Welcome!

[Tess Danvers]

Tess Danvers exited the school grounds at an almost run as she tried to avoid being seen by any student or teacher or nun that might drag her back into the all girls Catholic high school that she was being forced to attend. She didn’t think it was right for her to have to go to school when she was a superhero and there were villains and crimes afoot. It was a waste of her powers. She was so underappreciated over at Savior just because she hadn’t eighteen yet. Jogging down the empty sidewalk that led her to the large black gates of Dooley Park had caused her dirty blonde hair to fall loose from its tie. And as she slowed to a saunter on the paved path she took a breath and tucked one of the many wild strands behind an ear. The park smelled like autumn: fresh and crisp and just the slightest bit damp. The wind blew slightly and Tess paused in the middle of the park to tie her hair back in its sloppy ponytail. Around her the trees were changing colors from all shades of green to the most vibrant shades of yellow and red and orange and everything in between. She smiled again and began walking towards the playground, intending to sit on the swings until the schools all got out. The park wasn’t entirely empty though. It was filled with kids too young to be in school.

The young teen skipped her way over closer to the playground, her backpack bouncing against her side as she did so. She just had to pass the benches and she’d be there. It was lame that the playground was so far in the park, but she supposed to was to keep the younger kids away from the busy street. In that respect it was a smart idea it was just troublesome to her right now. She smiled politely at the solitary man sitting on a bench who had cast her a look as she walked by. He was probably some depressed homeless guy. Either that or he was a depressed guy who didn’t want to go home. Either way it was painfully obvious he was depressed. She hoped her smile helped him a little. She was a superhero after all and helping people was her job more or less. She went to place her Mary Jane on the grass and cut across to take a shorter route to the swings when she felt the strap on her backpack go taught. Her feet stumbled backwards over themselves and it took her more than a moment to realize what was exactly going on. Someone was pulling her back by her book bag. Her immediate thought was that it was that guy who had just been sitting there. Now that she thought about it he had been sitting there a little creepily. She wound her arm out of the strap that she had on her shoulder and spun around to face the man. Only, it wasn’t the lonely man. The person that had grabber her bag was another teenager. He was wearing a sweatshirt and grinning at her confidently as he made at move to sling her backpack over his shoulder.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?”

"Shouldn’t you not be a fat, ugly slob who steals from girls?" The boy balked a little at Tess’ pure uncensored lack of tact. His mouth hung open as he tried to think of some sort of comeback for her less than witty retort. She clenched her fists and despite her would-be inhibiting school uniform kicked him in his stomach. As the boy gripped his gut and tried to catch his breath she stomped her foot onto his and kneed him in the groin. Her backpack slumped off his shoulder and landed in the soft grass of the park. She leaned down so that her brown eyes were even with his watering ones and simply smirked in his face. Popping back up to her average height she smiled happily and picked up her backpack, placing in its proper place over her shoulder and adjusting her skirt so that it was as wrinkle free as it could be. What a jerk!

"W-where’s a superhero when you n-need one?”

[Chronos]

He had ventured out of his hovel, the room he had been renting for the past few months, almost nervously at first. He hadn’t thought everything through, which was unusual for him. He usually had the plan five steps ahead of where he actually was and had escape plots and contingency plans for every occasion. The fact that he found himself left without any of those things was mind boggling. The fact that he had let that happen was even more so. He had just gotten so wrapped up in everything that was going on around him. The pressure of not being the person he knew he could be. The desperation to achieve something more than he was achieving. The pain of the constant loneliness he felt when he walked down a street and was noticed by no one. The anger that tore at his chest from watching the only woman who had been kind to him taken away by another man as he sat by and watched helplessly. He wasn’t helpless anymore though. This was his grand stand against humanity. He chuckled pathetically to himself. Some grand stand. He didn’t even know for certain what he was doing here. He fingered the gaudy golden hued belt around his waist. The sleek feel of the metal quieted the doubts. If he could conquer time he could conquer anything. He just needed confidence.

Something he sorely lacked.

He looked up from his ratty sneakers at out at the park. The leaves were turning their splendor of colors. It was their last hurrah before winter. He imagined the mute melancholy tones of the season to come. He thought of it and wished for it to hurry up so that it could keep him company. The landscape of the park would be a frozen incarnation of his woe while all that was warm and alive would be buried deep below the surface of the snow. Like it was buried in him, buried deep in the isolation of his heart and mind and buried far too deep to be thawed by spring. He shook his head and sighed, looking down at his rough, scarred hands.Was this his last hurrah? His last finale before the curtain closed? Would he actually get to show the world he was something this time around? Or would he have to make another of these time altering trips? How many would it take, could it take? All for her… All for him… All for them. Their happiness. His thoughts sputtered at the sight of a young girl who took the time to offer him a pleasant smile before going on her way. He stared at her dumbly, uncertain that the act was indeed meant for him, and allowed his gaze to follow her as she hopped along the path that led down to the playground. She was being followed. He meant to call out to her or get up and do something but he wasn’t a person and couldn’t possibly have helped. He simply sat on his bench twiddling his hands and watching the girl about to get mugged. Maybe he could jump in at the last second? Maybe.

“Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“Shouldn’t you not be a fat, ugly slob who steals from girls?”

Of course, maybe he wouldn’t need to do that at all. The girl seemed to be able to take care of herself. He cringed as he watched her dispose of the young mugger in an extremely… over zealous manner. She snatched her bag back and gloated over the boy for a moment. If there were people like this running around the city than why was there even a need for superheroes? He cast a glance to the side in almost shame. Because there were people like him running around that was why. No matter how eager and capable the young teenager was he could easily construct a device to take care of her.

“W-where’s a superhero when you n-need one?” He said softly but with a smile at least. His cheeks burned with humiliation. He hated that stupid nervous stutter. It made talking to people even harder for him than it already was. The girl looked over at him, her dark eyes wide and doe like. He didn’t know why he said anything. What had possessed him to say anything? Maybe it was the pressure of just having witnessed that. Maybe it was because she was just a teenager. Or maybe it was because she had smiled at him like she knew he needed it.

[Tess Danvers]

“Please, as if I needed a superhero to kick that Not-So-Artful Dodger’s ass,” she replied, poking her thumb into her arrogantly puffed out chest. A tilted smile was plastered across her young features and it seemed right at home. She exuded youthful pride and waves of exuberance that would probably be crushed from her as the years went on. She continued to feed her own ego as she placed her hands across her chest and tossed her head back to look at the boy who was scampering down the path and away from them. “Heck, maybe I should be a superhero.” She was already one, to herself anyway. No one else seemed to be able to get that idea through their thick skulls. It wasn’t laughable. Just because she caused an accident or two and had never saved the day per se didn’t mean she wasn’t super. She could do really great things if older heroes only stopped being so stuck up and full of themselves. Psht, as if she hadn’t seen the damages done when Savior fought the guy that could make earthquakes. He didn’t seem much older than her but they took him seriously. That was the thing about being bad though you got taken seriously.

She knew that from when she was only a little bit younger. People respected you and admired you just a little bit. She wasn’t that kind of person anymore though. She shivered at the trace of thrill that had run itself along her spine upon remembering old B&E’s and other crimes. She was Haywire now and she was one of the good guys. Tess took a few steps over to where other man was sitting, his cheeks flushed and his stuttering words having tapered off into nothing more than hiccupped breaths. Talk about a case of social anxiety. She felt bad for him even if he hadn’t done anything to help her. She hadn’t needed his help but any decent person would have at least said something. It didn’t matter. She could have easily done worse to the guy than simply making it harder for him to continue the blood line and by the looks of him that wasn’t even a bad thing. Just chalk it up for another of Tess’ notorious good deeds. They were the kind you didn’t walk away from.

When she reached the bench he was occupying she plopped herself onto it far less than gracefully. The backs of her thighs that weren’t covered by her uniform felt the slightly painful prickle of peeling paint chips of old wood and she shifted uncomfortably. She didn’t know what made her want to be friendly with the older man. She guessed it had something to do with how alone he seemed. She could feel his loneliness in the air almost like some sort of suffocating force that was sucking the oxygen out from around them and making everything thin and bleak. She frowned a little and blinked. She had been sad and lonely for a long time before coming here and she knew the feeling. Summoning the brashness that she was famous for she squared her shoulders and placed her hand on his laced ones. They were cold and clammy and rough beneath her much younger and smaller and softer hands. He jumped at her touch and she jumped at his jump and when she went to pull back in shock she felt the slightest nudge of one of his fingers. She smiled again at him, crooked and always entirely Tess.

“I’m Tess.”

[Chronos]

He lowered his eyes from her bright visage of pride and youth and everything he wasn’t. It wasn’t that he was jealous of those things, not on such a young person anyway because on young people was where those things belonged. It wasn’t that he couldn’t bear to look at things he didn’t have either because he was more than used to that. It was because he didn’t want such a happy and excited person to see that he was lacking in the very things that made her so very, very human. He felt so…inhuman in comparison to someone like her. He couldn’t brag or be proud. He couldn’t smile or grin and be honest about it. He couldn’t be happy or joyful or whole. He bright his cloudy gaze up her at the sound of her jubilant voice. He found himself chuckling ever so softly despite himself at her appropriate literary allusion, and as the corners of his mouth began to turn upwards as the dry and tired sound made its way through the dusty corridors of his throat they found themselves staying upturned in the slightest bit.

