Forum Thread

Kendall chuckled some as he watched Larry's stance had become more relaxed. He noticed the other male had smiled back at him before assuring him that he could vent to him if he really wanted to before somewhat awkwardly trailing off. Before having a chance to say anything, he noticed Larry's attention being taken away by the other drunk retrieving his room key having not noticed him approach prior. He was honestly a bit annoyed at the fact of how gleeful the male was acting despite complaining about having to be here just moments ago, watching him retreat into his assigned room.

"And hey," he heard from Larry, turning his attention away from someone who he'd already developed some sort of disliking towards back to the male, "if I get annoyed, you can always return the favor, right?" The question coming from him had made him smile with a bit more enthusiasm than his previous attempt. "I would be more than happy to, of course."

He looked down again, noticing there had only been a few keys left and spotted "Kendy" with a heart on the tag and the room number 201, groaning as he read the name his mother had written. "I guess I'll start with this," he started, pausing to hold up his key for Larry to view, "she still treats me like I'm her little helpless four year old. Even back then, I had my powers and could take care of myself if I needed to. A-And she expects so much out of me and to be better than everyone else just because I'm her son and Koda is my brother. Even before this whole mess she always expected nothing less than perfect from me and it's so hard to get through to her and tell her that I am anything but that. I can't always do everything with a 'hundred percent mommy satisfactory guarantee' a-a-and..." he rambled, the end of his sentence trailing off in a stutter as his rage and sadness had built up inside.

He hadn't noticed until he felt a teardrop stroll down his cheek that he had began lightly crying. "I just feel like I'm not good enough. I can't meet my mother's expectations and I sure as hell well never be as good as Koda." he revealed, his voice trembling a bit. "This is embarrassing, I'm sorry to spring this on you..." He took a moment to collect himself, shutting his eyes as he took a few deep breaths. It's not like anyone wants to see a crying, drunk man anyways. "I just feel like if I can get my brother back on our side and stop this whole thing that maybe for once she'll see that I'm not just Koda's little brother anymore and that if I bring him back we can be a family again..."

---

The more he looked around, the cozier this place seemed to be. It didn’t have much going for it, but it at least seemed like a safe place to be. Lost in his thoughts, he continued walking past the door that had been assigned to him, only to notice it seconds later. He let out a quiet groan before turning around and stood in front of it. He gently slid the key into the slot, about to turn it before hearing talking. Like many times before, his curiosity got the best of him. All he could pick up was something about letting someone vent to them, followed by another voice rambling on about his family. He had to assume it was Kendall, due to the mention of a mother who expected too much of him and an older brother who they wanted back on their side. But he could only wonder who the other voice belonged to... Before he could put much thought into it, Kendall said something that caught his attention. “... I bring him back we can be a family again...” So... That was his goal...? Well, it made sense. Letting out a sigh, he shrugged off the conversation he had eavesdropped on and entered his room.

Oh boy, here they go, right in the hallway. Lauri didn't exactly expect Kendall to go on such a tirade right off the bat and he wondered if he bit off more than he could chew as the tears showed up. Regardless, he got himself into this and Kendall obviously needed to get things off his chest yesterday so Lauri was just going to try not to screw it up.

Trying not to be too forward, he placed a hand on Kendall's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You don't need to apologize for being human," he began, giving the other man his best supportive smile, "And you are better than Koda. Because you're here and he's..." Lauri trailed off a bit, glancing to the side as his smile faltered, "Out there screwing up the world."

But he soon snapped his focus back on Kendall and squeezed his shoulder a bit more firmly to demand the other man's attention, his demeanor growing more serious, "But you don't have to meet any expectation alone tomorrow. We're here to help you, right?" Even though the introductory meeting wasn't the most encouraging, people still stayed so that was worth something. He glanced down the hall of doors where some of the back-up had disappeared to but quickly returned his attention to Kendall and extinguished the frown that threatened to sneak onto his face with another smile, "I don't know how committed the rest are but I'm not going anywhere before all this is done." ...Even though he wasn't going to be much help in actually taking anyone down, much less the big boss himself. But he could be the best support he was able to be.

