Daring Race

Important Job
A large group of special SWAT team troops were busy squabbling about the possible risks of the mission. Jeniyus stood there patiently, waiting for them to come to a decision. Finally, they started to quiet down as they realized that something had to be done, and that this was, possibly, their only way. They fell silent, and one of them turned to Jeniyus, holding a small diamond. "Jeniyus. This is a very special diamond that will, hopefully, be displayed in the armed, heavily gurarded Benadine Museum in New Zealand. As I'm sure you know, Metrinos will definitely be after it, because of how expensive it is. Since you are the only one (on earth) who's ever been able to defeat him, we feel that the only way to get this diamond to New Zealand is by entrusting it to you." He handed the diamond to Jeniyus.

Jeniyus, carefully, placed the diamond inside a small, dark green pouch with a large, loose strap, tied the pouch shut, and slung the strap over her shoulder. She, then, looked the man in the eyes, and said, "Alright, sir. I'll do my best. I can't make any promises, as Metrinos is really...unpredictable. But I'll give him hell before he takes this diamond."

The man nodded. "Good luck. And Godspeed." He handed Jeniyus a plane ticket.

She accepted them and said, "Thank you. I guess I'll be off now."

Most of the other troops were looking down at their feet. They hated sending a young woman out to do something like this, but there was really no other choice.

Jeniyus turned and walked out of the building.

Let the Games Begin
Jeniyus took only two steps outside before Metrinos jumped down in front of her from a small tree, smirking evilly at her. "Hello, Jeniyus. I believe you have something I want." He snapped his fingers and roughly eighty monsters appeared all around them, encircling him and Jeniyus.

Jeniyus screamed in childish terror.

(Feel free to join in)

Suddenly, there was the sound of a crash from above and another monster crashed onto the pavement between Jeniyus and Metrinos- a monster that resembled a fiendish cross between vampire and werewolf; standing on top of the monster was a girl with colorless eyes and long, black hair. Strapped on her back was a curved sword and in her hands were two sub-machine guns, which she promptly pointed at the fiend before riddling it's brain full of bullets; the monster screeched before crumbling into black dust.

Metrinos, Jeniyus, and the monsters stared in awe at the girl. Metrinos raised an eyebrow. "Uhhm..."

Nearby, another figure, with dark brown eyes and long, shaggy hair landed from above, his descent slowed by his psychic power. "Um... are we not welcome here?"

The girl turned to him, revealing her distant, mysteriously colorless eyes. "Of all the stupid questions..."

Metrinos walked right up to the male figure and looked him in the eyes. He shifted his gaze between him and the girl a few times. "Never seen you two around here before. Who are you exactly? And why are you here?"

"Whoa, too close, too close!" the male exclaimed, taking several steps back.

"Our work doesn't concern you," the female said coldly.

Metrinos smirked at her and said, "My, aren't we icy this evening? Well, if you're work doesn't concern me, then I advise you to step aside. These monsters I have here are...tricky."

Fleur glared at Metrinos for a moment, before turning away. "Alan, none of these monsters are Defiled Ones. Let's go."

"Wait a sec, Fleur." Alan responded, turning back to Metrinos. "Just what are you doing in the middle of a city with a horde of monsters?"

Metrinos frowned a bit. "Are you superheroes?"

"Those guys who wear the tights and capes and fly about saving the day and all that jazz? No." Alan responded.

"Buuut, surely you'll get in my way if I told you I wanted to steal the diamond from my little friend over there?"

"Not our problem, then." Fleur said.

"But, wait- look at this guy! He doesn't even look like he'll be any trouble- we ought to just help out because we can!"

"The organization's not gonna like that."

"Well, screw the organization, I never wanted to join them anyway."

Jeniyus smiled at the male. "You're...gonna' help?"

Metrinos smirked at the male, a bit miffed. "I don't look like I'll be any trouble, ey? Well, you're in for a surprise."