"Heck, maybe I should be a superhero.”

Well, she had taken care of herself enough that she had proven to not need one today. What would other days prove though? Other muggers? His infant smile died on his mouth and his eyes fell again to the floor. Pride came before the fall and too often in youth a person felt themselves invulnerable to the things that could cause them the most harm. This girl, with her devil may care smile and her take on the world attitude, seemed the most likely candidate to fall victim to her own pride. How soon? Tomorrow? Later today? Next week? And how? Car? Murder? His own nefarious plans? His stomach went ice at the thoughts. It was why he had stayed so shut in. Interfering with the past was a dangerous and deadly thing. An even more dangerous thing was if somehow the people of the past became the people you wanted around at all times. Time traveling was complicated and difficult and tricky and once again he felt his hand brush the device in order to give himself some confidence on the matter.

He was lost in these thoughts when he felt her hand grasp his. He hadn’t noticed her sit down on the bench and he had jumped in surprise. It was a chain reaction: he jumped, than she jumped, than she pulled away, and with the slightest twitch of his finger she stayed put. His eyes darted to look at her from the corners. She was smiling still. He wasn’t sure why. He was so wrong and stupid and wrong. She seemed to understand though. She seemed to sympathize and strive to make him feel better. His lips twitched again in their struggle to make a smile. There was something about this girl—who he knew he couldn’t have known since he was still in Australia at this point—that almost felt the faintest bit like déjà vu.

“I’m Tess.”

Well, now he knew he didn’t know her. He didn’t know anyone with that name.

“P-p-pete.”

[Tess Danvers]

“Glad to know ya, Pete.” She had contemplated making light of his stutter but thought better of it at the last second. He didn’t seem the type to be able to take being made fun of with a smile and a shrug. He seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, or at least it appeared that way to Tess by the way he sat so slumped over. Sitting like that would make it stick like that, or maybe that was funny faces. She adjusted herself on the bench so that it wasn’t quite so prickly on her legs. She could tell he wasn’t homeless now that she was so close. He smelled like fresh soap and his clothes were clean and pressed even if they didn’t fit him very well. He looked sick or maybe he was just tired. Sick and tired? Of what? She cocked her head a little, uneven bangs falling into her eyes ever so slightly at the motion. “Why are you so sad?” There was no beating around the bush with Tess. She got right to the heart of the matter every time. She saw the hesitance written all over his face. The heartbreak housed in his said storm cloud colored eyes. She felt for him. She didn’t know if it was because she was a good person or because she was a girl but she did. She cursed those maternal caretaking instincts sometimes.

“I’m s-supposed to be doing s-s-something but I d-don’t think I can.”

She squeezed his hands tightly in hers trying to push her confidence through into him. She had tons to spare. It was only fair that some of her extra be passed on to him. If only she could pass that on through skin contact and not just dangerous electrical currents. That might be more useful. Maybe not. She wasn’t sure what was considered useful anymore. His eyes wandered down to his hands as she applied her pressure and he stared at them. He seemed so lost. It was like he didn’t belong here. It was like he was out of place of something. Tess couldn’t really place it or put her finger on it. She couldn’t even really explain what it is that was making her think that. It was probably just that she had never met anyone so sad before. The experience was just jarring. She placed her other hand on his shoulder causing him to look at her.

“I’m sure you can do it,” she paused a moment to think. “But if you don’t think you can do it alone the best way to get anything done is with some friends.” She brightened suddenly from slightly pensive to bubbling over with energy. “Like Savior, the superheroes!”

[Kirk Young]

Cigarettes are disgusting.

That was the only thought going through Kirk's head as he clumsily unwrapped a pack of his father's favorite cigarettes. He remembered the label, despite not having seen it since he was 9. He packed them the same way his father did. Left thigh, right hand, left thigh, pull out the one on the right. Kirk had his father's lighter, he ran a finger over the cold steel emblem on the front. . Kirk was very close to his father. He lit up, blowing out smoke.

Cigarettes are disgusting.

