Shepherd looked at the dummy.

"Maybe I can help"

His glowing blue eyes began to pulsate and glow intensly as a blue flame appeare on his hand and he went to hand the heavenly flame to Jeremy. They only afected evil creatures so it wouldn't burn hm if he touched.

"Take this flame and concentrate on it. Make it yours. be one with the flame. Remember your power are an extension of your body.. your soul. Once you realize that, it will be easier for you"

"Hey Lady Nova. Truthfully I wouldn't know I had my checks done in the cell. Of course afterwords I really didn't have any medical needs being dead and all. I'm sure it's near given the risk of accidents." He looks to the others "If you guys are finish we can move along."

Behind a Lady Nova one of the operators walked in "Lady Nova do I have to remind you of the rules? Walking into an Active Danger Room with out using the buzzer to warn those inside is against the rules and well it's Dangerous. Even if you won't be hurt a stray blast could leave the chamber. So please be careful next time." The nodded and returned to the desk.

"Ohhh Lady Nova got in trouble. Anyway lets get going if the rest of you are done with target practice."

Jeremy shook his hands out trying to numb what remaining tingle of electricity still persisted on his skin. "I'm done for now. I don't know enough about my ..powers to not be a danger myself. I don't want to drag you guys around though, I can go to the medic on my own if you want to keep practicing," Jeremy consoled, feeling a bit like his adventure to the Maul might become the center of attention.

"Um, Lady Nova, is it? Wow...and Shepherd and Rotten and Sabrina and..." Jeremy counted the number of people that had suddenly appeared in his life and all in their own way willing to help him with his powers. "This is a bit much. Are you guys all in an allegiance or a syndicate or something? What's going on?"

Jeremy eyed them all a bit suspiciously, knowing he was completely outclassed out powered and outnumbered if they decided to turn this good natured outreach program into something less voluntary.

Rotten looked at one of the dummies that haven't been destroyed yet. "One last thing. Blasting not my style..." He walked to the dummy "Hel I know ya can hear me. Ya want me to be the guardian for the channel, but I have to do it my way. This life if ya call it that hard on a fella. I feel little to no pain, no cold, no warmth. I do thank ya for easing that annoying hunger I suffered for three years, but one thing I always enjoyed was the thrill of the fight. I'm a fighter Hel I punch, dodge, weave, anticipate my foe attacks. These new powers are fine being able to attack at range.. but it's not me I'm a fighter. Let me wield this neatherworld power my way."

Then he screamed as his body seemed to burst into that dark energy of the neatherwold when it died down he smiled and went wild on the Dummy in a pure raging shadow maul attack. "Yeah... now that's what I'm talking about." He turned to look at Jeremy "Like Shepherd said Powers are part of who you are. An echo of one soul. I'm not a guy that stands at range i'm the type that gets in front of something acting both as a distraction and target. I punch like hell but I rather get blasted then let my friends and team mates do. Couldn't do that with those blasting powers... cool as they are it wasn't who I am."

"This trip wasn't for ya kid you just was lucky to come along. I have new powers to learn so do ya. Easier to do it at the same time. Ya not a drag at all." He nods to Lady Nova "Yeah we sure can do that. Meat at the food court check I am a little hungry."

RottenLuck wrote:

The Man looked over some papers "I get a formal inquiry started to see if he can inherit the former Robert Tanner's Junk shop. Finding a lawyer willing to help out that case might be wise." Rusty looked to the man then to Rudolph "Does this mean I'm alive?"

Rudy stroked his chin, his fingers scratching through his neatly-trimmed beard. "I think that's for you to determine, my friend. And it's not something to proclaim lightly or quickly. Come on. I'm going to get some food, then I'll introduce you to my lawyer. He specializes in superhuman law and can probably help you if you want to be granted ownership of the Creator's shop."

Shepherd smiled as she asked the question. It was something he rarely spoke of but she was his friend and he was willing to tell her a bit more about himself.

"Well The lives of myself and my best friend were taken when I was 20 by a vampire."

Shepherd sighed as he recalled the memory.

"I was brought back along with my dog to hunt those creatures that killed me. my dog and friend." i was granted immortality and ability over the ether, the very flames of heaven used to create the souls of men and the storm, which is why I have the abilities I have with spiritual energy, heavenly flames and the storms in order to hunt down those creatures."

