someone jump in anytime 
plz
"I...hate...mystical birds that appear in my life..." Spider's eyes looked up at the mysterious yet infinitly annoying raven that appeared and decided to perch on his head.
The top of his head.
Not on his shoulder, like the characters of a fantasy novel.
Not flying around, whispering words of wisdom with dignity.
No...
Spider's "mystical bird" fancied the top of his head, specificly Spider's long, long, braided red hair.
He knew...he JUST knew..that bird was going to poop on his head at any moment.
Growling, snarling but still good hearted enough not to harm the bird, Spider continued to walk along, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth in impotent frustration.
"This is worse than Chinese Water torture." he mumbled.
Despite appearances to the contrary, Spider Shade was considered one of those "Dark" heroes. A past too uncomfortable to fully explain, an older woman he loved, a loss resulting in pain, the innocence in his human eyes turned to literal fires of his now inhuman eyes, from his ordeals in Hell. The literal Hell.
Yet, the Universe has it's sense of humor. Right now, Spider was the focus of a joke. A mystical bird, descended from the feathered wise ones of Merlin...
who really liked to perch on top of Spider Shade's head.
Ears twitched, an overheard monologue.
His curiosity peaked, the young man who escaped from Hell, his skin now blue, his eyes flame and his hair the color of old blood, looked around...curious.
Kaine was looking down the side of the building, seeing a man with a raven on his head, he was looking all around like he had heard something. Kain whispered, "Oh no, he overheard me." The bird flew away startled by the man's sudden movements to see what made the sound he heard. Kain thought, "I must get away." Kaine easily jumped off the building and to great heights, leaping over, between, and on top of buildings. As he was jumping the man saw him, Kaine didn't know what to do. He slipped on his mask and his eyes turned blue, he thought that he could get away from the man's stare. After a while he sat on the edge of yet another building, but much higher, the man shouldn't be able to find him here....
Spider shade jump in anytime plz 
Below the rooftops in the streets and allyways that form the true city of Paragon a scream splits the air. This is far from unusual of course and such a scream of fear would rapidly draw the attention of a hero eager to right wrongs. This perhaps is a little unusual for it is not some hapless civillian that had uttered it but one of the criminals that so plauge the city.
His tormentor is a single man clad in a grey buisness suit of common apprence along with the more unusual choices of a Gasmask and a single shining pin upon the left breast formed into a single uncoplicated capital 'I'. Enshrouding this grim spectre is a thick black fog. The grey man leans forwrads pulls back his victums head by his hair and scant inches from his terrifed features and muffled by his mask the Inquest hisses a demand "Answers, give me the answer!"
(hope I'm not intruding)
In the middle of an abandoned warehouse, dust motes danced in lazy patterns as they crisscrossed various splotches of tinted light wherever the suns rays slipped through the fissures and eroded holes of the buildings roof. This particular storage shed hadnt been used in at least a decade and was situated on the very edge of the territory belonging to a Hellion faction. No one ever came here; there was no reason to. The rotted, patchy roof made storing anything of value impossible and was too far out of the way for even a thug to make a walk to.
And so, the ancient building was forgotten, slowly rotting and decaying until some season in the near future, it would come crashing down under the onslaught of the winter storms, or even sooner if the various wood-loving insects had their way with things (or should it become a battle ground between hero and fugitive). The dirt floor was covered in dust and other debris, and any who trespassed into the warehouses confines would invariably leave in a similar state of disrepair, not to mention sneezing and coughing up dust for an hour afterwards.
In short, the warehouse was perfect, and had become a secret haven in a place where secrets were rare and valuable commodities
Stacked on an empty, forgotten crate left from when the warehouse had still been in use, a small, portable stereo system waited patiently, a music cartridge already loaded. A young woman stood in the middle of the floor, her almond-shaped eyes shut with mediation. The dust motes circled around her slender form, each seeking purchase on her exotic-looking jacket and cargoes. It seemed to create an ethereal aura about her as the dappled sunlight poured down on her with gentle warmth. Around her nose and mouth, she had tied a dull-colored rag to keep from either breathing in or swallowing the dust and other fine particles.
She inhaled deeply and willed the tense, knotted muscles in between her shoulder blades to relax then brushed an errant strand of silver-white hair out from the bright blue irises of her eyes. Now was not the time to worry about the world beyond the confines of this warehouse. Now was the time to let down all but the most intimate of her barriers and to lose herself in the art of simply existing with no shining, glorious purpose.