They were the only thing that was keeping Kirk sane lately. He hated be cooped up in some shitty apartment he was renting. It was a sub-let, it was in the shittiest part of town, and it sucked. Kirk loosened his tie, rubbing his neck. He looked like some junkie, or at least he thought he did. It was dangerous, running around in uptown. It's where his father lived, it was where Liam was not supposed to be, scared of running into himself. Yes, a little five-year-old that would trouncing around in this part of two with Tess, the babysitter or Niall, the father. Maybe even Ava, the mother. Liam snorted, that would have been a riot. He tapping his cigarette lightly, watching the ash fall to the ground. Frown, he shoved the pack into his pants pocket.

Roaming around these parts was dangerous for Liam, for Kirk as he was being known as. He didn't need to fuck with the time more than he already had. Shit, he had been stuck here from three months, he had to do something. Holding the cigarette between his teeth, Liam rolled up his sleeves, taking off his glasses. This was some terrible facade really. Liam Donovan, a professor? He supposed it was flexible, but even after he finished his PhD he would have been working on cars anyway. He sighed, realizing that his feet had taken him to Tess's school that Niall had forced her into. She needed it, but he had always thought it was a bit of an oxymoron for his gay father to throw both of them into Catholic schools. Liam also thought it was odd that he still carried a rosary on him at all times. It happened.

Liam headed into Dooley Park, knowing that it would be much harder to identify or notice someone in a park, unless you were close. If all else failed, Liam would run. He put out the cigarette in an ashtray at the iron gates and decided that he would take a nice relaxing stroll, if he remembered correctly Dooley Park still spit you back out on the other side of town. Which was good, because he could get a nice expensive bottle of liquor and go home. At this thought he grinned, laughing as he pulled out another cigarette, lighting up. It was cute, the park was, there were couples everywhere. Liam spotted one before he passed their bench; it was a rather odd couple, some middle aged man and what appeared to be a 12-year-old. Ugh, Liam had read Lolita once, he didn't want a visual reminder of Humbert. He looked a little disgusted as he approached....however once he passed them..he realized that this was no nymphet, that is was Tess. Not only was it Tess but it was Pete, Pete with Tess. Besides finding this utterly...well disgusting and disturbing, Liam was...frightened that one of them would recognize him. Once past them, Liam clumsily dodged behind a tree. Slowly, he sank into shadows.

Now, here's where it gets interesting. Unlike his father, Liam merely had to sink and reemerge from the shadows in order to be fully clothed in the hero garb...and motorcycle. It was pretty sweet, he had to admit. He might have to somehow tip off his father to that. Of course, it was even more dangerous to be dressed as Shadow Wing, but the worst thing that would happen was that Tess would get a little confused. Or maybe he would get this picture taken, but that was the great thing about being a hero in this time. Shadow Wing was Shadow Wing, even in a slightly different costume. Shadow Wing was not formerly Niall Donovan of Raleigh, North Carolina, an alias now used by Liam K. Young-Donovan, engaged to Abigail Cain, both of New Atlantis City. It sucked knowing that other people knew exactly who you were. It sucked even more when other people could suck you through a time vortex into your past after hacking into the government's poorly protected superhero data base and finding out who you are. It only sucked for him now. Liam – Shadow Wing growled, appearing at the park entrance, revving his bike, much the dismay of fellow park goers. Not that he actually cared too much, to be quite honest. He was too focused on kicking Pete's ass. Maybe running over his arms. He need that time belt.

Wing's bike skidded to a rather violent stop in front of Tess and Pete. “Hey asshat, give me the FUCKING belt!” Liam brandished his sawed off shotgun. “Pixie – MOVE.”

[Chronos]

“Glad to know ya, Pete. Why are you so sad?”

He could feel his cheeks flush even at the question. It wasn’t as if he thought it wasn’t obvious that he was sad. It wasn’t even like he was trying to hide it or anything. He just wasn’t used to talking about it. He wasn’t used to anyone noticing him or caring enough to ask. It was strange and a little unnerving. He felt compelled to answer and at the same time he knew he couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t tell anyone what was really going on. It would damage the fabric of time worse than he had already damaged it. It would damage it worse than he intended on damaging it. Still… it would be nice to share something with someone for once.

“I’m s-supposed to be doing s-s-something but I d-don’t think I can.” He wished he didn’t stutter. He wished he could speak up. He wished he was a different person about a million times a day. He even almost knew who he wanted to be. Or at least he knew the person he wanted gone more than anyone else in the entire world. The one person who made his horrible life so unbearable that it had pushed Peter Millard over the edge. The man who had stolen the woman he loved right from underneath his nose. He was everything Pete wasn’t. He was brave and confident. He was charming and handsome. Pete felt the loathing creeping up on him from deep within his gut, hot and strong and poignant. He would destroy that man if it was the last thing he did. His darkness abated as he felt the light touch on his shoulder. It was like an angel had reached down and grabbed him away from the pit he was sinking into. He stared at her in mild confusion.

