Teen Titans: Heroes of the North [CLOSED]

[Ren✧]

At first Kowen wasn't sure what woke him up. He was just about to fall back asleep when he heard voices. At first he panicked, "I can't believe someone tried to get in here. Just my luck the rest of the team is away." But before Kowen could even stand he heard the familiar voice of Luxa and the rest of the team. He let out a sigh of relief. Kowen sat up in his bed, looking at the various monitors. Not taking any heed to what they might do, he unhooked all the sucker pads that stuck to his skin. Grabbing his staff that stood propped up by his bed, Kowen used it to stand up.

Walking hunched over, Kowen began to walk towards the door. He made slow progress, his muscles were still sore and his energy burns still stung a little. As he walked he could feel the blood rush to his legs and his muscles began to relax. By the time he made it to the door he could walk almost normally as long as he was holding his staff by his side. The door opened with the familiar mechanical hiss and Kowen walked into the center complex where the rest of the team sat talking to Evergreen on the giant monitor. It looked as if he had gone unnoticed. Before he could say anything, Evergreen bid the team farewell and the screen went blank. "How did it go?" Kowen asked from the doorway. He could tell something went wrong, the way the team sat, shoulders hunched, told him that the mission did not go according to plan. Upon further inspection it looked as if each of the team had suffered some kind of injury. Kowen was really starting to dread the answer to his question.

[Hotaru987]

Milani was lounged on one of the chairs, as Luxa gave the report back to Evergreen. She didn't even want to hear it, having known what happened first hand. They pretty much failed their first mission as Teen Titans. Sure they stopped the Joker Gang, but they were made fools of by the H.I.V.E. [i]'This sucks...'[/i] She frowned idly playing with one of her throwing disks. Her stomach still hurt from being rammed into by Adamantor, and was properly bruised.

[i]'Yeah..Surviving is all we could have done. We were completely outmatched[/i].' Milani was itching to train her body now. She needed to get stronger, faster and better than those in the H.I.V.E. They already had one up on her as it is; they had super powers and she didn't. [i]'I knew it was going to be difficult, but I didn't know how difficult. People with abilities really are in a whole other league. It was my first time going up against someone with super powers...I want to fight another. I need to get better so I can keep up.' [/i]She smirked slightly, [i]'And next time we meet them we'll definitely win.'[/i]

Kowen then emerged, looking much better than before, and asked what happened after noticed everyone's appearance and the mood. "To put it simply, we got our buts handed to us on a silver platter." She smiled, "Though you're looking better, that's a relief. I was worried you would croak." She teased him laughing slightly.

[Ren✧]

Kowen was devastated to hear that the team had been beaten [i]'Something must have changed,'[/i] Kowen thought to himself, referring to the fact that the team had handled the Joker Gang pretty effectively...at least for as long as he had been conscious. Putting on a smile, Kowen chuckled at Milani's joke. "It's going to take more than that to kill me," Kowen stated, puffing out his chest jokingly trying to look more dignified.

Gathering a more serious tone, Kowen turned towards Luxa. Since he had entered the room she had been silent. "Are you okay?" He asked. He wasn't just referring to her silence but also the battle. He wasn't sure if his protection was appreciated or wanted. Heck, he didn't even know if it had completely protected her. Knowing that she was quite cold and proud, Kowen cringed at the thought of her getting mad at him.

[Saiba Aisu]

Luxa turned to face Kowen, her alabaster features as impassive and perfectly composed as those of a doll, despite the handful of bruises blossoming across her upper body. Her silver-blue gaze rested momentarily upon her teammate's wounds, yet she made no move to comfort him, nor to thank him for his courageous sacrifice.

"Why did you save me?" she asked him in a soft and deadly tone, disregarding his previous question completely. It was almost as if she hadn't heard him speak. "I didn't ask for your help, I could have handled it... So why?"

[Yang Xiao-Long]

Hikaru sighed.
Sitting up straight with proper musical posture, he had his cello in his lap, and a hand full of new strings. The devastating fight did quite a number on him, and it also did a number on his cello; his instrument's strings were either tattered or completely snapped, and so he had to undergo the tedious task of replacing all of his cello's strings. And replacing strings was something he didn't like to do; a necessary task, but an unliked one. Instead of aluminum strings, which he had previously, he went instead with strings that were made with titanium; they would still serve an effective musical purpose, and offer durability to withstand the brunt of some stronger physical attacks.

As Luxa talked with Evergreen about the recent mission failure, Hikaru managed to get the first string connected at the tailpiece end of his cello. His vision was still suffering from White-Out's attack however, and he was afflicted with extreme, but thankfully temporary, nearsightedness. This caused him to attach the string firmly, but not securely, to the pegbox; as he prepared to attach another string, the one he thought he had attached earlier came undone with a loud musical thwack, and struck him across his cheek.
"Oww..." he muttered.

Oblivious to everything else around him before that moment, he turned and saw Kowen talking with Luxa. He assumed it was about something involving Kowen's injuries, so he dismissed it as such, and went back to his attempts to attach his strings. After another failed attempt to reattach the first string, he just slouched back into his seat with a sigh.
He looked over next to him, and assumed the person sitting was Milani, since he figured that Kresnik didn't take all too well to lit areas - he quickly wondered if she was alright; if he was made temporarily nearsighted, the effect of White-Out's massive flash of light must have devastated her.
Turning to Milani, he held out his hand, holding some strings, and began to speak.
"Hey, Milani...um...do you think you can lend me a hand with this?" he asked. "I can't quite see exactly up to par right now, and I could use some help with re-stringing my cello..."