Hearing Jeremy stomach growl he nods to the food court "Okay Grub first then we get our check ups. Wouldn't mind knowing what my resistance levels are now." Looking to Lady Nova "Ya said ya had fresh meat. Um why ya have raw meat waiting at a mall?"

"I could go for a Double bacon and cheddar Phoenix Burger myself. Hmm or even the flamin' blazing blaster burger. The one where they put chopped up hot peppers in the beef."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rusty looked at Rudy "One does need a place of residence and means of income. The store would provide both. One also doesn't want it to be bought by those of criminal nature."

"Oh Phoenix burgers!" Jeremy said with quiet enthusiasm as he snuck a peak at his wallet to see how much cash he had. It looked to be enough. Hearing Ron describe his planned order made Jeremy's stomach growl again as he continued to follow the group, slowly warming up to the level of interaction they had.

Looking at the burgers now laid out before them, he saw there was one extra for him, even if he hadn't voiced the details of what he'd want. It wasn't exactly what he wanted, but he could have afforded just the same: the classic Phoenix Burger. Jeremy took it after everyone had grabbed theirs and held in both hands to unwrap the paper. "Thank you, Lady Nova."

It was the first time he had really smiled in front of them. It was a wide and toothy grin, framed in patchy dark brown facial hair that he still wished would grow into a full beard...one day, but ultimately it just made his forgettable face that much more forgettable.

Jeremy looked over at Ron with a piqued interest. "Hazard Cleanup? Which department?"

Shepherd smirked since he had Sin's memories after they were joined back together. he thinks back to how he became two seperate beings when he got caught in the explosion of a mystical bomb backing Paragon City.

"Yeah think your friend can find a place for Shepherd as well. He was seeking security job at the apartment."

Gladatoria wrote:

"May I ask what you do for a living?"

Jeremy quickly gulped his bite down and cleared his throat before answering, "coffee barista over at Ludo's on 9th."

There wasn't much Jeremy was going to comment during discussions involving the TCPD or the DA's office. He knew now that it wasn't justifiable but the animosity still lingered deep down. None of it showed, aside from a clenched jaw or harder chomping.

He was enjoying his burgers listening to the chat. "Heck if ya said you worked at a bar ya would been put up to my best friend. To bad I don't have that kind of doe I open a bar call it the inferno, or perhaps the Hel Hole." Suddenly the food court got very dark and people looked around. "Um... It was a joke! Come on don't Norse gods have a sense of Humor?"

The darkness faded and everything brightened up again. "Want my Job kid being a servant to a Goddess?"

"nervous, a bit shy, bad luck with electronics, bet ya wasn't to liked when ya bumped into people in the hall and gave them a shock. Yeah ya bully bait if I ever seen one, would be worst if ya had glasses."

He yawned "Hate to say it, but I wasn't to nice when I was in school typical Jock type. Ya be the type I would have targeted I was such a jerk back then. Let me guess you didn't tell anyone because you didn't want to get even more notice right?"

"I not a smart fella, think I had an A back in the forth grade. Just skimmed the passing side of graduating. Had a Sports scholarship here in Titan University, but couldn't pull the credits to keep it. Like I said I'm a fighter kid, boxing, mixed martial arts, that kind of thing. All of them have one thing related all fighters be it a Monk in Tibet or an underground fight club member. Ya read a person's body like a road sign." He drinks down the last of his soda. "All I did was read ya body language."

He got up and tossed his cup and wrapper paper in the trash bin "The rest of ya done?"

"The past is behind us. Let leave it at that, now lets see... Ah there the medical clinic. I do need a bit of a check up, don't want to think I'm unstoppable like I was." He headed to the clinic whistling a melody and for him that was it.

"So Jeremy what do you think your abilities are? Take a wild guess you know what it feels like and what the effects are."

Rudy assured Rusty Parts that he wouldn't allow the store to be bought by The Black Rose. He then took Rusty to meet his lawyer and the lawyer began researching what steps needed to be taken for Rusty to inherit ownership of the Junk Shop. Once that chore was finished, the two of them began making their way back to Whitehold.

"Jeremy Heron?" A nurse called out in the waiting room. Jeremy stood and approached her, nervously smiling. "There's nothing to be nervous about, son. This way please."

