A warehouse in the middle of the woods... its insides expansive, with pool tables and poker tables. Incapacitated and tied up gangsters spread all around- as well as a gangster with gaping gashes in his face.

Two forces standing across from each other... and two forces sprinting straight at each other.

"CAAAAAAAAAAW!" Talon's voice rings out as the two charge at each other, the battle beginning...

In that moment, both men behold the other's approach... putting special focus on pulling their respective right hands back, Talon preparing a claw swipe while Quade prepares a right hook.

Quade- clenches his fist, covering his knuckles in thick porcupine quills and morphing his biceps and forearm into a gorilla's. Countering Talon's swift claw swipe by stabbing into the wrist, using Talon's swift strength against him as the quills dig in deep.

"G-GHHHHK-!" Talon noises, shaking in place as his fingernails were a mere two inches away from Quade's face. Forcibly preparing his other hand, taking advantage of the fact that Quade's other arm is-

Wait! Shit! Talon immediately anticipates an attack, already prepared as he quickly stops, forcefully prying his arm off of Quade's hand, and quickly leaning back. Reacting instantaneously, only one second early as he manages to avoid the third arm lunging out of the shapeshifter's neck.

Talon tensely remembered that the shapeshifter is easily able to grow animal parts out of his entire body... seemingly also able to take on any face. A power that is quite useful for an ally... absolutely abysmal with an enemy... one that catches the man off guard, visibly astonished at this sudden attack.

The gorilla arm shot out and extended right over Talon's face, its fist having almost decked him in the face. A ready move that Quade actively has on standby, an opportunistic ace up his nonexistent sleeve- keeping the gorilla arm there to keep Talon on edge as Quade prepares his follow up attack. Keeping his hand clenched, with drops of Talon's blood dripping off of the porcupine quills, he quickly turns and swings his body. Angled in a way to optimally swing his right arm at Talon, a fist on its way to backhand and pierce the man's cheek.

The gangster's eyes glance to his side, seeing the incoming spiked fist. His vision going utterly red, glaring at Quade... a bubbling fury that tightens in his heart, an indescribable rage that burns the blackest of flames in his chest.

"You wretched...!" Talon loudly shouts.

This flame in his chest flows up to his lips, a black aura focusing and manifesting over his open mouth. In the next second, this aura extends outward, shaping into a solidified beak of darkness. Screeching and cawing out as his head lunges forward. Biting hard into Quade's hand, its quill-covered spikes ineffective against this manifested beak.

Quade's eyes widen as this bite occurs, forcibly pulling his hand back- letting out a tensely sharp grunt of pain as his hand is cleanly bitten off. Immediately withdrawing and dashing backwards from Talon, hyperventilating as his hand has been completely dismembered.

Talon grins widely under his beak, watching the shapeshifter back up... deciding to get cocky. The gangster tilts his head up and raises Quade's hand over his face. Brutally and proudly showing the hand as a sign of pride, presenting it to all who could see it. Eyes looking past the hand and gazing at Quade with amusement.

"W-What the hell?!" Quade loudly shouts in angruish, shaking in place as the gorilla arm retreats back into his body- and skin covers over his wrist, stopping the bleeding. Staring at Talon's beak, tensely noting Talon's abilities so far. The reason for the name, Talon, is not lost on him... bird talons. Talons in the form of his fingernail claws... an agile and swift movement... a ferociously powerful beak.

Quade is, for lack of a better term, fighting against a bird man.

A bird man that lets loose his restraint as he forcibly whips his head and throws the hand aside, discarding this trophy of victory. The hand's mass messily smacking against the wall, lifelessly thudding and "thunk"ing against it. Talon cackles wildly in front of his subordinates, a murderous gleam in his eye... arms spread out with fingernails pointed at Quade, spreading his "wings" out in pure, pure pride. The wild bird man mouth and manifested beak wide open, almost salivating with a hunger for more.

A brief pause... before Talon kicks off of the ground, nimbly closing the distance between him and Quade. Staring at the shapeshifter with a murderous look in his eyes that screams: I'm going to rip your other hands off!

"Tch-!" Quade quickly holds his breath, focusing hard on regenerating his hand. Hiding his hand right behind his back, preparing for any possible attack to come from his claws or beak...

