Catalysts: IC (Oh the thread is slowly dying...)

The sun finally disappeared beyond the horizon. At that the standoff ended and the battle began. Nox threw a Molotov cocktail into the middle of the line. That was a fourth out of action. Amid the chaos he charged in wielding two daggers. Stab. Roll. Stab. Roll. He managed to take out a few this way. But now they were firing at him. He grabbed a corpse and used it for a shield, before running to a nearby office. This was going poorly.

After the bullet flew, Winter jumped back. She looked at this man and, although he spoke, heard not his words. Her hands clenched into fists. How dare this figure challenge her, how dare he judge her... she should teach him a lesson, make him pay. She had the power now. She could do it, she was almost certain...

No.

Winter blinked. Her fists uncurled and she sunk to her knees.

"No. No... it wouldn't. There is no reason. There never was." Curse this damn voice. She wished it would go away, yet for all the anger and spirit she attempted to muster, the only thing that came of it was melancholy shame.

Winter was silent for a time, neither thinking nor paying attention to the world outside her hands, cupped over her face. Much later, when she finally rose, she was a new person.

He lowered the gun swiftly, ran forward and pat the top of her head swiftly, his eyes filled with joy.

"I can sense the anger, and for ignoring it you pass my judgement. Now if you'll excuse me, I believe the abandoned city may be in danger, so I have innocents to judge."

For a moment he froze next to her, watching her cupped face before he smiled weakly and offered up something, idiotic though it may be.

"I'll let you take a free punch at me now, if you'd like."

Idiot..

Winter's only response to the request was a brief nod. She was not yet willing to speak.

What have I become. Where can I go from here.

These words bounced around her head, and she found no answer until hours later, when the voice from her dreams spoke again.

Bloom.

She glanced up in shock, and saw that the man had left. Muttering a silent "thank you,' Winter rose and looked up at the sky, ablaze with pinpricks of light. It had never seemed quite so pleasant.

Waiting no further he simply gave her shoulder a quick pat then ran off to help Nox. Noticing the men taking fire he jumped up and landed in the centre, his arms pointed in opposite directions before shouting out loud.

"JUDGEMENT!"

With this he began spinning around, emptying out his ammunition into as many vital areas as he could before running out. He holstered his pistol and ran for a car where he withdrew his kusorigama and ran out, slashing two soldiers stomachs open and capturing the CO with the weighted chain.

"Nox! Assisstance would be appreciated!"

Nox had put away the kunai. The shadows roiled around him like dark flames licking at wood. His eyes turned a shade of crimson. Any wounds he had healed. He drew his katana and jumped onto a roof. He jumped down on an unsuspecting soldier, skewering him. Before his comrades had time to react Nox had slashed them horribly, some now sporting stumps where before there were limbs.

Revelling in the madness, Ragnarok tugged the chains tightly before decapitating the CO. He went around, slashing open throats and exposed weak flesh, leaving gore and blood splatters about on the battlefield before most of them had died and the retreat had begun.

"I met the bomber today... I see you made some friends.. Looks like we both have stories to share when we get into the sub station."

There were a few police detachments alive and fleeing. Nox sprinted to and pounced on the nearest soldier, pinning him down. He withdrew a kunai. Using it he marked a symbol on the man's forehead: an N in a circle. He let the cop go and returned to Ragnarok. "Come, I can see we both have tales to tell."

With this he sheathed his weapon, patting his friends back as they went down into the depths to regail their tales of fighting and friends.

"So I saw your broadcast. Killing the mayor? Nice touch, but a bit chaotic for you. Or at least so I'd think.."

"I did it for a good reason. Viva la revolution." with that e pointed to the anarchy symbol painted on the wall. He then picked up a random waiting magazine. Anarchadia. What a wonderful life this was, indeed.

"Yes well, I spoke with the bomber. Though, covered in blood with a victim nearby, she was quite a lovely specimen. I hope I can use her to my plans.. And don't favor anarchism too heavily. Too much chaos is a bad thing. Too much order is also a bad thing but.. I digress."

With this he rose and looked about then sighed.

"I need you to come with me next time I contact her. I need a defensive partner like yourself and you're pretty deadly. So.. Be prepared."

"Me? Babysit you? You just saved my sorry ass!" Nox shuddered upon thinking jut how close he'd came to dying just then. He'd only survived with the help of Ragnarok. He turned to Ragnarok. "Just who are you, anyway?"

Pandora laughed as she watched video feeds of the confrontation. It seemed her encounter with the Katana wielding goody-goody had left a bad taste in his mouth. Oh, such beautiful chaos. Even better, the police would assume that HE was the bomber, leaving her free to prepare a few more packages! Oh, this WOULD be fun. She pulled a block of C4 from her coat, placing it 3 feet from her former play things, and slowly slipped away into the newly dawned night.

"Well.. Some would say a god. Some would say the Grim Reaper. Some would say a simple man. Myself? I've no clue who I am, only my moral standings remain. And yes. You babysit me in a way. My abilities are more.. passive. Yours are violently active upon the sun going down. Simply put, I'd had to have all the hate in the world to be able to kill someone quickly with my ability."