"Though I can't tell you everything will go back to normal again if we manage to bring him back," Lauri added, his smile dropping, "Because it won't. Families change and you can't control it, but you can choose how you deal with it." Not that him being able to relate a tiny bit made their experiences even close to comparable. However, he could still see clinging to what their family was and trying to force it to be that way again was nothing but a recipe for disappointment. There was no telling if the 'bringing him back' part was even possible to begin with...

---

Kendall's thoughts circled about how stupid and embarrassed he was, mostly blaming it on the alcohol but couldn't necessarily convince himself he wasn't the best at controlling his emotions while he was sober either. He barely noticed one of the other members of the group coming to retrieve his key from the box before retreating into their assigned room. But still-- how embarrassing. He was brought of his trance by the feeling of Larry's hand being placed on his shoulder and slight pressure coming from the squeeze and soon found himself forcing another half-assed smile at the other male's reassurance.

At mentioning how Koda had been screwing up the world, he let out a soft sigh and turned his attention away from Larry for a brief moment before being met with another squeeze. Kendall had genuinely smiled a bit at what was said, his eyes trailing down to the ground in an attempt to hide it some. He'd sighed again, his eyes shifting back up to make eye contact with the other male and he'd almost instinctively laid his hand on top of the one placed on his shoulder, starting with a sincere "Thank you, Larry."

"Honestly? I don't want to come as like-- the de facto leader of the group or whatever. All of us have different strengths and weaknesses and I think this is definitely more of a team-effort than a 'one determines all' course of action." He paused for a few seconds, sighing in the process as he pulled his hand off Larry's. "Even if I can't bring him back or whatever, I just want to know that I at least tried everything I could, y'know?" he forced another smile and chuckled nervously, though the smile quickly faded as he pondered at the idea that he might have to kill his own brother.

He sighed once again, a track record for the male. "I think I'm gonna give this back to Barron, I definitely do not need anymore." he told Larry as he struggled stand up, staggering back some once he was upright. "I do I have one more favor to ask from you. Would you mind helping me downstairs and then back up?" he requested. "I'd probably need help into my room too to be honest with you. I'm not the greatest when it comes to keys, especially when you've had as much to drink as I have and you can just push the door open with your power..." Before waiting for an answer, he'd already began making his way slowly and carefully towards the staircase.

---

Lauri nodded at Kendall's reluctance to be any sort of leader figure, he probably didn't need that sort of stress on his shoulders anyway. But they'd see how things fall into place tomorrow and how well the team can conduct themselves without a clear appointed leader. He tried to match Kendall's little attempt of a smile when his brother was brought up. "Yeah, I'm sure you will," was all Lauri managed to respond.

As the mission to return the stolen property (or whatever was left of the stolen property) was put into motion, he was quick to move in to lend his aid. A hangover worse than what may already be ahead in the other man's future probably wouldn't bode well for meeting any mommy standards, so this was definitely a good development. Grabbing one of Kendall's wrists, he slung the other man's arm over his shoulders as he slid next to him to support his wobbly form. Thanks to their height difference, they fit together quite nicely.

Snaking an arm around Kendall's waist as they began their descend down the stairs, Lauri kept his eyes on their feet to make sure there would be no tripping and tumbling down the stairs. "I'm sure Barron will be happy to see his lost bottle again, maybe he won't even kill you if you apologize for kidnapping it," he attempted to lighten the mood a bit with a small snicker as they descended. Based on what little Lauri had seen of him, this Barron bartender at least seemed like a polite enough fellow not to kill thieves in front of witnesses so there should be no mortal danger tonight.

Though the question was whether the man would even be behind the bar anymore. There had been no sighting of him on a key retrieving mission so he might be. However, that might also mean he had decided to leave, which would be unfortunate. So, as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Lauri finally felt it safe to detach his eyes from their feet and lift his attention to where the bar stood.

---

With the help of Larry, Kendall had now made his way back downstairs. "Barron!" he cooed singsongy as he scanned the bartop for the bartender. "I'm sorry for stealing this." He placed the bottle on the counter near one of the seats for barcomers to sit and without waiting for a response, more so to avoid a scolding from the bartender, he turned back to Larry with a smile.

"I think I can get myself up okay. I'm gonna turn in for the night but, uh..." his words started trailing off a bit as he gave a soft smile. "Thank you. For everything tonight, Larry. I don't know if you're a nightowl or not, but I would get some rest if I were you too." After awkwardly saying some sort of form of "Goodnight" to the other male, he carefully ascended the staircase while holding onto the railing, careful to take one step at a time.