[Hotaru987]

Milani nodded, and then sat back as Kowen and Luxa engaged into a conversation. She didn't understand why Luxa needed Kowen to give a reason why he helped her. They were team mates right? But, Luxa didn't seem like the kind of person who was around people too often. She looked to her left when Hikaru muttered in pain from his cello string smacked him across the face leaving it red and irritated.

She watched as he tried again, and realized that white-out's attack was still affecting him when he failed again. He sighed and slumped back before turning to her. He asked if she could help him since he couldn't see very well at the moment. Milani reached out taking the strings. "Sure I don't mind. Being vision impaired sucks doesn't it." She smiled, "At least it won't be for long. Now, just tell me what I need to do, I've never done this before." Milani ended waiting for his instruction.

"So how many instruments can you play? I remember you had a harmonica when we all first met. You can play the cello, and you also had a piccolo. So that makes 3 so far." She shuddered remembering that high pitched note he played. Between him and white-out, Milani was sure that they would take her out quickly with her heightened hearing.

[Ren✧]

Even expecting Luxa's cold attitude, Kowen was not prepared for the full force of her emotionless words. [i]Why did he save her? [/i]They were teammates, did there need to be another one. But, Kowen knew Luxa wouldn't accept that answer. Kowen wracked his brain for a minute, he tried to recall everything right before the moment he had blacked. Everything he heard. Everything he saw. Everything he felt. He came up blank, it looked like Luxa needed help and he helped her.

"I'm your teammate, it means we've got each others' backs. Besides, I still don't know what your power is. Or if you even have a power. How was I supposed to know that you could 'handle it'?" Kowen demanded, mimicking Luxa's cold, emotionless voice. Instantly his face grew red from both embarrassment and anger. He hadn't meant to lose his cool, but something about Luxa just drove him insane. He took a second to get his attitude in check. "Luxa, if I hurt your sense of pride I'm sorry. I just didn't want to see anyone get hurt, It was the right thing to do." As Kowen said those final words his eyes actually began to tear up. He didn't know if it was from the actual emotion that was behind those words or if it was because he was angry. Turning away from Luxa he addressed the rest of the group.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there guys. Next time, I will be. You can count on it," With those words Kowen began to walk out of the room. As he reached the hallway that would lead down to his room, he turned back. "Also, whoever healed after I was hit...thank you." With those final words he stormed down the hallway, slightly stooped as he used his staff as a means of balance, not sure why he was so mad.

[Hydra of Ages]

Kresnik was, figuratively speaking of course, blind as a bat.

More than anything else, that frustrated her. Without eyes, she couldn't read, research, effectively train- or even find her own way around the tower, really. The albino naturally had sub-par eyesight given the lack of keratin in her body, but she'd always found ways to make due- she could compensate by shooting from the dark, where her night vision would give her an advantage against enemy assailants. She could use her other senses, especially her ability to sense souls, to influence and help her aiming- but that was just the thing. Her other senses [i]supported [/i]her sight, they didn't [i]replace [/i]​them. As much as it troubled her, Kresnik couldn't be rid of her dependancy on sub-par tech. Unfortunately the tech in this case was her own body.

Her planning had been perfect. She had accommodated for Shade's unexpected martial arts prowess, and she formulated a plan to deal with it- even White-Out's ability would have been manageable if her tolerance for light had been within human norms. Her teammates hadn't made any critical errors that she couldn't make up for, and her enemies' capabilities were well within her initial estimates. By all rights, they should have won that scirmish- or at the very least, [i]she [/i]should have won [i]her [/i]part of the engagement.

In that case, why did she fail?

Simple. Her body was flawed- and in ways she couldn't overcome. More than anything, that frustrated her.

The room around her was white, with the dark shadows of corners hovering in the edge of her vision. Sounds and sensations didn't mark themselves obviously in the building, and there was no soul for her to track. Moving would be... difficult. After Evergreen's admonishment (for that was what it was- they didn't deserve any acolades for surviving, after all. They survived because H.I.V.E. either wanted them to, or was too busy elsewise), Kresnik gripped the edge of a couch and slowly walked in the direction of her room. She'd sit down for a while, until her vision returned- then she could get to work studying. Everything they might need to defeat their enemies the next time- more information, more tactics, more preparation. She wouldn't allow a repeat of this mission.

[i]Smack.[/i]

Kresnik howled, then bit her tongue as her head slammed into the corner of the hallway door.

[Yang Xiao-Long]

"Vision impairment really sucks," he said. [i]But at least it isn't as bad as Kresnik's vision right now, [/i]he finished to himself, cringing when he heard a thump against the doorframe. Looking over, he saw that Kresnik had walked into the corner of the door. He wanted to help her out, but he was afraid she would simply reject his help, and he needed to prepare his cello for future missions.

"Now, to re-string a cello, you need to do this...," he began, showing Milani his instrument. "You attach the string here for a firm foundation," he said, pointing at the tailpiece, "and then you pull the string tight and attach it firmly and securely up here," he finished explaining by pointing at the pegbox at the top end of his instrument.

As they began to re-string his instrument, Hikaru listened to Milani. "Well, I can play a lot of instruments. I actually lost count of how many I can play," he said with a light laugh. "I only have three with me because of how easy it is to carry them with me."
He saw her shudder after she mentioned his piccolo, and from that gesture he pretty much inferred that she was sensitive to the higher pitches he can play. "My apologies if my higher-pitched music hurt your ears. I was about to make it into an inaudible ultrasonic pitch during that fight with White-Out, but, well...I whited out."

