Disclaimer: I don't own, and don't have time to explain who does.

:}

"It's ME!" Jade heard herself saying, and realized she'd gone from listening in on the conversation to standing in her doorway, perception filter down, addressing her ex.

"You have no idea how hard I've been praying that you weren't." Beck replied, showing a dangerous lack of shock at the confession. "I mean, the odds were against it, except you... your probation, it started so soon after her arrest, I thought maybe, cause a trial takes time, and…"

"Plea deal." The goth said. "Not gonna go into details, just, yea, plea deal. They own my ass, for at least the next couple of years, and the guy who ran this place before V, he was a total sadist. Guy found his bliss, ruining kids lives in the name of justice, but he was such a monster…."

"Never met the guy, but based on how she looked, how she was deteriorating during that time, I already hate him." Achilles Junior commented.

"Plus, they wanted me to be your friend…" Beck continued. "I just, I hoped, whomever this girl was, it was my calm personality, and not my looks, cause…"

"Beck, I totally get it." Jade said, her voice calm now. "The person I was, back then, not someone I'D trust with the kind of power I have. But Mister Abra did wonders, helped me learn so much, in such a short time. I have no words…."

"Mister Abra?" Beck asked Rob.

"Was this street level mystic hero, named Mister Cadabra, and he had himself a sidekick…"

"You mean Hocus, or Pocus…" Beck started. "No, it makes sense for a guy calling himself Cadabra to have someone named Abra. So, they have a mystic hero who I hadn't heard of help training you? Have you gotten stronger?"

"I've got plenty of power, just not the skills, or apparently the patience…" Jade sighed. "I tried my hand at enchanting, and found out that it's its own specialty. Still suffering the burn, so I'm on study duty. I'm hoping I can recover enough by Saturday, cause I'm the one member of our group that doesn't have a choice. I'm going."

"And after, maybe you and Tori can have yourself a date." Misses V's voice cut in from nowhere. "Guys, I showed you this already, I have the whole facility under observation. Now, normally, I'd be wazzed at you sharing your civilian ID's, except you three, this was part of the plan. So… Yea, this IS okay, just barely. And Beck, Robbie, again, what happens down here stays in our meta identities…"

"And with that, I have police law to study." Jade sighed. "Beck, you should armor up, get to training."

"Good idea." He agreed. "Already exceeded what I can learn down under the school. Had no idea we had so many sub basements. Heck, I had no idea we had a basement…"

"This way." Rob gestured. "Today, we're doing flying as a team. Just, I more glide then fly, so…." Beck gave the boy a look. "Long story."

Beck had a few minutes to work with Rob, learning that the boy somehow could alter his density, becoming lighter, almost mist-like, and in that form, Achilles Junior could actually fly, despite his claim he could only glide. "Actually, before I tried this, all I could do was glide." Robbie explained. "I just, I tried this, and…"

"Don't apologize." Beck said, smiling under his opaque face plate. "I think that your mix of powers is kinda cool. What else can you do?"

"I get denser, add in my armor, and I'm hella strong. As in, actually super-humanly strong. Not a match for Dahlia, but then again, who is…." The nerd explained. "She did something to my amulet, and in addition to having a basic understanding of how to fight now, I have this limited elemental power. I just, I 'd tried straight flying, just like I'd tried armoring up, and it didn't shift me that much. However, by going elemental, rocky or misty, I have a bit more power, and flexibility. Still, gliding is far less taxing, and if I'm working with a flier, I can hitch a ride, get someplace fairly easily. Also, it's a limited amount of power, so I'm only able to do one of those tricks at a time. I can, however, do other, fun things. I can breath water, even propel myself underwater fairly quickly. Or, I can resist fire. This thing used to be only two elements, air and earth. This is new, and it's kinda cool. Been testing for the last few days, and they keep finding new things I can do. Almost makes the burn Dahlia went through worth is. That is, assuming she recovers quickly, cause she's still one of our big guns. Still…" The boy was enjoying the powerful body he had use of.