He approached his room and stood in front of the door, sighing while holding his key and staring blankly at the door for a few moments. "Yeah, no..." he muttered to himself, opening his palm and pushing it forward slightly. This motion triggered the male's telekinesis to forcefully swing the door open, knocking off a bit of the door frame with it in the process. Once inside, Kendall closed the door though found it wouldn't stay shut and the weight of it would prevent it from being forced to stay shut by anything he could think of in the room. He'd lost his sense to care about the dilemma, figuring his mother would scold him about it tomorrow and call someone in to repair it. "Whatever..." he mumbled at the thought of it, already lying in bed with the lights off as he drifted off to sleep.

---

[timeskip to everyone about to leave for their first attack on the first assassin]

---

"I don't know if anyone else brought their cars or not, but y'all are welcome to drive mine..." Kendall offered, not feeling the best to operate a vehicle with a hefty hangover. His hair had been loosely tied back, the shorter strands on his left side of it had slipped out of it. He'd be impressed with himself for being able to slip into his skinny jeans had he not fallen asleep in them the night before. He'd replaced his typical t-shirt and flannel with one of Koda's old graphic t-shirts that was a bit baggy on him considering the elder brother had always been a size or two bigger than him to begin with. And sunglasses. How else would everyone know he had a hangover and not to bother him without wearing a pair of sunglasses?

Kayleigh sighed at Kendall's remark, having returned to the hideout to get the lot of "heroes" or whatever they were awake and ready to prepare the ambush. "I've sent the assassin's location to each of your cellphones so navigating there shouldn't be a problem." she announced, looking around to see if anyone had been missing from the group. "That thing's gonna kill you." she whispered sharply to her son as he took a quick hit from a disposable vape. "Not if this assassin kills me first." he replied blankly, walking away from her and towards his car.
---------
"It seems my baby brother has finally decided to come around here, but it's not for the reason I'd hoped he come for." Koda sighed. "I'll stick around to get you out of trouble, but don't expect me to do any of the dirty work. They're coming for you."

"As if I would ever let a bunch of misfit magic users get the upper hand on me. I don't know if I should be offended or not." Valerie barked, running her hand along the length of her ponytail before grabbing the end of it and flicking it behind her back. "When they come, I'll be ready for them." Koda smirked at Valerie's confidence, chuckling somewhat quietly before stepping out of the room. Once Koda had left the room, Valerie rolled her eyes to prevent him from seeing her do so.

---

In the days that had passed, Geo had gotten the belongings he needed and moved them to the room of his. He had a hard time keeping up with the group and their plans for the upcoming leave, making him vulnerable to misunderstandings and confusion. He had woken up a while ago, unable to sleep much longer. He got dressed into a casual white shirt with a plain jacket over it and some work out jeans. He wasn’t physically nor mentally prepared for all of this, but what could he do. He walked down the steps and made his way to the general “door area”, waiting to leave. Since the apartment he stayed in wasn’t all that far away, he would just need to walk for a bit in order to reach his vehicle, not much of a problem. He stayed silent as everyone else came down and Kayleigh gave the explanation.

---

Barron was busily locking down the bar, pulling large metal grates over the glass cabinets behind the bar. A few heavy locks clicked, sealing the alcohol away from any late night intruders. It wasn't late night, though. He was getting ready for the mission they were departing for. All the alcohol was locked away, chairs were flipped onto tables, and doors were locked. The bar was wiped down, corners were swept, and lastly, a small bag was collected from under the bar. The contents were only known to Barron, and he seemed to like it that way. Locking the front door, he left it slightly ajar in case there were any stragglers. Stepping outside, he stretched and groaned. He was a little stiff after the last night, having slept behind the bar. He was a light sleeper, which allowed him to sleep during the bar hours. If the door opened, he woke up.

"If you're sure..." Lauri skeptically replied to Kendall's assessment of his ability to climb the stairs and crash into his bed. Though he wasn't about to stop the other man by babying him so he merely returned the courtesy of an awkward goodnight and watched him head off without splitting his skull open. That was good at least. Then, just as awkwardly, he addressed the bartender, "And, uh, you get a good rest too, Barron. Looking forward to working with you." And with that, he headed back upstairs too to finally grab is own key. Though on his way to his room, he was halted by the sight of an open door and a damaged door frame.

