After a bit of searching Sebastián found an appropriate spot, and gave a slight nod to his cousin “I got this, thanks.” As he maneuvered his way through the frozen mayhem he thought about what he was doing, using his gifts in front of people, something he had avoided his entire life. If there was another way, some other option to save his sister he would have taken it.

Coming to a stop, he drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. In his mind he pictured when he wanted to go, and he started to gather his power. Slowly, almost unnoticeable at first, the air began to thicken in the room centered on him, but slowly expanding. The perfect, climate controlled air started to feel heavy, almost humid, but without the heat that always accompanied humidity.

Sebastián lowered his head, and a small bead of light appeared before him. Slowly, the bead stretched sideways, each side stretching 3 feet from the center before coming to a stop. The air around Sebastián began to ripple, undulating much the way air ripples above hot asphalt. Moments later, the line began to creep up and down, forming an opening, a window in the air, until after a few minutes of intense concentration an 8 foot high, 6 foot wide portal stood before him.

The emotional toll of losing his sister, compounded with the physical strain of stopping time, and then ripping a portal into the past pushed Sebastián to his limit, and he fell to one knee, his hands outstretched on the carpet, catching himself before he fell completely.

A pair of strong arms clasped him and supported his weight. Mason looked down, his face impassive. He'd been unnoticeable until now.

"Steady there, Bastian," Mason murmured, looking at the undulating portal with keen interest.

Nemesis stood ramrod straight. He stared at the opening before them. It was like looking into a room through a glass of water. His head turned, focusing on each of the men in turn: Stone, Sebastian, Mason, Palmer and Vinnie DiSantiago. He resisted the urge to sigh. Palmer he could work with; the man was solid, in his own way, if a bit erratic in approach. Stone was...well, Stone. The other three he wasn't sure about. In spite of Sebastian's affiliation with the team he was still a DiSantiago, and this whole incident had just shown Nemesis how little he knew the man. Or knew about him.

And Danny McClain. More than anyone a big unknown. He resisted the urge to sigh. He simply had to work with what he had.

He looked at Ophilia, studying her still form. In his mind he was seeing another picture, as well. He gave a short shake of his head.

"Sebastian," he said aloud. "Is this thing stable?"

The DiSantiago nodded his head, but the strain of his exertion was obvious by the beads of sweat on his forehead.; "The sooner the better."

"Then let's get to the other side before it closes. We'll figure the rest out from there."

Vinny gave his cousin a small nod as he stepped forward, he hesitated a moment as he looked at the clear ripples that comprised the portal. "This is scary fucking shit, Cuz. Scaring fucking shit." ...and with that he braced himself and stepped through.

Mason raked his eyes across the rest of the group challengingly. Without a word, he stepped through the portal to stand with Vincent.

Danny raised an eyebrow at Mason's visual Judo, shrugged, then followed the man through the portal.

The other side. The same world, rewound by more than sixteen hours. The gallery was dark but preparations had been made in advance for the evening's auction. The tables were out, the chairs were arranged, even the bar was in place. It was a ghostly echo of the moment they'd just left. As dark as it was now, it wouldn't stay that way for long.

Palmer looked around the gallery as he ducked through. There was no clock in sight, but judging by the dim light coming through the street windows it was very early in the morning. "I think this place opens at eight," he announced. "The doors will be alarmed."

Mason had been standing, scanning the room with his head cocked slightly to the side. "Well, there's certainly no one else but us in the building. Unless you count the guard still sawing on wood in the security room."

Back in the present, Stone put a hand on Nemesis's shoulder, forestalling him a moment. "You sure about this? Your head clear?"

Nemesis looked at his friend, glad he was there. He nodded. "Yeah. I'm good," he said quietly. He paused, then added, "Okay, I'm not sure about it, but I'm willing to give it a shot." He gestured that Stone should wait a moment.

"Sebastian," Nemesis said, stepping over to his teammate. "You need help?" He stood nearby, ready to lend a hand. "Seriously, if this is too much for you let me know now so I can call the others back."

