Just Another Day in "New" New York.

It was around 9:00 PM somewhere in downtown Manhattan, everything seems to be running at its normal pace. The once ruined city is starting to pick itself back up and continue on its day. The only thing out of the ordinary this night, was a bright purple beam of light that keeps weaving in and out of traffic, and through allies at over a hundred miles per hour. The anomaly didn't seem to bother anyone, but it was odd. The beam zips up a fire-escape and stops dead on an apartment rooftop. The light fades to reveal the famine form of Neon, wearing her usually tight leather bike-suit and bike helmet. Neon walks around the rooftop before slowly opening her visor to get some fresh air, her brown eyes looking across the developing skyscrapers. She sighs in relief of the cool air that meets her face, "Seems to be a still night tonight.." She says to herself quietly as she places a hand on her hip, looking around the city blocks. The hero slowly walks toward the edge of the building and sits down with her feet dangling. "Well, I guess I diverse a break then.." She lets out a soft snicker as she looks up at the stars.

The ticking of the clocks in his office were driving him crazy and he needed to get out. Zell Atterrius, the young genius CEO of the worlds leading genetic research and genetic engineering was called out to New York today. After having a few deals to be made and the grand opening of the new Gene-Tech building he needed to get a few of his ducks in a row before heading back to Los Angeles. He looked to the sky, the stars visible, which was a miracle in it's own right. Normally the lights of the city would obstruct vision of the little celestial spheres in the heaven's above. Zell's mind was pulled in every which way. Parry this attack, this idiot thinks he can poison me, goddamnit why didn't mom buy me that Acne cream, I can't believe I wrecked the car, oh what the Hell is a Dragon doing here!?

Closing his faintly glowing emerald eyes and shaking his head he readjusted himself back to the current reality he was in. Another fun little snippet of shit from a little bit of everywhere and every time. Nothing was threatening reality at this moment in time though, so his particular skills were not needed. So when he wasn't doing what it was the Archon did he would instead do what he used to do. He'd go out and find himself some bad guys and kick them in the dick. Of course the violent thoughts had absolutely nothing to do with the two empty vodka bottles or the bottle of wine and bottle of whiskey he drank...or the six bottles of Guinness he chased it all down with. Silus has pushed so hard for a more "dry" lifestyle for his daddy, and while Zell was all to happy to oblige there were just some times when all the pain was a little too much. Thinks like this were very much needed. Okay so what, the defender of the Omniverse and the embodiment of all existence was an alcoholic... yeah it is pretty sad.

Zell wore black denim jeans and a black leather jacket over a vivid green tee-shirt. Zell tugged on the jacket as he buried his hands deep into their pockets and he stepped out into the street, walking and looking about. Manhattan was where he wound up, looking for a little bit of a brawl he could get into to save a few people from unfortunate fates.

"New" New York, home of the superhero, or well, the superhero downfall. Big bad Necro-D'em had wrecked the place wrecked the place pretty hard with his giant D in the sky, and not the letter D either but the you know, downstairs kinda D. Seriously though, Chris had seen that thing on TV at school and he was a little surprised they hadn't blurred that thing out or something, seriously that thing was...wait...waht was I talking about before? Oh yea oh yea New New York, a name right out of Futurama but whatever, Chris wasn't gonna be bothered by a corny name. People could call it whatever they wanted, a city's still a city. Besides he was waaaaaaaay too busy having a blast bouncing around the lit up streets of the big apple. Zipping over traffic he was taking it all in. He and his mom were visiting one of his aunts in the city and he figured this might be one of his only chances to really get out and explore a place like this. Chicago was great but it wasn't no New York. All the sounds, all the people, all the lights all the...wait, one of the lights was moving, fast too. Well actually, how did that work again? Like everything else below him was moving backwards, this little pink light was moving side to side at NOT moving backwards. That musta' meant that the little pink light was going the same speed as Chris. AWESOME! His mind changed direction about as fast as he did as he plummeted towards the ground. "RICOCHET! he'd scream out as he adjusted the yellow goggles on his forehead down over his eyes and ball of translucent pink energy formed itself around him.