Fleur scoffed. "Fine then. If you want to help, I suppose I don't have much of a choice..."

Metrinos's heart sank, and he sighed with discontent. "Great. More superheroes from another world..."

Jeniyus raised her fists in the air. "Yes!"

"No, no, we're some of the ones from Earth. But still... don't get your hopes up." Alan said. Fleur placed her guns back into their holsters and unsheathed her sword, stepping back near Alan.

Metrinos smirked at the duo. "Hm. Well then, let's see how you like a concentrated attack from my army of monsters!" He raised his hand, and all at once, the monsters shot pink colored sleeping gas at them.

"Sleeping gas?" Alan said with exaggerated contempt. "Big deal." Calling upon his telekinesis, he wills the putrid clouds away from himself, Fleur, and Jeniyus and toward Metrinos.

Quickly, Metrinos created a barrier around himself to protect him from the gas. Then, the gas dissipated with a snap of Metrinos's fingers. He lowered the barrier. "No good, huh? Well, let's see you two escape this." He snapped his fingers again and a thick barrier appeared around Alan and Fleur. "There. With you two out of the way, I can easily catch Jeniyus and take the diamond."

But before Metrinos could move, he suddenly felt a psychic force holding him back; Alan's telekinesis was more than adequate for holding him in place.

Metrinos's facial expression turned to one of confusion. "What...is this?"

Jeniyus pulled out her sword and swung it at the barrier around Alan and Fleur, shattering it.

Fleur leapt forth and began to unleash her wrath on Metrinos' monsters- one by one a great number of the beasts fell to the bite of her blade as she spun, twisted, and sprung more gracefully and quick than any acrobat.

Metrinos, still paralyzed in place, could only hear his monsters being destroyed. "Oh, come on! Are my monsters really that weak?"

"Yes," Alan retorts.

Metrinos smirked at Alan. "Really now? Well, my monsters may be weak, but I'm not the weak fool you think I am!" Metrinos summoned all of his willpower, and successfully broke free of Alan's psychic powers. Then, he shot a purple beam of energy at Alan.

Alan, caught by the surprise of someone breaking through his telekinesis, is struck by the beam.

Metrinos is surprised at his victory. "Ha! Yes!" Then, he turns and fires a beam at Fleur.

Fleur twists back into a reverse handspring, letting the beam sail right past her and strike a monster.

Metrinos grimaced. "Urgh...whoops."

Jeniyus summoned her sword and began unleashing several psychic waves at the monsters, wiping out a few of them.

Alan staggered to his feet. "Ow... dammit, that's gonna hurt in the morning..." he muttered.

A slight pang of guilt quivered through Metrinos, causing him to hesitate for a moment.

Jeniyus continued tearing through monsters. "Almost there!"

Alan began an attempt to invade Metrinos' mind, trying to access his thoughts and memories.

Metrinos put his hands to his head, sensing the invasion. "What...is going on?"

"I am in your head," Alan's voice said in Metrinos' mind.

Metrinos smiled, and chuckled good-naturedly. "Sorry, but I don't think you'll find much in there."

"It never hurts to look."

Metrinos laughed. "I don't think you've paid the entrance fee." Metrinos tried his best to force Alan out of his head. Then, he physically raised his hand, readying another beam of energy.

"Alan, that's enough, we're done here." Fleur said.

Metrinos looked around. "What?! You've defeated my monsters already?!"

Jeniyus lowered her sword, breathing heavily. "Have to make it to the airport...but even then, there's no guarantee that I can keep the diamond safe from Metrinos," she thought. Once she caught her breath, she called to the others, "This way! We have to make sure this diamond reaches New Zealand!" Then, she sprinted off towards a nearby forest.

"New Zealand?" Fleur asked incredulously, running after Jeniyus. "The organization is going to be pissed..."

"Wonderful!" Alan exclaimed in reply, sprinting nearby.

