The Chariot is done. It’s kind of cool, actually, having something like that just to ourselves. I helped HD with it, by which I mean I lifted the heavy things where they needed to go and helped clear the track. He did the rest. You know, he may not be as useless or as much of a screw up as I thought he was…

He rescued me tonight from…I don’t know what. And I think he took the hit that was meant for me. Apparently, this Human Octopus Guy stole his nanobots or something. And I think he was about to do something just as messed up to me if HD hadn’t shown up, but I’m not really sure. My memory gets kind of fuzzy about the time I ran out of oxygen.

Short story long, B&E have decided to march on the Spike. It’s not a friendly sort of march either. Since half of us are wanted criminals, we decided the best way to stop them is to inspire people to counter-march. They want to cause destruction, and we are going to not, I guess? Mai and Chance had a press conference, and HD hacked the feed, I guess, to get it out to more people. He did a thing too — why not? He’s got all those people calling themselves Drivers hanging off his every word, and he’s good at making speeches. I wasn’t sure what I could do to help, so I just kind of stood around. What, like I’m going to go in front of a camera and say violence is bad? I hurt people. I break buildings. I’m pretty much exactly the opposite of what they’re saying.

The conference seemed to go well. Actually, it seemed to go really well. They came out kind of early, which meant HD had to scramble to get everything in place, but it was all going great until this guy started pushing through the crowd. And all of a sudden, he pulls out a gun and shoots at Chance! What the hell? Mai was right there and tried to push him out of the way, so she got hit instead.

I got up there as quick as I could, and HD tried to help by monitoring him through cameras or satellites or whatever it is HD does. He couldn’t stay on the line long, though — he was being tracked somehow. That was fine — I caught up to HOG. But I couldn’t help thinking about the last time I had to take care of a guy trying to hurt my friends. So I got distracted, and the next thing I now, the guy jumps on top of me and tries to pin me to the ground!

Obviously, I wasn’t going to let that happen. But he was tough. And when I tried to rip off his mask, it didn’t come off — it was like part of him or something. And there was this snake thing that came out of his mouth, and it actually drew blood. Even Rose’s thorns are hit or miss breaking through my skin. So, even though I was trying really hard not to destroy the entire city block, I had to do something, right? I pounded his face into the pavement and a wall, and somehow a streetlamp gets knocked over, and, right then, this stupid woman decides to cross the street. I mean, really? Did she not see the massive fight and bricks flying everywhere? So I have to go save her, and I’m trying to use HOG’s face to do it, right, because I can’t let him go. Except he twists out of my hands somehow and the streetlamp lands on me instead! And then his limbs get all bendy and start contorting, and he wraps his arm around my neck and starts to squeeze.

I should have just ground him into the pavement the first chance I got.

I know I’m in trouble, and this is not good. So I call for HD…and then kind of black out, because oxygen is important, and I didn’t have any. And when I come to and can get up, I see HOG disappearing over a building and HD just sprawled on the ground. And he looks weird. And definitely not okay.

What the hell was that thing? I made some notes about it, because I’m not letting that thing get away. I’ll ask TH tonight to see if he’s ever heard of anything like it or has any idea how to track it. Honestly, I doubt he’ll help. He’s pretty focused on this other guy right now, and don’t get me wrong — that asshole does deserve to get taken down. But this guy hurt my friends. He tried to kill my friends. And I’m going to make him pay.

Weird day today. A little good. A little bad. And a lot of sugar.

So, this is my new journal. TG always said that it helps to get things down on paper, and he’s right. I think I’ll feel better after I write this down. Of course, I have to keep this journal with my mask. My other mask. That’s the only place I know it will be safe. There’s not a lot of privacy down there, and Frog gets bored way too easily.

I suppose I should start with HD’s stupid plan to rescue TA from a made-up threat. Well, I guess it wasn’t completely made-up. But it was completely stupid.

Frog got us there, and then he started hopping around and destroying everything. He was throwing guys around, dropping stuff on them… He even dropped a chunk of the Spike’s wall on some guys. It was cool, but I was kind of horrified. That must be what I look like to other people. And I don’t want him to be me. I don’t want him to do what I did. So I stopped him.