"So she's really that powerful, huh?" Beck wondered.

"Course, gonna be focusing on the strengthen and invulnerability aspects, to go with the name." The mystic hero added. "That's where my very limited fire abilities come in handy, cause I can push my resistance to fire, myself and my cloths, to the point where I can go into a fire, and have minimal risks. That is, up to a point. Still, add in breathing, cause I can breath smoke, and I'm a fire rescue hero. Achilles Junior, the invulnerable hero."

"Damage resistant." A scientist corrected. "Junior, you've drawn training with the Phantom. Copper, head to the firing rang. Time to put the weapon systems to a real test. Hoping we have respectable firepower on that thing, cause strength augmentation, not that great. Armor has it's limits, and the human body, even more. You're strong, don't get me wrong, even stronger then Warpath. Just, not as strong as a true powerhouse."

"Kinda like me, when I'm all densitied up." Robbie said, waving. "I gotta go get my ass kicked by someone… Oh, right. Sorry.." The big frame looked pensive.

"What was that about?" Beck asked the scientist.

"From what I've been able to gather, and please, understand, I don't wanna know, but it seems, accidentally, Junior knows as much about who's in the program as Dahlia." The scientist said. "Scratch that, more, cause our girl doesn't know who you are yet."

"We met, earlier today." Beck said, not wanting to give anything away. Not yet. "So, lets see what these weapons can do."

Beck would spend the rest of his time there getting used to firing his on board weapons. The beam weapons were impressive, a form of particle beam with a decent punch. He also had a focused electric pulse, similar to a taser, and an array of mini missiles. "Not bad at all. A one man assault force, almost like a tank. I'm just impressed the firing range hasn't melted or something."

"We had it reinforced after Dahlia." A tech explained. "Though you're not hitting nearly as hard as she can, when she pushed herself."

"She's THAT powerful…" Beck held his breath, trying to figure out if, and when, she got that strong. 'She never acted like she could melt cement…'

"Dahlia's impressive, and from what I understand, it was some kind of desperation thingy that has a price, and she's still paying it." A guard in police tech armor explained. "Just, yea, according to Dante, she's not sold her soul or anything. Rather, it's a succeed or die kind of deal, and she succeeded, and now has to learn how to deal with all that power…." The man had been there to help Beck adjust to how his armors weapons worked, even though they had very different trigger mechanisms. It had helped.

"Oh…" Beck exhaled. "Wait, why do you all keep calling her Dahlia, and Achilles Junior?"

"Full names are important for the press, but a pain to say when training." A tech explained, all while adjusting something. "So, when we can, we use abbreviations, or nicknames. Part of the name that is distinctive enough, and we go from there. You., your Copper, cause yea…" A chuckle. "Junior's junior, and Dahlia's.."

"I get that." Beck groaned. "What about Phantom?"

"The Velvet Phantom, technically the second Velvet Phantom, but who really cares." The tech said. "Her mother was the original, and she can, well, it's hard to explain. Healing factor, increased endurance, heightened strength, and girls arguably out best single fighter. So good in fact, she's a match for Junior, even without her other, we don't fully understand advantage."

"Oh…" Beck aimed down the range for his next weapon test, which doubled as him learning how to aim the damn things. He was finding the computer assisted tracking and weapon locks only really worked with a large enough target. He had to use computer assisted targeting against anything below a certain mass, and as such, was often missing the target at the end of the long firing range tunnel.

"Then there's Warpath." The armored police officer added. "Girls strong, not as strong as Junior at full density, but stronger then his normal. Quicker then just about anyone, and she can fight. Girls the second best fighter. Of course, Phantom can keep up, but damn, it's scary watching them go."

"So, she's superhuman?" Beck clarified.

"Her skins armored, but only bullet resistant." The tech added. "We have body armor for her, to help. Totaled up, the girls like maximum human, only more so. We've tested her, and girl is impressive. Just wish she was more interested in being a hero, cause she has so much potential…."