Into the Woods
Jeniyus ran as fast as she could, looking back every now and then to make sure her companions were close behind. Then, she ran right into one of Metrinos's furry winged monsters, and was forced to stop. It didn't take long to see that there were several other winged monsters in the forest, surruonding the trio, but there weren't as many of them as there had been in the previous hoarde. A large energy beam shot over their heads, indicating Metrinos had caught up to them.

Metrinos came closer and shot another beam of energy at Fleur.

Fleur spun to the side, dodging the beam inhumanly fast before leaping up into the air, prepared to drive her blade through the monsters.

Metrinos laughed, and said, "Oh no you don't! Not this time!" He raised his hand and a thick, light purple barrier appeared around the monster Fleur was about to attack. "Monsters, attack!" he commanded.

All at once, the monsters flew about each individual of the trio, surrounding them in cocoons of monsters.

Fleur's blade rebounded off of the barrier. Growling slightly, she hit the ground, and just as the monsters began to surround her, she cast aside her blade and lifted her guns, shooting upward towards all monsters that came near her.

Alan tapped into his psychic energies and attempted to hold back the monsters that surrounded him.

Jeniyus released a shockwave of psychic energy, destroying the monsters around her.

Metrinos began to approach Jeniyus.

"This time, why don't we subdue him before we take off?" Alan suggested, holding back waves of monsters.

Jeniyus's arms hung in front of her in fatigue. "I have a rather hard time subduing him on my own. I guess I just didn't think of it. Whenever I'm on missions like this, my first instinct is to RUN."

Metrinos's smirk grew larger. "You can't get away this time."

"Bad instinct," Fleur commented, leaping up into the air and gunning down two monsters.

Jeniyus glared childishly at Fleur. "Hey! I'm not as strong as you, and he has entire armies at his command! What do you expect me to do when I'm alone?!"

Metrinos kept getting closer to Jeniyus.

Jeniyus held her sword out facing him. "Let's dance," she said menacingly.

Metrinos began firing several pink beams of energy at Jeniyus, which she countered with blue psychic beams.

"I dunno, Fleur, sometimes retreat might be a good idea." Alan commented, running over to assist Metrinos.

Fleur viciously gunned down another monster. "Smashing my problems down into a bloody pulp has always worked for me."

Metrinos turned to face Fleur while continuing to fire beams at Jeniyus and Alan. "You sure are harsh. Maybe you need a good laugh." He took a moment to snap his fingers, and the monsters all began firing beams at Fleur that gave her a driving urge to laugh. Metrinos's smirk grew in anticipation.

Fleur runs out of the way, narrowly dodging; one of the beams strikes Alan square in the back.

"Augh, dammit, I... Hee hee hee... Hahaha... WHAhahahaT... THEhahaha... FUhahahaCK?!" Alan said, as he fell to the ground, roaring with laughter and clutching his stomach.

Metrinos turned to Alan and crossed his arms, smirking down at him.

Jeniyus's glare deepened.

"Alan, what the hell are you doing?" Fleur asked.

Jeniyus unleashes a psychic wave at Metrinos, knocking him back a few feet. Then, she tries unleashing psychic waves at the monsters, but they dodge each blast.

"I... hahaha... Dunno... hahahaha..." Alan said through laughs, "He hit me... haha... with something... I CAN'T EFFING BREATHE! BWAHAHAHAHA!"

Metrinos carefully gets up, and smirks at Alan. "Not the intended target, but hilarious nonetheless." Then, he put a barrier around himself as Jeniyus started to unleash psychic waves from her sword at him.

A division of the monsters began firing their beams at Fleur while some still fired at Alan.

Fleur flipped and spun gracefully through the air; Alan could do nothing as more beams struck him.

"I'M... GONNA... KILL YOU!" Alan roared between racious laughter.

Metrinos looked at Alan. "Oh, come now! Laughter is the best thing for stress!"

Jeniyus was beginning to get worn down. She stopped swinging her sword, and stood glaring at Metrinos, gasping for breath. "This isn't good..." she thought. Then, she turned and put a psychic shield up in front of Alan to protect him from any more beams. "Forgot I could do that," she said, embarrassed.