“I’m sure you can do it. But if you don’t think you can do it alone the best way to get anything done is with some friends. Like Savior, the superheroes!”

“Yes…” He mumbled, his eyes going distant as his mind began to work.

Everything made sense all of a sudden. He had always known he couldn’t take on Savior, not in the past or the present. One man against any number of super powered people? Those weren’t favorable odds no matter how Pete spun them. However, there were more super powered people back in this time. People who weren’t a part of Savior and had different ideas about justice and if he could assemble a group of them… A smile threatened to break across his face. Things were clicking in his head. Good VS Bad, the odds would be even now. Of course, his smile fell and his eyes snapped back when he heard the roar of the bike cutting through the silence of the park. He jumped up and away from Tess’ touch as surprise etched its way across his features.

“Hey asshat, give me the FUCKING belt! Pixie – MOVE.”

“You m-moron! Out in p-public like th-th-that?!”

[Tess Danvers]

“Yes…”

Tess pulled her hands away almost as soon as Pete had jumped up. She stared at the Shadow Wing that was coming towards them in a mix of agitation and concern. She was skipping the last bits of school after all and Niall liked to reprimand her for things like that. She spared at glance at where Pete had scrambled slightly behind the bench. The poor guy seemed so jumpy and nervous. Maybe if he got some medication in his system he’d feel better or something. Shadow Wing wasn’t anyone to be afraid of since he was a good guy. Sure he didn’t follow all of the rules all of the time but that didn’t mean- Why the Hell wasn’t he stopping? She threw her hands over her head to shield herself from what appeared to be an inevitable collision.

“Hey asshat, give me the FUCKING belt! Pixie – MOVE.”

Tess threw her hands down at her sides, her cheeks a pale pink in anger and only getting brighter. What the Hell did he think he was doing making demands on civilians? And on her? And how many times had she told him about calling her that? She grabbed onto the back of the bench and hoisted herself up so that she could stand on it to make a more menacing impression. She wasn’t that tall after all and he was waving a gun in her face. Tess wasn’t exactly intimidated since she knew the face behind the mask and knew he wouldn’t fire as long as her body remained between his and Pete’s.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Niall?!” She screamed. She could feel her body charging itself in response to her frustration. Her skin prickled as every hair one of the tiny hairs on her body lifted itself in response to the rise in electricity. Her hair, made slightly manageable by her ponytail, became mildly frizzier. She jumped down off the bench and took two long steps to reach who she thought was Niall before slapping him across the face with her energy charged hand. She didn’t know what would happen since she never did but just had too.

After all, there were kids in this park.

[Kirk Young]

“You m-moron! Out in p-public like th-th-that?!”

Honestly, Liam excepted things to go a lot smoother. He wasn't sure, but he seemed to remember everything going rather smoothly for his father. Perhaps this was because he was five, but still! Liam stood there for a moment, absolutely shocked he didn't hand it over instantly. And in the “Masked Revolution” too. Liam remembered, he still had the issue of Newsweek plastered on his wall.

“Yes, Pete. I'm a hero. I have a right,” during this time he had the right. In his time with was a privilege that the government could decide to revoke your privilege. “I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you don't give me the belt! I have got to get back, you have to get back!” Liam nearly yelled, “Before you fuck up! There are RULES Pete, we have to follow them, you know there are rules!”

And before Liam knew it, he was being attacked verbally by Tess.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, Niall?!”

“Niall?” Liam tilted his side before realizing, even though he has briefed himself before, that Tess was going to address him by his father's name. His blood pressure rose. “Tess, you can't use that name!” He paused, “My name!” He fumed, biting his lip, putting his gun down. “You don't know this man, I know him! Just because you think your ready doesn't mean that you are. He's a serious threat to the...future. Now, move Pixie.” Liam waved at her at she came closer. He backed away a little bit, but it was too late, she had already slapped him, sending an electric charge through his body. Niall probably would have caught her hand and dragged her off home and given her a stern talking to (which, this author would have loved to have seen Niall Donovan actually acting like a father). Liam, instead, who was by no means as experienced in dealing with Tess (well, he was, in a very different way) instantly dropped the gun, before falling to the ground, groaning miserably. He hugged his hand, eyes closed.

“Jesus CHRIST. MotherFUCKER.” he whimpered loudly. “That wasn't necessary, I swear to GOD.” Liam muttered, felling like things were fading a little. “He's a villain, Tess, he's dangerous!!”

[Chronos]

“Tess, you can't use that name! My name!”