At 1000 mph the ball with Chris inside collided with the pavement below creating a massive crater as he was sent flying, eschewed to the right. "Sorry about that!" he'd yell out to the cars driving into the human pinball-made pothole but it was far too late as he had already ricocheted off of a few of the buildings lining the street like a pinball caught between two bumpers. A excited shout of joy would escape his lips as the g-forces rocked his stomach every which way. He wasn't flying, he was on roller coaster ride unlike any other and man did it feel great! But all through the dizzying rush he tried to keep his eyes on the pink blur. And as luck would have it his destructive course would put him on a path right for her as she perched on a fire escape. "Woah, its a chick..." he'd mutter to himself as he caught her clearly feminine outline. Taking a hand he'd quickly slick his hair back as his ricochet shield collided with the adjacent building. "INCOMING!" he'd shout to the girl as he dissipated his shield and came in like a human cannonball at 1000 miles per hour just left of where the girl was sitting. Bracing for impact Chris would feel the stone and glass crushed before his body as he belly flopped straight into the structure. A one foot deep Chris shaped gash along with a series of cracks and faults would be left in the exterior wall as the reckless speedster collapsed out onto the fire escape next to the woman. "That...was wild" he chuckle out looking up into the sky with a big goofy smile on his face. Tonight was a good night.

The next thing the boy in the bubble would see is Neon standing over him with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked down at him with her visor down to block his view of her face, and her head would be tilted slightly to the left. "..Are you okay..?" She said in a hushed tone, as if she was speaking to a clumsy little brother. Her hip slowly tilted to the side as she put all her weight on one leg. Although he couldn't sit it, her eyes would be rolling in their sockets in annoyance at his disregard for buildings that had just been rebuilt.

Zell continued along his way, everything normal for the most part. Of course for someone like him who saw the world in slow motion something going a little bit faster than most things screaming ricochet didn't count as normal. He bounced and there was a crater in the ground. A fucking crater. So you mean to tell him that there was a crater causing metahuman that moved at advanced speeds? Cool, not your average speedster, Zell couldn't help but wonder how the young man survived the transfer of energy to make the crater however...it must have been a product of a peak human durability or beyond possibly. Zell's interest was caught He turned his head and suddenly glowing techno-scarring appeared just above his face, glowing a pale blue before numbers and squares appeared to flash and materialize little segments across the techno scarring, a holographic outline of his visor suddenly materializing and becoming real.

  The next thing he did was run off in the direction of the speedster, his visor locked onto the speedster, data being compiled as little glowing trajectory marks were left behind where he went. His visor's GPS calculating the easiest path to follow or to even intercept him on. He pressed on only staggering slightly on the first couple steps. Of course the second he ended up in shadow he suddenly vanished, no trace that he ever had existed. He reappeared on a rooftop, just out of sight of either person. He was slightly too buzzed to care if he scared the holy Hell out of either of them, or made them suspicious (as he just a moment ago there was no one, and now there was someone the second they weren't paying attention). Zell kept his hands buried in his pockets as the man said something about the whole event being awesome and the young woman took the whole sassy lady pose. Zell rolled his eyes and it was immediately decided.

 These personalities clash. This dude is a wrecking ball.... I'mma follow them. He thought to himself before deciding he might want to actually introduce himself before they noticed he was standing there watching them like some form of plotting nefarious person of notoriety. "You uh...you know how to break shit." Zell commented off-handedly, finally drawing attention his way.