Shaking his head, he forced himself to stand up, sweat trickling down his face now. He carefully looked at Nemesis and Stone who were the only ones left on this side, when he spoke, his fatigue was much more obvious. "Just get everyone through, so I can join you and close this thing. Once I'm through I can rest a bit and get my wind back."

"I'll go," Stone said. He fist-bumped Nemesis and stepped through easy like Sunday morning, as if he was walking in his bathroom door with a newspaper on a weekend.

Nemesis took a deep breath and strode forward a few steps behind Stone. He wasn't as resilient as his biker friend and was more than a little anxious about what would--

--happen. He blinked and looked around. The room was the same. Well, except for being dark and empty and devoid of people other than their group. He let out his breath and forced himself to relax. He turned to check on Sebastian but was brought up short.

As Nemesis stepped into the room, Mason made a point of getting close to him to talk privately. "Let's make one thing perfectly clear, masked man, " he said softly but fiercely. "Don't think I've forgotten you're the reason Phi got shot. This 'plan' of yours better work."

Mason's eyes bore into Nemesis. "Because if Phi still ends up dead, I can promise you won't have to worry about spending a lot of time regretting it."

Nemesis closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was going to be like that.

Turning to face Mason he got nose-to-nose with the man. "If you blame me for this," he said quietly. "Then you're an even bigger idiot than I gave you credit for. I didn't pull the trigger. I didn't plant the bombs. And I sure as hell don't need some millionaire playboy reject from 'Beauty and the Beast' telling me what is and isn't my fault. You're not my conscience and you're not my mother, so either shut the fuck up and play nice or take your shot now, because I have neither the time nor the energy to put up with your self-indulgent alpha male bullshit."

Mason's reaction to Nemesis's words didn't go farther than a narrowing of his eyes. At this distance, it wasn't hard for Nemesis to see that Mason was wearing contacts. "And if you think that Phi catching that bullet was a sheer accident, you're the one who's mentally defective. She knew you were going to be shot. She willingly gave her life to save your hide. The question you have to ask yourself, Mr. Hero, is whether you have the balls to do the same for her."

He stepped back, not taking his eyes off the costumed crime-fighter, and gestured with his hand. "After you, fearless leader."

Nemesis gave a short shake of his head. "No. This is obviously a problem for you, so you've three choices. Volunteer to stay behind, agree to follow my lead with absolutely no more bullshit, or try and get past me. I don't give a fuck which, but decide now, because I'll be damned if I have some dipshit with a grudge behind me."

Mason's face was a mask. "Right now, the best chance to save Phi is for us to work together. She trusted in your leadership, so I'm trying to do the same. I'll follow your lead, but I'm not one of your team. That's where we stand."

The men stood quietly for a moment in front of the portal, only Sebastian remained on the other side. Not everyone in the room could hear the entire exchange, but the tension in the air was thick and their eyes clashed dangerously.

Stone approached the pair, seemingly oblivious to the tension. A Marlboro hung from his mouth and he was flicking his lighter to no avail.

"Either of you ladies want to take a break from your romance and give me a light?"he asked casually. "I'm out."

Nemesis looked at him like he'd finally lost his mind while Mason turned his head, his growling tenor dripping with contempt. "Back off, sweetness, before I cram that cigarette up your ass."

Stone's sunglasses traveled to Nemesis and then back to Mason. He spread his hands and said, "Dude, I just need a light. You don't have to get sexual."

Nemesis realized what his friend was doing--or thought he did. He took the opportunity to take a literal and figurative step back. No need to start a fight now, but Mason was definitely going to need a close watch. He wasn't the sort you wanted at your back when he was angry and not thinking clearly. Hopefully Stone's levity could bring him around.

Unaware of what was transpiring on the other side of his portal, Sebastián took one last look around the room. His eyes focused on the stage, more specifically the petite form lying motionless. He locked his gaze upon her form, and slowly started backing up, feeling the familiar tingle as he passed through the portal. His gaze never leaving his sister’s body, he began to close the portal, wanting her to be the last image he saw, from a time he hoped to erase completely.