"You know, the reason I lost count of how many instruments I can play is because of my ability in improvisation. For example, I can take this," he said, as he took a nearby sheet of paper, "and make it into something. Like. This." He paused for a split second each time he tore the paper, and by the end, he had transformed the piece of paper into a shape similar to that of a leaf.

After he properly held the leaf-shaped piece of paper in his hands, he explained. "This is my variation of a leaf whistle. It's relatively high in pitch, but it isn't as high as my piccolo, and I can lower the pitch relatively easily."
He put his makeshift instrument to his lips, and blew air over the reed-like surface. Almost instantly, a pitch emerged, and he lowered it to a tolerable level, where he began to play a soft, flowing melody that was reminiscent of a gentle summer breeze.

[Saiba Aisu]

"Don't walk away from me," Luxa hissed, her eyes flashing dangerously as she watched Kowen leave the room in emotional turmoil. "This isn't about my pride!" Perhaps the young Titan didn't hear her words, or perhaps he chose to ignore them; in any case, he turned the corner and disappeared from sight as he stormed down the hallway.

"Kowen!" Luxa growled, setting off in pursuit of her teammate, her long pigtails flouncing angrily after her. She needed to settle this stupid situation once and for all, before things got out of hand—otherwise, the boy might decide to make a habit out of sacrificing himself in order to protect her. She turned into the hallway and saw that he had almost reached his room.

"Stop!" she commanded heatedly, coming to a halt at his side, fixing him with her magnetic silver-blue gaze. "Do you think saving me makes you some kind of hero?" she demanded, placing her hands on her hips. "That it will win you my respect? My friendship? Spare me your theatrics!"

Luxa was speaking far too quickly and far too angrily, but she was beyond caring at this point. It felt good to express her frustration and anguish for a change, rather than suppress them behind a perfect mask of indifference.

"[i]Putain, tous tes mots sont conneries[/i]!" she growled, slipping into a mix of English and her native French without noticing as she strove to find words to express her teammate's selfishness and immaturity. "What would I have done if you had died? Do you have any idea how that would have made me feel? [i]Est-ce que tu m'entends? Salop[/i]!!"

[Ren✧]

Kowen stopped dead in his tracks. He heard Luxa's voice, this time not full of cold, emotionless spite but seething anger. Kowen slowly turned to face her. "What if you had died? How would I have lived with the fact that I could have saved you but I didn't? Luxa, I told you. I didn't do it because I wanted respect or even friendship. I did it because it was the right thing to do! I don't want to be a hero, I just want to make a difference!" Kowen shouted at her. As he yelled those final words, his eyes unwillingly transformed into those of a snake. Closing his eyes, so Luxa wouldn't see he turned them back to normal. All of his anger was messing with his powers.

He looked back up at Luxa, lowering his voice, "Next time, I'll let you 'handle it.' Okay?" With those final words, Kowen opened the door to his room and went inside. The door closed with a hiss and then a click, locking Luxa and the others out. He threw his staff to the ground, making a dull thump. He let out a sigh of frustration and anger. Kowen walked over to the large window that took up the entirety of one of his walls.

Outside, the moon had fully risen and was already beginning to fall back to Earth. The dark waters in the bay below were perfectly flat and reflected the light of the moon and those of the city like a mirror. The sight was beautiful, yet Kowen could not enjoy the sight because of his anger. A sound then hit Kowen's ears. It was a soft, melody that reminded him of the summers he spent in the park that was just a 10 minute walk from his old home. He remembered the smell of the freshly chopped grass and the faint fragrance of the blossoming flowers.

Kowen began to feel sad. He regretted the argument with Luxa and even considered going to apologize. He quickly shook that thought from his mind. She would most assuredly still be angry with him and he did not want to end up saying something that would anger her even farther. "Best to leave it alone for tonight," Kowen muttered to himself. He knew that this would have to be settled soon enough though.

[Hotaru987]

Milani listened to him as she began the tedious process of restringing his Cello. As she was stringing them up, she took notice of the texture and feel of the string and realized they were specially made with titanium. She figured it was so that the strings could withstand more, and not pop as easily. [i]'He can play so many he actually lost count? That's pretty cool.' [/i]The furthest Milani ever got in her musical endeavors was playing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' on the piano, and she wasn't even sure if she could remember that simple tune. To think he was able to play so many was really unfathamable. She was attaching the last string when he said that he could even play a leaf whistle.

"A leaf whistle? What's that?" Hikaru made an example of one with a sheet of paper lying around, tearing it until it resembled a leaf. She was still skeptacle about being able to play a leaf as an instrument but didn't say anything and watched. He lifted the makeshift leaf to his lips and a sound actually came out. It was a high note but he lowered it to a level that didn't bother her and began to play. She mouthed, "Wow" as she watched completely enraptured in his musical skill.

Milani didn't have any refined skills like being able to play music. Martial arts was her music, and while it was skillful it wasn't considered cultured by too many people. When Hikaru finished she clapped, "That was amazing. How did you learn to play that? I've never heard of a leaf, or even a paper leaf, ever being able to make music like that."

[Saiba Aisu]

At first, it seemed like Luxa was going to break down the door to Kowen's room, raising one arm tensely with a murderous glare upon her face. Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, her anger and self-righteousness disappeared, only to be replaced with a mournful and defeated expression. Although she had no way of knowing it and she would not have been pleased had she been aware, for a moment, Luxa's face was young and innocent—the face of the little girl she would have been, if things had turned out differently.