Punching a button attached to her wrist-comp, there was a three second pause before the stereo system clicked into action with one deep, rhythmic pulse of bass. And then, Melisande RyShar began the dance
The young womans movements were lithe and graceful as she moved in time with her chosen music; every jump and leap, twist and turn, kick and pose was choreographed by her mind and spirit only. No one knew of this particular talent, and Melisande would gladly go to the grave before ever confessing to it. Dancing in her native realm was a strict, stringent affair that allowed little for creativity and followed precise, mathematical rules and steps
And it was the last thing in the world that Melisande wanted to subject herself to.
As the girl wove her way through combination after combination, speeding up her motions until her body was a blur as she glided and flew across the dusty, dirt floor. She let her mind roam freely, not particularly caring in which direction it decided to flee. And as usual, it traveled to the same place that it always did when given free reign.
What did I ever do to deserve such a
flaw...
It was putting the situation mildly. Melisande was a flaw, a defect; something to be swept under the rug and never talked about again. No matter that she had no say of how she was born. Her natal gift should have been nothing more suspicious than a unique eye color or perhaps a body better suited to gymnastics or martial arts than someone else. But that wasnt how things worked in the Clans. Not when dealing with inborn talents such like Melisande had been gifted with.
As it was, she could feel the whispers of thoughts, the press of emotions not her own battering against her remaining, fragile shields. Her eyes clouded over as the hums and buzzing increased, listened with divided attention as the gentle beats of butterflies against her mind turned into the droning of wasps and hornets.
Focus, girl
Focus and contain
The humming, penetration thoughts and emotions slackened as Melisande beat them back into submission.
Dropping to the ground in a sweaty, dusty exhaustion just as the song and routine ended, Melisande lay flat against the dirt in a spread-eagle position, not particularly caring just how filthy she was fast becoming. As usual, she would let others chalk it up to some outdoor exercise or fight that was so common a sight with heroes. No one had ever asked any probing question that Melisande couldnt deflect with an innocent look or half-truth. So far
Wiping her leather-clad forearm across her sweat-drenched forehead, she resisted the urge to take off her face mask. Instead, Melisande slowly crawled to her feet and made a sketchy attempt at dusting herself off. She could feel the grit and sweat imbedded into her icy-streaked hair which she carelessly tucked back behind one gently pointed ear. Right now, a hot shower and a good sleep sounded like the best things in the world to her.
The young woman glanced down at her wrist-comp and did a quick check on the time. There was just enough to slip out from the warehouse and make a circuitous jogging route back towards the Yellow Line with no one the wiser. It was no coincidence that her chosen route would be through the concrete jungle that was the Industrial District
One of the advantages to serving her current contact, she thought to herself with a small smirk behind the cloth mask. Even less suspicion to arouse.
Ill just say I arrested some faction and am heading back to my contact. Hmm
Better get going while I still have the energy
Melisande quickly replaced the audio system back into the hidden compartment underneath some empty crates and barrels and stretched out with her peculiar gifts to make certain no presence or sentient mind was within sight or hearing distance. When she was absolutely certain that her haven was secure and free from prying eyes, only then did Melisande slip out from the rear entrance to the warehouse and began the long trek back to Steel Canyon
Kain walked on top of the rooftops, wondering why he still bothered to help and be the preverbial "hero" in town. Statesman, Sister Psyche, Manticore, Positron, and many other heroes in paragon were doing the job. But... Kain didn't know where to begin, or to end, or what to do in the meantime. Then he thought, "Why am I asking myself this question? There isn't anything to wonder about, I am a hero of Paragon City, I am not just going to quit. It's time... Time that I act more like Dragon of Dark (Kain's hero name) instead of Kain. I trained for this, I picked up my blade (katana), I taught myself how to dodge any attack, I set out knowing what to do, now there is a war between Kaine, and Dragon of Dark. Which one am I going to be? I can't be some citizen one second and then a hero the next, I must choose. The normal life, more safe, only a little risky. Or the hero life, dangerous, risky, rewarding, and purposeful. Which will it be, safe, or having a high purpose to live here, in Paragon. I wish there was someone here to help me, someone wise, *Kaine/Dragon of Dark, drops to his knees, dropping the katana, the wind howling.* (jump in at anytime
plz)