He looked back at everyone in the waiting room before the door shut behind him. "I don't know how long I'll be but I understand if I need to find my own way back to Whitehold."

--------

Jeremy emerged much later looking slightly paler and fairly shaken, but the effects were quickly washing off his face. He looked around the waiting room as he processed what happened. Realizing he was about to make a scene, or worse, eye contact, Jeremy stepped outside the clinic. In the hallway of the Maul, he held his hands out and thought back on the events that just happened. Purplish sparks of static traveled to his hands gathering intensity. Sparks jumped across his fingers, intensifying into a complete sphere before the interior ignited. Within the flames, sparks still flew back and forth between his fingertips. "So this is ionic..."

The fireball popped and dissipated instantly and the electrical current jolting to Jeremy's fingertips stopped. "Its ionnic apparently. Doc said with enough training it could do just about anything. Didn't give me a method to keep it contained though so...that's still a problem."

Jeremy sighed heavily. The proposal didn't sound so terrible now, and if bad memories from his past were going to crop up randomly he needed to have some control over it. "Ok, I guess..."

He flashed an awkwardly hesitant smile to her. "Probably better late than never."

"Ha... um, anytime after 1 is usually fine. I work most mornings, but the days change around." Jeremy leaned against the wall while he thought about the first question. "Anything I want to ask...How do you all know each other?"

Shepherd chimed in the convo since they were talking about their past.

Before I gained my immortality, I was a rookie cop for for the NYPD S.W.A.T. Went through PTSD after having to shoot a 15 year old kid who pulled a gun on me during a drug raid on my first day on he job then there were other traumatic experiences before my death. Who would have thought that the man in charge of the drug dealers was actually a vampire who I knew personally at the time. I just didn't know he was a vampire or a crime boss at the time"

Shepherd sighed.

Jeremy could almost taste his boot as the defining choice moments that propelled his company into heroism dwarfed his petty issues by comparison. Then again, what had just happened inside the clinic almost justified his resistance. Quickly pressing those thoughts back down, he caught up to Ron. "Yeah, gotta be something removable though. I don't want it messed up by the machines at work."

"If he want's a costume Shepherd. This is more a need then style like he said he not ready to go out and fight crime and lets not force him to do so. However until he gets the handle on his powers he needs something so he won't spark and flame up things by mistake." He stopped to look at a costume on display "Who would want shoulder pads that size?"

He then looked to Jeremy "Go ahead and speak to one of the sales people they fix ya up good. Don't let them pressure ya into a whole outfit, no I'm not saying that because it's coming out of my pocket. What you do with your life is ya choice."

He walks over and looks at the braces "Better then I expected, if they do the job then they do. lets ring them up like I said I pay."

Ron went to the counter and payed for the bracelets. "No problem now the landlord would get off ya back."

"Hey when ya look like an extra from a horror movie you have two choices. Hate life or embrace it. I chose to embrace it and that includes being a good Neighbor. Now I do believe Lady Nova put ya on her gym membership so you can come here anytime and work out some both normal and in the danger room. For now lets head home it's getting late."

With that he opened the portal back to Whitehold "All Aboard that's going aboard! Next stop Whitehold apartments!" Then he stepped through and across the few miles and ended up outside the apartment complex.

Jeremy's spirits, far detached from that moment hours ago of fear and apprehension, had perked back up to a jovial manner. "Sidekick here, costume there, suppression bracers...Sounds like I found myself on a team no matter how hard I tried to not be."

He stepped through the portal behind Lady Nova, still feeling the need to jump through. Amazed at where the sun had perched since he last saw it, "Has it really gotten this late?"

Shepherd followed the others through the portal.

"Remember one thing Jeremy, everyone has a choice on how to use the gifts they have. As i mentioned earlier your abilities are an extension of your body and soul. Only you can control how you use it and when to use it. to do that you have to will. The strongest enemy you will ever have to encounter is yourself. It's your choice whether you choose to submit or conquer yourself. Once you learn this, everything else will be a cake walk."

Shepherd looked at the apartment.

"I have been living in my base as of late in the abandoned church but maybe I should get an apartment here just to be like the rest of the normal people. Would make it easier when I order food."