Collateral ( A Super Hero RP with Consequences) IC

April 3rd - 2018 - Chinatown, NYC

A challenge was a challenge, Ana never turned down something she knew she had a chance in, to be honest she never turned down any challenge. Glancing up at Carter she took a moment, she wasn't so sure that having an eating competition was the best of ideas while hungover. Nevertheless the man seemed determined, and although the words were never spoken the contest was on. As it eventually came down to the last pieces Anastasia had been disappointed with her unfair win. Sighing as she sat back in her seat and finished her drink she watched the pale man across from her as he settled the bill. "Thank you Carter, I appreciate it." She stated simply. "Next time though, no hangovers, I wanna face the real challenge." She smiled. "That one will be on me." Pushing back on her chair she stood up and stretched slightly. The food had been pretty good, it had hit the spot for the time being and it was what she needed. Would she come back to this place? She probably would.

Just as he wished her luck in her endeavors so did she. Thanking Carter once again for the lunch and reminding him that they still had a contest to be held between them. Her last piece of advice to the man was to stay safe and be smart with how he approached things. "You know where to find me if you need me or if you figure anything out. I'm on your side. I can be difficult but don't let that deter you. Some people are just assholes and I happen to be one of those people, doesn't mean I have ill intentions." She explained simply and rather bluntly. "Keep in touch." Was the last thing she said before going her own way.

Did this little encounter change her feelings towards the man. Not necessarily. Should it have? For some it was possible but for Ana it took much longer to forgive, trust and forget. Had he genuinely done something wrong? No, absolutely not. But being the stubborn mule that she was Anastasia was allowing jealousy and her overprotective nature guide these emotions, it was the wrong thing to do but it was something that she couldn't help. She could try but she was set in her ways, her past had been damaging enough that it made these things even harder. She could wear the face of forgiveness, of being nonchalant, she could pretend not to care but regardless of what the man had or hadn't done, she wasn't about to buddy up with him. Obsessive? Quite possibly. Possessive? I don't think so. It wasn't as if she didn't allow Meg to do what she wanted, she did. But that didn't mean she had to like it. Clenching her jaw with a sigh Anastasia shook her head and carried on. She couldn't allow herself to get sucked into her head like that. There were more important matters at hand than her feelings towards a single woman. She had to make sure that Meg was kept safe, she could worry about her jealousy another time, it wasn't important...it shouldn't have even existed...

Wandering in silence had felt odd, turning her thoughts off had always been a weird thing. It made everything around her louder and more obnoxious, sometimes startling and painfully loud. Shifting gears in her head she focused on the tasks at hand, what was to potentially come. The thought of making her way towards City Hall to possibly stumble into the woman Carter had mentioned did come up, and thus Ana found herself casually walking in the direction of one-hundred and eleven Center street. Startled by her phone ringing she pulled it out of her pocked and checked the screen, quickly picking up the call. "Reece." Ana answered as she carried on in the direction of City Hall.

April 3rd - 2018 - The Nook, NYC

Meghan had decided that she could run the store by herself for a couple of hours. Charles was doing whatever needed to be done in the kitchen as far as prep was concerned, anytime Meg had the time she was back there helping him out. Most of the orders had been quick little pick-ups for coffee and snacks, a couple people here and there deciding to take a seat for various discussions and reasons. Hearing the front door open the blonde peeked out from the service window as she watched an officer step into the establishment. Confusion came across her features for a moment. Finishing the croissants she had been working on she cleaned her hands off with a quick wash and wipe before stepping into the bar area. "Officer, how can I help you?" She asked as she extended her arm out and slightly leaned on the bar. The face she looked upon was familiar, worry beginning to grow in the pit of her stomach as she swallowed back.

"Miss O'Neill?" The officer questioned. Meg's response was a nod. "Alexander Dunham, I am the officer in charge of the scene at your home." He nodded.

"Is everything alright?" She was quick to ask.

"Yes m'am everything is fine, that I can assure you. The car has been removed from the property and being taken in to be examined for any evidence to help us close the case." Clearing his throat the officer sighed. "I just have some questions to ask you that might help us look in the right direction for this case."

"Okay, that's no problem. whatever you need Officer."

The man nodded and took out a small notepad and pen. "Are there any possible reasons your home was targeted by a metahuman?"

Meg shook her head. "I mean, I used to be fairly active in the anti-metahuman community but that was years ago, I don't support most of those opinions anymore."

"Are you in any form of relationship or partnership, with a metahuman?" Grey eyes met greens.

Meghan chuckled awkwardly and looked away for just a moment before shaking her head. "Uh—No, no I am not."

"Would you like to take a moment and reconsider that answer Miss O'Neill?" The officer raised his brow.

Looking at him with narrowed eyes Meg tilted her head to the right slightly and chuckled a little again. "I am not in any relationships or partnerships with any metahumans officer. Do I know any meta's? Yes, I do, I have acquaintances and friends that aren't regular human, but it is nothing more than that with anyone." She explained. "Can I ask why that question is important?" She wondered.

"A meta arrived at the scene last night. They were responsible for removing the car from the site of the accident. I just wanted to make sure there was no relation or connection between you two." The officer explained.

The confusion grew more evident across Meg's face. What? She pondered internally. Shoving the series of questions about to rise off to the side she looked up at Dunham and clenched her jaw. "Is there anything else I can help you with officer? Is there an update on when I can start looking into getting my home fixed."

"That's everything m'am." He stated as he finished making some notes. "The scene should be clear by the end of the day. Once we find the culprit you'll be able to decide on how you'd like to proceed with the lawsuit, should you wish to take that approach. Thank you for your time Miss O'Neill. We hope to get this all settled soon. Have a nice day m'am." The officer nodded towards her before turning away to leave the bar.

"You too." She muttered with a sigh before turning around to re-enter the kitchen. Clenching her jaw Meg glanced at Charles before returning to what she had been doing prior. The blonde was evidently irritated. She did her best not to show the frustration, focusing on the work she had before her. Getting the croissants finished and ready to bake, Meghan felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Cleaning her hands off she pulled the device out. Opening the text message from the unknown number she raised a brow.

'I managed to procure something you may want. A case file that Mystification wants to make disappear. Somebody has been wanting them to disappear. Come alone to the MET, second floor, Greek Medusa exhibit -PW.'

"Huh..." Meg's reaction was subtle and almost silent. 'PW' meant nothing to her, it was unfamiliar, unknown, unheard of. Had she received this on accident? Why had she received this? Who had sent it? There were enough questions coming forward that the frustration she had felt moments ago was gone for the time being. Should she go? Would others be there? Was it safe? What would happen?

"Hey Charles." She called out and slipped her phone into her pocket as she turned to look at the man. "Umm...something just came up involving the situation from last night. I'm going to get Terri to come in a little early and I'll see if Ray is available to come help out tonight too. If you're not comfortable running things along until Terri gets here I can close down for a little bit." She explained.

"It's fine, there's not a lot of people here right now I think I'll be okay." The man smiled with a nod.

"Thank you. I am so sorry about all this sudden nonsense. Hopefully we can get it all figured out and dealt with soon." She spoke sincerely as she explained.

The man was quick to tell her not to worry as he carried on with what needed to be done once Meg had left the building. She was quick to make her phone calls and get full coverage for the store for the rest of the day. Ana had the car which meant that Meg would have to take transit to get to the MET. Not that it was a problem, driving around in New York was enough of a hassle that she was glad she didn't have to deal with it but her nerves were getting the best of her. She didn't want to think about the negatives but she couldn't help it. Hopefully this was nothing more than a meet up with someone who could help, even if she just found a note to lead her elsewhere, as long as confrontation wasn't a part of it...which it very likely could be.

Why had she decided to follow this lead again?

April 3rd - 2018 - Chinatown, NYC

"I'm just following something right now. Once I'm wrapped up from here I'll make my way there." Ana explained to the man on the phone as she kept her attention on the people coming in and out of the large building. She could remember that the woman in the photo Carter had showed her, had glasses and dark hair. Those were very broad things to use as reference but the brunette was convinced that if she saw her she would know it was her. "Yes I'm the same size Reece. Find the designs and when I get there we'll figure out the details and I'll explain the problems that the last one had...Yes, I still have it at home, but it's all ripped up...Okay don't stress about the details, we'll figure it out. I'll see you later...Yeah, bye." Hanging up the call. Ana went to slide the phone in her pocket but caught the blinking light in the top corner. Unlocking the device she opened the unknown text message.

Her eyes shifted up from the words to the people and back down for a moment before looking back up. Narrowing her gaze she pushed forward a little harder as she thought she had spotted Carter's friend. Checking the phone again she quickly read over the entirety of the message before halting. "Pee-double-you? Phantom Writer?" She raised a brow as she looked at the screen one last time before locking the phone and putting it away. He's still around? Sighing she looked back up, amber irises darting around trying to spot the person she had just seen moments ago. Picking up the pace, Anastasia pushed towards the direction she had seen the woman go in. Perhaps she could get some answers from her before heading to the MET to see what that was all about.

Hopefully it was an actual tip and not a set-up.

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INTERACTIONS:

ANASTASIA
- vantas - Carter Quimora


MENTIONS:
vantas - Eloise Chandler
LuckycoolHawk9 - Phantom Writer
 
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Collaboration between Icarus and Victoria.