He should have helped Kendall with the key.

Though, nothing could be done about it now so he advanced into his own room, taking a moment to observe the interior. He'd have to try to familiarize himself with the place anyway if he were to live there for undetermined amount of time from now on. Maybe he should personalize it a bit somehow, get a plant or two for starters. ...Except who knows how long some of their future missions might be and coming back to a dead plant would be unfortunate. So perhaps something that doesn't need as much watering and attention. A succulent or a cactus maybe?

But that was a question for later. For now, Lauri crawled into bed to get some sleep before the following day's mission. Although it took him some time to actually fall asleep so he wasn't the most well rested he has ever been the next morning. He'd just have to deal with it though.

---

As Kendall presented his offer along with an indirect question the next morning, Lauri found a little scoff escaping his mouth. A car? Did he have any idea what those end up costing you!? ...Well, presumably he did since he had one. Lauri could take the offer though, since he did still have his driver's license and as far as he knew, it should be valid in America as well. The issue would probably be that he hadn't driven a car in years.

His thoughts were soon directed towards their upcoming assassin showdown though and he nervously shifted around from one foot to another, side-eyeing the little mom-son interaction that followed the little announcement Kayleigh delivered. He frowned a little as Kendall walked away from the brief exchange and headed for his car. The young man surely didn't seem to be making himself many favors to not be treated like a child. But he probably shouldn't bring that up.

Taking out his phone, Lauri quickly checked the location they were sent to get back on track and soothe his nerves a bit. Having a precise map of where they were going helped put his rigid mind at ease and stay on task. With a quick nod to Kayleigh, he followed Kendall to the car as he did need a ride of some variety.

"Well, I don't have a car," Lauri started as he neared the young man and his car, gesturing to any and all empty space on the parking lot where he might have put his car if he had one. "And I can drive, but it's been a long while." Whether that's a better option than hangover-brain was up for debate.

Speaking of which...

Lauri glanced back towards the others before turning back to face Kendall, lowering his voice, "How's the hangover? Got any painkillers for it?" He assumed his power wouldn't be able to help Kendall there since it wasn't exactly an injury or an illness, just bad decisions. Though, admittedly, he had never tried to cure a hangover.

---

Kendall perked up a bit at the sound of a familiar voice. Though he couldn't clearly remember everything from the night before, he definitely was able to recall he'd made a fool out of himself as a first encounter with-- Larry, wasn't it?-- and that he'd embarrassingly broken down in front of the male as well. He sighed at the question he'd been asked, running his fingers along the side of his head to tuck the bit of hair stuck out behind his ear.

"Not my worst, but not my best either. And I think I have some Ibuprofen in my glove box..." Kendall answered. As they neared his maroon Audi, he pressed the unlock button twice to unlock all of the doors before gently tossing his keys towards Larry. "I trust you driving more than I would trust myself at the moment. Plus with me in the driver's seat, there's no telling how often we'll be pulling over for me to puke." he told him as he open the passenger door.

He leaned on the car some, resting his arm on the top of the car as his eyes were fixated on Larry and his movements. He sighed again, quietly clearing his throat afterwards. "Hey," he called to get the male's attention, "Thanks for looking out for me last night. I really do appreciate it."

Kayleigh had watched the encounter between Kendall and Lauri as they grew further in the distance, not able to pick up on anything being said because of surrounding background noise. She watched Kendall as he leaned against his car, snarling some at his apparent fondness of Lauri. "Chop chop, people, we don't have all the time in the world to bring back one assassin! Get to know each other during the ride. Figure out how to use not only your powers, but your other assets in this attack as well!" she shouted. "And, no, Kendall, I don't mean your body parts, either!"

The added comment from his mother made Kendall roll his eyes, the only cue of this behind his sunglasses was the smacking of his lips accompanying it.