"No," she said softly to herself, lowering her gaze. "You wouldn't have saved me if you knew what I really was."

For once, she didn't care about her reflection—she knew that tears were forming at her eyes, but she didn't feel like brushing them off. She realized that she was grateful that Kowen hadn't seen her powers in action, even though it was merely postponing the inevitable. Without another word, Luxa turned on her heel and began to walk slowly down the hallway, her back straight and her head held high proudly, as if she didn't have a care in the world.

Only when the sliding doors of her room had closed safely behind her, when she had collapsed into the plush chair in front of the vanity stand, did she bother to look herself. For a moment, Luxa gazed at her own reflection, transfixed by her own beauty. And her ugliness.

Slowly at first, but then more strongly, the tears began to flow.

[Hydra of Ages]

After a number of collisions, near-misses and general physical injury, Kresnik eventually managed to wander her way into her room. Or at least, she [i]thought [/i]it was her room; her vision was still roughly akin to a sonar graph without a translation key, and she hadn't really had the time to become accustomed to the exact layout quite yet. Besides, her head was still a bit scrambled from the entire affair, so she couldn't claim her assessment of wherever she just wandered into was quite correct.

Oh well. At least it was soft. Was her bed always this big?

She sighed. So, what did she think of her teammates now? They certainly weren't what she was expecting, that much was obvious. True, she expected [i]teenagers[/i], and even incompetence, but she didn't plan for...

Well, it was difficult to put into words. Any one of them would be the ace of their field. Individually, any criminal would probably hesitate before attacking- but when they were elevated to the next terrace of crimefighting as a group, that chemistry wasn't strictly additive. To a point, that made sense- none of them really had experience working with others in similar situations to themselves- Kresnik felt she was dealing with it rather well on her own, and it was [i]still [/i]difficult to remember she wasn't necessarily the ace-in-the-hole any longer. Some of them seemed not only asocial but actively [i]antisocial[/i]- Luxa alone was likely going to present a problem, given how she tried to both take the leadership position and actively reject any proposal to act more as a cohesive group.

She sighed and ruffled her hair a little in frustration. Things were [i]complicated [/i]now- more than she thought she'd be, at any rate. Part of her was starting to think that approaching this as she previously approached team assignments simply wouldn't work. These other people not only weren't professionally trained, they didn't [i]want [/i]to be- they were merely special-class civilians, after all. One of them was a musician. Perhaps she should consider scheduling team bonding activities? That seemed like it could be a good idea to promote teamwork... Group training also seemed like it would be a positive.

She took mental notes as she waited for her senses to return- it kept her occupied, after all. Part of her was starting to think she came off as too alien to the others. Should she try to humanize herself in some way, perhaps? Should she try... socializing, or some such? Kresnik would be the first to admit she wasn't terribly good at relating to other people- maybe that was part of the problem? How did other teenagers do this kind of thing anyway?

[Yang Xiao-Long]

Hikaru finished his improvised leaf playing with a gentle lift.
"Well, I learned it through bouts of trial and error back when I was in elementary. I remember going around and picking up leaves just to blow air through them. Neighborhood kids would laugh at me, until I took a leaf and my music abilities made them go cry to their mothers in utter depression." He paused for a second as he looked over at his cello. "W-well, this was back when I didn't even know that I had this ability over emotion through sound."
"But, leaves are capable of being an instrument, you know. In fact, leaf whistles as an instrument originated back in Hawaii."

He glanced over at Milani as she securely fastened the final string on his cello. He had to admit, despite her slightly weird fashion statement of a sports bra over a t-shirt, it seemed to suit her perfectly. It gave him the impression that she was rather blunt and slightly unrefined in how she acted (as well as dressed), and yet to him it appeared to be perfect for who she was. It certainly contrasted with how he dressed in formal concert wear all the time, even for casual occasions.
She seemed to catch on to instruction quick though. By the time he was done thinking, Milani had the string fastened and the cello was good to go.

He thanked Milani for her assistance in in his instrument's re-stringing as he carefully took back his cello, and held it in its proper playing position. Taking his bow, he ran it over each string, testing for any potential structural flaws, as well as tuning each string. By the end of this quick process, he decided to test his strings with some actual playing. He looked over at Milani.
"I want to test out my strings with a little song. I hope you enjoy it, Milani," he said with a smile.
In front of his only audience member, Hikaru began to play at a medium-fast tempo with middle ranged notes. He felt his music wanting to express gratitude, for he knew the unconscious process was already there, so he willed it into being.

[i]The gratitude I feel for you helping me, I wish for you to experience it. Will you let me show it to you through my song?[/i]

[Hotaru987]

Milani smiled when she was finished, and watched at Hikaru examined the strings. He then said he wanted to test out the strings and he started playing a song. The moment the first note sounded Milani felt calm. She could feel his gratitude and thanks every time his bow slid across one of the strings. It wasn't like his songs that he played when in a fight. The vibrations from the strings sounded with the intent to harm and hinder, but now it cause nothing but peace. Looking at the way he was dressed, it felt like she was at an actual concert. Milani rested her head in her hands, watching him with her single eye.

Once again when Hikaru was finished she clapped, more enthusiastically than the first time her smile even wider than earlier. "You're really talented." She then blushed, scratching the back of her head, "I hope I don't sound too conceited, but I felt as though the song was specifically for me. I just felt really happy like...Like you were trying to thank me or something." She laughed nervously and shook her head embarrassed, "N-never mind."

Milani cleared her throat, "A-anyway, I noticed you used titanium in these strings. I take it, its so that they can have more strength. It sounds really nice."