"C'mon, man, give me a light," Stone persisted in a friendly persuading tone, stepping closer to Mason to nudge him like a buddy. "It's cool, I'll smoke it over there." He jerked a thumb towards the windows.

"I don't smoke, you white trash fuck!" Mason bellowed, teeth bared and menacing as he slapped away Stone's hand with a clawed one of his own. His eyes almost glowed with animal intensity.

"Well what the hell are those, then?" Stone asked with a gesture to Mason's shirt's chest pocket.

Nemesis opened his mouth to intervene again but didn't get the chance.

The feral socialite bachelor grunted queryingly as he looked down at his chest. When he did, Stone's hand shot out and struck Mason there. The force of the shove sent the wealthy wildman flying on a rope back through the portal all the way into the far wall of the room on the other side.

The cacophony of clattering folding chairs mixed with savage roars cut off abruptly as the portal closed.

Stone used the lighter still in his hand and lit his cigarette, taking his time in doing so. He took a long drag while the others watched in varying degrees of surprise, anger, amusement, and resentment. He cracked his neck and then walked to stand against the wall by the windows where he had indicated he would as five sets of eyes followed him.

Finally the biker broke the silence. With a shrug towards Nemesis, he asked in a casual tone, "So what's the move?"

Nemesis couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. Leave it to Stone to neatly and bluntly handle a problem. Mason might have been able to contribute to the group but Nemesis wouldn't have been able to fully focus with the man at his back. It seemed an appropriate trade.

Danny stared, and for just a moment, for the briefest of instants Stone could see naked glee dancing in the Irishman's deep blue-green eyes. Then that glee vanished, and Danny shook his head, spinning a chair around and settling himself down onto it, arms across the back, chin resting upon his arms. "Ya know," he said conversationally into the silence. "He's gonna be really, really mad when we get back."

Palmer looked at the ground, making a token attempt to hide his smirk.

"That's my problem," Stone stated plainly through a haze of smoke. With a pointed glance and a nod in Nemesis's direction, he added, "And nobody else's."

"Assuming he remembers," Nemesis added. "And we succeed, he probably won't care." He gave Stone a nod of his own, one of appreciation.

Vinny was standing in shocked silence, still looking at the portal, his mouth half opened and his fists clenched tightly at his sides. There was a visible struggle on his face as he took inventory of the room, suddenly feeling a lot more alone without Mason by his side. He looked at his cousin, Bastian, who was still laboring to catch his breath and they shared a look of understanding between them. Whatever it was that went unspoken, seemed to tip the scales in the hot headed DiSantiago, and made him stop short of saying or doing anything that he might regret.

Sebastián took in everything that had happened as he regained a bit of his strength, drawing in timed, controlled breaths. When he looked up his gaze passed around the room, not settling on any one person for more than a second, his voice calm and even.

“I’m glad that playing with someone’s life is not only condoned but is considered amusing. Mason could have been killed, or worse. I have no idea what would happen to a person if they were caught as the portal was closing, and none of you had any idea how long it was going to take to close.

Palmer rolled his eyes and walked away from the group. He crossed to the front door and examined the control pad for the alarm system. Sebastián didn't pause in his lecture.

"I picked you people, to help me save my sister, and I expected all of you to want to help. I certainly didn’t expect any of you to be ants at the picnic.” His eyes seemed to settle on Stone, but continued on. “Yes, the bomb is a very big issue, and also Nemesis’ friend Pops, but have you considered what will happen if Phi isn’t saved? Do you have any idea who will be running the team? Very likely it will be Javier, or Alejandro. Is that something you want, any of you?” He paused, his gaze continuing to scan the room, from face to face.

“Now, I don’t know if we can do this without Mason, but it looks like we’re going to have to try. Let’s try to finish what we came for, or is that too much to ask?”