... before- catching a glimpse of a small... small ball floating in Talon's beak. A pellet-shape, one that grew bigger as he rushes forward.

Quade- Quade's eyes tensely stare at this sight. If that pellet does what he thinks it does-!

Immediately, the pellet fires out, Talon- regurgitating and shooting a thick owl pellet out at Quade's face. Fired at a speed to rival a bullet's, a wretched and ominous air surrounding it.

Quickly, the gorilla hand lunges out of Quade's neck to block the bullet- a turtle shell coating the hand, withstanding the impact...

... only to be met with the shell itself deteriorating and melting, its skin burning off with contact.

Quade winces in incredible pain as the shell and the skin underneath completely rots and disintegrates- almost frozen and paralyzed at this sensation. Talon, seizing the opportunity that came from this, swipes his nails at Quade's side, slashing into his hip and splitting open his skin.

Quade lets out a pained yell as this happens, falling and rolling backwards to gain some more distance from Talon. Throwing the pellet to the ground, his- his regeneration noticeably slowed, as he focused too heavily between three sources of injury.

Talon grins with sadistic glee... in a position of advantage, his ability triumphing over Quade. "Tell me... how does it feel, to be rendered mere prey, shapeshifter...?" Talon asks, his primal instincts surging from his hands and mouth, the man cackling like a wild crow rather than a proper leader of organized crime. "To be faced with a true apex predator?"

"..." Quade is crouched on one knee... rendered silent by the aching pain coursing through his body.

"No answer...? Pity... I was hoping to get an answer... before I rip you to utter pieces, and-!" Talon exclaims, his pupils dilating with raw joy at his superiority.

Then, Talon immediately goes silent, looking up almost immediately. Catching a glimpse of an incoming shadow descending from the ceiling, watching a... a child with a stick falling from the ceiling.

Having hidden herself for some time to get into ample opportunity, Verness Monochrome falls from the ceiling. Taking initiative and attempting to ambush the man as she smashes a pool cue over Talon's head. Snapping the wooden stick in half, putting all of her weight and might into bludgeoning the man's head.

Monochrome glares down with furious look in her eyes as the wooden stick snaps. "HAHA! Take that!" Monochrome loudly shouts, a cocky grin on her face as she gets a good ambush strike on Talon. Descending to the ground, ready to jump from it and retreat from-

Before she could, however... promptly, Talon lunges his hand out, grabbing the child by the throat. His eye twitching as he endures the impact... reacting almost immediately to grab Monochrome and lift her off of the ground.

"?!" Monochrome's eyes widen as she's grabbed, caught off guard. "W-What the-?!" Tensely beginning to reach for his hand, moving to pry his fingers off of her throat.

"So you have an accomplice..." Talon mumbles, maintaining his grip on Monochrome's throat. His fingers unmoving, Monochrome unable to pry his fingers off. "One of the superpowered individuals... I see."

Quade, the other hidden Vernesses, and the gangsters watch as... without restraint, as the child dangles from his hand, Talon immediately begins choking Monochrome with all of his might. A ruthless move with careless disregard, his tight grip strangling the air out of Monochrome's lungs.

"...!" Quade's eyes widen at this, a horrified and enraged look on his face. "Don't you dare...! S-She's just a kid! S-She ain't involved in this fight between you and me, let her go!"

Talon looks to Quade for a moment, before glancing back at Monochrome. Watching as this little girl flails her arms and legs, fighting for her life. Processing the situation he's in, a cold and cynical look returning to his eyes.

"... an enemy of the Syndicate is just that... an enemy."

Uttering these words to the child... tightening his grip further. All demands to spare Monochrome lying on deaf ears, as the tips of his sharpened claw fingernails begin to jab into Monochrome's neck.

Emotionlessly watching as the girl winces in pain at this, her gray eyes starting to water as she gags and chokes... his ruthlessness on full display. A helpless victim to his utter violence, suffering from this morally heinous of acts, crying for her life.

"I SAID- LET HER GO!" Quade roars out, sprinting straight at Talon. Enduring the pain in his body, focusing all of his might in shifting his arm into a bear's. Coating his hand in thick brown fur, with sharp bear claws sticking out, going for a swipe at Talon's neck.

