New Winters: Tales of the Floating Isles.

Chapter 2: Late.

Nexus was late. Very, very late. Of course, to say that Nexus Steriph was known for his punctuality was very untrue, but most of the time Nexus got to work on time.

"Later Quinn! See you at work, Rian!" Nexus shouted to his housemate, and best friend respectively as he took off down the stairs and through the doorway.

"Bye hun!" The pink haired Quinn waved as she watched her husband fumble through the door. "Is he actually that late?" She turned to the shirtless wizard beside her quizzically, as he was too busy sipping coffee to salute Nexus' leave.

"Not really, unless he's got some kinda mission." Rian responds, placing his coffee cup on a coaster.

"Ah. What'd he mean by 'see you at work' too? I thought you ran your own shop." Quinn again questions the mage, flipping the stove off and taking her seat at the table.

"I do, but I also do missions for the NWDA on occasion. There's been a breakout at Pedalrock, and it's our job to hunt down some of the escapees." Rian explains as his scrolls through his phone.

"A breakout?! Did Nero escape?" Quinn seems shocked at the news, which isn't surprising considering she's just a normal human, whom still isn't used to the strange happening of New Winters.

"Relax. Nero's still locked up. His scaly body won't be after you anymore. I promise you." Rian taps her nose and stands up. "Anyways, I guess I should leave too. We do have to leave at noon." The man's long hair swayed back and forth as he stepped to the door that lead into the garage.

"Bye Rian!" The pink haired girl waved, as she watched the door slam behind Rian. "Now to devour these pancakes!" Her grin widened as the fresh breakfast food in front of her almost seemed to tremble before her mighty fork. Sadly, her week would not be getting much better, as something sinister brewed beneath the 7 islands of New Winters.

There was only one thing between Nexus and his office. A crosswalk. He tapped his foot in an impatient manor as he waited for the the light to change. Despite what you may have been lead to believe, Nexus was not late. The NWDA didn't run on a strict "arrive at this time" system. Rather, workers were given deadlines to be at work, and were given the freedom to pick and choose when they wanted to stay and do paperwork. The system was slightly too complex in my personal opinion, but of course, I don't work for the NWDA. Now, in exchange for this freedom, workers were forced to endure long missions that they may or may not succeed in. Today, Nexus and Rian would be accepting one of these missions.

"Now, as you all now, the recent breakout has left hundreds and hundreds of once captured criminals to walk the streets yet again. This has caused a massive leap in crime rates in various cities across the world." A suited women spoke at the front of a meeting room, where a variety of the aforementioned colorfully dressed warriors and heroes sat.

While many were paying attention, there were still those that took this time to do other things. One of them, dressed in silver armor and a green cloak, held a silver bow in hand, and was carefully waxing it's wooden linings. Another, donning a purple top hat and classical black and white suit, was practicing simple hand magics.

Needless to say, when Nexus walked in, he was not out of the ordinary. In fact, of all the people in the room, he was the one dressed the most casually. He wore a red t-shirt, blue jeans, and a black jacket that was still a little too big for him. He took his seat at the end of the table, and the speaker continued.

"As the group responsible for the prison, we are in tandem, responsible for the recontainment of these villains. As such, you all have been given assignments to capture one, or a group of these villains. I assure you, this will be no walk in the park, however, for the good of our people, and the good of society, we will capture these menaces. Each of you have been left a folder containing the location of your mission, your partner for said mission, and your target. Dismissed!" The suited one's spiel was finally over. The group of Psychics headed to their cubicles and offices, so that they could prepare for their upcoming missions.

Nexus picked up the Manila folder, and examined it's contents. Obviously, he would be paired with Rian. Unfortunately, his target was not an easy one to track. Lady Luck was on Nexus' side this time though, as it was an enemy that he had fought many years ago. However, this target wasn't a man, woman, or alien. This target, was a hivemind by the name of Puppet Master.

"Hey Rian, it's Nexus." Nexus had already called Rian to tell him the news. "We're going back to highschool."