((OOC: So, fast paced RP. Oops. I think I can commit to a post every two days, so I'll stick to that from now on.))


“Hm, not bad,” approved Tailin as she observed Bertók’s handiwork. “Almost as good as the real thing.”

From the commotion in the adjacent hallway, it was clear that the glass soldiers had fallen to their real-world counterparts. The remaining mercenaries were now charging towards the pair of Pantheon agents, only a few feet from rounding the corner from the sounds of it. They came to an abrupt halt, however, as the glass Tailin stepped out to confront them, arms crossed and a menacing scowl on her face. The soldiers froze, paralyzed for an instant by fear as the recent memory of what this girl had done to their commander flashed through their minds.

That brief hesitation was all Tailin needed. Before the first syllable of the leading soldier’s command to fire had formed on his lips, the real Shenanigan had dashed into their midst and begun systematically dispatching them with a series of swift kicks to the head. After a moment of chaos, a lone mercenary remained, trembling amongst the fallen bodies of his comrades.

Had Tailin been entirely focused on the greater good of the mission at hand, doubtless this man would have already joined his companions. However, Tailin was nothing if not a showoff, and the submachine gun that her adversary held clutched in his white-knuckled hands had given her an idea. She came to a stop some dozen feet from him and turned around with an elaborate bow, as if she were a street performer that had just accomplished some great feat. As she came back up, she stretched her arms out wide, sticking her tongue out for good measure. Tailin couldn’t speak Arabic, but she was fairly certain that she was giving the universal sign for “shoot me if you can, sucker.”

The illusion still stood there, still untouched, after Tailin had dispatched the troops. Bertók, growing tired of being there, decided to cut her gloating short so they could leave. He sent his copy of Tailin ran around the real one and plowed straight into the last mercenary. The illusion shattered upon impact, but the full force of it hitting the man caused him to stagger and crumple to the floor.

Immediately as the copy struck the man, Bertók once again ran out and grabbed Tailin by the arm, dragging her back the way they came.
"Your dramatic flair will get both of us killed one day, infano" he muttered. "But for now, which way did we come from and how do we leave this forsaken pit of sand?"

“What did you do that for, ya jerk?”, Tailin whined as she pulled her arm from Bertók’s grasp. “I was just getting to the fun part!”

Tailin was a cheerful person for the most part, and usually understanding, especially of those she was fond of. However, her stubbornness and competitive spirit defined her, and she did not take kindly to being interrupted while she was showing off. Unfortunately for him, Bertók had crossed into the territory of unforgivable sins by upstaging his partner in the middle of her act, and she was going to ensure that he regretted it. Crossing her arms and planting her feet squarely in the direction opposite that in which they were supposed to be going, she spouted: “You can leave for all I care, but I’m not going anywhere until you apologize.”

Bertók turned around as the girl pulled herself away from his grip and stalled their progress. He glared at her, dropping his usual blaze attitude, and grabbed her his his free hand, pulling her to his face.

"You petulant child! Has the gravity of our situation not sunk in yet? I understand you want to play hero, but look where we are! Look at what we're doing! Death sits all around us, and you act like we're playing a little game, that at the end of the day we take off our costumes and become normal people again. We carry a burden no others have to bear, and you act like it's nothing. I'm not going to apologize for wanted this to end. I want to go home and write so I can forget, and you're coming back with me whether you like it or not."

"Are you two finished?" Natalie asked as she rounded the corner with Abdul in tow, ignoring the bodies scattered about the corridor. "Christ, I could hear you from down the hall. Mirwahs is right, we don't have time to fool around. Our escape route has been secured, and last I saw, MB and Magnesia were fighting another super."

She paused briefly and checked her map, then sighed before continuing.

"Mirrors, I think it would be best if you and I went to check on them. Shenanigans can escort princy here to the exit. Any objections?"

Bertók, giving her one last quick look, released his grip on Tailin and composed himself. He didn't mean to blow up, but the stress of the situation and Tailin's opposing personality overwhelmed him. Even though she acted like a brat, he felt somewhat guilty and embarrassed, if only because what meant to say was only supposed to be to her. Having it overheard by another left him feeling somewhat exposed and uncomfortable.

"I apologize for that," he told Tailin quietly before turning to Natalie.
"I'm fine with it."

A trembling Tailin had just begun to stammer a response to her partner’s sudden outburst when Natalie and her royal charge burst onto the scene, forcing a dissipation of tension and rendering any further butting of heads all but impossible.

As the newly-arrived Pantheon agent outlined her plan, Tailin could not help but feel dejected. Getting to fight other super-powered beings was exactly what she had been looking forward to, and here she was getting stuck babysitting an admittedly good-looking prince. Arguing would be of no avail, as Natalie was clearly on Bertók’s side. Regardless, Betók’s reprimand had drained her of any will to fight or frankly, do much of anything else besides lying in bed to cry. But now was not the time for that. Brushing herself off and wiping a tear from her eye, she acquiesced with a simple nod and a sullen “whatever”.