---

Tossing the rest of her somewhat bitter drink down her throat, Camille, who was not at all hopeful of tomorrow's mission, slammed the glass on the counter and stood, walking past the drunkard who had stolen the bottle and his friend. She dragged herself up the stairs, still unsure of why she was aiding these people in their fantastical revolution, and somehow managed to find her key and room without falling asleep. Once she was inside and laying on her duvet, however, she found herself unable to rest; perhaps early adrenaline for tomorrow's mission. Though she doubted they would pull it off - those that had a drink ended up consuming rather a large amount of alcohol, so would undoubtedly have hangovers.
The rest of her evening was spent throwing knives at her wall. She guessed that she wouldn't be here for long, hence why she cared not for the state of her room. Three knives were tossed continuously, each hitting exactly where it had been told. This was probably driving whoever accomadated the room next to her insane, she realised, but again ignored the fact.

Several hours after midnight, she managed to fall asleep, only to again be woken by footsteps outside her door. She groaned, grasping her pillow and covering her head with it, unwilling to leave her rather uncomfortable yet somewhat soothing resting area.
Why would they be rising this early? Running, abandoning the mission, she supposed. The mission.. she jolted awake, her eyes suddenly wide, the thought lingering in her head. Had she missed it? She hoped not, though she couldn't say she would have been sad to avoid participating in it.. Still, she flew out of bed, smacking into almost everything she could. She slept in her uniform, so she didn't need to change - not that she would have, anyway. She scrambled down the hallway before practically toppling down the stairs, and came to a screeching halt before she could smash into the door. Opening it gently, as if nothing had happened, she let out a sigh - the vehicle had not yet departed. Casually, she stepped out, smoothing down her hair, her chin up and shoulders back. Being unarmed was no problem for her, though she would have liked not to waste more energy on summoning knives.
Taking long strides, she made her way over to Kayleigh. "How far will we be.. er.. goo-ing aujourd'hui?" She drummed her fingers on her thigh. Some might have assumed that she had ADHD; indeed, it did seem as if she were always moving. Perhaps she should look into that, when this fiasco was over.

These were the times he thanked himself for refusing to drink alcohol. From seeing how these people acted from the hangovers, he didn’t want to be a part of it. Sure it might’ve been fun while it lasted but was it really worth it? He sighed and walked his way to his car. He wouldn’t think anyone else needed a ride, considering someone else had already offered, but he couldn’t be too sure. “If any of you still need a ride, I’m open.” He practically mumbled, still a bit uncomfortable with the group. Even then, he still wanted to talk to someone on the ride. He had briefly looked at the location and it seemed pretty far away, and it wouldn’t be pleasant for him to sit alone in silence, the only thing able to keep him occupied would be turning on the radio.

---

At first, Lauri was decently satisfied with Kendall's assessment of his hangover, but found himself making a face after catching the keys thrown his way. "Please tell me if you need to puke. We'll definitely be pulling over." He wasn't the most squeamish fellow, but he'd still very much prefer any puke to be outside of a car even if it's not his own.

Though any horrifying images of puke in the car he might have started conjuring up were soon wiped away by a very welcome distraction in the form of Kendall speaking again. Exhaling a puff of air, a smile overtook Lauri's features as he shifted on his feet. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be much of a teammate, would I?" He brushed it off with a chuckle, but it was nice to be appreciated nonetheless and he was far from immune to the warm fluffy feelings of knowing his attempt to help succeeded in some way.

Kayleigh's call tempered his dorky smile somewhat though and Lauri raised a mildly amused eyebrow at Kendall. He wasn't sure what that jab was about but he wasn't going to ask either. Opening the driver's side door in accordance with Kayleigh's urging to get a move on, Lauri leaned on the open door lightly as he surveyed the rest of their gathered company. "Think we'll get another passenger?" he asked the other man without looking at him. It seemed at least one of the others had moved to his own car so they didn't all have to cram themselves into the same vehicle. Not only would that be uncomfortable but also dangerous and illegal.

---

Many hours passed, and every hour seemed to be a step closer to finding his father again. Rey tried to sleep, but in a few hours or days, he may need to fight the very same people he considered family. He wanted everything to go back to normal, where his family was intact, everything was good, but it wasn’t. Finally, he succumbed to sleep, dreaming about what terrible things that may happen the next day.

---

"I honestly don't care if we do or not, but we're leaving in three minutes." Kendall answered Lauri as he slumped into his seat, closing the car door afterwards. He pressed the click-to-start button on the car, starting its engine and immediately turned the air settings as cool as possible to air out the heat from the car.