[Yang Xiao-Long]

Hikaru couldn't help but smile when Milani clapped at his performance. It had been a while since he last had an audience for a performance, but this particular performance was one where he actually felt appreciated for his work. He heard her compliment him on his talent, and all he could reply with was a slightly awkward "Thank you."

He caught sight of her blush, and it caught him off guard when he saw that coupled with how she said the song was meant for her.
"I- uh, I mean, yeah, it was. The song really was meant for you," he said. He lowered his head, his hair covering his eyes. "It was just my way of thanking you for helping me with the strings." Hikaru laughed nervously with Milani as his hands inconspicously grabbed another sheet of paper from the table.

He shook off the slight awkwardness of the moment by responding to Milani's observation.
"Ah, y-yes. I'm using titanium strings because of their naturally lightweight and durable nature. They'll still have superb sound quality, but now with the added bonus of being able to resist some incredibly rough impacts. During that last fight, my strings broke because Adamantor rammed into us. I'm not taking the chance of being careless with my instrument's preparation again."

A yawn escaped from his mouth as he was sitting in his seat. He figured it was due to utter exhaustion and injury brought on from the mission. He decided to go back to his room and rest for a while.
"Well, it seems everyone else has gone back to their room. I think I'll do the same. I feel utterly exhausted, now that I think about it. You should probably get some rest too, Milani. Who knows what we have to do for our next mission."

Hikaru slung his cello over his back and walked over to the sliding doors. Looking over his shoulder, he called back at his teammate. "Oh, I almost forgot. I left you something on the table. Practice makes perfect, as I like to say. Good night, Milani." And with that, he stepped through the sliding doors into the hallway, and walked back to his room, where he practically fell asleep upon his bed instantly.

Back on the table, he had left behind a leaf whistle of his design.

[Hotaru987]

"Yeah I know what you mean. My staff is made of titanium as well." She noticed his yawn, and figured that it was about time that they follow everyone else lead and head in for the night. Hikaru was the first to leave, though before he left he said he left something for her. Confused, she turned to the table, surprised at seeing the paper leaf whistle still there. She picked it up, looking it over for a bit before sighing with a light laugh, "Practice makes perfect huh." She mumbled, pocketing the item before heading to her room as well. She placed the paper leaf whistle on the night stand before jumping on too her bed.

"Night dad..." She whispered, closing her eyes to fall asleep.

[Saiba Aisu]

[center][img]http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv219/GXCyber_Ice/Heroes%20of%20the%20North/teen_titans_communicator_logo_by_phaeton99-d389ryu-1.jpg[/img]

[b]GM Post: "Marked For Death"[/b]

[spoiler=GM Post: Le Bleu Ciel District, Aurora City]After the calamity of their first mission, the next week and a half passed more or less uneventfully for the Teen Titans. Still bruised and shocked from their encounter with the criminal agents of the H.I.V.E., each member of the team nevertheless renewed their commitment to fighting crime, working to improve their abilities in their own way. Although Kresnik had suggested a handful of group bonding activities and scheduled a few team practices, it was clear that the young heroes still had a long way to go before they would be able to work together flawlessly. For the time being, however, relations between most of the teammates had improved—at least to the point where they could tolerate each other. More or less.

"Remind me," Luxa said in her dangerous honeyed tones, adjusting her ruffled skirts and looking towards the makeshift stage where Hikaru was standing, "the point of this abominable exercise?"

Her remarks were directed towards Kresnik, who was sitting on the couch to her immediate left in her usual posture, so that her eyes were obscured by shadow. On Luxa's other side was Kowen, and to his right, Milani, both of whom were watching with sincere interest and appreciation as Hikaru delivered an incredible one-man performance, summoning some of the most beautiful music imaginable from a variety of instruments. Luxa would have been greatly displeased if she had known that Kresnik had planned the seating arrangements beforehand, intent on creating situations in which the irritable French girl had no choice but to interact with her teammates.

"Hikaru likes music," Kresnik replied shortly in her efficient tones without shifting. "Not only is it important to support his interests for the sake of friendship, but also so that you can get accustomed to his techniques. Ideally, after you've familiarized yourself with the basics of his emotionalizing songs, you won't be caught off guard in the event that he needs to improvise or attempt something drastic."

Luxa restrained from rolling her eyes with great difficulty, contenting herself with tossing her hair instead—clearly, she was not very interested in befriending the musician, but she could at least see the sense in her teammate's logic. Despite the time that had elapsed from their last mission, she still maintained a grudging respect for Kresnik, mainly due to her impartiality and ability to see the bigger picture. For these reasons, she decided to refrain from making any cruel comments, arranging her features in order to present an outward semblance of interest—meanwhile, she began to review some of the texts she had read last night, visualizing the faded words and the tattered pages in her mind. There had been one passage in Belasis' [i]The Language of Birds[/i] which had focused upon nature-based sorcery, some of which bore more than a few resemblances to her curse...

WRING, WRING. Luxa's magical reverie was brought to an unexpected halt as the lights and sirens of Titan's Tower began to flash and sound, drowning out Hikaru's lovely music. There was no need for words, all of them recognized the signs that heralded the arrival of a new mission; as one, the group turned to regard the interface screen, which was displaying a localized distress call retrieved from a civilian cellphone.

"Leh Bloo Seal?" Kowen enunciated, a quizzical look appearing on his face as he butchered the delicate pronunciation with his Californian surfer accent.