And then he teleported us up to the roof, for some reason. The Spike has these drones up there that took him out. So I took them out. And then I broke in and out of maximum security looking for TA. I found him. And B&E too. Apparently, they were the suspicious blurs HD saw. For some reason (because they’re idiots) they assumed Frog was a hostage and that I was escaping from the Spike. Or there to stop them from freeing TA. Or something. Anyway, they attacked me, I tried to fend them off, Frog helped (I think?) and the next thing I know, they’re crashing into a cell, and this guy with a shark head comes out. And there I am getting lectured by TA for a stupid plan that I wanted no part of but went along with anyway because they’re supposed to be my friends.

Fast-forward. Frog is still pretty much unconscious, and I find myself facing dozens of MeDICs. Can’t go forward. Can’t go back (drones, more MeDICs, shark guy, B&E). I have no idea what happened to Chance or HD. And I couldn’t risk letting Frog get hurt if I started a fight, so I gave us up.

They stuck me in this weird room with glowing blue lights. Power nullification field or something, I assume. Anyway, Frog and HD were shoved inside and followed by IL herself. Apparently, she feels bad for the way the Manor was seized (yeah, right), and she tried to convince us that we should give up “being demi-gods” and join society. Or something. I may not have been listening all that closely. So then she shuts the power to the room off and tells us that we can either escape and be put on her Most Wanted list (pretty sure we’re already there — I’ve seen my file, at least) or we can stand around and accept the consequences of our actions. Fuck that. We left. (HD, of course, wanted to stay. Because he’s stupid like that.)

Frog got his hands on a phone, and we called up Chance to see how he was and where he was. He had met up with Fyrefly, and they tracked down TG. TG told us to leave town until this had blown over. And I would have. I really would have. Except HD interrupted to tell him no. He told him we weren’t leaving, that we had a duty, and, anyway, wasn’t this what he was training us for?

I guess they don’t know him like I do. If he’s talking about getting involved, then this is really serious. And if he thinks we should run, then the smart thing to do would be to run.

Well, this team isn’t very smart. They’re determined to do things their own way, even if that way is the worst idea in the world. I kind of like that about them. That, and the way they come together over donuts. It made me feel like nothing had changed — and, maybe for them, it hasn’t.

But HD was right. We have to take responsibility for who we are and what we’ve done. And what that’s turned us into. For TA, I guess that meant siding with IL and pleading guilty. For the team, it means standing up to save the city from the MeDICs. And for me, that means letting them be the heroes and helping them when I can. But I’m not one of them. That’s what TH was trying to tell me, and I agreed to learn from him, but I didn’t want to listen. Well, it’s time to stop running and embrace what I am. Whatever that is.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

Dear Chance,
I’m sorry.

I’m sorry about your mom. I can only imagine what you’re going through, and I wish I could do something to make you feel better.

And I’m sorry about yesterday. The things I said to you were stupid and hurtful, and I had no right to say them to you after what you did for us. You saved all of us — all by yourself. Like a real hero.

But, most of all, I’m sorry I’m not saying these things to you. I can’t. I’m so afraid you’ll see right through me if I try to get close. I keep expecting you — all of you — to see the blood on my hands. And all I’ve done is lie to you today — what if you find out? And I’m going to lie to you again tonight, because I have to see what if what the Handyman says is true — if I didn’t screw up as bad as I think I did and if there’s a place for me.

So, Chance, that’s why I’m concentrating on cutting a perfect circle in this slice of bread instead of trying to help you work through this. I’m a coward, and I’m sorry for that too.

Kamil

Wow. So…Chance isn’t a jerk….He’s actually kind of sweet…..

Oh my God. Oh God, oh God, oh God.

What have I done?

People of Continuum City. I am speaking to you not as the Captain of the Metahuman Detainment, Incarceration, and Containment Unit, but as one of your own. As a citizen of this great city, and this great country, and this entire planet. I am speaking as a human.

I have been there, right beside you, as we have watched metahumans of all sort and variety come out of the woodwork. Slowly at first, but soon in streams. I have been on the streets when they battled, and buildings fell. I have walked among you while we watched them scorch the skies and freeze the earth. I have seen the good they can do at their best, and the harm they do the rest of the time.

I am speaking to you as one of your own, and I am telling you that it is time that we stand up and make this city our own again. That for too long, this city has belonged not to us, but to those with abilities that make them see gods when they look in their mirrors. We have let them decide the fates of the city in their battles, their ceaseless battles. The worst of them would kill us all, and try as they might, the best of them can only destroy the others, and the city alongside, piece by piece.