The ride there wasn't too terrible, only finding himself having to ask Lauri to pull over once and prompting him to take another set of painkillers to try to remedy his hangover. He sat in the car some to mentally prepare for the attack. "Try not to kill her." he reminded himself after his mother ordered the group to bring her back alive. "Let's go." he said after exhaling, feeling a bit of an adrenaline rush.

Walking a bit down the sidewalk, he stopped at the front of the building they were supposed to infiltrate. "I doubt it'll be easy to find her in there, this thing's like-- six stories tall." he commented, waving one of his fingers to fling the doors open before stepping inside the building.

"I assume you're the group that's come for me?" Valerie asked seeing Kendall step inside, sitting one of the couches facing the entrance. "I guess I was wrong." Kendall corrected, taking a few steps back not entirely sure what sort of attacks she would have.

Valerie squinted at Kendall, trying to make out his facial features but had a bit of a hard time behind his sunglasses he was wearing. "Your sunglasses, please." she called, extending her hand as she spoke. At the end of her sentence, Kendall's sunglasses seemingly faded off of his face behind a layer of black orbs before the same black orbs appeared in the palm of Valerie's hand with the sunglasses on her hand immediately following.

"Oh, you must be the baby brother. You and Koda look a lot alike, he's just a bit hotter than you. I could still go for you though. That is, if you like bad girls." Valerie flirted, rising from the couch in the process. "Sorry, I play for the other team." Kendall shot.

Without hesitating, Kendall quickly formed a ball of electricity in his palm and launched it towards Valerie. This sudden attack took her by surprise, not giving her enough time to call for it, though instinctively throwing the pair of sunglasses to meet its trajectory. Upon impact, the ball of electricity faded and Kendall's sunglasses disintegrated. "Those were my favorite sunglasses." he barked, throwing two more electro balls at Valerie.

The assassin ran towards them before pivoting her body, activating her levitation to flip herself over them and land in front of Kendall where she immediately went for an extended kick aimed directly for his head. Kendall raised his left arm to block the kick, though found her strength was either more than he anticipated or he was off his game due to his hangover as the force of the kick caused him to hit himself in the side of the face. Before Valerie could stand on both feet again, he ducked while extending one of his legs before spinning, pulling Valerie's other leg off the ground and causing her to fall onto the ground with a thud.

"Not bad, kid." Valerie complimented, her body lifting off the ground by activating her levitation. She bent over and quickly drew her dagger from her boot before throwing it towards Kendall. Taken by surprise, he extended both of his hands outwards while gasping to telekinetically stop the knife's travel. Valerie smirked at this, using her power to call a pair of handcuffs and have them now cuffing Kendall's hand. As his hands were bound, the knife dropped to the floor.

Valerie chuckled, stepping up to Kendall. "Y'know... handcuffs aren't a bad look on you..." she commented, Kendall snarling at that. "The thing with you telekinetics is that you all rely too much on having that space between yourself and your opponent. Bind your hands and you guys are just-- useless." she noted while walking in circles around Kendall. "Are you sure about that?" Kendall asked, Valerie turning towards him. Kendall squinted his eyes, triggering his Telekinesis and hurling Valerie into a wall beside them.

---

It wouldn’t be a trip if one of the members of the party got lost, now would it? Geo had decided to fill that role, unknowingly of course. One wrong turn ruined the route, leading him off course and missing out on the mission. All he did was sigh and cursed the gps for being so damn inaccurate, then turned around and headed to his destination. After a few minutes he finally arrived, only to be greeted with a fight that seemed to not be going too well. He was only able to see a small part of it though, as he was still in his car and unable to see much beyond the entrance. Even after the whole ordeal back at the bar, he was still quite indecisive. Should he just stay in his car and watch? It’s not like the fight was one-sided... The other option was to get out and try to help, but he didn’t like the idea of it. He would rather not involve himself and potentially be a hinderance to Kendall, but then again his involvement might be able to do something. Not much thought later and Geo had laid back in his seat. He shouldn’t go out... Not yet at least...

---

They did not leave in three minutes.

The culprit for the delay being Lauri's insistence to adjust the car seat and mirrors due to his difference in height in comparison to its usual driver. Driving with the seat and mirrors all over the place would be so irresponsible! Then he also dillydallied around by making sure seat belts were used and assigned a map reader. He'd rather not have to try to navigate himself while also driving in an environment he hadn't driven in before. They wouldn't be apprehending any criminals or saving any worlds if they died in a car crash.