Talon quickly turns to hold Monochrome in the way, using her as a human shield. The look over his eyes darkening as he swings her in the way, anticipating the shapeshifter's next moves.

"...!" Quade hesitates, stopping his attack immediately before his claw attacks Monochrome.

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A foolish moment of weakness... Talon thought, capitalizing on this hesitance as he turns his body, locking into a spinning motion as he cleanly swipes his fingernails across Quade's neck. Inflicting a gaping wound over it, rendering it a bloodied mess.

Quade stares at this with tense, trembling eyes, choking and gagging. A mortal wound inflicted onto him, his body drained of its regenerative energy at this point. His eye starting to twitch as he loses focus, gargling on his own saliva and blood. Losing all feeling in his body as his arm returns to normal, as he drops down to his knees with blanking eyes.

"... I've had enough..." Talon mumbles lightly, lifting his hand in the air.

Quade tensely stares forward, watching Talon hold the little girl high in the air. Trembling in utter horror at this, watching as this gangster is trying to choke the life out of a little girl.

"...nnhhhh... no... d... don't..." Quade groans out- coughing violently as he forced those words out, his body going limp... unable to do anything whatsoever. Unable to save Monochrome or call out for help, his head slumping forward... almost- spared the agony of having to watch this...

Monochrome continues to struggle, continues to flail her arms and legs,

Talon's aura envelops his hand as he forcefully tightens his grip. Completely putting all of his might into committing something atrocious, something heinous, something utterly- utterly horrifying, a mere few seconds away from clenching his hand into a fist and squeezing Monochrome's neck into a bloodied pulp.

... then, the sound of a motorcycle rings out.

Then, suddenly, Verness Red descends down from the ceiling next. Falling into sight and promptly high-fiving Monochrome.

In that moment, Monochrome's entire body instantly poofs into dust, her body turned straight into light that absorbs into Verness Red's body. Spared an excruciatingly brutal fate as she instantly escapes Talon's deranged grasp, fulfilling her purpose as a decoy.

"...?!" Talon watches this occur, his hand clenched completely into a fist... confused and perplexed by this. Utterly bewildered at the girl disappearing from his grasp. "W-What in the...?!"

"W-We need to leave! Now!" Red exclaims in worry, running quickly to Quade and crouching down to lift him up by the knees.

Promptly, Yellow descends from the ceiling as well, landing right behind Quade and lifting the man up by his shoulders- helping Red lift the man up.

Talon... raises his eyebrow at this, watching the two new girls appear. "... there's three of you?!"

Yellow takes a moment to stare at Talon, her eyes narrowed. "Five."

"Five...?" Talon responds- before turning quickly to his left, seeing a bright light shining at him.

In the time Talon's been focused on strangling Monochrome- Orange and Blue have been discreetly starting up Odette's motorcycle. The former balancing it on its wheels, while the latter- tries to copy Quade's moves to drive this bike. The light shining on Talon came when the vehicle began speeding forward, charging towards Quade at a high speed.

"Let's GO!" Monochrome loudly shouts as she throws herself out of Red's body, hands pressed against the ground. Red, Yellow and Quade launched into the air, ascending high in the air.

High enough to land downward, Red and Yellow latching onto the speeding motorcycle with their extended spider legs coming out their backs. Monochrome, on the ground, reaches her hands out and grabs onto Verness Blue's leg, being dragged along by

Talon watches this unfold... eyes widened at the realization, instantly recognizing their abilities.

Spiders.

"... D-DAMN IT! FIRE AT-!" Talon loudly caws out, ordering his men to shoot- only to be met with an 8 ball being throw into his mouth, plugging his mouth suddenly and precisely.

Verness Orange grins widely as the motorcycle speeds away from her. Having collected the balls from this warehouse's supplies, scavenging them up- she holds in her hands and sleeves a wild assortment of tough, solid marble-like balls.

"Choke on that, Mr. Hawthorne!" Orange taunts, getting a running start as she throws the pool balls onto the ground and jumps on top of them, her spider legs and human legs starting to flail aimlessly atop the spheres.

The- The gangsters, witnessing a speeding motorcycle coming close to them, take immediate aim. Utterly bewildered by this sight, preparing to fire-

Only to have their shots interfered by high velocity billiard balls being kicked at them. Either the balls are launched at the bullets to stop them in the middle of the air, or the guns themselves are smacked out of their grasps.