Icarus followed behind the esteemed Judge Chambers and Victoria, mulling over where he had heard the Judge's voice quite recently. Then it hit him-he had accidentally overheard the judge in the bathroom of the Nook sounding quite sketchy. That fact he kept to himself, as he wasn't about to reveal it out loud at that very moment. Listening alongside Victoria and the Judge, but he realized that this woman was probably either incompetent, controlled by technology (Something he didn't doubt because Mystification had a superior control of technology) or mind controlled. At this rate it was looking like option #1, but even though she was clearly being a nuisance (spoiled bitchy brat) she still could have been distracted long enough for the files to have been stolen, which was something he would only share to Victoria later. Well, it was time to take matters into his own hands.

Victoria scoots close to Icarus for a moment

" Whoever this Myst is, he or she has been very efficient. Enjoys making people jump through hoops. There was a shapeshifter involved in the incident last night, I’ll wager it was likely to have been all those people who came up here to get copies. What do you think ?

Icarus leaned closer to her, ignoring the receptionist for a moment to reply to Victoria. "I have some theories on the matter. I think that Mystification took the files, or the shapeshifter could have come in and taken the files. OR they work together, as she said, as she did say some instead of just one person. Right now, we need descriptions of the people, and she is not cooperating." Still whispering, he looked to the receptionist who seemed to be focused on the Judge and not him or Victoria.

Victoria " The main problem with dealing with a shapeshifter, is that descriptions won't matter Icarus. We are going to need eyes on this area. The shapeshifter was followed into Chinatown after the incident last night. Why! ? "

Icarus "The shapeshifter was involved with one of the cases that were mentioned by Myst last night. Do you know someone who can access the cameras in the area? The shifter might have changed accidentally in view of a secret camera. I can see if there are any secret hideouts in the area but what I'll find out is particularly vague" Icarus suggested carefully to her.

Victoria" If you have any information sources we can rely on that would be a good thing. I assure you any costs associated with this would be covered. "

Icarus shrugged at her. "I have other more vast and cool powers. It's funny, that shielding is actually my weaker power. I can...ask nature to give me some descriptions that normally I can't see myself. Although if we start running towards a tree in the distant future, you will have to trust me. Otherwise I think cameras will work better."

Just then, suspiciously, both of their cell phones dinged with a text at the same time. Victoria looks over at Icarus and then down at her phone. She picks it up and reads it, then looks back at Icarus again with a concerned face.

Victoria" Take a look at this, tell me what you think of it ? "

Icarus read his own text message before looking at hers. As he suspected, they were the same message. "So, this is probably a trap, and whoever sent this message had access to our phone numbers." Just then, Icarus received a text from Felix saying that he was heading to Central Park. "Shit. Felix got one too. That's odd. They do expect a bunch of people to show up. Would you even want to go to Central Park? It is advantageous for my powers if we go there but is it worth the risk? It's really fishy, this text. We could always to a shakeout. The problem is that I won't have enough time to get a read on the place, this event starts in an hour." Icarus did want the document, though he wasn't stupid. The only problem here was that Felix was going as well.

Victoria, She sighs and thinks for a moment. " You have to go, we can take my Limo if you'd like. But I won't go in, too much chance for a trap. You'll need to go for Felix. I won't risk him by giving you one to many people to protect. Come on! "

Icarus. "Maybe we grill the receptionist for a minute while your limo appears and then we go to find Felix. If I need to I can activate a tree guardian to go and find you. Would you like that?" Icarus asked her, referencing the fact that he had one hidden in Central Park because an associate he worked with used his illusion powers to cover the live tree guardian.

Victoria." I just thought of something, I need to text my associate about the missing files. "

With that, she sends a text to her attorney friend Valerie... " " Val, all of the files are missing from the courts, probably the shapeshifter. We received here some sort of text from someone claiming to have a document we want to have. I am heading to Central Park. I will phone my office to make you copies of any of the files we have on hand. Go someplace private and I will get back to you.""

"Okay, I'll bring the limo around to the front, get what you can, focus if you can on anything between these disguises that were the same "

Icarus nodded, skimming through the message to see if there was anything else to add. "Remember, you might have to come in with me. I might have to claim to be a hero to get access to the document because it says to "bring a hero with you," aka another person. Though an alternate option is to scope everyone else who goes in and ask them for the files." Icarus suggested. "IT is a contest and there are more people involved with this than we know."

Victoria." If it is a contest at all. Forgive me for not being a trusting sort here Icarus. I understand you have to go now. You have someone going unless you can contact him before he gets there. if this is a trap, I have no powers to protect me. "

Icarus."No, I do understand that it is most likely a trap. I do understand where you're coming from. I'll summon my guardian to protect you for now once I get there. Is that the final plan? We go to Central Park, I get Felix, we scope out the outside of the park with whatever technology you have available to see what's up?" Icarus asked her.

Victoria." I have drones I can call on, but as you know, there are plenty of parts of that park that are harder to see from the air. "

Icarus sighed, not entirely sure how to go about this. He protected people, but in terms of surveillance he wasn't exactly prepared to do any super surveillance. "That I cannot help you with. I guess we could use the drones and make them patrol the area if you would like."

Victoria." I can handle the drones my friend, the limo is equipped to monitor a certain number of them. They can patrol the area and provide us with at least a certain amount of information. "

Icarus. "Alright then, I think that's as good as a plan as any. You'll be protected, and I can get Felix out while surveying what's actually going on." Icarus decided that it was a decent enough plan.
 
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Valerie
Valerie Newmann
April 3, 2018 | morning | Chinatown, NYC—the morgue

John (@LuckycoolHawk9), Victoria (@Gands), John/Spectre (mine)
Mystification (@LuckycoolHawk9)

Valerie nodded, frowning thoughtfully at the detective's summary.

"I'm not sure how to help you, but I'll be sure to let Victoria know. She and I have also been attempting to look into the five case files this lady Mystification mentioned. I've also been in correspondence with Spectre, who is currently in Chinatown chasing after suspects."

Barely had she spoken when her phone chirped with a text, which she discovered upon removing it from her pocket was from the lawyer companion in question.

Victoria said:
"Val, all of the files are missing from the courts, probably the shapeshifter. We received here some sort of text from someone claiming to have a document we want to have. I am heading to Central Park. I will phone my office to make you copies of any of the files we have on hand. Go someplace private and I will get back to you."
Valerie huffed in frustration at the first part of the text.

"Well, shoot." She turned back to John and Layla, mouth set in a grim line. "The case files have been stolen. I'd better get going." Digging in the camo-patterned canvas shoulder bag she carried, she procured a copy of her business card from bag and passed it to John. "Here's my information if you need to get ahold of me."

With that, she left the morgue. Not sure where to head but certain that she was needed somewhere, she took a seat on the step outside to return Victoria's text with her own information.

Valerie: Oh great. The bodies of the victims are missing as well. This probably goes without saying at this point, but someone wants to get rid of evidence, most likely that Mystification lady. Unfortunately, she seems to be one step ahead of us at every turn.

Switching conversations, she shot a text to John as well. He would need to know this.

Valerie: Bad news: the bodies of last night's victims are missing, as are the case files. Involvement of last night's shapeshifter suspected. I'll keep you posted.

Actually, maybe he could use her help. He had enough on his plate as it was trying to locate the suspects from last night. Maybe there was something she could do in the field for him. As she stood and moved to slide her phone back into her pocket, however, it chirped again. Glancing to the screen, she frowned as she noted that it wasn't a text from John or Victoria as she would have expected, but instead an... ad? What was an ad doing popping up on her lock screen? She thought her phone was secure, but apparently she needed to run a malware scan. In the meantime, however, that caption attracted her attention. "First place is a very cool document procured from 111 Centre Street"... Hang on, that was the address of the courthouse where the collateral case files were stored. Could this be one of the stolen documents?

Taking a screenshot of the ad, she texted the image to her ectoplasmic mutant friend.

Valerie: John, did you get this?
 
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Reed
Reed Overton/Agent Fury
April 3, 2018 | morning | Chinatown, NYC—back alley

Felix (@slifer), Icarus (@slifer)

Agent Fury glanced to his pocket at a buzz from his phone. Pulling out the device while keeping an eye on his charge, he checked to see what the notification was and quirked an eyebrow skeptically as he was met with an ad for some superhero contest or something at Central Park. 'An ad appearing directly on my phone? Do I need to do another virus scan?'

His confused suspicion only rose upon reading the contents of the ad. That was the address of the courthouse where collateral cases were stored. Who the hell was pawning off case files and why?

After a moment of perplexed consideration, he shrugged to himself with a smirk. Oh well, not his problem: he's on bodyguard duty. Icarus stated very specifically that he was not to put his precious kid brother in harm's way, and Agent Fury was not about to break the terms of his contract for curiosity's sake alone. He did have to admit, however, that he was very curious. If Felix went of his own accord to the contest, he would, of course, be obligated to follow, and then he could see what all the ruckus was about.

Barely had the thought crossed his mind when he returned his attention to the kid brother in question to find Felix leaving the bag stand, phone in hand, and the mercenary had a pretty good idea of where he was headed. Keeping to the shadows and back alleys and maintaining a watchful eye on the teen all the while, he stealthily tailed Felix to the park.
 