Well, that certainly got her attention. What now? Honestly Chris with this girl was like a dog chasing a car. He saw the interesting shiny thing, chased and now he was here but he really hadn't thought through what it was he was going to do if he actually caught up to her. Five seconds ago he didn't even know it was a her but now here she was, standing over him, hands on her hips with that oh so defiant tone in her voice. Acknowledging her question, Chris would lift his head and thrust a thumbs up into the air. "Haha I'm doin' just fine" he say as he rose to his feet, wiping the debris off of his blue coat. His right hand would raise to his neck as he cracked it awkwardly, unsure of what he should do or say next. "So uh...yea...my name's Chr...er uhm." Shit, no he couldn't use his real name. This was a superhero encounter, a real superhero meetup. Woohoo! Energy jolted through Chris's body at the excitement. But he had to control himself. Okay think Chris, think. What can you call yourself to protect your secret identity? And like some kind of sign, a voice came from a man shrouded in shadow. "Yea I do!" he'd blurt out, just a little too excited at the fact. "That's cuz I'm Crash!" Yeaaaaaa, Crash!, he really liked the sound of that, seemed like a real superhero name. Now all he needed to know was who the hell these people were. Puffing out his chest Chris would assume his deepest voice which to be fair wasn't very intimidating but that's neither here nor there. "And just who are the two of you?"

Neon arched an eyebrow beneath her helmet at this spastic newcomer. She wonders for a momment if pharmacies sold Ridaline for meta-humans. Her shoulders shrug as she lets out a calm sigh before turning her head quickly to the random voice that spoke. Her eyes gazed upon him, a man in normal clothing, young, drunk, how did he get on this building without stumbling over? She crosses her arms across her chest as she listens to "Crash's" outburst about who he was, having a flashback to grade school children on a playground pretending to be their favorite media hero. It was obvious to her that this is his first rodeo, which made her smile a small bit under her visor. The heroine remembers when she first started, running around the streets, smacking into street lights and trashcans, so she couldn't blame the guy for being too much of a klutz.

"You can call me Neon.." She responded to the kid's question, keeping her tone of defiance on her breath. Her eyes move to the drunk man, waiting for him to introduce himself next.

"I'm groot." Zell said, dead serious too despite his slightly intoxicated state. His eyes shifted and already he was thinking about these people. The name "Neon" was unique. Atomic number 10, colorless, odorless. Most common uses are as distilled liquid to create fluorescent lights. That being said the name applies to light. Photokinesis of some kind or maybe the ability to teleport in a flash of light or something. Something to do with neon light. Countermeasures... Zell's mind was in a lull, normally this was all inherent and instantaneous. Not tonight, because tonight he was dedicated to not giving a shit.

"So CRASH!" Zell screamed the name before looking to Neon. "and light girl. What are a couple people like you doing running about out here?" Zell said as he processed these events and tried to learn a little more about who was doing what. Being his charming usual self he just smiled and whimsically let this situation soak in.

Okay so Neon and...well this guy was a dick. "Dude you didn't even do it right" Chris would criticize back at the man in the shadows. "He vocabulary consists of I, am and Groot in that order" he would say in his best Bradley Cooper impersonation. His geek was showing just a little. You see Chris was a massive fan of everything comic book and superhero.

Then this guy started randomly screaming. This time when he spoke Chris could smell the alcohol on his breath. Great. Why'd a drunk asshole have to be up on this same roof potentially screwing up his game with the super powered chick. But then again this could be a chance to help the drunk man back to his home. After all it was dangerous out here for a someone without their wits about them. They could get crushed or something. "WE were actually just about to get you home dude. Tell us where you live and we'll get you home safe. After all its the job of a superhero to help those in need." Chris was actually pretty satisfied with himself for that response. Maybe tonight would not only be fun but a chance to do some good, even if it was minor.

Neon watches the two converse and raises an eyebrow at the kid's childlike response to the drunk man's words, he said it so matter-of-factly that he has to be some sort of comic book nerd.  Great.. The heroine thought to herself, That's all we need, a kid running around playing comic book because he has powers..  She rolls her eyes again underneath her visor.  She was never one for comics, she couldn't find herself reading into false heroes when she lived in a place with real dangers.  Plus, she was a reality kind of girl, she liked street bike racing, gambling in the allies, and of course.. all the fighting.  She didn't need a hero, she already kicked ass.  Neon let's out a faint snicker as she reminisces.