We watched it happen when the golden robots attacked our city. Created by some metahuman genius, no doubt, and then fought by more metahumans, like Sovereign. Eventually, the machines were destroyed, but at what cost? How many lives is too many? How much destruction is too much? When Sovereign stands alone atop a pile of rubble that was our city, will we still call that a victory?

No more. Today, I say to you, no more. The heroes, the villains, all the metas in between — they rule this city no more. We are taking it back. Continuum City will be ours again.

Starting today, as sanctioned by the Mayor of this fair city, by its legislators, and even by the governor of our fair state, MeDIC units throughout the city will engage in radical action against any metahumans previously identified as taking part in unsanctioned illegal violence. It no longer matters whether they claim to protect us or to fight us. We will protect ourselves, now. MeDICs are prepared to incapacitate and incarcerate any who resist. We have plans for introducing metahumans into the ranks of the MeDICs, where they might protect this city while also serving it. But for now, the most important thing that you, the people of this city, need to know is that we are acting for your protection. We are making the metahumans report to you, now, and not the other way around. No longer will lives be lost in violent, chaotic battles with metahumans who act stupidly, without training. Those days will be put behind us, starting today.

Continuum City continues, my friends, but a new day dawns. Our day.

Thank you.

Chance Back at the lab, without a mic to grab. Yeah, hanging out with the Gentleman’s Irregulars. Nothing much changed #sameasiteverwas

Chance Stop the Press! Flutterbye just apologized to me? Wow, that was weird. Happy weird, but weird. I feel craptastic about the way I treated her. #nowimtheasshole

Chance Want to apologize back to Flutterbye, but then it sounds like “me, too” BS. I’ll catch her l8r, work it out. #somethinglikethat #suckatapologies

Chance Hah! Mac n cheese FTW! Bash is so sweet. Frog said she was hurt, but she looks supah badass to me, as always. #bashfanboy

Chance Wow, just got back, and Med-DICKS are here? WTF? Srsly? GTFO! Hate you guys. YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG! #meddickssux #ihateIvy

Chance Who don’t love the po-lice? Thanks, guys. You’re the real heroes of Continuum City! Taking care of kids instead of shooting at them. MedDICKS, take note! #meddickssux #ihateIvy

Chance Hey Ivy, turnabouts fair play, beeyotch! What’s this truck do anyways? Fifty, tops? #meddickssux #ihateIvy

Chance Who wants donuts?!?! #donuts

Chance No, srsly, who wants donuts? #donuts

Chance fukaduk. HD and Flutterbye didn’t want my donuts. They’re pissed at me. I don’t. I don’t even. #friendlessagain #breakup #sadness

Chance Time for a pick-up. OMW Bash and Froggie! #cruising

Chance Check the ride. Wanna selfie with the biggest beeyotch in town? C’mere, who loves ya, baby? #meddickssux #ihateIvy

Chance Wait, no! Not YOUR PHONE, BASH!!!! Where r u goingggggg? #brokenhearted #Bashfanboy

Chance Frog’s leaving. Bash is pissed at me for… I dunno, breathing or something? I thought I was the hero? I thought. Just whatever. #dazedandconfused

Chance Hey Mom, I’m baaaack. #returnofthemack

Chance Oh look. It’s Ivy. and the MedDICKS. There goes the neighborhood. #meddickssux #ihateIvy

Chance Worst. Day. Ever.

I messed up. I messed up so big I’m not sure I’ll ever be welcome on the team ever again. It’s probably a good thing there’s no team right now and might never be again.

For the last week, I’ve wanted to just scream at FF and demand to know what she was thinking leaving HD’s life in the hands of a psychopath like HM. But I felt like if I talked to her about it, I would end up screaming and breaking things. It was just so stupid…

Chance came back. Finally. I was actually happy to see him. I thought, maybe, he could find a way to make things be normal again, instead of all of us just trying to work around each other… I don’t know.

Anyway, we didn’t get the chance. IL decided now is as good a time as any to round up all metahumans. I’m assuming she tracked HD to us, because the rest of us wear masks and have superhero names. Or, come to think of it, I guess Chance doesn’t wear a mask either, but he isn’t the one who got arrested last week either. Anyway, so we try to tell Frog to escape with HD…and he somehow teleports the whole room to a rooftop.

And then he faints.