With news of their escape route having been secured, things seemed to be turning up for the fledgling team of heroes. However they were not yet out of the woods. As Ramon looked out in the distance, he could see a military jeep quickly driving towards the base, kicking up a cloud of sand as it approached.

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The prince watched as Saline and Mirroirs went back down the corridor he had walked earlier. Looking at Shenanigan, he smiled, believing her to also be a superhero like his saviour. Of course, he had no idea whether she too had powers, but if the bodies around them were any indicator of her ability, he was impressed and he was confident that they'd get out alive.

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"Alright, I think I can do that" replied Abi as she raised her hands on either side of herself. In truth, Abi did not believe she was capable of manipulating all the metal around her beyond the tremors. While in hiding, she had been taught to control her abilities. It was strongly suggested that she not fully explore her abilities, nor determine their full extent. Thus, she truly lacked any refined skill over her abilities.

The young man looked around himself as the metal plates and the metal flooring began to vibrate. He looked directly at Magnesia, quickly tossing two orbs of energy in her direction, though he had not anticipated the force field projected by her brother. Once again, the bounced off of the shield flying back towards him, giving him only a brief moment to cross his arms in front of his face as they exploded violently. The room filled with thick black smoke, obscuring their view of the young man, though before they could investigate, a second explosion from above them caused ceiling panels to fall towards the siblings as a third explosion from directly in front of them blew a large hole into the ground right at Mind Buster's feet. Fortunately, they reacted in sequence. Mind Buster maintained his shield, protecting himself from the explosion, though if he wasn't careful he would fall to the floor below. While Magnesia quickly whisked the metal panels out of their path.

It was mildly disconcerting for Abigail once she saw the glowing eyes of the young man appear as the smoke cleared. He seemed practically indestructible. How was he still not dead? Before she could retaliate however, the young man threw an orb at one of the support structures of the floor, exploding and causing the entire base to jolt violently to the left.

Austin was dumbfounded as he watched the enemy blow up one of the support structures. "Yeah, keep doing that, idiot, that will definitely solve your problems." The sarcastic undertone was obvious considering he could merely shield himself and his sister if the structure fell. He keyed his mic. "I think if we piss this guy off enough, he'll do stupid things like that, and kill himself. Unless you have a more reliable plan?"

As the two pairs went their separate ways, Natalie couldn't help but wonder whether she could've handled that better. Naturally, she couldn't leave Bert and Tailin together with tensions running so high, but she hadn't expected the girl to be so upset. Perhaps he had been a little harsh… No. No, Tailin was just being unreasonable. This situation was nothing to get into such a fuss over. Bertók wasn't exactly pleasant company, but he had definitely been in the right this time.

Natalie was suddenly and unpleasantly reminded that she was now walking through the corridors of a military installation alone with a man she barely knew. She had known this would be the price to pay for her decision, but it made her uncomfortable nonetheless. She displayed her holographic map once again to distract herself. Austin and Abigail were still in roughly the same location as when she'd separated from them. The girl stopped as she reached a junction with several bodies lying on the ground. Yep, they weren't far now. However, before they could move any farther, the entire compound shuddered violently.

"I think if we piss this guy off enough, he'll do stupid things like that, and kill himself. Unless you have a more reliable plan?" Natalie's headset suddenly chirped to life, answering her question before she could ask it. This was Explodeo's handiwork, no doubt. Austin's message was admittedly quite worrisome. She activated her own microphone.

"At this rate, he's going to kill all of us! Just hold on, Mirrors and I are on the way." Sweat forming on her brow, Natalie switched off the mic and turned to Bertók. "We should hurry."

This post has been edited, so you may need to read it again depending on whether or not you enjoy coherence and/or whether or not you are Whimmy.

Bertók, still feeling strange after apologizing to Tailin concerning his outburst, took note of the quake within the compound, assuming that whatever they were fighting was a bit larger and stronger than he was expecting. Nevertheless, he figured that, if anything, the enemy was just another big block of muscle like the last one. Nothing they couldn't handle. This would be especially true if he were just as dumb, which could give him options with his mirror. Natalie, finished speaking with the others, turned to him and told him they should hurry.

"After you," he replied calmly.

Tailin stared at the ground for a few seconds before returning the prince’s smile with an awkward grimace. She really wasn’t in the mood. Still, she would have to make the best of the situation. Fumbling with her Iris device for the first time since the beginning of the mission, she managed to pull up the map of the complex, which had been updated with a route leading towards their recently-opened exit. “Welp, let’s go, I guess,” she instructed, stepping over the bodies of those she had fought only a moment ago. “Don’t mind them. They’ll be out for another few hours at least.,” she said, before recognizing a face. “Except that one,” she added, pointing to the mercenary that Bertók’s illusion had knocked out. “He’ll wake up earlier. Maybe if we’re lucky he’ll pee himself when he sees all his friends and thinks they’re dead. That would be funny.”