Thankfully, no crashes were had during the ride and no puke ended up in the car so the first part of the plan turned out to be an outstanding success. Exiting the vehicle, Lauri left his coat behind on the car seat, not wanting it restricting himself. Kendall's insistence to attempt turning the car into a fridge had accustomed him to a chillier temperature well enough to stroll around in a T-shirt anyway.

But promptly after, things went slightly sideways. As Kendall strode ahead for their destination, Lauri couldn't help but notice the numbers didn't add up. They weren't all there yet, which wasn't good. "Should we-" he started just as Kendall flung the door wide open and their adversary was revealed waiting for them right on the other side.

Oh, that's bad.

It looked like they knew they were coming. Lauri stood frozen as the Assassin stole Kendall's sunglasses accompanied with the cocky bad guy chatter. As Kendall actually started the fight with the unfortunate demise of his sunglasses, Lauri backed a couple of steps away from the immediate area of fighting. He'd be doing no one any good if he accidentally got himself electrocuted or stabbed.

As the two of them exchanged few blows, Lauri let his eyes wander, hastily scanning the outside of the building for any signs of Assassin backup or surprises. But as Kendall pointed out, this thing is like six stories tall and there's just so many windows... And his attention was soon stolen by the arrival of a car, one of theirs in fact.

Except the driver made no move to get up from the car.

Wrinkling his brow in confusion and disbelief, Lauri whipped his gaze between the Assassin circling the now handcuffed Kendall and their car-bound new arrival, unsure of what to do with the situation. However, it turned out handcuffs weren't in fact the super-weapon the Assassin seemed to think and she ended up making closer acquaintances with a wall. With that little breather granted to them, Lauri took a moment to assess for damage, but Kendall didn't seem to be particularly injured and he couldn't help with the handcuffs.

So, for now, he merely voiced his concern: "Do you think there's more of them?" Though perhaps it was possible that this woman was indeed arrogant enough to knowingly walk into this confrontation alone...

---

Taking the time Valerie was recovering from being shoved into the wall, Kendall attempted to telekinetically snap the chain between the handcuffs. While his guard was lowered, Valerie had spun in the air while levitating herself and sent a kick directly into Kendall's chest. The force of the kick sent him tumbling backwards outside of the doors he'd stepped through a few minutes earlier.

He grunted some, standing up with his hands still bound. "Any of you gonna help or am I doing this alone?" he barked, noticing someone else's car had arrived at the scene. He stomped back inside, opening his hands to try to push back Valerie telekinetically, though with his hands constricted, he wasn't able to aim at anything successfully unless he channeled the power through his eyes.

"Calling for backup? What's the matter, pretty boy? Not as powerful as you think you are?" Valerie taunted. Kendall rolled his eyes at the statement, scoffing as he did so. "I'd have a better chance of doing anything if you hadn't handcuffed me." he stated, though finding he said it somewhat pointlessly considering she probably already knew that. "Oh? I thought you could do that ugly squinting thing at me the entire time instead." she spat. "Like you said, it's not good looking for me. I have an image to uphold." he shot back.

Valerie had apparently grown bored of the back-and-forth exchange between them, charging towards Kendall and kicking him directly in the face. He'd stumbled back from the force, wincing as he felt a sting accompanied with a bit a blood coming from his cheek. He swore under his breath, trying to use sheer force to break out of the handcuffs instead with no success. In this time, Valerie had retrieved the dagger from the ground and Kendall immediately felt the cold blade meeting his Adam's apple.

"Do so much as swallow and you die." she threatened, licking her lips in ecstasy at the power-play moment she'd been experiencing at the moment. Kendall stood completely still, looking down at Valerie with the knife pressed against his throat. He could do one of two things: try to channel his power through his eyes and knock her back, or try to swiftly pull himself away. He didn't know how fast she would react, so the former seemed to be the better option, though he had to consider if she had merely seen a shift in his eyes she would probably catch on and slit his throat open.

So the latter option was what was attempted. He'd quickly pulled away from the knife while lifting his knee to jab Valerie in the abdomen, though as he'd pulled back, she managed to gash right above his collarbone. Kendall exclaimed as he felt his skin break behind the knife, swearing some more afterwards. At the force of Kendall's knee into her abdomen, Valerie had hunched over in pain.

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