FF reminds us that TG’s files on all of us are there — like we didn’t already know — and takes off to get them, except a Medic with a jetpack (A JETPACK) appears and takes her out. HD tries to rescue her and gets taken down too. And I… I just freeze. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Try to save them? Get the files? Protect Frog, who is unconscious now? I try to think of what TG would do, and all I can hear is all his lectures about keeping my identity a secret…so we run.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Chance gets some police officers to take us to the hospital, where they poke and prod the pair of us until we finally get them to understand we’re both fine. They put us in the lobby, where we can watch the roundup on the news. I’m sitting there wondering if TG has been found when they announce TA has been arrested. How the hell did they find him so quick?

Apparently Chance managed to rescue FF and HD, and they bolted when he stopped for donuts. Chance shows up at the hospital in a Medic tank and dressed as IL — thanks, Chance. Anyway, we’re trying to figure out what to do next, and I let slip FF’s name. I don’t know why — it just comes out, and, of course, I can’t take it back. Frog’s playing with the tank’s computer looking for information when IL – the real IL – suddenly calls us over the radio. It doesn’t take long for her to figure out Chance is the driver, so we ditch the car and hail a cab.

FF calls to check in — and for just a second, I’m so relieved she and HD are okay that I do it again. And, of course, Chance just has to put in his two cents, and…and then she gets pissed and hangs up. And she’s got a right to be upset — secrets are important, and I just gave away her biggest one.

And because Chance is sitting right there, I let him have it. What I really wanted to do — still want to do — is find something to destroy, because crushing my phone just doesn’t do anything to relieve the pressure. And as soon as I started yelling at Chance, I just couldn’t stop, even though he had just saved all of us. Because I’m angry, and if I can’t beat something into dust, then at least I can destroy the one thing I have left right now. Or something like that.

So I jump out of the cab and storm off. I have no idea why Frog’s following me, but I just don’t have the energy to deal with his bullshit right now. He’s better off with the team. If he comes with me, he’s going to get killed.

I just want to take this entire day back and do it right this time…and not piss off every single member of the team. But that’s not possible, is it? But I’ll make it up to them. I’m going to destroy those files, maybe even free some of the metahumans they’ve arrested. The Medic files say I’m dangerous — they have no idea just how dangerous I can be.

So…It’s been about a week since the Robot attack….and Chance finally showed back up. And…I apologized…and for a moment he was decent….then went back to insulting me again. And we’re al about to have dinner together, when from outside we hear over a loudspeaker, for all metahumans to lay down. The MeDIcks are finally taking over the city.

I tell Frog to Teleport Chance out of there, cause the rest can travel pretty well on our own, and I need to go secure the Gentleman’s files on us….and the Handyman. But then Frog teleports the entire room 5 rooftops away! And I have to try and sneak back to get the files!…Then they catch me in an energy net…and when Frank tries to rescue me, they deactivate him like he’s some machine, Damn jerks! And he had just finally apologized for being such an ass.

So as I’m laying on the rooftop, writhign and screaming in agony, waiting for my best friend to come to the rescue….she never appears. Instead we’re hauld into the back of one of the tanks, and Captain Ivy Libra appears to take custody over us. Well…lucky for us. It was just Chance disguised as her. Though he leaves us in our respective containment devices….what a nice guy, I’m so glad I apologized to him.

Then he stops outside a Krispy Kreme, and wants us to go inside with him…while he still looks like the Queen bitch of the city that tried to kidnap us! Screw Him! I’m not gonna hang around for his show boating to draw the MeDicks attention and swarm upon him. So Frank and I storm off heading back to my place.

And of course, Dad’s not there. He’s almost never there anymore. So I start texting Bash…then I just give up and call her. and what do I find out. She told Chance my real name! My best friend, ratted out my Identty, to the one guy on our team, that has mocked and degraded me constantly. First she ignores me last week when I tell her to get out of there, then leaves me behind for the MeDicks, now this! Apparently the Gentleman is right….don’t trust anyone.

If it weren’t for Hard Drive/Frank…I don’t know what I would have done that night. He uploaded so much information to the News…all about all of the illegal weapons the MeDicks use…the same people that said they were rounding up ‘threats’ to the city for the city’s own good. Take that you annoying bitch.

God, I hope Dad comes home…I’ve got to tell him, that we need to relocate….because that Bitch probably has the gentleman’s files on us now.