Her eyes turn to Crash when he volunteered her to help get this drunk home.  Her lips curl into a frown as she slowly shakes her head, "I'm a crime fighter, kid, not a girl scout."  She says with her normal tone, and she meant her words.  She puts on this tight outfit and runs around to stop the bad guys, not help every drunk who's having trouble finding which way is up.

"Crime fighter? Oh then let me see your badge miss... Neon. Because without one of those you're a vigilante, which is a crime." Zell said his drunken nature fading away almost immediately as he seemed to be more serious. He then looked over to crash with a smirk. He was gonna take Zell home? What the Hell was he. Okay this Neon girl was a bitch but this kid was amusing. He broke shit and seemed to be good hearted. He was Zell's son if he had a knack for wanton destruction. The image of that is actually terrifying. Shoving the thought to the back of his mind he quickly used the visor and tried to gain remote access to the woman's helmet. Much to his disappointment the badass kitty helmet was just your everyday motorcycle helmet. He did however manage to catch signal of her cellphone, the visor indicated it to be several degrees down on the Z-Axis. Quickly and immediately the visor seized control of the cellular device. Instantly the visor began running phone checks. Anyone this person called, and who this person was, their bank account.... all of it was now information at his disposal. Thankfully he's a drunk, not a dick. He wouldn't discriminate either. This kid without the mask on had way too many ways to be discovered. It was actually painful.

  "Okay first off. Don't play that Superhero crap with me. You both need a LOT of help." Zell instructed. At that moment Neon's cell phone would alert her of a text message. The text message was from "God" and it said A LOT OF HELP HIKARI!!!! in all caps in a strangely elegant font. Zell looked at her and smiled before looking back to Crash! or whatever his name was. He was still using his visor to now track both of these people, and he was scanning Crash! for a facial recognition and an ear lobe match on the city cameras.

 "I'm going to help you guys with this Hero thing, and I'm gonna help you do it right." Zell declared with a smile and a nod to the both of them as if he were totally serious. Probably because he was.

Neon notices the vibration of her phone which was stuffed into her boot.  She slowly reaches down to grab it, turning it on.  Her eyes blink once at the sight of a text message announcement, no body has this number..  The heroine selects the message and opens it, reading it slowly before her eyes widen at the last word, "Hikari."  It was a name, specifically HER name.  The rest of the message was just repeating what this man had just said moments before, who was now smiling at her with a face that says "I did it."  

Great job, Hikari.. Neon thinks to herself,  you should have known better than to use a cell phone!  Now this stranger knows who you are!  She curses in Japanese under her breath and looks back at Zell.  Though her head tilted to the side in confusion, or curiocity when he stated he wished to HELP her out with the "hero thing."  She puts her phone away and crosses her arms again, trying to sound as if she wasn't held in his tight grip.  "Oh?  And how exactly can you help me do my work better?  I've been doing this kind of thing for a couple years.  I never needed help."  She says in a questioning tone.  Though she doesn't want to shoot his offer down, she was more curious as to what he can offer her.

"Well then I'm afraid you've never faced anyone quite like me. Are all your villains incompetent, or do you select the inept ones to go after yourself?" Zell asked, meanwhile he looked over to the guy who was standing there, seemingly in his own little world. "By the way, I now have your bank account, and living proof you're a vigilante. So now I can put you in prison. If I were you I'd turn the phone off, it's full of interesting secrets.- Back to point. I can help you because I have more experience than you could possibly fathom. Sure I look younger than you, sure the law says I'm younger, but you "Neon" are in for a rude awakening if you think you'll last against any big-time villains with your current mistakes. For example, right now I could have you arrested...that's a hero off the streets, and while you're doing hard time I'm free to run about and rob banks or whatever it is villains do." Zell explained. The point to convey was quite simply that she wasn't very well defended. Maybe, MAYBE she could be good at fighting, maybe she'd be good at rounding up human criminals, but with as exposed as she's left herself it's a rather good thing she ran into him while he was in a happy mood.

