((A/N: Welcome back to "All My Superheroes…" XD My friend Neme (who I had no idea read this crap, thankies Neme!) poked me repeatedly until I promised to update this, so here you go, thank her. Character conflict and stupidity abounds! Whoot!
Disclaimer: Ari Taizen and PistolX are my COH characters. Kid Rocket belongs to her player, while Noelle is Raven001's. City of Heroes (and City of Villains) belong to NCSoft.))

The four crept through the forest, quietly hunting for foes.
"Alright everyone, here's the plan," Kid Rocket began. "When we find them, you three stay back while I get their attention. After they're grouped around me, Pistol can blind them and send in one of her demons. Then, you two-" she indicated Ari and Noelle, "-can start blastin' them! Got it?" The three of them blinked at the 'sponge,' shrugged and nodded.

"Oh, and everyone stay far enough away from them," Ari warned. "Their claws are like swords, they're so damned long."

"We've got it already," Pistol sighed. "Can we go now?"

Noelle snickered and poked her. "C'mon Pistol! Lighten up!" The summoner glared acidly at her as the group progressed.

Kid stopped short, nearly causing a domino effect as the others bumped into her.

"Hey, what's-" Kid clapped her gloved hand over Ari's mouth, earning her an irritated look.

"Shh!" She hissed, pointing. "Look, they're right there!" The group immediately shut up and leaned over the smaller girl's shoulder to get a good look.

A pack of Warwolves were gathered in the clearing ahead. Silver furred lycanthropic nightmares, they all stood at nearly seven feet tall, with a muscular frame. Long, razor sharp claws jutted from paw-like hands, while shorter claws tipped their wolf-like hindquarters. Their eyes were pure, expressionless white, while pointed, elongated ears twitched back and forth. Each wore worn pants, a steel-and-leather collar, and a harness over their chests. They were a fearsome sight.

Kid looked back at the team and grinned, pulling her silver goggles over her eyes. "Let's roll!"

"That was lame!" Ari yelled after her as the supercharged heroine sped off straight into the pack.

"Hey, it's not like your battle cry is always a creative masterpiece," Kid laughed, sticking her tongue out at the group of Warwolves. The leader snarled, enraged, and charged towards Kid. She turned and dashed off, stopping a distance away to allow them to catch up. "C'mon, doggie-woggies!" She taunted, running backwards a few speedy meters at a time. The pack howled in rage and chased after her.

Pistol glanced back at the group. "Think it's safe for us to start?"

Noelle laughed. "Naaah, let Kid run for a bit!"

"Wanna scout for us, Noelle?" Ari offered.

She nodded, grinning. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, get going. We don't wanna lose Kid."

"Sweet!" Noelle immediately jetted up into the air, flying after Kid over the leafy canopy. Ari and Pistol followed on foot, keeping out of the way of other enemies and following the Warwolves' trail. After of only a short time of walking, a high-pitched screech made them both jump and look up.

"I didn't know her voice could carry so far," Pistol deadpanned. Ari blinked and watched as Noelle streaked across the sky, screaming bloody murder as a swarm of insects chased after her.

"Wow. I didn't know bugs grew that large, either."

Noelle did an impressive loop and dove through the leaf canopy, throwing the insects off-course for a moment.

"What did you DO?" Ari asked, raising an eyebrow.

"BEEEEEEEES!" Noelle shrieked as she passed them by. The insects buzzed angrily after her, and Ari's jaw dropped as she realized what they were.

"Gah! Noelle! Those aren't bees, they're Swarms! From the Devouring Earth monsters!"

"GET THEM OFF ME!"

"Holy crap, what do we do!" Ari looked at Pistol anxiously, who shrugged.

"You shoot fire, right? Ever seen a bug fly into a campfire?"

Ari leaped into the air, grabbed a tree branch and launched herself off of it, gaining a fair amount of height from her superpowered leap. At the top of her arc, she flung a fireball at the Swarms chasing Noelle. The flames took out a few of the bugs, but the Swarm was largely unharmed. Ari's eyes widened as the Swarm aligned itself towards her. She landed with a jolt next to Pistol.