“I-if you’re going to c-call m-me my name th-th-than she can c-c-call you yours,” Pete argued. It made sense and was a logical argument. Of course, when dealing with grown men running around in leotards common sense and logic was basically thrown right out the window. Pete knew he had no right to make snide remarks about Liam’s attire because Pete himself had an ever growing penchant for dressing up. He knew why the other man did it. It wasn’t for the anonymity since that was long gone in their timeline, but it was for the power that went along with it. The public couldn’t see their faces and so there was the power of being the unknown. They could swoop down without judgment from their friends and loved ones and act as they felt. Social norms were not imposed on men who did not fit into social norms. In costumes they were apart from the rules. At least those were Pete’s reasons. He only assumed that was why Liam would make himself look so ridiculous.

His hands were wrapped tightly around the garish metal of the time belt, his fingertips delicately hovering over buttons and dials manufactured into a buckle. He knew it would be no good to travel away to a different time since because of the two belt’s link Liam would be forced into whatever time Pete chose, though their placings would be different. Pete was also hesitant as calculations of damage to the continuum ran through his mind. He had a fairly good idea of the amount of things he was a changing by just standing in this park on this day at this time. Even interacting with Tess in the simple way he had could have changed this exponentially and he was grateful that it hadn’t. He would have been alerted from his own time if anything major was altered. This time travel kick wasn’t just a spur of the moment invention; this was his milestone. He had put time and effort into this whole ordeal to make sure nothing went wrong. Something did go wrong though: he was followed. Pete was semi-prepared for something along those lines. He was used to things never working out for him. He had set up in his lab a device that monitored the news in the future and corroborated it with a database of news that had been set aside from the “true” past. If things began to change drastically an alarm on his wrist watch would go off and he would be alerted to the changes so that he could either fix something that had gone wrong or continue in that vein.

So far, everything was OK.

“I don't want to hurt you, but I will if you don't give me the belt! I have got to get back, you have to get back! Before you fuck up! There are RULES Pete, we have to follow them, you know there are rules!”

Or not.

“I u-u-nderstand the su-u-btleties of it more th-than you d-d-d-o!”

He didn’t want to fight Liam here though. He hated him but he was ill prepared for this. He wasn’t armed and he wasn’t costumed. He certainly couldn’t fight without his costume. His costume made him a whole different person. Without it he was just pathetic Pete Millard and who cared about him? He bit his lip and shuffled his feet. What was he going to do? Then the answer presented itself. Tess, his savior of saviors and angel of angels, stepped forward to defend him. He felt guilty that she did it all the while thinking she was defending an innocent civilian from a crazed superhuman. It worked for him though so what did he mind. He watched, a little in awe, as she reached right across and did something he had wanted to do for a while now. She gave Shadow Wing what for. He grinned happily at the circumstance that had arisen from the simple walk in the park. What a day this had turned out to be.

On that happy and elated note, Pete turned and began to run.

[Kirk Young]

"Uuuuuugh." Liam groaned, looking up at the sky. This was definitely a predicament, wasn't it? Stupid time travel. Stupid Pete. For that matter, stupid Tess. Fucking Stupid Tess. This is exactly why Niall never let her do anything. It was a horrible idea and it fucked everything up. But Liam would never tell her that. She was scary, especially when she got older and crazy powerful.

Liam rolled over onto his stomach, groaning and gasping for air. It was depressing, but he could hear the sounds of Pete running away. Coward, he was nothing but a time traveling coward that was after Abby. Liam would rather die than allow him close to her. With Pete here, Abby was safe from Pete. Liam, however, it seemed wasn't. He spent a good two minutes on his stomach, holding his face. Part of his side burn was singed. Damn sparks. It was a good two minutes before Liam rolled over to look at the sky.

"God damn, Tess! What in the hell is wrong with you? Just because he's not in spandex doesn't mean that he isn't a bad guy!" Liam sat up, fumbling for his cigarettes. He took off his gloves, not a glimpse of a tattoo in sight. He found them and lit up with the lighter, quickly lighting up the cigarette. "Not everyone wears spandex!"

He heard a faint noise, rubbing his head. It grew louder. Faintly, Liam remembered the noise. "Your phone's ringing Tess." He stood, brushing himself off. Thank god he knew that his father wouldn't use a cell phone unless his life depended on it. He might not know how to work it if his life depended on it, but he would try.