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JohnR
Samuel
Felicity
John Reidenbach/Spectre | Samuel Alerio | Felicity Alerio
April 3, 2018 | morning | Chinatown, NYC—crowded street amid shops, headed to courthouse

Valerie (mine), Ana (@Huntress), Vanessa/Emerald Dream (@Gands), Amiee/Firefly (@Michale CS)
Phantom Writer (@LuckycoolHawk9), Mystification (@LuckycoolHawk9)

Almost simultaneously, John, Samuel, and Felicity's phones chirped with incoming messages. Checking his phone, John frowned at the signature on the text he had just received. "PW." He did know of the individual who bore that monicker, although he had never encountered the man himself. It sounded as though he had somehow gotten ahold of one of the case files, ambiguous language notwithstanding. Barely had he read that message when his phone buzzed in his hand with a text from Valerie:

Valerie: Bad news: the bodies of last night's victims are missing, as are the case files. Involvement of last night's shapeshifter suspected. I'll keep you posted.

The case files were stolen from the courthouse? Was PW responsible for the theft or did he steal—or purchase—the file that he purportedly had from the original thief? Either way, it sounded like a crucial lead, but also possibly a trap. He'd need to be cautious in his pursuit, and—he glanced to the two accompanying him—he would need to ensure that the Alerio siblings were safe on their own first. Who knew who had seen them with him at this point? He couldn't predict what Mystification might know about him, and what she would do to any assumed companions. At the same time, however, he could not take them with him to this rendezvous. PW, from what he had heard, was a dangerous man—hardly someone to bring within any distance of a child and a skittish inactive meta.

"John, you might want to see this."

The ghost mutant was roused from his musings by Felicity's grim interjection. He turned his attention to the teen with a questioning hum and found her phone held out to him, its screen displaying an ad for a superhero competition. Scanning the details, his brow furrowed at what it listed as a prize for the winner.

"One-eleven Centre Street—that must be one of the case files. Send me a screenshot of that ad."

Felicity nodded and took back her phone, a couple quick taps soon followed by an incoming text on John's phone with the requested image. The teen pursed her lips thoughtfully as she read through the ad again.

"Hey, how about Sammy and I go check it out?" she suggested. "It does say to bring a hero, so civilians are expected, and I'm guessing from your tone that this document is really important."

Samuel gritted his teeth in frustration at her insistence on getting involved—at this point he just wanted to go home—but didn't waste his breath with further complaints, well aware that Felicity had now set her mind on how she would spend her time and no amount of protest could dissuade her anymore.

Felicity was right: this was a perfect opportunity to snatch back one of the case files and thus gain a powerful intellectual advantage. There was just one problem.

"That would be helpful," he affirmed, "but I can't in good conscience let you go alone. It might be a trap." Perhaps one of his allies could make the rendezvous with PW. Besides, he had civilians with him, so it would be a perfect alibi. Unfortunately, no alibi would be sufficient if whoever was behind this was looking for him. He'd have to be just as careful as he'd have to be with PW, but at least the children would be in better shape.

Samuel's heart sank at John's analysis. If he'd gotten the notification on his phone and it was actually a trap, that meant it was too late to escape: he'd gotten roped into John's business whether he wanted to or not. He felt his heart begin to race, impending panic triggering an unsettled wind that ruffled the hair of everyone in the vicinity, including himself, and snatched a couple loose papers from a nearby stand. It was happening again. He was being dragged along into a fight he didn't want to get involved with but was powerless to escape, just like he'd been when that metahuman... The young man released a breath, struggling to remain calm. In response, the low, emotion-triggered squall abated, although some stray breezes remained around him. No matter what happened, he knew that John wouldn't let him get hurt.

Meanwhile, John had continued speaking.

"Come with me: I have an ally waiting for a meet-up. I'll figure out what to do from there."

With that, he headed for the courthouse, the excited Felicity and reluctant Samuel close behind. Turning to the phone still in his hand with the intent to notify the aforementioned ally, he was interrupted by a waiting message from Valerie with an image of the same ad that had appeared on Felicity's phone.

Valerie: John, did you get this?
John: I didn't, but I'm with the Alerio kids and Felicity got it. I'm on my way to investigate with them. Meet us at the courthouse—I might need your help.
Valerie: omw

Pulling up a new conversation with the contact he had collected when Ana called him, he texted the woman, attaching screenshots of the ad and PW's message to the message.

John: Something's come up. I'm on my way.

He followed that up with a text to Vanessa and Amiee with the same images.

John: I don't know if you saw this, but it's definitely bad news. I'm going to investigate, but I might need help. I'm en-route to a meeting with the metahuman waitress from the bar last night—I'll figure out what to do from there.
 
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Penny.jpg
After sending the last message for the Phantom Writer - encrypted and bounced off of so many sources as to be untraceable - Penny sat back in her chair, tapping her tablet so that the 'piano practice' program started up. She'd be alerted if her parents or any of the staff came to this side of the house and could take over playing manually if that happened, but the girl who was known online as Epiphany was very curious about the information she'd just relayed.

Of course she couldn't actually go where the Phantom Writer directed the heroes - that would break the rules - she could find out who actually responded and then track their movements, to see what she could glean secondhand.

She recognized one of the names on the list - Emerald Dream. Penny had her suspicions about who the woman was, but she respected privacy when it came to such things. No one revealed her secret ID, so she wasn't about to reveal anyone else's.

But, making contact with Dream after she'd had that meeting seemed like a good thing. Best not to piggyback her message on top of the Phantom Writer message, so, she sent a message out that would bounce around in cyberspace for a full two hours before it finally hit the same contact number that the PW had given her to send the text to Emerald Dream, ensuring she'd get it only after she'd had the meeting, and also making it so well over a billion different hops across the ether that was the internet would be behind the text, making the source nigh-impossible to trace. And even if you could, why would you bother?

"Emerald. I am interested in the case you are working on and have resources I can use to assist you. Don't bother replying to this. Log into the following computer at the Galaxy Internet Cafe tomorrow at noon to get my next message - Epiphany." Attached was the MAC address of said computer - an easy thing for anyone with any sort of in depth knowledge of computers to find.

Any sort of web search on a person named Epiphany would reveal a rather spartan web site - built at an internet cafe with a contact form that seemed to send email nowhere - but it's likely the destination was just hidden expertly.


Interactions: Phantom Writer @LuckycoolHawk9
Mentions: Emerald Dream @Gands

@LuckycoolHawk9 @Gands @Astroblaze @Huntress @vantas @slifer @ anyone else I missed...
 
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  • Bucket of Rainbows
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Huh!?” the otherwise easygoing Eloise exclaimed, “What do you mean I’m not allowed to get in; what about that couple going in
right now!?

The guard who supervised the entrance shook his head as he rolled his eyes when Eloise flashed him her ID again. “I’m sorry miss,” he explained for the sixth time, “but there is a strictly confidential event taking place. We can’t allow any journalists in, ordered so or otherwise.

For the first time in her stint as a rookie journalist intern, the title itself backfired in her pursuit for information. This tirade has been going on for more than three minutes and at this point, it was still a miracle the man didn’t lose his cool yet but unfortunately for him, Eloise already lost hers a few minutes back.

But why can civilians get in with their phone out with easy access to the Camera feature but journalists with little to no picture-taking electronics can’t?” Eloise shot back, still not willing to accept that the biggest article of her entire career was hanging by a thread this ‘strictly confidential event’ was in the process of cutting.

It’s not my jurisdiction.” The guard reasoned out, “We were only ordered to stop journalists, no less no more.

Eloise groaned and with a very rare display of childish anger, she lightly jabbed the guard on his right arm as she shouted in a decibel that may or may not have brought attention to her. “Ugh, I hate you!” she expressed, clearly agitated. “Why do you have to be so responsible in doing your job!?

The guard, slightly taken aback, stepped backwards with his hand slightly hovering to the pair of handcuffs hanging from his belt. “Why do you hate me if I’m being responsible in my job?” he inquired, legitimately confused.

Because it means you’re right in stopping me and I can’t judge you for it even though I really want to and it’s frustrating!” Eloise gritted, putting stress on the word frustrating.

Alright, so maybe Eloise lost more than just her cool.

She probably also lost her court entry privileges.

As the guard was still in the perpetual state of confusion, Eloise’s small outburst gave way to a small crack in her psyche that’s still hot and fresh from her last excursion.

Pull off a CCTV and fling it in his face so hard his brain won’t even have the time to process the pain before it palpitates and implodes, a quiet voice singsonged out to her.

Wouldn’t it be fun to see his head look like the end result of a mutilated mole rat after a nuclear explosion? That would be a sight for sore eyes.

He means nothing to you and probably to everyone else. You’ll be doing society a favor in getting rid of that insipid, uniform wearing pest in the most gruesome way possible. Do what you should do to all pests and stomp on it and grind the shoe until all of its bones are as minuscule as its worth.

That guard is the only thing that’s stopping you from getting what you want. What’s the problem in getting rid of an obstacle while having fun? You need to scratch your itch don’t you? Or else it’s gonna end up making you more frustrated.

What are you waiting for? Use his entrails as Christmas decorations. Shove a lamp post in his fucking esophagus and spit roast him.

Eloise immediately sensed the throes and put her weight on her sprained ankle, reminding her that she’s in public and that it would be dangerous to pull that stunt right now.

Her anger diffused into acceptant defeat as she sighed and gave up, walking away. The stubborn throes of her mind properly put out for now. Not before she looked back at the guard who waved her away and blowing him a raspberry.