"Le Bleu Ciel," Luxa corrected him, shooting him a simultaneously pitying and scornful glance as she slipped back into her native French. "'The Blue Sky'—it's one of the most famous and expensive fashion districts in Aurora City. And apparently, it's being transformed into a war zone. Let's move."

===

Although Aurora City was famed for the unique contrast formed by its beauty and corruption, there were few sites that exemplified this relationship as perfectly as Le Bleu Ciel. Although not the largest nor the most popular fashion district in the city, the sprawling avenue nevertheless enjoyed an illustrious reputation for the exotic and bizarre. Although poaching and recreational hunting had long since been outlawed within the city, the district was notorious for its black market trades in rare garments and accessories, especially those that were fashioned from the flesh of dead animals, often thought to have been extinct until then.

Today, however, the elegant blue-marbled avenue was in complete chaos as patrons and shopkeepers alike scrambled in all directions, screaming hoarsely as they attempted to escape the advancing horde of black-clad individuals, who numbered fourteen and were armed with several different kinds of weapons. As they approached, it became clear that the villains had taken pains to conceal their identities—garbed from head to toe in form-fitting suits of black, complete with green goggles, leather armor plates, and combat boots, there was no way to tell them apart. Indeed, the group's only identifying quality was a small golden hummingbird, emblazoned in bright thread against a scarlet symbol designed to resemble the crosshair of a rifle.

As they marched down the avenue, it became clear that despite their ruthlessness and cruelty—striking out at random passerby with their energy blasters and electro-whips—they were moving with purpose, pursuing a teenaged girl as she ran down the street towards the Crescent-Moon Bay. Slender and tall, with long dark hair and a tanned complexion, she wove from side to side with some skill, attempting to evade the stunning projectiles that buzzed past her.[/spoiler]

[spoiler=OoC. Please read.]Alright, everyone. This post marks the beginning of your second mission—"Marked For Death." In this scenario, you are faced with a small squadron of nameless highly-trained enemies, skilled in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat. Although they are not meta-humans, their superior physical condition and state of the art equipment means that they'll be fairly challenging opponents (although not on the level of Shade, White-Out, and Adamantor). For now, make sure to stick to the turn-by-turn battle system as you engage these mysterious black-clad foes. And make sure you protect that poor girl![/spoiler][/center]

[Ren✧]

The elegant music totally entranced Kowen with its beauty. He could literally feel the emotion behind it, it was as if he were not listening to music but the story of an untold life. He was quickly brought out of this trance by Luxa's cold voice. Ever since the argument he had had with her, Kowen jumped whenever he heard her icy tone of voice. He quickly turned to see if she was talking to him, to his relief she was not.

While the team had been working on team-building, Kowen and Luxa didn't interact outside of the practice exercises and the tension between them was so thick it seemed to Kowen as if he could reach out and tear it apart with his claws. He didn't like it, but he definitely was not going to approach the subject until Luxa was ready. "I gotta keep it chill," He said underneath his voice so that no one could hear him. Kowen then returned his attention to Hikaru's music. Before the magic of the music could take hold again though, sirens began to wail and drowned the beautiful sound that was the music.

Not needing to speak, the team turned to face the interface screen that was sure to give them their next assignment. "Leh Bloo Seal?" Kowen said trying to enunciate the obviously foreign words. Unfortunately those words turned out to be French. And apparently Luxa was not fond of his Californian drawl butchering her native language. After correcting his enunciation errors, Luxa explained the mission to the rest of the team. "Let's get this party started," Kowen said, following the rest of the team as they headed toward their rooms to quickly get ready for the mission.

===

Outfitted in his combat suit, Kowen watched from the top of a store building. The group of black clad hooligans marched through the street, occasionally lashing out at a citizen. It was then that Kowen took notice of their real target, a young girl with ebony black hair. She had tanned skin, very close to the same shade of his own, and desperately dodged the vicious stun blasts that buzzed by her.

After his brief moment of distraction, Kowen returned his gaze towards the hoard of black-clad individuals. A dreadful scream split the air. Kowen turned to see the cause of the commotion, a mother lay on the ground, holding her baby in her arms. It seemed as if she had fallen in the panic. One of the black-clad assailants turned and pointed their energy gun at her. "Not happenin', dude."

Kowen took action and used his signature frog-legged jump to span the distance in seconds. Just as the energy blast was fired from the gun he scooped the mother and child up in his arms and sprung out of the way. The vicious energy blast whizzed by him, not even a full 6 inches from his back and then collided into the wall of a shop. "That was a close one," Kowen said, then taking a moment to shutter at the thought of what Luxa would do if he had been hit two missions in a row.

Setting the mother and her child down, who quickly thanked him before fleeing, Kowen turned to face the high-tech hoard of individuals. He drew his staff and took a ready stance. [i]'This is gonna get pretty gnarly,' [/i]He thought to himself.

[Hydra of Ages]

Besides Luxa's obvious disinterest, Kresnik thought that her bonding plans were working out quite very well. Already, she had a new respect for Hikaru's music; while the wisdom of carrying an artist onto the battlefield was questionable, the psychological effects of his music were undeniable. Kresnik didn't consider herself a particularly emotional person, but even she found herself getting caught into the silken tune- it took a great deal of effort to stay alert and ready, and she was glad to have the opportunity to practise resistance against it prior to any major missions together.

She remembered being pretty good at the violin, at least before her police work took up all of her time. Perhaps she should take up the instrument again, if only to have a topic in common with a team mate. Or would that be considered rude? Hm. Social things. At least the team seemed more comfortable together, save Kowen and Luxa's awkward efforts at avoiding interaction. It was difficult for her to tell the nature of their problem- a misunderstanding, perhaps? In any case, she would have to keep a close eye on the pair. Problems between pairs of members were the bane of team groups on a whole, and Kresnik didn't doubt it'd be even more deadly than in a general context.