Nemesis shook his head dismissively. “We can do this without Mason,” he said matter-of-factly. “Mainly because I won’t have to watch my back with him gone. Let’s get a couple of things straight, though. We’re not here to kill anyone. This is not about vengeance because as of right now no one’s been hurt. We’re here to prevent that, and we do it the way we’re supposed to or we don’t do it at all. Because when it comes down to it, there is no team without Ophilia.” He paused, swallowed. “Not for me.”

A puzzled look crossed Sebastián's face as he listened to Nemesis begin, wondering what he missed on the other side of the portal, but those thoughts were pushed out of his head as the hero continued on. "I agree we are not assassins, I have yet to kill any one, and don't plan on starting now. That might or might not be hard for any of you to believe, but there it is. I also agree with you, there is no team without Ophilia, at least no team I want to be affiliated with. She trusted in you to lead, and I have to as well. I've done my part, I've given us a fighting chance." A slightly pained expression crossed his face. "As much as it pains me to admit, I'm out of my element. That isn't to say I can't contribute, but for now, I'll be deferring to you."

Nemesis nodded once to Sebastian. “We put all the crap behind us and get the job done.”

“Now,” he began, addressing the group as a whole. "We have several pieces of information to work with. From the shooter we retrieved a cell phone and a packet of information. On the cell phone were text messages that lead us to believe there were at least two phases to the plan, possibly more. Phase one apparently involved the killing of Pops McGinty, owner and operator of Pops' Bar. Pops was—is--a close friend of mine."

Vinny nodded his head as he listened intently to the details that the masked vigilante was sharing. He made his way over to the bar and poured a glass of water for Bastian and a shot of whiskey for himself. He threw back his shot and began moseying over to where Bastian was sitting.

"Part of phase one also appeared to include the delivery of two packages, labeled 'alpha' and 'beta'. According to the text messages, Phase Two was activated at 9:51pm. That would correspond with the shooter's actions. The envelope," he gestured to Palmer, ensuring the man still had the envelope. "Contains a few photographs, including myself in costume, Pops McGinty, Assistant DA Kate Sutherland, a picture of the Justice Building downtown, and a picture of Toddbury Asylum. Also included were schematics for what I can only assume is a bomb, and a series of numbers that as yet cannot be identified."

"The entire plan appears to have been put together by a person or persons known as Syndicate."

"Ha!" Palmer exclaimed. Four heads snapped in his direction. "I, uh, turned off the alarm," he explained. He coughed, and gestured for Nemesis to continue.

Nemesis took a moment to gather his thoughts. The next part would be the most interesting. "You're all here because Sebastian knew you'd help him stop Ophilia's murder. I'm asking you to see the big picture and realize that the best way to do that is to put the Syndicate out of business. You'd not only save Ophilia, but Pops McGinty, as well. Most importantly, if there is a bomb--and I think there might be two bombs out there--then we can stop that, as well. Oh, and we have to do all of this without revealing ourselves to anyone."

He shrugged. "The plan? Let's get out of here and go to the Stewart Regency." He glanced at Palmer. "Do you have a room number?"

"Fifth floor," Palmer replied. "We have the key, so finding the room should be simple enough."

Nemesis nodded. "That gives us a good place to start. After that we find the Syndicate, shut 'em down, and go home. That's the plan."

Vinny still looked a little disgruntled, and out of his element among the heroes that remained. "Do we...uh..." he looked at his cousin for a moment as he tried to frame his question. "Do we need..uh... any equipment? I'm all for helping you save that Pops of yours and the bomb, but how are we going to disarm a bomb, even if we do find it? ...and I've heard of this Syndicate, scary fuckin' shit that. If they're involved, this might could get big time serious."

"It's not already?" followed a sniffed, grim chuckle from Stone. The biker looked to Nemesis. "I'll handle the bombs," he said before taking a drag from his smoke. "I'll need a small toolkit - screwdriver, wire cutters, and so on."