Damn it, what do I do now?” Eloise muttered to herself. This wasn’t her usual waking time to begin with, and the only thing that’s supporting her thus far is two chilli dogs, a bottle of caramel coffee, and the story Carter teased on her.

Either this was just an unlucky coincidence or Carter pulled a fast one on her as revenge for when she pranked him with a jelly donut with baby powder instead of sugar.

But even though both might be realistic options (Eloise is banking on the latter), the tenacious brunette wouldn’t just give up now. Not when the concept of a groundbreaking story that spans over more than two cases is out there giving her figurative writer’s blue balls.

She would have to find another way in.




--------------------


As a voice called out to him, offering him more medicine for his hangover, Carter could’ve sworn that this particular voice sounded familiar. He croaked out a small thank you before popping it into his mouth and swallowed, rubbing his temples as the medicine took effect.

On wobbly, unsure knees he tried to stand with the support from the toilet as his vision teetered between blur and clear. He flushed the toilet, hiding the evidence of his ‘outburst’. As his hearing also sharpened along with his sight he could make up bits and pieces of the words this man was saying as he half-jokingly touched parts of his gut to check if he puked organs too.

The photographer really couldn’t place it, nor could he trust his instincts but he thinks he heard the sentence “I'm guessing you have some questions for me,

Carter instinctively cracked his knuckles, turning back at the figure he said “Thanks for the pill but can you repeat what you sa-

Before he could finish the sentence it occurred to him that not only was there a man behind him for the most part, but that the man in question was somehow inexplicably the person he was searching for in the first place.

Either this was just a lucky coincidence or karma graced him with a blessing for not planning an intricate vengeance plot immediately after Eloise pranked him with a jelly donut with baby powder instead of sugar.

But even though both might be realistic options (Carter is banking on the former), the opportunistic young man wouldn’t waste his shot in capitalizing the opportunity. Not when this could be one of the very few moments that might legitimately help in solving the Myst case.

Sadly for him, the entire gravity of the situation was lost on him as even though dozens of questions raced through his mind in a split-second about Myst, about any involvement with them, about how he was a part of the shapeshifter’s roster the hangover turned his brain into a vegetable, only making him generate one single question:

How the fuck did you find me?

Yeah, Carter wasn’t exactly in the best of moods.​



CARTER QUIMORA
@LuckycoolHawk9
 
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Draku would arrive at Central Park when a familiar scent accosted his sense of smell, causing him to inhale deeply before opening his eyes and spotting his mortal companion bounding towards him. It had to of made things a lot easier on Daniel that he towered over most individuals and stuck out like a sore thumb with his vibrant green tipped hairdo. A visual side affect to being directly tied to Bahumat.

As Daniel closed the distance between the two, he would leap through the air and slug Draku as hard as he could on the arm, "Why!? Just why?" He'd laugh, "It's a good thing I wasn't in mortal danger or anything." He'd say, Draku already knowing he was referring to the missed call, "I don't know why, but I had a feeling you'd be here." He jumped into the air shouting excitedly, "I was hoping you'd be here! Whoo!"

Draku would merely grin looking about the park for anything interesting before responding to his companion, "Got a message from somebody who wasn't you. Said something about this place. Curiosity got the best of me." He'd say.

Daniel would purse his lips and raise his brows from behind his shades, "Strange. I got a message saying something about a contest for supers here." He'd take a step back and clap his hands together, "Alright. We gotta go."

Draku would cross his arms, observing all that he could have in his sights, "Nah. I want to stick around. See what's gonna happen." He would look directly towards Daniel now, "I'm bored." He'd say, his eyes glowing visibly from behind his dark tinted shades, before he went to wander off in search of anything exciting.

Daniel would shrug, taking off after him with questions of Draku's ventures thus far.
 
April 3rd - 2018 - Chinatown, NYC

Ana was cautious in making her way through the crowds. When she honed in on something she tended not to pay attention to her surroundings and more often than not that lead to minor altercations with people. She narrowed her eyes as she clenched her jaw and weaved in and out of crowds, the cursed hustle and bustle of New York city; more often than not it was denser than a can of sardines. Physical force to get through was occasionally required.

She spotted the woman making her way around the building after speaking to a man on the steps of the courthouse. Raising a brow she carried on as her phone vibrated in her pocket. Exhaling sharply she pulled the device out again and looked up towards her target. Losing sight of her Ana grunted in annoyance. Moving on forward and towards some sort of side-street next to the building she stopped, clear of all the people, and looked down at her screen. The number displayed hadn’t been saved on her phone. Attachments were included and this caused Ana to raise a dark brow. Clenching her jaw with a sigh she held the phone in her hand and decided to carry on with her current pursuit instead of checking the message, she’d have time to do that later.

Stepping deeper into the side-street she looked around, senses wide-open and thoughts non-existent. All she had in her head was a mission, find the woman. Why? She wasn’t sure, she didn’t even know what she would ask her or talk to her about. Perhaps some more information on this web-cult of nerdy assholes. Maybe she could strike some sort of agreement with the woman, some sort of deal to help each-other? Ana, truly didn’t know, this was starting to seem like a waste of time. Clearing her head from anymore internal dialogue she carried on.

Eventually leading to a dead end she exhaled in frustration. The woman had disappeared somewhere and whatever she could offer was gone with her. Unlocking her phone she opened the text message. Eyes scanning the words and opening the attachments. Included was the same message she had received from the Phantom Writer and an ad of some sorts. Cocking a brow after reading the ad she clenched her jaw. That’s weird. Who would advertise something like that and why? It straight up screamed trap. Phantom Writer was a name she knew, and if it was a trap Ana was confident she could handle the vigilante but this Superior Industries sounded like a very obvious, shitty bad guy out of a cheesy comic book or movie. This event would be taking place somewhere extremely public, in a very open space with a lot of people around. The potential for injury and even death was in the high percentile. She growled at herself as she responded to John’s the message with a simple,

‘Alright, I’ll see you at the rendezvous point.’

Picking up her pace she made sure to quickly get back to the courthouse. She knew that the Phantom Writer was real and hopefully, reliable, whether a trap was being set up or not. She knew that something would definitely come from that encounter, but this Superior Industries event seemed like it was going to end for the worse. There had been meta’s in the bar last night. Other than the suspect for the crime she knew that John seemed capable. He had sent her both messages, which had he received? Was a detail that small that important? Who had received what message and why? How could they relate? Questions, so many questions, the frustrations of dealing with super villains and their weird intricate ways was definitely one of the most frustrating things she dealt with in her brief stint as a spandex wearing crime fighter. The bad guys in all honesty didn’t even need to be super, all they needed was some brains and the could make someone run around in circles if they pleased.

It didn’t take long for Ana to reach the courthouse, the alley hadn’t been that deep and falling into her thoughts while her body worked on it’s own had made it seem like she teleported to the steps of the building. Walking up the steps she was stopped by a security guard. Clenching her jaw she exhaled through flared nostrils and glared at the man. “I’m just waiting for someone I’m not going in.” She spoke lowly as she walked off to the side and took a seat on the steps. Her phone was in her hands her eyes flicking to the screen every now and then. Ana made sure to keep most of her attention on the crowds.

As the courthouse building came into view, John's searching eyes quickly located the familiar figure outside on the step and he directed his steps to her, Felicity eagerly right behind him as Samuel trailed behind at a cautious distance, his posture closed and eyes warily watching Ana.

"Ana. I'm John," the mutant addressed her, offering a handshake.

She watched the trio approach, the man in front being the only one she recognized. Standing up she cleared her throat and took the man’s hand in a strong, confident shake. “Having a name to put to the face is nice.” She spoke simply. Amber irises flicking to the other two. “Who are these two? Why are they here?” Ana folded her arms across her chest as she spoke bluntly. Taking in the appearances of the young woman and the man she clenched her jaw before glancing back towards John looking for an answer. Either these two were metahumans that could handle their own or this man was stupid enough to drag civilians along with him in potentially dangerous situations. She really, genuinely hoped it wasn’t the latter, John seemed like a much smarter, more rational man than that.

John's grip was firm and equally confident with an undertone of restrained power that, besides the slight taper to his ears and practically indetectable glow encircling his irises, was the only hint that he was more than just an ordinary citizen.

"They're friends of mine: Samuel and Felicity Alerio," he introduced the pair. Felicity offered a small wave, grinning excitedly but also a bit shy with the taller female meta's eyes trained on her. Samuel simply turned his head away, brow furrowed and mouth drawn in a thin line, his entire body tense with his arms folded protectively across his chest and a disquieted wind sighing haphazardly amid the four of them. "We crossed paths while I was working on recon. Unfortunately, they were the ones who received the message about the contest while I received the message from PW, meaning that our enemies must somehow have known that they were with me." Taking note of her judgmental expression, he assured her, "If I could keep them uninvolved, I would, but the messages prove that it's too late for that now. I'm worried that they'll be targeted, and they'll be safer if they're with me in the event that that happens. Besides, the ad does say to bring a hero, meaning that civilians will be expected to show up."