"And of course, no one knows what Wildcard can do." The guard added. "Um, she's someone V had in reserve, who doesn't train with us…"

Cat was walking with Dice and Sam, explaining how she was feeling kinda abandoned. "I totally get it, I have my new life, and Jade, she's in probation. Only now, it just feels like, I don't know, it's like everyone's drifting away, and I don't know why."

"That sucks." Sam replied. The blond was on her phone, looking something up, even as she walked along the beach with her friends. It was one of those days when, after school, there was plenty of space at the beach, even if they were almost never abandoned. Today, Dice had asked if they'd help Goomer with his training, and the two had agreed. It turned into therapy for the suicide redhead, who had noticed the new, busier schedules of most of her friends.

"I mean, sure, I have my babysitting, and Andre has his job, and Jade her probation, but what about the others?" Cat continued. "They have their own things now, even Robbie, and it's really feeling like I'm the odd girl out. Me, and maybe Andre, and Sinjin, but he's always the odd guy out, so I guess that's okay. But I hate not knowing whats going on…."

"Cat, please, some of us are trying to do email." Sam told her friend. The blond had tried, really tried, but they had been developing a wall between the two, and it had to do a lot with Carly, and her time in Italy. Sam was beginning to wonder if maybe she should have reached out more, instead of just heading out when she did.

"I totally understand, people do grow apart, and I have this new thing in Venice of America, but… SHINY!" She pointed to a small, metallic object half buried in the sand. The light seemed to refract on the shiny surface, sending back a rainbow spray of colors.

"Okay, the first thing we need to do is make sure nothing about this is dangerous…" Dice started.

"I know that." Sam sighed. "It looks all shiny and such, but while it looks like a sphere, that material is metallic, and might have hidden points or edges. That means it could cut, and then who knows what kind of..." However, as she was speaking, someone else was moving.

"Owe!" Cat gasped, dropping the small object, even as the trickle of blood left open a pathway of a very alien pathogen to invade her body, leading to something new. Seconds passed as they multiplied.

"Great, someone get the lifeguard, cause Cat hurt herself, and she's the only one who understands first aid." Sam groaned, while dice noticed something odd happening to his friend.

"Okay, that just about enough for today." V told Jade as the pale girl finished her daily studies in police procedure and the law. The instructors were pleased with her progress, thinking she wouldn't need much more time then a standard police cadet. "Why don't you head home and maybe see if one of your friends is on line."

"Half of them are down here." Jade replied.

"Just because you have this in your life doesn't mean you give up on having a social life." The mother of two explained. "Relationships require maintenance, and we've cleared Cat for video chats, if you feel okay doing that."

"Thinking that's a good idea." Jade nodded, smiling. "I'll just send her a text, let her know…"

"V!" One of the techs called. "There's a Meta tearing up the Venice Beach area. Constable is already on the way, and we're vectoring in Blue Steel. We also have a volunteer from LA Justice, Ultrabro, on rout. From what we're hearing, this may just be up his ally."

"Dahlia, you up for an appearance?" V asked.

"Me, I'd just get in the way." Jade groaned. "My powers, not nearly back, and I…"

"Can you fly?" V pushed.

"Yea, but…"

"You're faster then anyone expect Steel Copper, and Coppers not the least bit used to his powers." The woman in charge said. "Besides, you're just there for crowd control. We're gonna need all the help we can get, out there on the beach. So, if you can handle it, go, cause no way in hell anything traveling by land is gonna make it there in time. Not in this traffic. Even Steel is hitching a ride on a police helicopter in order to get there quicker, and he may not make it fast enough to save people."

"Just, if you get there first, avoid taking risks, but do what you can to keep the civilians safe until the real fighters arrive. And someone, contact warpath. I'm thinking, for this one, we're gonna need her." V instructed the teen.

Jade didn't bother changing, still in her costume for the days training, instead heading up the elevator to the top floor. From there, the roof, and her view of the city. 'Time to make a difference…'

"Dahlia, I'm gonna be going too." Phantom called. The elegant looking dress belied how well the girl could move. "Just waiting for a ride, and I'll be on my way."

