, granted he was also a hero at heart himself. Silus was a hero as well, and working together they could do almost anything, save for stopping Raziel, but that was something else.

Jason got bored. Really fast too. He knew patrols sometimes got boring like this and it was actuall a good thing since it meant there were no people in trouble, but still still... He was bored. And only like ten minutes had actuall passed so far. He quickly pressed his face against the glass and made faces at the passing cars. The adults didn't notice him but the kids did. They would make faces back as well. He grinned spears hilt as xiao told them to act normal though tha only lasted for five minutes.

Then xiao asked why they joined the knight watch. Jason paused for a second and though about it

"My hike town was attacked by a meta human. I fought him and drove him off, but he had already killed a man. Felt like I lost so I came to Chicago to make up for that. Try and help more people ya know? A meta human attacked a police commissioner while I was nearby so I helped out. I drove him off to, but he had already killed the police commissioner. Ranger found me after that and asked me to join."

Jason looke out the window and to the street, somber and quiet for once.

"Felt like I lost that figt too. Guess I'm kinda tired of losing. Thought you guys could help with that"

Jason grinned at them from the back seat.

" why did you join ma'am?"

Xiao listened to each of their stories, with Ace being a bit more serious in his intent. Xiao responded a bit slowly, sharing her own experience, her Bruiser persona being set aside for her honest accent, that was devoid of american contractions. “My teacher tells me that being a hero is never about winning fights. You have to look at the people who you have helped because of your actions, not just the people you lost. If you did not fight... think about how many more people would have been hurt.”

Then Ace bounced the question back at Xia. “Well... since it was a group of metahumans helping people, I thought it was a good idea to join, to improve our image. Also, because they help me control my temper... my inner dragon.” She said with a serious face. “Nowadays there isn’t much that can trigger it, but when I turn... it’s more a matter of the team stopping me than stopping the bad guy.”

The patrol continued to be uneventful, until they finally turned the corner and went down a quiet residential street. All was well until an explosion at the ground floor of an apartment caused it to quickly catch on fire.

“Stop the car! There must be people on the upper floors!” She suddenly exclaimed.

Emerging from the blaze meanwhile, rising over the roar of a bike engine, were two cackling voices, laughing in an unholy symphony. A large bike that was on fire, ridden by some pale faced maniac whose hair was also ablaze. Sitting behind him holding on was a young lady in equally distasteful biker-rocker attire, her hair set in a crimson Mohawk. She sees the heroes as they head into the street, giving Ethereal and Xiao the finger as the sped away from the burning building.
Now was the time for action. “We have to put out that fire, but we can’t let them get away!” Xia exclaimed. She looked at Ace, “Ace, if you’re a Pyro, can you put out the fire?” she asked quickly.

Dragon Girl and this Ace guy seemed to have more interesting stories for their joining Knightwatch than he did, but then again not everyone had to have a sob story. His dads were just heroes, and so he kind of followed suit, along with other things anyway. His mind would begin to wander for a moment, but not enough that it would really endanger them in any real way, but enough that he did not notice the danger that Xiao had pointed out. A building was on fire, smoke belching from the windows as Ethereal's eyes would widen, and within an instant his eyes would glow a bright green. There was a mass of evil energy moving through the building, and within an instant it was out in the form of a strange man riding on a motorcycle along with a female, all shown to him through his magically enhanced vision.

While the fire was their main priority, they also had a pyrokinetic which could deal with the fire while Dragon Girl and Ethereal dealt with the crazy people on the flying bike. Within a matter of second in hearing Xiao's voice however he stopped the car with a press on the brakes, making sure that he did not flip the car and managing it, though the wheels were squealing. Xiao would bark the order, and he would let Ace get out of the car while his eyes were locked upon the ones that were trying to escape. When he thought that was done, he smirked and pressing hard on the gas, the car would speed onward.

He had caught her giving him the finger, and that was more than enough o a reason for him to make chase, the car squealing loudly as they chased after the villains, Ryan trying to keep up with the speed of them while not wrecking, which was not as easy as he thought. 'Damn, I hate demon bikers from hell.” Ryan cursed as they made chase.

"I got the fire, go!"

Jason was already out the door before the car had even stopped. The others were fast, but his reaction time was much faster then theirs. He hit the ground rolling, coming up in flames. He rolled into a crouched positioned as the bikers took off. Jason looked back at the car as it took off after them. Guess he was on his own to deal with the fire. Good thing that bike left a residual heat trail. He would follow it latter if there was time.

First things first though, deal with the apartment fire. Jason sprinted towards the building, gathering speed quickly. When he was close enough, he jumped into the air and blasted flames behind him. TI launched him up and at the apartment. With a crash, Jason tumbled through a window and on to the ground. As he hit the ground he twisted and recovered, using the momentum of the jump to help him gather some power. He swung his arms out to his sides and pushed the fires back. Something was wrong though. Jason tried to put the fires out completely, but to no avail. This was kinda awkward for him as he tried to feel the flames. This didn't feel like a natural fire. In a natural fire, there were multiple sources of fuel for the flames, aka everything burning was fuel. To put out a natural fire, all Jason had to do was "cut off" the fuel supply. This fire felt like one solid fire, not one with multiple sources. He would have to dampen all the flames at once to compeltly smother it. This strangely felt like... his own fires. He could produce fire in much the same way, it all burning from one single source- him.

"Damn it, don't have time for this!"

Jason could only suppress the fires in his immediate area. With that in mind, he turned off his own flames so he would stand out amongst the fire. He began to search through it, looking for people to evacuate. If this was a fire manipulation then it would be best to get the innocents out of here will he could. He cupped his hands to his mouth and called out

"Hello!?! Is anyone in here! I need to get you out of here!"