“He’s not very happy by the looks of it.” Ana made a comment about the tense man, Samuel. “And I don’t think she knows how dangerous this could be.” She now spoke about Felicity. “That ad is a blatant trap. I honestly wouldn’t even bother with it because you have no way of knowing what might happen there. Despite what you might be capable of. PW is a slightly more legit source and chances are he’s the better decision for this.” Speaking her mind as always Ana clenched her jaw. “I know I can’t stop you and I’m not going to try. If you have some Hero complex that needs to be fed by all means go for it, and if it happens to be legit” she shrugged “that's awesome more info for us to work with, but if it doesn’t...well I don’t really know what to say after that. I don’t know how many losses you may have dealt with or how severe they were but it all catches up eventually, trust me, been there, done that.” Ana wasn’t sure if her words were vague enough. She hoped they were because the last thing she needed was to have one of these ‘teammates’ start digging into her past persona and any events that she partook in under that alias. Things had happened that she wasn’t proud of and illegal actions had taken place for certain reasons. She was terrified of coming back as her because she honestly didn’t know what would happen, and right in front of her, in this moment were three people that didn’t need to suffer because of their association with her.

Sighing with another clench of her jaw she looked away. She was starting to debate her decision, thinking about breaking her promise to Meghan. Anastasia had already tried to save everyone and failed, so what would be different this time? Looking back to John she raised a brow. “I want to meet with PW. I don’t know how it might go, I haven’t seen him in a while but I’m hoping to succeed. I honestly hope that this Superior Industries isn’t some sort of fucked up trap. I hope that it’s a legit contest and that their word is kept. If it, is you better win it, but I’ll tell you John; there is nothing that feels right, proper or legit about that ad. Don’t leave these two alone, and stay alert. Gut feelings usually aren’t wrong, I always trust mine and right now, it’s screaming at me about this stupid ad. It’s got enough sway to make me consider getting my ass to that park and watching from the distance.” Ana swallowed back. Someone had to take the Phantom Writer lead and John seemed pretty determined to go to the park. But with everything screaming at her about this ad and the thought of the amount of people that could potentially be in that park she was tearing apart. Go the easy guaranteed route or potentially save hundreds of lives? If her gut was wrong she would hate herself for losing the information that the Phantom Writer might be able to provide but if her gut was right she would hate herself for not being there to help all those innocent people.

This is one of the big reasons she had quite the spandex game.

John glanced to the young man, taking note of the wind that had kicked up out of nowhere. "He's had... trouble with metahumans in his past. I won't go too into detail, but in brief, it's you that he's nervous about. It's not personal—he reacts to pretty much all other metas like that."

He released a wry chuckle at her comments about the Superior Industries contest. "Oh no, it's definitely a trap, and I'm preparing accordingly. But you can't have a trap without bait, and I have reason to believe that one of the documents is in fact there. I'm not usually one to go flying into a blatant trap, but we need that document. Don't worry." He smiled, a thin and grimly determined expression, his brow low over eyes that glowed a brilliant and deadly green. "I can handle it."

"In the meantime," he continued, the intense light fading from his irises, "I was going to ask you if you could go to the meet with PW. I have a friend on the way to join you." Looking up at the sound of hurried footsteps, he noted, "Oh, speaking of whom..."

At that moment, a young African American in a military-styled outfit jogged up.

"Okay, I'm here. What do you need?"

"I need you to accompany Anastasia to the rendezvous with PW." John addressed the young woman, nodding to the metahuman in question.

Taking note of Ana for the first time, the woman turned to her with a greeting smile and a proffered hand. "Oh, sorry, I haven't introduced myself. Valerie Newmann. I'm a friend of John's."

Ana pursed her lips and nodded slowly in an unimpressed manner. “I hate to say it Samuel but you’re gonna be dealing with a lot more meta’s now so, try to get rid of those feelings. It’s only gonna cause more trouble.” Rough as always. Listening to John she looked away for just a moment, his words ringing loud and clear through her ears. “Nobody suggested that you couldn’t handle it.” Her attention returned to the man as she caught an extremely brief moment of dulling eyes. “No need to show off, I’m not challenging you.” She clenched her jaw and took hold of her arms once again as they came across her chest. Flaring her nostrils she exhaled sharply, his display was uncalled for, did he think Ana was a threat? Was he trying to prove a point? She didn’t really understand his reasons; amber irises flicked up as she caught approaching movement over the man’s shoulder while he spoke again.

Taking the woman’s hand with a quick single shake Ana nodded towards her. “You can call me Ana and yup, you’re stuck with me heading to the MET. It’ll be great don’t worry about it. I’m a very bright and happy person, I’m sure you’ll have a blast.” Her tone was drenched in heavy, obvious sarcasm. “Alright cool, so uh— you guys go and have fun with your trap. Don’t die.” She looked at John “Don’t hate on any other metas.” Her eyes turned to Samuel. “And don’t do anything stupid.” She finally ended on Felicity.

Having extremely acute hearing had its downfalls for the most part but it also had it’s perks, her focus would be on that damn park even if it took all her energy to pay attention to what was happening there. The last thing she needed was a disaster to be tied to at Central Park. She hoped she could hear the park from the MET, and if she couldn’t she’d figure out a way to do so. “Alright, shall we?” Anastasia looked towards Valerie. “There’s nothing else to talk about is there?” She glanced at John. “Don’t wanna waste precious time now do we?” She raised a brow waiting for a response before starting to walk away.

John frowned disapprovingly at her blunt and frankly inconsiderate attitude to Samuel and her passive-aggressive attitude towards him and Valerie, but then sighed, figuring that she was just going to be that way. He had only been trying to reassure her.

"Not that I can think of," he affirmed. "Good luck with PW." He passed Valerie a look that added 'Good luck with Ana.' The lawyer returned the look with a smile that responded 'I'll be fine' before turning and striding confidently after her assigned companion.

Samuel, meanwhile, had only closed in further at her comment, the wind around him strengthening with his frustration, whipping along Ana's skin with a vigor probably not focused enough for her to think she was being targeted but definitely strong enough to sting. If she knew what he had been through, maybe she wouldn't be so quick to judge his caution. Even Felicity's usually indomitable grin had fallen into a confused and slightly hurt look at Ana's only words to her.

After a moment, John released an abrupt sigh, turning in the direction of the park. "Alright. We'd better get going."

"Let's just get this over with," the young aerokinetic muttered, trailing after the mutant with his sister behind him.

Clenching her jaw Ana studied John’s disappointed look. She exhaled softly but abruptly before looking away. Serious, life altering moments change people and unfortunately Ana had dealt with a fair share of all that. Had it changed her? Certainly, it had turned her into the opposite of what she once was. It had numbed her, made her bitter, cold, abrasive, unkind and seemingly uncaring. She had tried to fix it, maybe even escape it by donning a costume, helping others, hoping that the spark she had once felt when she saved lives would come back and make her feel like she had a purpose again. It hadn’t worked, she had tried so hard and it only led to the worst possible outcome, in her eyes. The city had surprisingly thanked her and helped her, for the most part; of course there were those who didn’t agree with the decisions that were made. Where there was praise there was always a reason to hate and disapprove as well. Accepting it was what had broke her, what had made her stop. If they wanted to hate she needed to build higher, stronger walls, if they didn’t care then why should she?

Swallowing back as she left the others behind her the disappointment and hint of sadness slowly crawled across her face. Reality was harsh, a lesson everyone learned at some point in their lives. Some people needed to be reminded not to linger on the negatives, and try to move on, as hypocritical as that sounded coming from her. Anastasia on the other hand was so deep in the well of dark thoughts and feelings within her that she saw no chance of finding her way out, whether she could fly or not. The light of hope had not shone through for her, the feeling of purpose she once had was decimated by her past. Why couldn’t she get passed it? Because it had all collapsed on her, even with the strength of a god, carrying a burden that dug so deep into her skin, through her blood, to her very soul...she had no way to break out.

Ana cleared her throat as she glanced over her shoulder and pushed all her emotions aside. “Did you serve?” She pointed to the dog tags around the dark skinned woman’s neck and glanced up into her eyes for a moment before returning her focus to getting them to the car. The hinges of her past creaked open in the stone cold labyrinth of her mind. Another clench of her jaw and a small swallow back against the dryness in her throat as she simply continued to walk. The door in her mind slamming shut. What was she hoping to get out of that question?

Scoffing at herself with a shake of her head the two eventually arrived at the nearby vehicle. Unlocking it the brunette walked around to the passenger’s side and opened the door for Valerie. Once the other woman was in she closed the door and made her way to the driver’s side. Getting in she started the car and the two were off.

April 3rd - 2018 - The MET, NYC

The subway ride itself wasn’t bad, but Meg’s nerves were beyond shot. The woman was terrified, she was surprised that her whole body wasn’t shaking, that she hadn’t gotten sick yet. Every person around her felt like a threat or seemed suspicious. What was going to happen at that exhibit? Who would she be meeting? Would others be there? Had she been the only one invited? If so, why? The same questions had been running through her mind from the moment she had received that damn text message. Should I call Ana? Should I tell her about this? Chances were the woman’s reaction would be unnecessary and extra. Besides she’s dealing with others that are supposed to help with all this, better leave her out of it. Her heart stuttered at the thought of not having Ana by her side if something went wrong. Shaking her head with a ‘nu-uh’ she continued walking forward. She couldn’t rely on Anastasia to always be there for her. She couldn’t look at the world as this vicious place where she needed a protector constantly by her side, a potentially terrifying ally at times. It wasn’t all that bad, not anymore, Right? Right she told herself.