The next mission arrived perhaps sooner than she would have liked -there was still far too much preparation to do- but of course, one couldn't pick and choose incidents as they happened. She listened to the briefing, nodded, and retreated to her room to consolidate preparations. There were a few small modifications she needed to make before she went out.

-

Fourteen targets, easily noticeable though wearing obfuscating gear. Combat uniform- obviously a well-funded and disciplined group rather than a random street gang. Possibly a cult, set of insurgents, or other such well-equipped group. No matter what, it was unlikely the entire group was here under the Blue Sky- this was, in all likelyhood, merely a splinter unit of the true threat. She'd keep that in mind as she fought.

Multiple civilians, but only a single specific target. Kresnik had chosen a back-alley as her place of surveillance; out of the way, but ahead of the main group while still providing a good view. The girl would be passing by soon, followed by a hailstorm of impressive technology as the troopers followed from the back. So far, the Teen Titans had not made themselves known to either side- if the rest of the group was smart and stuck to a pincer movement attack, as agreed, they wouldn't been known until it was too late for the villains to retreat.

The girl was bounding across the street, almost too chaotically to predict. She wove in and out, avoiding attacks as they came with precision; it was pretty obvious that the group wanted her dead. It was even more obvious that this would be the exact thing they needed to [i]avoid[/i] as much as possible.

Kresnik watched them move for a few more seconds, her eyes closely following the girl and scanning the street- and, as she passed by Kresnik's alley, she struck.

The sun was still pretty high in the sky, but Kresnik's tall trench-coat provided enough personal shade for her to summon a small amount of AntiSoul into her hands- the essence of darkness, forced into being by burning her own internal power. This time, she forced the inky blackness to be long and sticky, forming long nails -claws, really- on her hand for but a second, as she snatched the girl mid-jump with a series of tendrils from her hand, before leaping to safely into the opposite alley. The AntiSoul burnt away pretty quickly from the light still in her shadows, but her hand remained clasped across her quarry's mouth. The entire process took approximately half a second.

"Don't talk," she hissed, moving farther into the darkness of the alley to see if teleportation via antisoul was viable at the moment. "I'm here to help you."

[Yang Xiao-Long]

He had to admit, he rather enjoyed the little performance he gave to his fellow Titans. Hikaru had begun his one-man concert with his harmonica before he switched to his piccolo, and then finally to his trademark cello. He rather liked Kresnik's bonding idea, to be honest (for the whole team had to start somewhere in order to get along), and when she had come up to him to do a little performance for everyone, he accepted without hesitation.

Of course, Hikaru saw Luxa's cold attitude coming from a mile away. It was hard to miss it, anyway; he could see it in her lack of concert etiquette. One had to have the proper respect for the performer, and that meant the audience had to be silent; Hikaru's reaction to hearing Luxa speaking over his own music (and in such a small audience, at that) sent a slight wave of invisible fury through him. Talking in a musician's performance was obvious disrespect towards the performer (he couldn't blame Kresnik, however, for she had to answer Luxa's question in order to proceed with the current bonding activity).

And then the sirens began to wail. He sighed; his music was interrupted, and the sirens meant another mission. Slinging his cello over his shoulder in one swift motion, he followed suit towards the mission briefing. He still hated the sirens' utter lack of proper pitch.

-------

Looking over the scene on a nearby rooftop, he saw fourteen individuals who seemed to have taken a great deal into concealing their identities. He noticed them chasing a young girl the entire time; firing their energy blasts at her as she managed to weave through them to the best of her ability.
And then she vanished. Noticing a slight blur of motion within a nearby alley, he assumed it was Kresnik's doing.
[i]Brava, Kresnik. An excellent entrance into this fast-paced waltz.[/i]
"And now for a musical cue," he whispered to himself as he took off the cello from his back.

With cello in his left hand and bow in the other, he played a tune, and selectively targeted the fourteen uniformed individuals. The effect of his music would be diluted among them, but should have enough of an effect to slow them down somewhat so that action can be taken by his other teammates.

[Hotaru987]

Milani just laughed at Luxa, finding her words funny. She really just needed to learn how to chill and nor worry about stuff so much. "Oh calm down Luxa, and just enjoy the music." She said tapping her foot to Hikaru's beat. "You know, while I do think that this is a very good exercise, especially for me, maybe we should try some other team building stuff. Oh! I know what about a beach trip? Or maybe shopping, well maybe not. I don't really like shopping and you girls don't look like the shopping type. Maybe bonding with some good ol' combat training. Yeah, that sounds like fun." Milani was now pretty much mumbling to herself. The sirens in the Titan tower suddenly went off, and Milani jumped to a standing position just as ready as the rest of the Titans to get out there.

Looking at the interface, Kown tried to pronounce the French word up there, but completely screwed it up. Luxa corrected him, as well as translating it for them. Milani had no grasp on any language except for English. Though her language skills were non-important at this point. "Hey maybe we should hang out there afterwards! Grab some food if the resturants aren't all destroyed afterwards!" Minali suggested with a grin as she chased after the rest of her team.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taking a page from her team's book, Milani too perched herself a top a building watching the fourteen hooded figures march through the town causing devistation everywhere. The girl they were obviously chasing was doing fairly well, though she knew that if the girl was caught then she probably wouldn't have much of a means to get away. Milani watched as Krensik snatched the girl mid-jump and took her down an alleyway out of Milani's sight. Unless the girl was a stubborn one, then Krensik was more than enough to handle her. From another direction she heard Hikaru began his music, and Milani took that as the cue that they were starting.