"Hahahaha! Let's GO-!" Orange loudly screams out, before slipping on a ball. All legs actively kicking and slipping on this one ball, her body propelled and launched forward past Talon. Managing to go even faster than the motorcycle itself, arms flailing to keep herself balanced-

Both the motorcycle of Vernesses and the speeding ball-balancing Orange breeze through the exit, a sheer moment of tactical genius that leaves the gangsters utterly... bewildered, astonished, completely defeated.

"Th- They're getting away!" a gangster shouts, running quickly to the van. "Let's go, we need to catch up with them before-!"

"GOD- DAMN- IT...!"

Talon loudly screeches with maniacal rage, holding the eight ball in his hand. His eyes completely white as his irises and pupils disappear, blinded with rage. Offended- humiliated by those spider girls... the one he choked managing to escape his inescapable grasp, then- this ball... this WRETCHED... BALL... crushing it to bits in one single grab, his sheer anger and rage bleeding out of his body.

All composure gone, all human restraints gone... with nothing but bloody massacre on this mind... as his suit completely disintegrates. Morphing noticeably into something more... primal, something more feathery and wild. Thick tufts of black feathers enveloping his shoulders and chest, the rest of his body encased in pure black metal.

"GOD- DAMN- IT-! DAMN- DAMN YOU ALL! I WON'T- I WON'T LET YOU ESCAPE!" Talon loudly shouts at the ceiling, tilting his head back and spreading his mouth open. Choking aggressively on his own rage, the black aura completely enveloping his body. His suit noticeably shifting into a distorted full-body costume, the aura building up to cover his entire head in a cotton hood.

Right before the gangsters' eyes, their leader completely changed in the blink of an eye. The gangsters watch as this unfold, their eyes completely wide as these people brought the syndicate boss's rage out from the deepest of hells in his heart... the man completely losing his mind in this moment. Transforming from a composed, physically superior syndicate boss...

... into a maniacal, winged supervillain that has lost his mind.

"C... CAWWWWWWWWWW!" Talon mindlessly screeches out, forcibly throwing his arms back in a fierce flap as he sends himself forward, ascending into the air and darting forward in a swift speed. Speeding in the air and beginning to fly forward down the dirt road. Blindly pursuing the motorcycle, succumbing to his pure eagle instincts... pursuing the dying shapeshifter and those soon-to-be memorialized brats.

In the darkness of the forest, flying at an alarming speed... going faster and faster, his full body forcibly pushing and crashing past all forest obstacles in his way.

"... oh nonononono-! H-He's flying!" Red loudly calls out as she has a view of his silhouette, seeing a winged man just flying at them through the forest leaves and branches. "He's flying fast!"

"Then we just have to go FASTER!" Monochrome loudly shouts, pulling herself up to cling to the front of the motorcycle, her body covering the headlight as she grips the handles and forcibly pulls the throttle. Making the motorcycle- almost wobble and fall by doing this, the front wheel raised in the air.

"Tch-! Monochrome-!" Yellow loudly shouts, tensely- watching Monochrome latch on the front, unable to do anything about Monochrome as she keeps holding onto Quade.

"Nope-!" Orange loudly shouts, lunging forward and grabbing onto this handle- pulling the bike back to driving straight on the off-road. Kicking off of her ball and rejoining the others, weighing herself down to make sure the motorcycle remains on both its wheels. "You're not getting off-balance on my watch!"

Yellow- sighs in relief, seeing Orange with a smile before- looking to Blue. "H-How are we doing on balance, Blue?!"

Blue looks over her shoulder, giving a subtle nod and a thumbs up. Contently smiling as the motorcycle stabilizes and drives forward.

"CAAAAAAAAAAW!"

Another cry of war as Talon closes in, only a couple dozen feet behind them as he locks onto the speeding vehicle... giving Red and the other Vernesses a good view of the maniacal bird-costumed man chasing them.

"A-Ah! H-He's getting closer...!" Red calls out, seeing Talon closing in at a faster speed. "W-What do we do?!"