"I have a little experience, myself," Nemesis said, nodding toward Stone. "But I'll let you take point with the bombs for obvious reasons." He offered a half-smile.

The DiSantiago outsider leveled a serious stare at Nemesis. "I'm talking money and resources. If this is about you. If you are the target of all this..." He swirled his hands a bit at his side as he tried to summon the right words. "...all this shit. You're gonna be a walking bulls eye."

Nemesis shrugged. "I was already," he said matter-of-factly. "We'll handle 'em. Besides, we have an edge." He smiled coldly. "They don't know we're here."

"Thing is," Danny said, breaking his silence, eyes staring down at the carpet. "Thing is, y'know, we're going ta have ta take these people down. All the way." The last three words had been spoken slowly, and with much emphasis. He looked up at Nemesis. "Y'know yer a target now. And not just you, but yer friends, and probably yer family. And if he," he pointed at Vinny "says that these guys are seriously nasty, then you.." he sighed, "we're, gonna have ta pull them down to their bones. Or they'll just try again, sure and they will." He glanced over at Stone. "We break them today, break them so bad that they'll never come back." He shrugged and got up off his chair. "It's th' only way ta be sure."

The vigilante stared at Danny long and hard while he thought about that. He nodded ever so slightly, acknowledging the point, albeit reluctantly.

"Scary fucking shit."  Vinny reiterated as he let out a long breath, his eyes still lingering on where the portal had been.  The visible signs of his anger had almost disappeared, but it was rather obvious that he was deliberately not looking at Stone.

"Right, then." Nemesis looked around, taking stock of each of them in turn. Finally he nodded. "Let's get to work."

Danny raised a hand. "I could probably make this easier fer everyone." He was smiling again, impish, mischievous. "I can, ya know, change everyone. Make ya look different. Wouldn't take but a tic and it would let us move around a bit more freely." 

"Oh, sure," Palmer said cooly. "Alter time, alter our bodies. Whatever's convenient, right?"

"Feel free ta never use yer powers and abilities ta make things convienient if ya like, but I'd rather stop this bomb and save these people." Danny replied with a shrug. "Whatever problem yer havin, I hope it's not with me. I'm just tryin ta help."

"And I'm declining the offer," Palmer returned with a shrug. He checked his watch pointedly, but had to smile. It was set to another time zone.

Nemesis had been warring with that very thought--alter their appearances? what else could he do?--and eventually came to the same conclusion.

"Thanks," he said to Danny. "But no thanks. It's not that I don't trust you, but..." Nemesis trailed off. He stared at the ground in front of him, thinking.

Danny just shook his head. "Sure. I just figured it might be easier ta not have ta worry about anyone recognizin us, since ya seem big on that not happenin."

Taking a deep breath, Nemesis looked up again. "Explain how it works," he said to Danny.

Something flickered across Danny's face, there and gone like summer lightining. Relief perhaps. His grin returned. "It's simple. I'll just sort of, imagine ya different, and tell your body ta follow the image i have in my head. I can't do big changes, like mass and things, but yer voice and face, skin tone, hair color, that's easy. Ya don't even have ta take yer mask off - I don't need ta see you ta start the change, but i'll want ta take a look once it's done, just ta be sure there's nothin that didn't take." 

"For meself, I'll need a mirror o course. Once we're finished here, I just give the 'undo' command and everything goes back to the way it was. Yer body remembers what ya are, even if I tell it ta be somethin diffferent." 

Nemesis definitely seemed torn on the issue. "You mean if something happens to you I'd be stuck looking like...however?"

"I don't think so," Danny replied, rubbing his hands together briskly. "Like I said, yer body remembers. You'll kind of slowly shift back anyway over time. I suppose I could make it permanent, but that would take a long time ta do, and ya'd have ta be willing." 

"Okay," Nemesis said, letting out his breath. He hadn't realized he'd been holding it. "Okay," he said again, nodding once, then again to Danny. He looked like he was getting ready to dive off a cliff. "Do what you gotta do."