[Tess Danvers]

Tess stood over Liam with her hands planted firmly on her hips. Her jaw was set in something that was caught between a pout and a disappointed frown, but her eyebrows her jauntily cocked. It was plain to see that despite the fact that Tess wanted to portray the essence of an angry person she was anything but that. She had just smacked Niall so hard he had fallen to the ground and was groaning in pain like a little sissy girl. This was by far the high point of her day. She could even forgive him for his outrageous behavior since this moment was cheering her up so fully. Though to be honest Niall might need to get his head checked out. He may have been fighting one too many bad guys and had one too many late nights. If he was accusing random and clearly innocent men of being dangerous to their future than he probably needed a break. What was that even supposed to mean?

“I u-u-nderstand the su-u-btleties of it more th-than you d-d-d-o!”

She turned her head so that she could see Pete. He was gripping his belt and backing away. Of course the guy would be freaked out by what had happened. Christ, the city’s so called superhero just goes berserk and tries to steal clothes off the man’s back. Apparently a life of honesty really doesn’t pay if Niall is jacking people’s belts and who knew what else while no one else was watching. She hoped that Pete hadn’t noticed her little display of powers, however inconspicuous it was. He didn’t seem to be fazed by her slapping Shadow Wing so freely but he was probably still in shock. Then again, so was Shadow Wing from her slap. She bounced a little on the tips of her toes, hoping to distract the civilian from the idea that she might be a metahuman.

“Subtleties of what?” Before the question was even out of her mouth he had started running away. She cursed to herself. So much for a good deed of being nice to someone actually turning out the way she had hoped it would. Once again kind things she did blew up in her face and people wind up being afraid and slash or hating her. She was just the picture of the perfect superhero… NOT. She turned her attention back to the scorched Niall. He was just beginning to gather his bearings. Man, she was good. She grinned at him in a good natured sign of truce.

"God damn, Tess! What in the hell is wrong with you? Just because he's not in spandex doesn't mean that he isn't a bad guy! Not everyone wears spandex!"

“Not all of them wear it but the really bad ones do. That’s who tell the top priorities!” She crossed her arms over her chest. “How would you even know he’s a bad guy? I talked to him and he just seemed regular and normal and plain and not a super villain.” He had some nerve to come in and just accuse whoever he wanted of whatever he wanted. Tess was about to give him a real piece of her teenage girl mind when he alerted her to her cell phone ringing. She rolled her eyes a little and then answered it. “Ow! No, that’s not slang for hi I just made the phone shock me. Yeah, haha. Y’know if you were as powerful a lawyer as I am a superhero than you would do lawyer things without realizing it all the time just like I do with my powers, Jude. Suck that. Huh? What? No. Uhm, I mean no as in that’s not possible and you’re wrong and stupid. Cause Niall can’t be in jail I’m with him right now in the park. I’m not on any drugs! If anyone’s on drugs it’s you! You’re named after a Beetles’ song for crying out loud. Fine. I’ll come down there with Niall and we’ll settle which one of us is high.”

She hung up the phone and looked at the Niall in front of her. This was just too bizarre. Jude had to have just lost his mind. Maybe Donovan blood was bad blood and all the brothers were losing their minds. She quickly typed in a few select words into the phone and sent a text out to Liam’s mom telling her that she needed to pick her son up. That wasn’t the whole message since Tess could be rather choice with Ava but it was the gist. She gave “Niall” another questioning look before saying: “Well, your batshit crazy family wants us down at the police station. Apparently you’ve been arrested for murder.”

[Kirk Young]

"Oh shit." Liam groaned softly while Tess spoke to his uncle Jude. "He's in jail...?"

Liam This was going from bad to worse. And now Tess thought he was Niall, that he was his father...and that Niall was with him. Somehow, Liam vaguely remembered his father going to Jail, but he had so much else going through his mind...well, he couldn't pinpoint the memory. No, now she was saying that she was taking him down to the police station? Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. This was bad. Liam crushed the cigarette, sighing. So much for rules, because Liam was going to break them all.

"First of all. Spandex does not indicate priority. In your case it does. But that's not always how it works. Villains are dangerous in and outside of their costumes, Tess, just like I'm really good outside of my spandex. Still..." Liam titled his head to the side. That wasn't really the case for his father. He was well aware that several people that his father was a douche bag outside of costume. And inside of costume. "It doesn't matter!"

He stood up and grabbed Tess's arm. No one way around, so it didn't matter too much what he was about to say. "I'm not Niall, Tess. He really is in jail." He frowned, wondering what to do. Jeez, it was dangerous to just pull of his mask right there, asking it. "Give me a second." With that, Liam sunk into the ground, into the shadows, waving. Moments later, Liam, dressed in a nice shirt, vest and khakis appeared. He wasn't wearing his glasses, he didn't need them right now. "Do you recongize me, Tess?" He frowned, sighing, "I'm about this tall right now...That belt, is a time belt. Pete brought me here. From 19 years in the future."