Taking a deep breath as an attempt to calm herself Meghan crossed the street and made her way into the building. Flashing a piece of I.D. and handing the ticket agent some money for the exhibit she walked on ahead and made her way towards the Medusa exhibit. It sounded interesting but also potentially creepy and disturbing...the circumstances surrounding her visit also didn’t help with her feeling at ease. Exhaling with continued worry and fear she just hoped that this was a matter of finding an envelope somewhere that had the file in it. That way she could grab it and leave with no problems or any altercations.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
INTERACTIONS:

ANASTASIA
- Astroblaze (John Reidenbach, Samuel Alerio, Felicity Alerio, Valerie Newman)


MENTIONS:
LuckycoolHawk9 - Phantom Writer
 
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  • Nice Execution!
Reactions: Astroblaze
Angelo Rose- Angelo's apartment

Angelo would change the sheets later before he went to bed later, so it didn't honestly matter in the long run. He ran his hand through his hair, checking his phone for any tips. There were a few.

He didn't mind what she was doing as he was an expert at multi-tasking. You had to be for what he did in his life quite honestly and that was saying something.

Angelo was surprised that she had managed to make amazing pancakes, especially since he couldn't remember the last time he had stocked up on anything in the house.

" I would not be opposed to a repeat performance, but I'm also not demanding it. If we drift apart or don't do anything c'est la vie. As for questions, I honestly wasn't going to ask anything of you outside of how you made breakfast with what I had lying around the house... since I can't remember the last time I shopped."

" What an interesting choice of songs. Also, since you are probably going to read it over my shoulder anyway, the tips I got on my phone is that Nicholas Harris is back in town, there is a weird contest going on at a park and a tip that Phantom Writer is sending people to the MET. I honestly don't care if you are using me for information, but honestly, all of this stuff is boring compared to this.." He turned the phone over to Cyndee. She would see a picture of a blonde hair male that seemed to be photographed in Times Square.

full

" That is Anthony Harris, prefers to be called Anthony Carter, he's an enigma and hasn't been seen for a good four years anywhere, I'm curious to know why he picked today to appear the day after Myst appeared, seems suspect to me."

@Michale CS

Warren Tanner

Warren wondered if Carter would recognize him as compared to how he looked. He was fully aware he looked different from the appearance he had when fused with Michael. Interestingly, he had learned that the way the fusion worked was how he was imagined by the mind of the child.

He imagined that wobbling was going to be something that was going to be a recurring theme. He could have smelled the puke, but he was going to pretend that he didn't for the sake of Carter's sanity and dignity. He also honestly didn't care and waited to see if he had a million questions for him, but he imagined that he had only one and that was entirely fine with him tooo.

Warren looked over at him and was about to repeat what he said, but he noticed that Carter had stopped mid-sentence and he wanted to confirm what he was going to ask.

He raced through the million possible different questions that he could be asked and had came up with the definition for most of them and knowing that they were going to be simple for him to explain and even simpler to be honest about.

Well, mostly honest about. He didn't know anything about Myst or for that matter, what even happened when he was in the teen's body. The only thing he could honestly remember was two letters. SI and he had no clue what it meant.

He had ideas on what it could mean and that was about it. He rubbed his hand on the back of his head, happy that his anger had been calmed down and he wasn't currently trying to beat up a judge. ( Thank god, he didn't look like the other form and only shared a name at this point with it).

Out of all the possible questions he could have been asked, that was not the first one he had expected, but it was the easiest to answer. " Heat signature. I tracked you by your heat signature. I can detect everyone's unique heat signature and am able to identify people that way, mostly because it is easy to find as each person has a unique one. Heat signature that is." he said, rubbing his foot on the ground. He knew Carter probably wasn't bi, but it was awkward to talk to such a good looking guy without screwing up. Warren cursed himself under his breath for saying heat signature so much.

@vantas
 
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Valerie
Ana
Valerie Newmann | Ana Kestner
April 3, 2018 | noon | NYC—Ana's car en-route to the MET, the MET

collab with @Huntress, Logan (@LuckycoolHawk9)
John (@Astroblaze), Meghan (@Huntress), Samuel (@Astroblaze), Mystification (@LuckycoolHawk9), PW (@LuckycoolHawk9)

Valerie studied Ana's face for a moment as they approached what was apparently her vehicle, noting the myriad, painful emotions that crossed it. She knew very little about the metahuman who she currently accompanied, but her years of friendship with and assisting John had taught her how trying being an active meta could be. If you weren't as optimistic as he adamantly insisted on being, the stress of the responsibility could easily overwhelm you.

"I don't, but my dad does," she explained, adding a murmured thanks for the opened door as she ducked into the passenger seat. Fastening her seatbelt, she smiled to herself, touching the simply designed tags. "He taught me everything I know. I thought about enlisting, but—" she hesitated a moment, smile replaced by a more troubled look— "an incident that happened when I was a teen inspired me to pursue legal studies instead."

"...Oh," Ana stated simply as she glanced towards Valerie for a moment. "I, uh- just saw the dog tags so I assumed. Sorry." Maybe she had hoped for someone she could talk to with some form of similarity. This obviously wasn’t the case. Her attention turning back to the road as she took a shaky breath. Memories coming back for a flash. "I served," she muttered, unsure why she thought she could tell this woman about this. If her father had been in the military, then maybe she could relate in some weird way. Ana clenched her jaw at how stupid her thoughts sounded. Meghan was the only other person that knew about Ana’s military service... and her former squad, of course. "Can I ask what happened that changed your mind?" The question was genuine: she was curious. She had always thought that Military ran in a family... or at least it was kind of true for her, in a twisted way.

"No no, it's alright," Valerie assured her with a slight laugh. "If I didn't want to be identified as military, I wouldn't dress like, well—" she indicated the bomber jacket and dog tags— "this."

She glanced up quickly at Ana's admission of military service, realizing in her tone and expression that she was opening herself in a major way. Did the harsh-toned metahuman perceive some common ground between the two of them? She certainly hoped so. She seemed a fascinating individual and Valerie hoped she'd get a chance to get to know her better. For the moment, however, she turned to Ana's own question, her brow furrowing slightly in thought as she considered how exactly to word her response.

"A very close friend of mine—a young metahuman with powers he didn't want and couldn't control—was nearly killed by another meta in a fight he didn't want, even tried to get away from but the other didn't let him. He was in the hospital for over a month, and for the first week or so we were all so scared he wasn't going to make it. When he finally woke up, he was... broken. He wasn't himself anymore. Skittish, closed-off, scared of everyone and especially wary of other metas, and can you blame the poor guy for being wary of someone who could hurt him that badly for no reason, just completely out of the blue, no way for him to see it coming and helpless to stop it-" She cut herself off, realizing that her voice had begun to rise with her agitation as she recalled what was done to her friend. She closed her eyes for a moment, releasing a steadying breath, then continued more calmly. "And that's not even the worst part. He was still in the hospital when the calls started coming in—all the angry people demanding that he appear in court and reconcile them for all the things he accidentally broke with the wild gusts spurred on by his sheer terror, none of them having any idea or concern for the horror he'd been through, was still going through and would be going through for the rest of his life. The family was lucky that they had a sympathetic judge because otherwise there was no way they could have repaid everything that people were demanding, especially not on top of hospital bills. That whole awful incident opened my eyes to the injustice in the legal system, how everything is stacked to the meta's disadvantage for whatever twisted, control-oriented reason. I may not be able to fix the problem, but I can take the skills and knowledge that I have and fight for the equality they deserve. That's why I take commissions almost exclusively from metahumans. I might not have been able to help my friend, but I can try and make sure what happened to him doesn't happen to anyone else. And as for that friend that I've been talking about?" She paused, turning and affixing Ana with a piercing look. "That friend is Samuel Alerio."

Ana scoffed towards the first small bit of Valerie beginning her explanation. "How many people are born with powers they want? It’s the most terrifying thing. Especially when you don’t know what your limit is or how to control it." She kept her voice low as she didn’t want to interrupt, her words sounding a little bitter as she kept her glare on the road. Glancing over at the woman as she heard her grow heated, Anastasia visibly flexed her jaw, teeth threatening to crack, the palm of her right hand rubbing hard enough against the steering wheel that it groaned. Had John set her up with a person who disliked metas? That wasn’t very smart, especially when he chose to tell everyone that she wasn’t a regular human.

Looking out her window, she swallowed back as the car had grown silent, a breath coming from the woman. In the tense silence, it had been almost explosive in Ana’s ears. Nevertheless, it had been enough to gain the attention of the amber gaze. Valerie continued speaking, and Ana brought her attention back to the road as they were moving again. Ana laughed, an abrupt, awkward laugh.

"Been there done that," she stated simply as her left hand cradled her head after having run through her hair, fingers sliding through the dark locks and cupping her skull. "Most people don’t know how to be grateful, unless they face a truly life-threatening instance. And even then some of them still play the victim and want to claim something or get something in return." She spoke over Valerie slightly.