Winter, having arrived back at her hideout, began to lay out a plan of sorts for the future. Clearly, things had changed - she realized now that she had been fooling herself for a vast majority of her life. She was not entirely human, and with that difference, be it gift or curse, it was her duty to make the best of it.

Winter's new definition of 'best,' she decided, would include the general population. Why should anyone else have to suffer as she and so many others had? What was stopping people from living happily and wealthily?

The obvious answer was the government. It was cruel, selfish, arbitrary, and corrupt. Yes, the government had to go. But how?

Terrorist attacks? Acts of violence?

She'd read of the attack on the mayor, and even if it had been successful, surely an equally horrible man would step up to take his place? Politicians were crafty like that - perhaps one had even hired the assassin in order to better his position.

No, Winter decided. The best way to usher in a new world order would be to organize a movement, an organization of unprecedented proportion. She would need followers, and she would need a way to gather them in secret - the police force would simply crush a small resistance force, but a revolution en masse? If the factory workers, the farmers, the very economic workforce, the policemen themselves turned their backs on this corrupted society, what could the government do but cease to exist?

With her mind as a canvas, Winter began to sketch out her plan.

Nox took a listen to the radio. It was on a news station. He listened to their description of the day's events. "A daring police raid on the mayor's killer ended in a retreat as police were overwhelmed. The terrorist known as Nox is to be killed on sight."

"Oh great. I have so many problems already, now I have to worry about you.. Right, well, Nox, I assume you've met as many catalysts as you can. Do you know where I might find the one known as Winter? I'm afraid she'll do something to thwart my.. plan against the government..."

He coughed slightly and looked off towards the wall. He knew soon he'd have to start killing other catalysts to preserve his plan; If his plan is ruined, his progress was too..

"So. I have a choice to make. I either go for the good-doer.. Or the bomber from earlier on in the week. Either way, I'd like for you to accompany me, Nox. Is this alright?"

"I cannot myself pass judgement, as I am friends with one and enemies of the other." Passing judgement was not his territory, and his friendship with Winter was certainly not a good deciding factor in all this. Pandora was outright likely to kill him- or try.

"True. But which do you think could cause a better diversion. A goody-goody, or an evil maniac? I myself just need the most useful.. Personal judgement on both passes them both. Pandora's scared. That's all I can sense. As for Winter, she's tired of all the agonizing damage..."

He sighed and lit up a Menthol light.

"Well... I guess we try Winter first.."

Winter had, as yet, not encountered any fellow metahumans that would be interested in attempting to enlist - and before she ever attempted to convince such a being to join her, she would need to have shown her abilities in some way.

She imagined a way to unify a people - what if the single greatest symbol of cruelty and injustice came crashing down?

The jails. The torturous, hellish jails. Winter had never been inside one, but she'd heard the screams and avoided the place whenever possible. That was to be her ultimate objective - but before she could shut it down, she would need to gain publicity.

Arising suddenly to make for the old abandoned mall, Winter smiled to herself. Her image of a happy future was clarifying in her mind's eye already...

Nox kicked off his shoes and grabbed a hot plate and a mug from a nearby table. He poured some water into the cup and turned on the hot plate. He grabbed some mint leaves and set some in a small bronze cup and lit them on fire using a lighter, sending a mint smell all around the room. The rest he put in the now boiling water.

Ragnarok prepared to get his own tea but then stood and laughed. He realized he needed no help to talk to a neutral, practically powerless catalyst.

"I'm off. I'll bring back some rations from nearby malls."

And with that Ragnarok sped off to go and meet with Winter. He sped toward the mall first, to get the food he promised Nox and breathed out against the cool night. A full moon had settled, and to his surprise it was a "super moon" at that. The moon was closest to the Earth at this point, and this made the luminosity of the light only more intense.

Upon arrival at the complex, Winter, after first waiting to be sure no looters lurked inside, entered through the dilapidated old double doors at the entrance. There had used to be a gang in this particular building, but last she heard they'd picked up shop when the bigger fish got too close for comfort. Winter appeared to be correct; the building was indeed deserted, at least for the moment.

She made a beeline for the old Artisan Crafts. The familiar neon sign, long since shut off, hung before the dark aperture like something from an old horror movie. Winter simply shrugged away the uneasiness and entered.

Though the place had long since been torn apart by vagrants, some supplies remained unclaimed in the back. Winter grabbed as many cans of white spray paint as she could hold and began to retrace her steps out of the building.

He searched around, in the large mall for something, anything. He looked about and attempted to sense her, but there was no organic life around. He began to search, aimlessly, in anything that could attract her before bumping into her around a corner. With instinct he rose his pistols and pressed them to her cheek.

"Judgem- Oh.. It's you.. Hi. I was actually looking for you."

He lowered the weapon.

"Now then.. I need your help."

Of the many things that could have jumped out and pressed themselves against her cheek at that moment, a pair of pistols with a familiar maniac behind them was one of the least-expected on the list. Winter started, and the spray paint canisters fell from her grasp to roll about on the dusty tiles.

"Not YOU again..." She crossed her arms, too shocked and confused (as usual) to be angry. "What do you need my help with...?"