 "As far as never needing help, I rest my case with this... sure you can catch a couple humans, sure a couple metahumans probably...but you're utterly unprepared for something like me." He said with a smirk. His visor had already taken a new action, scanning electrical impulses form all about, though he narrowed it down to neurological impulses to see how her brain operated.  "Lucky for you, I can prepare you for something like me. Think fast." Zell said before tossing a coin to her with a rather swift motion. He observed how her brain responded to noise, sound and his motion. Good reflexes, but still humanish it would seem.

 "So what do you say? Care to learn a few things? Not like you have anything to lose." He said with a shrug and a smirk.

Neon frowns and clenches her fist at her competence being insulted by this stranger.  What annoyed her even further is the fact that he knows everything about her so quickly, and threatens to turn her in to the authorities.  What was supposed to be an offer of help, sounds more like a blackmail scheme to her.  She didn’t like the thought of this, but in her position there was not much she could do about it.  Her eyes look down to the cell phone she held in her hand, the source of her issues.  Her fingers slowly close on the device and her palm lit up bright purple, soon after the phone was completely destroyed.  She was never going to make a mistake like that twice.  

The stranger then started to talk about how she doesn’t stand a chance against big-time villains or metas. Bullshit.. the heroine thought to herself, … I faced off against many metas when my home was being attacked.. and I’m still standing.  She had close calls, of course, but she always figured a way out of hairy situations.

Neon continues to listen to the man’s lecture about how she really does need help, and he is her salvation in preparing for the big leagues.  She doesn’t enjoy how moments ago he was threatening to turn her in to the cops, and now he was her only hope at being a good hero.

Suddenly, he tossed something at her a coin, testing her reflexes.  Yes, Neon is a metahuman, but she’s also a skilled martial artist, she doesn’t need superpowers to have good reflexes.  The coin was immediately caught without much hesitation, her eyes still trained on him.  Her reflexes were good trained very well and they should be, considering the girl can run faster than the speed of sound.  

He offers aid one final time, and Neon had thought it through.  The guy’s pretty shadey, not being forward with his overall goals with her.  She doesn’t trust him enough to take his offer no questions asked, but he does seem to know his shit.  What harm could be done if she learns how to kick better ass?  If he wants to make her better, that’s great, and if he wants to use her for things she doesn’t want to do, she’ll walk away. “Yeah… alright, I’ll accept your offer.  Teach me how to be a better hero, but I got my eye on you.  Don’t try to manipulate me for alternate motives..”  She says, her tone was strong, one to display that she was standing her ground.

Zell was going to enjoy this. Teaching people was his thing, he was a college professor after all. He was also a mentor to the hero group Prodigy. He found himself wondering what other little tricks this girl likely had up her sleeves. He quickly reasoned that she would not understand why he was doing this. She wouldn't understand and if she did then she would not trust it. That was good though, he lived by the maxim that those who deserve trust will never ask for it, and will understand when you choose not to trust them. Zell actually sat down with his feet hanging over the edge of the building. He let out a little hum before his visor pulled up three dozen metahuman criminals. Some of them were up to stuff, some weren't.

  "So we've got a couple options. We got a couple guys we can detain. First one is a guy called Pathos, second one is a guy called Sync and finally we have a pair of twins called "Tag-team". So I cast my vote for Tag-team, but This is your training, you go ahead and tell me what you wanna do." Zell said as he reasoned through all of these people and their powers. He figured if she were under the illusion that she had control over which metahuman the detained she'd be more at eased. Not to trust him, no...to keep her semi-relaxed so she wasn't overly anxious and going to get herself killed.