[Tess Danvers]

Tess wondered who started the trend of superhero clothing. It was an interesting idea that was for sure. People with superpowers running around in tight fitting and multicolored clothing. No one ever did anything like that before and no one did it unless “on the job”. Of course, it would have made a little more sense if superheroes were dressed like ninjas or something stealthy. They did like their attention though. There was also the question of why in the Hell spandex was chosen out of all the fabrics that are out there to use for clothing. There are some people who just can’t pull off a bright yellow spandex super suit whether they are super powered or not. Men especially fell into this category. Why couldn’t superhero men just wear semi-regular clothes? Was it absolutely necessary to have them thrusting accentuated junk and tightly hugged ass all over the place? The answer to that question is of course: No, not necessary at all. Tess figured that the person who came up with costumes vigilantes must have been one Hell of a drag queen and the rest of the superheroes were just making asses of themselves.

"I'm not Niall, Tess. He really is in jail."

Oh God. So it must have been the early onset of Alzheimer’s or something like that. He couldn’t even remember who he was or where he was. This was horrible.

“Niall,” she said slowly, “you are Niall. This is a park.” She watched him slink away into the shadows waving at her as she went. “Niall! Come back here!” She called, stomping on the ground despite the fact that she knew it was useless. She hated that stupid power. It was really unfair. She didn’t have anything like that in her arsenal of weapons. She stepped back a little when he reemerged. He was out of costume but also out of… Niall. He wasn’t dressed as himself and he didn’t even look like himself. She took a half step back, caught between the innate desire to back away from the contagious Donovan Alzheimer’s and the desire to know what the Hell was going on.

"Do you recognize me, Tess? I'm about this tall right now...That belt, is a time belt. Pete brought me here. From 19 years in the future."

“This tall…?” She muttered, looking over the person that stood before. The guy was cute, obviously a little older than her but who cared about that, and apparently knew who she was. She felt like she wouldn’t be struggling so hard to figure out what was going on since the men in her life were either in costume, Niall, or a five year old. One of her eyebrows rose slightly and crooked smile took up residence on her face. Oh, this was classic. She doubled over slightly in laugher, clutching her knees as she felt her skirt ride a little high in the back. Damn. Oh well, the laugh was worth it.[b] “You expect me to believe that you are Liam from the future and that Pete is some kind of evil scientist who brought you back to this time with a time traveling belt?”

[Kirk Young]

Well. Liam wasn't exactly expecting Tess to laugh at him. She always laughed at him though, and she would continue to laugh at him in the future. Secretly, Liam enjoyed her laughter. However, in this case, he was not too fond of it.

“You expect me to believe that you are Liam from the future and that Pete is some kind of evil scientist who brought you back to this time with a time traveling belt?”

Damn, that sounded a lot more far-fetched the way she said it. Liam looked at her, speechless for a moment. "I uh..." He frowned, taking a seat on his motorcycle. "Well, yeah, I do." Liam said rather flatly, running his fingers through his hair. "You don't think I look like my dad at all? I mean, we have the same body type and facial structure. I have his nose, see?" Liam began to take off his vest, tossing it over the handlebars off his bike. "You want proof?" He stood, starting to unbutton the shirt. He pulled open his shirt, revealing the tattoo on his side. "Some moron parading around as Wing wouldn't have my father's tattoo running up the side of his torso. It's just like the one of my father's neck. It says 'Against the World.'"

With that, he began to button up his shirt, allowing it not to be tucked in and slightly open at the top. "I also have a driver's license...and my mother is Ava Young, but she went by Ava Wyatt until she died...and My parents, when they were married did that double name thing. You know Young-Donovan. Hyphenated. My middle name is Kirk, that's what I'm going by, Kirk Young. My father would DIE if he knew I was using my mother's maiden name...I'm sure she wouldn't like it much either." Liam pulled the vest on, taking a deep breath. "We're Catholic. I still like to snuggle. What more do you want?"

"Look Tess," he grabbed Tess' arms gently, making eye contact. "I know you think I'm insane, but I'm not insane! How could I suddenly know you if I wasn't Liam? And know would Pete was? He's out to get you, I promise you! You've got to trust me, just...just trust me." He pulled out his lighter, giving it to Tess. "See, that's my dad's lucky lighter. I...I don't know, do I need to have a DNA test? I know," he paused, feeling like he was in some strange sci-fi novel or movie all of the sudden, "it's hard to believe, but try to." He frowned, "And I need to go with you to the police station."

This post has been edited by Kirk Young on Sep 20 2008, 09:21 PM