Alan's laughter soon became choking. "CAN'T... BREATHE..." Mustering up all the psychic energy he could, Alan released it, tearing apart the ground and uprooting a number of trees in the process in a large radius around himself, directing most of his focus toward Metrinos.

Metrinos's barrier shattered in the force of the shockwave. Eyebrows raises, he stared at Alan. Metrinos gave a hand gesture, and three of the monsters flew towards Jeniyus.

Jeniyus raised her sword and swung at them several times, only to have her attacks dodged.

Alan crawled forth a short distance, then collapsed, clutching his stomach. "Ooh, the pain..." he grumbled.

Fleur leaps up toward the monsters surrounding Jeniyus, slashing at one and gunning down the other two.

Metrinos raised an eyebrow at Alan. "Pain?"

Jeniyus walked over to Alan and knelt down. "Are you alright? I think we got the last of the monsters."

"Ugh..." Alan groaned, clutching his stomach and crawling up weakly onto his knees. "How can anyone stand being tickled like that?"

Fleur took a quick, unnoticed glance at Alan and Jeniyus, and with a huff, quickly turned away and pointed her weapons at Metrinos. "Now what, Hero-girl?" she asked Jeniyus with slight venom in her voice.

Metrinos looked at the weapons with much intrigue. He shivered and stated, "How can anyone stand such violent things?"

"They are required for my job. Protecting people." Fleur retorted. "And besides, you're one to talk..."

Jeniyus turned to face Fleur. "I would say knock him out." She turned back to Alan. "It tickled?"

"Have you ever been hit with one of those beams?"

Jeniyus crossed her arms and smiled. "I can't really remember...Metrinos uses so many strange techniques to bring me down. As you've seen."

Alan, gasping for air, pulled himself to his feet. "Well... if my excursion pisses off the organization, it'll be worth it."

Jeniyus stood up as well. "Why do you hate the organization so much?"

"...they're jerks." Alan mumbled.

"Are they like...corrupted?" Jeniyus asked.

"No. They're good guys. In the loosest sense of the term." Alan said.

Jeniyus frowned and turned to Metrinos. "Should we trap him here or just knock him unconscious?"

"Take him to prison, perhaps?" Fleur suggested, frowning.

Jeniyus half-smiled. "He can't be taken to a normal prison. There's only one institution that will take him, and it's pretty far away." Jeniyus walked over to Metrinos, summoned her sword, and pointed it at his head.

Metrinos raised an eyebrow at her.

Jeniyus shot just enough psychic energy out of her sword at his head to knock him unconscious. He fell to the ground. Jeniyus frantically flailed her arms around, and shouted, "Now let's get out of here before he wakes up!"

She began running off in the direction they had been running.

"Screw running, I'm flying," Alan said, lifting himself into the air with his telekinesis.

Fleur rolled her eyes and ran after.

Speed Demons
The trio ran for a few miles, and eventually made it out of the forest. Jeniyus stopped to catch her breath. "I think Metrinos still has more monster troops that will be out looking for me. We have to be careful." She did a few stretches to get ready for more running. "The airport is still a fair distance."

Alan touched down on the ground nearby. Fleur caught up moments later, strangely unphazed by the long sprint.

"Yeah?" Fleur asked. "Is there not some vehicle we can take or something to get us there faster?"

"And where might you two be headed?" a new voice called out. Emerging from the trees was a pale man, completely covered in a black trenchcoat, fedora, and opaque sunglasses. There was a sickening smile on his face; the kind of irritating smile that made Alan want to punch the man.

"None of your damn business." Alan fumed.

"Oh, I've already heard where you were going; that was simply a rhetorical question. And you might want to be careful when you take the organization's property"-- Fleur clenched her fists-- "out to unapproved places."

Jeniyus's upper eyelids lowered. "Ohh, you're from that orgainzation."