"E-Easy, we-!" Yellow begins to answer-

"L-Left turn! Road coming!" Orange immediately shouts out, looking past the others and seeing the street Quade took to get to the city outskirts-

"Drift, drift, DRIIIIIFT!" Monochrome loudly shouts, leaning her body to make the motorcycle lean left.

Orange, quickly, counters this weight by sticking her body out, making sure the motorcycle is stable enough with six passengers atop the cycle...

... and Blue turns the motorcycle handle, the entire thing leaning at a 30 degree angle- making a sharp, haphazard turn onto the street. The screech of motorcycle metal grinding against asphalt, merging into the lane of the luckily empty road.

Collectively, all of the Vernesses - the mute Blue excluded - let out sounds of frantic panic and wild adrenaline, experiencing the sickest motorcycle drift they'll ever do in their lifetime. Holding onto an unconscious Quade that remains secure in Red and Yellow's grasp, having to adjust their balance.

The moment the motorcycle makes the turn... Yellow quickly extends her spider legs to the side, pushing the motorcycle back to being upright. Balancing out the motorcycle as it speeds along the road, driving excessively fast.

"Y-Yes, we did it!" Orange loudly calls out, brightly smiling. "W-We made the turn and-"

The hecticness of making the turn, unfortunately, distracted them. Instead of having a plan to stop the pursuing gang leader, the Vernesses were too focused on the motorcycle turn- leading to them being caught completely off guard as Talon speeds and darts straight at them, snatching Quade's body out of their grasp- gripping onto the man's shoulders and swiftly flying forward.

"... a-aah-! Quade-!" Red loudly screams out, having just watched Talon snatch a critically injured and dying Quade out of all of their grasps- the five spider girls staring forward and watching this unfold.

Talon glares forward at Quade, focusing heavily on the man's face... seeing the lifeless gaze in the shapeshifter's face, noticeably unconscious and passed out.

"CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"

"W-What do we do, what do we do?!" Red calls out, completely and utterly panicked.

"... tch-! T-Throw me!" Monochrome loudly calls, crawling to the others.

"W-What?!" the other Vernesses exclaim-

"It's the ONLY way!" Monochrome shouts. "We need to throw me-!"

"... or-! I have a better idea!" Orange shouts.

Talon loudly caws at the top of his lungs, mouth spread open as a massive pellet begins to form in his mouth. Preparing and building it up, ready to shoot a hole through Quade's face to completely finish him off. Just one moment away from executing the bastard.

Then, his attack is completely interrupted... as a motorcycle lands on top of his back.

All five of the Vernesses having used their spider legs to push against the ground, launching them and the motorcycle into the air as high as they could- landing and crashing against him. Orange's bright idea... throwing themselves and the ENTIRE motorcycle at Talon.

The cycle itself aligning its wheels against the man's back- Blue and Yellow focused on adjusting and lining up the vehicle, while Monochrome has her hand on the throttle. Making great use of the motorcycle as a weapon, pulling the motor hard to have the front wheel of the cycle drive and grind against the back of Talon's head.

"GHHHKKK-!!!" Talon lets out a pained cry, enduring the sensation- eyes actively twitching...

As this happens, Talon... crosses the city border, entering back into Starveil City.

The moment that he entered the city, all eyes were on Talon. Talon, as well as the unconscious man in his grasp and the children driving a motorcycle on him. Witnessing a man in a menacing bird supervillain costume flying through the air, brutally having a wheel grinding against his head- wildly and aimlessly flying forward, struggling to endure this immense pain.

Due to the height that Talon flew, they were... dangerously too low, too close to the road. The Vernesses focused on the motorcycle attack, attempting to save Quade's life in this most risky of maneuvers, not noticing this wild hazard as Talon is flying into oncoming traffic. Flying only a couple dozen of feet above the ground at all times, drifting downward with each passing second.

Countless spectators in Starveil seeing this sight with... mild concern. Only mild concern, because this pales in comparison to the most recent demon attack, but still a sight to behold regardless. Whatever Talon is, in this moment, eludes public attention and leaves many uncertain about the scene unfolding before their eyes.

The man is flying straight at a line of cars, trucks, buses and vans in his way. Eyes staring forward with pure determination as he lifts his head to point his beak forward. Enveloping his body in the dark aura, charging straight forward- flying above the cars, and headed straight for the first truck in his way...

... not slowing down one single bit.