Danny held out his hand, black smoke already beginning to roil and pour from the pink flesh, obscuring it from view. "Ya might feel some tinglin' as things shift. That's normal," said the Irishman, as Luke placed his hand in Dannys. "Don't cough. Blinkin's fine. Breathe normally." The smoke poured up and over Nemesis' hand, then arm, then shoulder and head. Soon the man's whole body was merely a darker shape hidden inside a curtain of moving, boiing blackness, and he could just begin to feel the tingling beginning to start, like the beginnings of that pins-and-needles sensation you got when your foot fell asleep - except he felt it everywhere.

"Blue eyes, light blue. Lot's a blue-eyed people in the world," Danny said, almost to himself. "Blonde hair, yeah... light blonde and the nose... bit narrower, cheekbones higher, jawline not so prominent," he whispered, his own eyes closed as he built the vision in his minds eye. "Voice lighter, higher, but just a bit, just a bit... teeth, yeah, just a touch there... now then... hold it... hold it..." 

The hand dropped, and Luke knew he was different - his jaw felt strange. Yeah, because.... ah.... wisdom teeth were back again. Been a while since he'd had those.

Luke ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth. It felt...different. Of their own accord his hands found his way to his face, his fingers lightly tracing the outline of his jaw, his nose, his entire face. Finally he pulled his mask up and faced Stone.

"Well?" Even his voice sounded a little off.

Stone shrugged and replied in what might have been sarcasm.  "Nice.  Very Rutger Hauer."

Danny opened his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Right then," he said as he looked at Stone. "What about you?" 

"Pass," Stone answered with a rise of his chin.

"Yer kiddin, right?"

Stone just looked at him.

"If any of us need to look like someone we aren't, it's him," Danny said to Nemesis. "Or am I once again missin a point here or somethin?"

"It's a choice," Nemesis said, sparing only a moment's glance at Stone. His new face betrayed little. "We'll work around it."

Danny seemed to consider this, then just nodded. "Sure."

Sebastián had been watching the exchange with a look of curiosity as he regained his strength.  "Facinating, have you ever been unable to change someone? As if their body just wouldn't cooperate?"

"No. But ya can count on two hands the number of people I've done this to, so maybe there's those it won't work on." Danny replied. "What about you and Vinny - yer kind of recognizable ya know."

The doctor seemed to mull that over, thinking things through in his head. "While it is true, we are recognizable, maybe not on the same level as our costumed friends but still recognizable.  I can't help feeling that it might be more beneficial for us to remain as we are. We might be more help with the weight of our family name, than without.  Of course that's just my opinion, Vinny is free to make whatever choice he likes."

Vinny seemed to give this some serious thought before he replied.  "I don't mind you slopping my face up.  ...but with this talk of the Syndicate being involved, I might be the only one that can get us some information.  And that would depend on me being me, my contacts through the club might help.  I'm not like the rest of you guys, my only powers are my influence and contacts."  Then he gave Bastian a nod, "Go ahead Cuz.  I can bankroll this outfit and get us in wherever.  I've got that covered."

Again, Sebastián seemed to consider things abit before nodding his head slowly. "Perhaps you are right Vinny, your contacts are likely better suited to help us today.  If I was just another of your friends it might be easier.  OK Danny, I'm game."

A minute later, Sebastian too had been changed. His skin was lighter, hair a mousy brown, eyes chocolate. His face was a little rounder now, ears a bit bigger. He looked ten years younger as well, and would have fit into Anytown Kansas with very little difficulty. His voice had also lost its rich undertones, becoming a little more gravelly.

Then the black smoke that had covered Nemesis and Sebastion flowed over Danny, who had walked over to one of the large glass windows and was using it as a mirror of sorts. When the smoke vanished, he too had changed. His skin was darker, hair that had been black was now brown, blue eyes gone black complete with epicanthic folds. His face too had lost some of its angles, and when he spoke it was with a slight asian accent.

"All done then?" 

?