"Sooo… bug barbeque?"

"RUN FOR IT!" Ari yelled as the aggravated Swarms zipped down through the tree cover and flew towards them. The two of them took off sprinting a few meters until Pistol rolled her eyes and teleported herself well behind the Swarms. The bugs paused in confusion before chasing after Ari again.

"Damnit Pistol, thanks a lot!"

"Hey, you ticked them off. You handle them," Pistol laughed, watching as the kitsune bounded across the forest, trying to keep ahead of the dangerous insects. Blasting them with fire whenever she got an opening, she growled and leaped as high as she could, doing a mid-air backflip and running back to where she and Pistol had been. Noelle swooped down out of nowhere and fried some of the bugs with a lightning flash.

"Ahaha, gotcha!" She crowed triumphantly, before pausing and shrieking as the Swarm split up to chase her as well. Ari sighed and leaped again, springboarding off of a tree to gain more height. The Swarms zipped after her, stinging whenever they got the chance and slowing the kitsune down with their poison. Eventually they were able to overtake her, attacking her in midair as she neared the top of an arc.

"Gah! Heeeelp!" She couldn't control her landing and fell in a heap into the shallow stream below. Picking herself up painfully, she blinked as she realized she had fallen straight into the Warwolf pack.

"Oh crap."

The black Warwolf leader roared and swiped at her, sending her flying backwards and slashing three deep lines into her arm. She winced as she stood, looking over the claw marks worriedly. The Wolf charged, and Ari jumped a few feet backwards, quickly forming a ring of fire around him so he couldn't advance further. Shifting her attention to the rest of the Pack, she quickly ducked a huge chunk of thrown earth and sent a fireball streaking back at her attacker.

Kid Rocket ran up, skidding to a stop and looking at the kitsune.

"Nice timing, Ari, you just totally distracted them," Kid panted, giving her an irritated look. "Where the hell have you guys been?"

"Kinda preoccupied," Ari growled. "Noelle had a bee issue." She dodged another thrown boulder and looked back at the tanker. "Some help here?" Kid nodded and dashed to the Warwolves, throwing quick punches and kicks at each of them in turn and taking their attention away from Ari.

Noelle zoomed in from the left, rambling something along the lines of 'ohmigod sorry I totally lost you' and stared at the scene.

"Wow! That's a really big pack!"

"Quit staring and fry them!"

She quickly flung lightning bolts at them, helping Ari take them down one at a time. It was pretty close, but the three managed to take out the pack.

Pistol sauntered over, smirking. "So, how'd it go?"

"Oh yeah, it was awesome. Especially the part where you weren't helping us!"

"Hey, back off, foxy," Pistol hissed. "I'm not the one who aggrod a pack of Swarm. After you and that reject lost them I took them out."

Sparks flew from Noelle's hands. "Yeah, some stupid bees took you that long to kill, miss High and Mighty demon summoner?" She shot back, incensed from the 'reject' comment.

"It's not like you did any better, you idiot weather witch!"

Ari snarled at Pistol, fangs bared. "Who are you to call someone a witch?"

"Hey! Break it up, you guys!" Kid stood between Pistol and the others. Pistol glared at the short tanker.

"I'm out of here." The angry summoner teleported away in a flash of light, vanishing before the others could stop her.

"Oh, great going, guys!" Kid threw her hands in the air exasperatedly. "Piss off the demon master that can take out entire groups! Nice one!"

"Hey, it's not our fault she acts so arrogant!" Ari growled, fox ears flattening angrily.

"Yeah, why's she so emo all the time?" Noelle asked, pouting. Kid shrugged.

"Some people just have issues. Anyway, we've gotta find her."

"What!" Ari stared at Kid. "Why? She obviously loathes us-"

"HELLO? This is Stringa Isle! With Council, Warwolves and zombies around every corner! A solo hero doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell surviving here!"

The two elementals blinked and looked guilty.

"Well-"

"Shut up and let's go."