"Fleur isn't your goddamn property!" Alan retorted. "She's human!"

"She's dead," the man said. His smile remained there, if only to enrage Alan futher. "And the dead give up all of their rights at the time of their deaths."

"And why's that?!" Jeniyus demanded.

"It's simply the way of the world, sweetheart," the man said.

"She didn't choose to be dead!" Jeniyus screamed, getting angrier.

"You seem to take the fact that you are in the company of a corpse quite lighter than I had expected," the man said.

Jeniyus crossed her arms. "And you seem to delight in taking away rights from those who have done nothing wrong."

"Welcome to the world," the man said. "But keep in mind that if it wasn't for our efforts, many more of you people woul be dead on the streets at the hands of nightmarish monsters. But I'm not here to argue- I'm here to deliver the Organization's next assignment."

"Do you hate Fleur or something?" Jeniyus questioned, still furious. "Why treat your own like garbage?"

The smiling man procured an envelope from his coat, which Alan levitated toward himself. He snatched it out of the air and shoved it in his pocket. "Good. Now, go away," Alan demanded.

Still grinning, the man turned away. "Oh, Alan? Consider this strike two." The man disappeared into the trees.

Jeniyus turned to Alan. "Strike two?"

Alan grinned. "Heh heh, yeah..." he said, with sheepish laughter.

"What happens when you reach three strikes?" Jeniyus asked, concerned.

"I dunno." Alan grinned. "But I'm willing to bet that it's just an empty threat."

"Don't be so sure," Fleur said darkly.

Alan sighed. "Always the downer, aren't you?"

"I can see why you don't like them..." Jeniyus stated with melancholy.

Then, roughly ten monsters came up out of the ground around them. These monsters resembled large skeletons, but were rather cartoonish in appearance.

"Oh, come on!" Jeniyus yelled in fatigue.

"Not so fast, superheroes!" yelled a voice from above.

Jeniyus looked up, and hovering above the trio was the supervillain known as Terrin. He smirked down at the heroes. "I believe that diamond belongs to Metrinos."

"What?! You don't even like Metrinos!" Jeniyus howled.

"I never said I didn't like him. I just don't care much for other villains. Although, this time is different. Three against one isn't fair, and I want to even the odds in the hopes that, perhaps, one day Metrinos will return the favor. I'll keep you three busy while he recovers."

The skeletons lunged at the trio, attempting to grab them.

Fleur leapt up into the air, attempting to bring her sword down on one of the skeletal monsters. Alan stepped back, knowing that his psychic prowess was useless against hordes of brainless monsters, but his telekinesis, on the other hand...

Alan directed his focus toward one of the monsters, willing it to fly back into another monster.

Jeniyus swung her sword at two skeletons, unleashing a psychic wave at them. One was destroyed, but the other leapt over the wave, and charged at Alan.

Alan kicked at the skeletal fiend, imbibing his attack with psychic force. Fleur meanwhile was leaping and flipping nimbly around the monsters, attacking with a perfect blend of brutality and precision.

Jeniyus glared at Terrin. "You..." She swung her sword, unleashing a psychic wave at him that he dodged by dropping to the ground.

He smirked at Jeniyus. "Just give us the diamond, superhero. It's not like those rich fools need it."

"Bite me! Jeniyus retorted.

Alan stepped forth and attempted in invade Terrin's mind as he had done with Metrinos.

Terrin's will collapsed before Alan's mind invasion. He fell to his knees, staring at Alan.

Alan blinked in surprise. He wasn't expecting it to be this easy.

''"Call off the monsters." ''Alan commanded.

Terrin was able to resist Alan's will, but only just barely. "No. Why are you doing this?" he thought.

"Easiest way to ensure no one is physically harmed.

Terrin scoffed somewhat. "What do you care about harming me?" he thought.

"I'd prefer not to harm anyone, but I will if forced- careful, my focus as a psychic is quite poor; any sudden moves might only serve to hurt you..."