Taking out her throwing disk she hit the center button retracting the metal blades, before throwing it towards the black cladded group. Milani threw 6 disk, exhausting all of her ammunition. After throwing them, she dashed to the side of the building, jumping off and onto the wall of the building parallel to the one she was on. From there she wall jumped her way down landing soundly on the ground. Unlike the others she didn't have the luxury of staying far away from the opponent. She still didn't show herself though. She was hoping that her disk, and Hikaru's music would cause their ranks to spread out. It would be suicide for her to rush into a tightly packed fourteen man group. Milani was good, but not that good.

[Saiba Aisu]

[center][img]http://i685.photobucket.com/albums/vv219/GXCyber_Ice/Heroes%20of%20the%20North/teen_titans_communicator_logo_by_phaeton99-d389ryu-1.jpg[/img]

[b]GM Post: "Marked For Death"[/b]

[spoiler=Le Bleu Ciel District, Aurora City]During the team's previous mission, Luxa's volatile temper had been fueled by outrage and revenge—now, lacking any such motive, she was much more in control and able to observe the situation in her usual cold-hearted manner. She wasn't surprised that Kowen was the first to leap into action, literally—transforming his legs into those of a frog, he had sprung forwards, pulling a mother and her child out of harm's way. Although she still wasn't sure whether she despised or admired her teammate's reckless courage, she was determined to make sure he never felt the need to protect her again.

As Luxa began to move into position and summon her demonic plants, Kresnik had also made her move, summoning a sticky set of claws fashioned from AntiSoul energy. With her usual efficiency and exactitude, the vampire-girl used her new weapon to snatch the villains' target in mid-stride and pull her into the shadowy safety of the opposite alley. "Don't talk," she commanded in a whisper, lowering her hand from the other girl's mouth as she attempted to determine her chances of teleportation.

"You are the Teen Titans?" the girl whispered back curiously, her Spanish accent rich and melodic. Kresnik merely nodded, unsure of what to make of her companion—her eyes narrowed slightly as she realized that she wouldn't be able to teleport using the Antisoul, the conditions weren't right. She had hoped that her movements would be fast enough to avoid being tracked by the enemy, but as the marching of the black-clad assailants drew closer, she almost regretted having acted so impulsively. Almost, that is.

Fortunately for Kresnik and her new friend, Hikaru chose that moment to act, standing and brandishing his cello as he summoned a new melody, slow and languorous. For a moment, the world seemed transfixed as the musician cast his spell, trapped in the oblivious calm and lethargy of golden-brown sap rolling down trees. Although the effect was diluted due to his distance from the enemy and their high numbers, it nevertheless provided the opening that Milani needed. In a stunning display of speed and marksmanship, the one-eyed girl let loose a volley of her signature throwing disks from the opposite rooftop. A few of the villains cried out in anger as their weapons were knocked cleanly out of their hands, and one even collapsed with a muffled thud as the young Titan's weapon clipped him on the temple.

At that moment, Luxa emerged from the shadows of the closest alley like a pale ghost, a handful of tendrils curling from where her fingers should have been. This time, she had chosen to invoke a different kind of demonic plant, known as Naamah's Sentinel—emerald-green and slender, the swaying vines lacked any gnashing fangs, but were covered in wicked thorns and blinking, almond-shaped eyes. Without any theatrics, she raised her hands and extended her fingers, watching as the vines whipped towards the enemy, binding two of the foes and raising them high into the air. The black-clad villains struggled against her grip, tearing their garments against the thorns. The blonde girl watched emotionlessly as her targets cut themselves in their panic and succumbed to the sleep-inducing poison that coated the thorns. With a dismissive movement, she lowered the unconscious villains to the ground while the rest turned to face her, providing the opening her teammates needed.

"Milani, Kowen," Luxa said, speaking into the transmitter in her ear, "now!!"[/spoiler]

[spoiler=OoC. Please read.]Alright guys, I hope you are enjoying our second battle scenario. The opponents may not be putting up much of a fight for the moment, but that's because they're dealing with the improved teamwork of the Teen Titans. As you continue to engage them, I guarantee that they'll put up a little bit more of a fight. Hydra, as you have secured the girl, you can feel free to have Kresnik rejoin the battle as needed. I'm hoping that Kowen and Milani will help Luxa out, she's trying to be a team player for a change![/spoiler][/center]

[Ren✧]

At first Kowen was completely astounded and a little hurt that the black-clad figures hadn't come at him, I mean he was standing there in the middle of the road. Seeing past his own shortsightedness, Kowen realized that other things had been going down that distracted their attention from himself. Their target, the young girl, seemed to have disappeared, but Kowen didn't worry. He knew that one of his teammates must have saved her.

Kowen saw a flash of movement and a cry of pain. Turning slightly, he saw Luxa has ensnared two of the individuals, but in doing so had left herself pretty open to an attack from the others. Luxa's voice then reached Kowen's ears, through the transmitter of course, "Milani, Kowen, now!" Kowen didn't need any other prompting. Kowen's muscles in his arms bulged, taking on the muscle capacity of a silver-back gorilla. Holding his staff high above his head, Kowen hurled it at the closest of the 14 individuals. Not taking the time to see if they hit, Kowen let out a beastly roar and charged into the fray, his fists swinging.