For the next several minutes not a word was spoken between the two. Tailin lead, occasionally checking her map, and the prince followed some six feet behind. The girl had tried stuffing her hands in her pockets, but the sorry excuses for pockets on the Pantheon suits were so poorly placed that it had served only to amplify her frustration. “Freakin’ designers never tried wearing one of these themselves,” she grumbled beneath her breath. Fortunately, the young woman was able to amuse herself by flicking dents in the metal handrailing that ran the length of the passage in which they were walking. The repetitive *ping* had a rather soothing effect.

Just as Tailin was reaching the 150 *ping* mark, the whole complex shook with the sudden violence of an earthquake. Doubtless a sign that the others had engaged their target, she thought without much concern. As she steadied herself, however, she glanced back at the prince, leaning against the wall and visibly distraught. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it was just the others,” she said, trying to reassure him. “They’re probably busy battling whoever these losers hired to keep you here.” Instinct and a revived sense of curiosity told Tailin that the best remedy for stress was to keep talking, so she continued: “Why are you here anyway, huh? What’s a nice guy like you got that a bunch of mercs would want to keep him locked up?”

Natalie nodded. "Okay, I need you to trust me for a minute. Hand me your mirror." Bertók gave her a tentative look, but reluctantly obliged. As the girl tucked the mirror under her arm, she continued, "I apologize in advance for this."

Before the man had a chance to protest, Natalie had tackled him, lifting him bodily over her shoulder, and was running for the nearby stairwell. As she approached the steps, she leapt over the railing and plummeted toward the ground, bypassing the stairs entirely. She held on tightly to both Bertók and his mirror, ensuring that neither could slip from her grasp. As they neared the bottom, the girl formed a small platform of salt below her feet, slowing her descent to a crawl. The pair touched down gently, but Natalie wasn't finished. Without skipping a beat, she burst out into the kitchen with her passenger still in tow and darted for the hallway where she had last seen her comrades. Once she reached their destination, only then did she stop, put down her teammate, and awkwardly return his mirror to him. The ordeal had lasted about twenty seconds.

"I won't tell anyone if you don't." She muttered, adamantly avoiding eye contact as she went to join Austin and Abigail.

Just as he thought the mission would be coming to a close, everything blew up (quite literally) at once. While staring out into the vast desert their mission was placed in he caught sight of a truck closing in on their position.

"These guys just won't quit," Ramon reached for his IRIS to inform his teammates when he heard the transmission from Austin and Abi. He decided to chime in before anything else unexpected happened, "Pantheon, we've got more bad guys closing in. I'm gonna try and keep our exit clear for as long as I can." Using his powers long-rage would put a bit of strain on him so he decided it'd be the best if he kept watch until they'd gotten close enough for him to react.

Noticeably shaken by the explosion and the subsequent shifting of the military base, the super heroine was his sole source of stability in their literally unstable situation. Prince Mohammad followed close behind her, almost embarrassingly so, though he appreciated her attempt to keep his mind of their current plight.

"Honestly, I don't know" replied the prince with a shrug, had Tailin noticed, she would've picked up on a slight Queen's English accent, "I study politics and literature in London, I'm useless unless they were planning on writing a political treatise. They probably wanted to get something from my father; my life in exchange for whatever he could give them."

He stopped, and held Tailin's hand with a sincere expression on his face, "From the bottom of my heart, I thank you" He said this first in Arabic, before repeating himself in English. "Truly, I thank you and your friends for saving me"

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Ramon's alert of a further arrival only seemed to complicate things further. Abi solely hoped that he and Mike would be able to keep their escape route unobstructed. If the super before them was willing to take out one support of the base, she wouldn't put it past him to take the entire structure out. These rogue supers seemed to be psychologically unstable.

"Alright! Four on one, this has finally gotten interesting" smiled the mystery man as he noted the arrival of Mirroirs and Saline, "What do you two do?" he asked with faux-interest "We've got metal lass and wall man over here. Come and join the party! I'm sure we'll bring the whole house down." He said the last part in a chillingly sinister tone, sending shivers up and down Abi's spine.

He produced an orb in the palm of his hand and casually rolled it onto the ground towards Bertok, with a sinister smile.

"Let's go Mirror Man, show me what you've got!"

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The car stopped a considerable distance from the entrance, and a small troop of armed men walked out from the jeep. They yelled something in Arabic, quite apparent that something big had occurred due to the large hole where the doors to the base once were.