Catching movement from the corner of her eye, Anastasia glanced towards the passenger in the vehicle before casually returning her attention to the road. "The guy who was with John?" Her question was rhetorical, she was bad with names sure but those were only a few minutes old, she could remember that. "Sounds like a shitty situation." The coldness returned. "I know getting over things like that is hard, but accepting what he is and what he’s capable of is going to help him. I understand he’s probably scarred for life, but he obviously has people around him that he trusts and seem to be willing to help. He has to open up to you guys and slowly take the steps he needs to better himself." She sat up straight and placed both hands on the wheel now. "It doesn’t mean he has to become a hero or vigilante or whatever. Don’t misunderstand me, I do understand his reasons for being the way he is. I’ve seen death, life taken, innocent lives, people that had done nothing wrong; they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s painful enough to witness that, but what’s harder is being the cause of it. Some people are merciless, they kill and are unphased, others not so much, and that, that is probably the worst thing that can happen to someone." Ana sighed heavily. "Imagine having the power of a god and using that power to protect others, then out of nowhere, death surrounds you. Those you’ve sworn to protect laying across the ground limp and cold, staring into your soul." Her eyes narrowed as she glared through the windshield. "Then the ones who had once accepted you, cheered you on, praised you, knew you were there to save them, suddenly turn into a savage, unruly mob, their only goal to take you out." She clenched her jaw tightly again, knuckles turning white as she gripped the steering wheel as if hanging on for dear life. "Betrayed by everyone, everything... Do you know what it’s like to have the whole world against you?" Ana swallowed back and looked at Valerie as they halted again. "Sometimes it makes the thought of disappearing or being dead sound more comforting," she muttered.

The thought of returning as Aegis terrified her. She didn’t know what to expect, what reactions people would have, what they would say or do. Ana had never thought about returning, as thrilling as it felt last night to do something that seemed heroic. Ignoring the shots fired, obviously. That had been a small taste of what could happen. She had saved many lives and she had also put a lot away. Powerful people, vengeful people. They were more likely to cause harm and damage than she was, and resurfacing would only make them also start to show face again. Exhaling sharply, she shook her head slightly. Negative thoughts had been the most dominant in her mind for a long time, they were hard to get rid of, it was what she was used to.

Valerie's mouth tightened at what seemed like Ana disregarding the warning she had been trying to convey.

"What I'm trying to say is that what you said to Samuel really bothered me," she summarized, perhaps a bit more sharply than she intended. "He's not hating: he's hurting. He has had to carry the scars and the trauma of what happened to him for his entire life, and you just spat in his face with no comprehension of what you were judging him for. Look, I'm not trying to scold or guilt you and I don't know why you act the way that you do—that's your story, and I'm not going to presume that I know it because I know that I don't—but treating anyone with that kind of contempt is never right, and one of these days you're going to seriously hurt someone." Her lips pursed in a thin frown. "I completely agree with you that the best thing for him is to learn to accept who and what he is, but there are better ways to tell him such. I know a handful of people who react well to 'get over yourself'—he's not one of them."

Falling silent for a moment as she considered the rest of Ana's words, she released a quiet sigh through her nose, turning her gaze back to her hands, folded in her lap.

"I know how hard it can be for people like you. I've seen John at his worst, when he looks at me and I can just see the fear in his eyes—the worry that he's not going to be able to uphold the weighty responsibility he claimed upon realizing what he was capable of." She shrugged with a wry smile. "I guess it's to the credit of his stubborn optimism and perseverance that it hasn't broken him yet. I've fought for the cases of heroes who ultimately decided to hang up their capes for good, unable to cope with the stress and frustration of never being able to do anything right in the eyes of the very people for whose lives and safety they were putting their own on the line every day." She huffed a quiet, ironic chuckle. "I guess that's the best context I have to understand what you've had to endure."

"You wouldn’t be the first person that was hurt or bothered by my actions or words." She shrugged and casually glanced at the other before looking to the road again, clenching her jaw as she sighed. "He needs a wake-up call, that’s why I said what I said. The longer he spends sulking the worse it’ll get. If he doesn’t snap out of it, it’s only going to get worse and reach a point where he will do more bad than good, to himself and others." Ana swallowed back. "He’s hurt, I get it, but the more he holds it all in the more likely he is to have an outburst that’s going to terrify him even more, and then he’ll completely shut down," she explained. "Reality and the truth hurt, if he can’t take it then he’s going to have problems. It’s all I’m saying. I’m not here to judge how you guys choose to treat him. I’m just explaining my side and what I’ve seen and been through." She glanced at Valerie again.

"I didn’t hang it up because the people reacted like pieces of shit, although that didn’t help in keeping the suit out of a dusty old trunk shoved under my bed. I hung it up for myself. I had my reasons for donning a ridiculous suit and taking up a stupid name. Things didn’t pan out and there was a big enough incident that was the final straw. That person disappearing has helped more people than I did when I was her," she explained. "Coming back might cause more problems than it might help solve." 'But I have to,' she told herself. "I don’t know what the world will think when they see her again... I’m rather confident that she won’t be the same person though. But that may be subject to change…" She muttered the last bit.

It had been a few minutes that the two had been going at a steady pace in the vehicle. Ana was hopeful that more traffic wouldn’t appear out of nowhere. They had spent enough time bumper to bumper. This was urgent enough that Anastasia had considered flying to the damn MET if she was able to hide her face.

She was right, of course. Valerie had been concerned about the unpredictable and uncontrolled state of Samuel's abilities for years, but she also knew how he was and that any talk of learning about his powers would only scare him more.

"I know," she agreed quietly, resting her elbow on the door and her chin on her hand as she watched the city whip past. "I've been worried about him for almost as long as I've known him for that very reason. He's a sweet kid but more stubborn than a mule." She laughed a bit to herself at that, the sound devoid of actual mirth. "There's no pushing him to that conclusion: he'll have to come to it on his own. I'm just worried that he'll hurt himself or somebody else before that happens. We try to keep him around metas in the hopes that he'll acclimate himself sooner rather than later, but nothing seems to work. I don't know how to get through to him." She sighed, shaking her head, and fell silent for a moment. "Maybe what he needs is a good example," she finally muttered, half to herself.

Considering Ana's overview of her own scenario, she looked back to the other woman curiously, wondering if she would recognize the name. "Who were you as a hero?"

"I don’t know what sort of example you can show him, but if it’ll help him, then I would say try to show him sooner or later," Ana stated towards Valerie's muttered words as she briefly glanced at her. Clenching her jaw at the question, she remained silent for a moment as she kept her eyes on the road. 'You set yourself up for that one,' she told herself, unsure if she wanted to answer that question. Nobody knew about that identity, not even Meghan. Could she just blurt it out to this stranger that she just met? Anastasia didn’t know the truth to who Valerie was. Who she knew, what sort of connections she had. It made no sense for her to tell her anything, even if all the things she had said about herself were true. "Nobody important," she muttered as she looked out her window then back to the road. 'You don’t usually lie,' Ana’s internal voice spoke up. That was something that looked like it was about to change, big time. It all started with Meghan last night, and it seemed like Ana would have to start keeping her mouth shut about things in general. Whoever ended up being in the exclusive circle of this whole ordeal would find out... in time. Once she got her new suit settled and was mentally prepared to take that final step of donning it all... again.

Valerie generally had a pretty good sense for when people were lying—a helpful skill in her line of work—but also for when it wouldn't help her to prod, although she did cast the woman beside her a suspicious glance that surely let her know she had spotted her bluff.

"You don't really trust me, do you?" she noted, returning her gaze to the side window. She shrugged. "That's alright—I mean, we've only just met. I don't expect total transparency this early. Just remember—" she turned her head back to Ana, keen dark eyes studying her face— "we're all on the same side here. You don't need to feel like you have to hide things from your allies." Her lips quirked in an encouraging smile. "You've gotta have somebody watching your six."

Even as she spoke, she realized why the guarded, anxious look in Ana's eyes was so familiar: it was the look she always saw in Samuel's eyes. Perhaps she needed to look no further for that good example she mentioned only a moment ago.

Ana looked towards Valerie and raised a brow at the gaze she was being given. Another clench of her jaw and she was looking back to the road as she flared her nostrils with an exhale. "Don't take it personally, I don't trust anyone easily," she explained to the woman simply. Her reasons didn't need to be revealed to anyone, she had them, they existed, and that's all that mattered. "When the time comes for me to reveal things I will. In the meantime, I'll try not to be a downer. Does that sound good enough? I’m going to assume that if you say yes, everyone will say yes." Ana spoke casually as she carried on with the drive. They shouldn’t have been too far now.

Chuckling at Valerie’s statement, Ana shook her head. "If she comes back it’s gonna be more than my six that I’m gonna need watched." Her voice was low. Why she had this gripping feeling that something bad was going to happen, she didn’t know, but she couldn’t shake it and it wasn’t helping her make this decision anytime sooner... if she chose to make it at all. "Look, you and John seem like good people, don’t get me wrong and those siblings seem like good people too, although there should be caution with them. Sam, with his anxiety and fear leading to a potential outburst, is dangerous, and his sister, Felicity, sometimes she seems too eager and excited, it could get her in trouble." Ana glanced towards Valerie. "You all do what you do for your reasons. You haven’t given up on the people yet and kudos to you. I didn’t want to give up on them either, but that was my safest option." Another clenched jaw. "Just give me time, don’t fuck me over and we’ll be fine. My trust is hard to earn, but once you have it, you’re solid in my book. Just don’t betray it and I won’t have to hunt you down with a vengeance." She smirked at her comment as she glanced towards Valerie.

Turning her attention back to the road, Ana advanced forward into the intersection to make the left turn required. Keeping her eyes on the speeding vehicles busting through the green light, she sighed as she waited for an opening to continue on. She just wanted to get this meeting at the MET over with so the next step could be figured out for this whole situation.

With little to add in response to Ana's words, Valerie just nodded in agreement and understanding. Her mouth broke into a grin with a quiet laugh at Ana's final remark, the young woman ducking her head slightly. Being able to take an almost teasing air even with such a serious issue seemed a good sign that the two of them were on the right track.