"All hands on deck, huh?" Jade said. "Wishing I wasn't revering from the burn, or I'd offer you a ride."

"You don't have the capacity to spare for her." Koval Reminded her. "But you can fly, and fly quickly. I fear, it's time to be smart, and do what you can, because it's your second outing into combat, and you've yet to recover significant power. Soon, maybe, but not now."

"Just keeping it busy until our front line fighters get there." Jade said back. "Just doing my part."

"You'll do fine." Sikowitz told her.

"How?" Jade thought back, trying to figure out how the quirky teacher was communicating with her.

"My fox familair, Faxguard, is relaying my warning through Koval." The teacher explained. "Jade, you may lack power, but relying on raw power isn't always the best approach. For this battle, it's probably better to be smart, use what you have to distract and misdirect. Cadabra's favorite approach. Don't put yourself in any significant danger, but do what you can to help the civilians stay safe."

Jade didn't have time to think much about what she'd do, instead focusing her will, and her power, on flying. She needed speed, and was willing to sacrifice just about everything else to get that. Traveling as fast as the fastest winds, two hundred and thirty miles per hour. The goth didn't much care, needing to get there as quickly as possible to help the public. Also, something was telling her this was bad. 'Cat lives in Venice. Cat's in danger. I HAVE to get there, to save Cat.'

The beach was devastated, the petite assailant having destroyed any structure she'd come across. Only the quick thinking of Samantha Puckett had saved the public from a series of injuries and death, and even with her actions, there were those beach goers who'd need time in the hospital to recover. Cat, under an alien infection, had seemed to go berserk, and with a new strength no one could have suspected, was ripping the beach apart. Around her, a field of energy seemed to distort her image, a mockery of her normal self, but still recognizable to those who knew her.

"DICE! TELL GOOMER TO KEEP CLEARING THE BEACH, WHILE I TRY TO LEAD HER TOWARDS, I DON'T KNOW. TELL ME, WHERE CAN WE CONTAIN HER?" The blond yelled. Her own injuries were manageable, simply because Cat had tossed her, with a force that should have been lethal, but the ocean had blunted the impact.

"I HAVE NO IDEA!" The teen yelled back. His own contribution, claiming the police needed the beach cleared, had worked enough that they'd so far limited the damage to mostly just property. However, even he could tell, it was just a mater of turning to one side, towards the city, and the destruction would start to add up. "TOO MANY PEOPLE IN JUST ABOUT EVERY DIRECTION!"

"YOU DID GOOD!" A new voice entered the conversation. "JUST KEEP THIS PART OF THE BEACH CLEAR, AND STAY BACK. I'LL TAKE OVER!"

"Not sure some phantom lion gonna do much to stop her." Sam complained.

The Black Dahlia had arrived, floating above the beach, looking at the muted destruction before her. 'Hard to do too much to a beach with just strength. Still, focus Jade. You have to find a way to stop her, cause it's CAT! MY GOD! IT'S CAT. I...Okay, focus, calm the fuck down and focus, cause your the one who has to stop her. "SOMEONE, FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED! WE MAY NEED TO KNOW IN ORDER TO STOP HER!"

The others just nodded, with a police officer putting down the gun he'd been using to ineffectively shoot the petite monster and went to interview someone, anyone, to find out just what started this attack.

'Okay, I travel about one and a half times the speed of the next fastest of us, so maybe another three minutes until Phantom gets here. Joy.' Dahlia thought to herself, even as she changed position to put the ocean behind her. "CAT! Listen, you have to stop." The raging girl didn't acknowledge her, instead ripping a lifeguards tower down and shredding it. "Okay, that didn't work. Next, lets try confusing her… No, need her looking this way first. So…"

Jade knew she wouldn't be able to conjure much in the way of damage, so instead used her wind, the same she used to fly, to blow a small, focused sandstorm at the girl. The small particles ripped at the girl, but the distortion field prevented them from so much as discoloring the girls admittedly cure bikini. It did, however, draw a moments attention. "Okay, do I have your attention?"

A moment later, a largish section of the tower flew towards Jade, missing by only the thinnest hair, and only because Kravel had pushed her out of the way. 'Fuck. She shouldn't… It should have broken up with the throw. As unstable as that piece was, when she tossed it, all the force was at the point of throw, and.. This isn't normal.'

The blue eyed heroin decided to play another game, conjuring an illusion, similar to her training spell. Only, something was preventing Cat from believing the images being projected into her mind. 'Okay, gotta go with illusions of light and sound, cause she's not buying the hallucination spell.. Wait, that was a mental shield. Something.. This is psionic based strength. Telekinesis, or something related. THAT'S why she can lift cars and chiz… Which means the next thing she's gonna go for is the parking lot, and whats left of the cars there, cause ammo…"

Jade shifted tactics, weaving light and sound with fragments of air and fire, making a phantom to threaten the girl. Cat watched for a just a second, unsure if this was real, before the rage took over and she lashed out at the image. Jade, realizing the trick wouldn't work too often if she let the girl touch her image, pulled it away, making her phantom dodge.

For the next half minute, that dodging image became her focus, using the illusion to draw her friends attacks, moving them away from the crowds, the parking lot, towards one of the few relatively isolated stretches of beach. 'Thin beach by comparison, in a heavily populated area, so no place where I can get her totally away from property. Still, manage to get her away from the hard to replace chiz, and her friends, damn she's made new friends. Feel like I'm being replace. NO! Focus, Jade. Keep her away from the crowds, make her work off all that rage. I know, from experience, I just burn out after a time. Just keep her fighting, using up that strength, while marshaling my own. This, think I can do this all day.'

At one point, Cat moved to leap away, towards tempting targets, and more people too bovine to realize how close to danger they were. The petite girl launched herself up into the air, and Jade shifted the winds she was riding to push her friend away, deflecting the girl into the ocean.

'Do berserk people swim?' She thought as she rushed, still up in the air, to see if she needed to save her friend. 'I want to save her, make sure she doesn't drown, but I can't risk getting too close… Wind won't do anything but blow around the water… Water! I can move the water.'

Jade focused on moving the thicker medium, the water, summoning a minor elemental to help save her friend, while also preventing Cat from doing any permanent damage to a would be rescuer. Seconds later, a wave smashed Cat against the wet beach, bonded particles of sand holding together enough for a rough landing. A bone crunching smack echoed down the beach.

And the enraged teen just stood up, ready to continue to fight her persistent foe. The plan on containing Cat was set, and Jade had every understanding of what she could do. 'I'm able to use a LOT more energy then I could when I was with Steel. So, why is it I feel so drained, like I'm still barely using any real power? Did I somehow grow stronger? Is that even allowed? I mean, I HAD so much power, and focus, Jade, cause Cat's not slowing down. Just a mater of time before I'm forced to show her I can do something real again.'

The game of cat and mouse continued, with Jade's phantom annoying cat, making the enraged girl use more and more energy against a foe who seemingly could easily avoid her wrath. Cat wasn't staying fooled, despite the anger making her decisions for her. In the end, Jade realized, it was about having some release for her rage, something to smash, more then the frustration at not hitting Jade's illusionary opponents. The Black Dahlia still managed to keep Cat occupied for a log time, seemingly hours, all while saving most of her energy for the real fight to come, once one of her known teammates arrived.

'Damn, Cat's not tiring. This is bad. I just…' She felt it, the arrival of someone else, near by, watching. "Okay, times up, game changes." She said, looking briefly for whomever had just arrived. Again, her familiar pushed her out of the way of a hurled camper Cat had quickly lept to while Jade was distracted, thus saving her from yet another early death.

:}

This feels like a good place to stop. So, thoughts on Beck's new training, or how Robbie seems to know so much of the projects secrets? How about Cat, and her new look. Thinking it'll take something extra to stop her. And what is an Ultrabro?

Thoughts?