When she returned her attention to the road ahead, that smile vanished immediately in favor of a horrified gasp as she realized that an old lady had just darted into the road right in front of them. She stiffened in her seat, hastily blurting, "Ana, look out!"

As the light flicked yellow, Ana started to advance her turn. Glancing over through the passengers window to make sure nobody chose to speed through the warning sign of the traffic light, she pressed a little more on the gas pedal. Catching a hint of Valerie’s reaction, her head whipped around and caught a glimpse of the red-haired woman. Tires screeched as her foot was quick to switch to the breaks, the two women jolted forward in their seats as the car halted. Baring her teeth, Ana slammed her hand against the horn as she had barely caught the woman falling to the ground from the sudden halt of metal. "Jesus fucking christ! What’s your problem, lady?!" She called out as she went to roll the window down. "She’s like a hundred years old, why would she-" Ana glanced towards Valerie in very apparent frustration. Her breaths quickened as her eyes grew wide. She ignored the honking from the surrounding vehicles as she unclipped her belt, worry coming across her features as she watched a truck come rolling towards them. "Out! Valerie, OUT!" she screamed toward the woman as she clambered over her and pressed her back against the door in a rather awkwardly spread out and uncomfortable position. Reaching for the top of the woman’s seatbelt, she snapped it off the siding of the car and forced her against her body. "Just trust me, okay! Stretch your legs over the middle console ca-"

Before she could finish her words, the screeching and honking of the large truck consumed them. The man had attempted to avoid the car stuck in the middle of the intersection but had ended up swerving. The car of the truck had hit a small section of the passengers side of the vehicle and had blown in the back side. Jagged metal pressing against Ana’s lower back, thankfully she took most of that blow and not the woman she had somewhat wrapped herself around. The force had been enough to cause the car to skid sideways towards the old lady. Overloaded trucks were heavy and Ana was starting to feel that weight as the box trailer toppled over on top of them. Grunting against all the weight, she pushed up with her legs, taking all the force across her neck, shoulders and upper back. Hissing in further annoyance, she bared her teeth against the weight, metal groaning as she slowly brought her arms up and placed her palms against the roof of the vehicle. "Valerie?" she called out. "Are you okay?" she asked, her only option was to look down towards the woman. "Can you move?" There was another grunt as she pushed up a little harder, more metallic groaning, muscles tensed and flexed. "I need you to move towards the driver's side, if you can. I don’t think the door’s gonna open but maybe you can fit through the window?" She clenched her jaw.

If she pushed up any further the roof of the car would come off. Ana wasn’t sure how big the trailer was and where her positioning had her. If she chose to lift any further, she would either topple it backwards or forwards, both weren’t very good options for anyone surrounding the scene.

Having met Ana's incredulous look in kind at the lady's stupidity, Valerie witnessed the frustration turn into horror. Although perplexed at first, she was galvanized into action by the woman's scream and the explosive blaring of the truck horn, quickly stretching out her legs as instructed as she pressed her body into Ana's and braced for impact.

Once the cacophany of squealing tires and crunching metal had died down, Valerie just barely picked up Ana's worried query through the ringing in her ears. The dark-skinned woman released a slight groan through gritted teeth as the ache of rapidly forming bruises spread throughout her body. "I'm a little banged up, but otherwise I'm alright."

At Ana's instruction, she got her legs under her and crawled across the car, rolling down the window the rest of the way and scrambling out feet-first. Backing away from the vehicle enabled her to observe the extent of the damage, her eyes widening with a whispered "Oh my God..."

"Back, everybody back!" she shouted at the onlookers, some of whom had begun creeping forward as if to help and she wasn't sure where that trailer was going to end up. She pulled out her phone to call John, but the surety with which Ana was holding up the trailer on top of her made her hesitate.

"Ana, are you okay?" she called into the vehicle. "Spectre would be here in an instant if I called him."

Watching Valerie manage to get out of the car was a relief. Anastasia was thankful that the woman wasn’t hurt badly. She didn’t need to get into any sort of issues with John over this. She listened more than watched. Valerie muttered words of surprise and asked others to move away. That was reassuring. Ana scoffed at herself, now she hadn’t the slightest idea of how bad things were outside. Clenching her jaw and swallowing back, she was cautious of her footing as she stepped over the middle separator with her right. Hands travelling across the roof of the vehicle as she moved. Her left foot came over the center console and sunk into the driver’s seat as she pushed up against the slightly crushed roof. Reaching the door finally she tried to lower her head to the window as she had heard Valerie’s words from a moment ago. Her response was delayed as she had been slightly distracted.

"I’m okay, don’t worry," she called out. "No! No, don’t call him. He has other things to worry about. Just try to clear the area please," she said as she kicked the driver's side door off its hinges. Metal creaked and groaned before skidding against the pavement with a loud screech. Her left foot came out first. Pushing up against the container again, she caught the sound of groaning metal and stopped with a sigh. Letting the weight rest on her right arm and shoulder, she slipped her left arm out of the car and pressed her palm against the trailer. Pushing up just enough to move, she got herself out of the car, both arms stretched up and holding the box. Exhaling sharply as she lowered her head, she turned her gaze to the right, over her shoulder, glancing towards Valerie. "If I let this drop, the truck cab is going to topple over too. Is the driver okay? Can you get him out?" she asked before looking towards the point of impact and the front of the truck, the left wheels slightly off the ground.

Amber irises glared at the trailer. She could fly and set it straight, but crowds were gathering, the distant sirens signaling the arrival of emergency responders shortly. It might save Meghan’s car too. Fewer things for the woman to worry about. She hoped this string of bad luck would end soon. She hoped they could deal with this Myst person quickly so that all this can be shoved back into the past and away from their future lives. Flaring her nostrils, she exhaled heavily. "Fuck it," she muttered. Gently pushing up off the ground, the metal siding she had been pushing on bent inwards slightly as she slowly and carefully pushed the box up until all the wheels were touching the ground. Gritting her teeth at the sound of of mutters and gasps, Ana was quick to drop to the ground and keep her head low, hair covering her features, fists balled up, knuckles white as she stiffly walked around the truck cab, only looking up upon climbing the steps.

The driver was unconscious, head resting on the airbag. Opening the locked door, she reached over the man and undid his seatbelt. Taking hold of him over her shoulder, Ana lowered them to the ground. Kneeling down next to him, she looked at the man. He was breathing, heart beating clearly in her ears. There was a cut across his left brow. Tapping him gently on the cheek, she tried to wake him up. Piercing sirens exploded in her ears as she winced. Looking up, she saw hurried footsteps approach as her ears continued to ring loudly. Amber eyes came up to see EMTs running towards them. The momentarily deafened woman stood up and stepped back. Dropping her head, she stepped back further, fists clenched tightly again. Closing her eyes, she turned her head to the left as she waited for the ringing to stop. Opening her eyes, she stared at the ground, her breaths heavy, not from exhaustion, but from fear, worry, nervousness and anxiety. She continued to slowly breathe as her heart raced. Perhaps this wasn’t the smartest choice in actions, she told herself. Looking up through her hair, she watched the scene continue to unfold almost in slow motion as the painful frequency ringing in her ears started to fade.

"Sure thing." Slipping her phone back into her bag, she turned back to keep waving people away, but the onlookers seemed to have gotten the message. Glancing back at a painfully loud screech of metal to see how Ana was holding up, Valerie did a double-take and watched in amazement as the brunette cautiously made her way out of the vehicle, continuing to support what had to be several tons of metal and other material stored within the trailer with only one hand without breaking a sweat. Adding that to the door currently lying on the pavement after evidently being blown off its hinges and how it was now evident that she hadn't a scratch on her despite taking the full force of the impact, Valerie was beginning to gather an idea of exactly what her companion was capable of.

When Ana asked about the truck driver, Valerie looked to the trailer cab, squinting with a frown as she attempted to make out its details from where she stood. "I can't tell. The cab doesn't seem to be damaged too badly, though."

She started over toward the cab, limping slightly on aching legs, but stopped as the entire vehicle shifted with a groan. Looking back to see what Ana was doing this time, she stood again transfixed in awe as the woman, now floating several feet off of the ground, carefully shifted the trailer back onto its wheels. Okay, so apparently she can fly. Of course she can. As Ana moved to check the driver herself, Valerie turned to ensure that the old lady who they had almost hit was okay. Except she wasn't a lady anymore, neither was she old. Valerie pulled up short, staring in surprise at the young man sitting frozen in shock on the pavement—a shapeshifter?

Glimpsing in her periphery a folder lying on the pavement near the apparent shifter, she approached it and picked it up, careful that nothing fell out. Her brow furrowed with a suspicious frown at the solid black lettering spelling an unmistakeable 'REDACTED' stamped across the front of the light tan manila envelope.

"Ana." Joining her companion near the truck cab, she held the folder out to her. "The lady had one of the stolen case files. 'She' is also a guy now." She paused, the furrow in her brow deepening as she recalled what John had recounted to her about the incident at the bar the previous night. "Spectre mentioned there was a shapeshifter at the incident last night. Could this be him?"

Finally looking up to Ana's face, hidden behind her hair, she noticed that her shoulders were rising and falling much faster than they should have been. "Hey." Reaching up, the lawyer patted the brunette's near shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry about this. You weren't at fault for this accident. We would've been out of this guy's way if not for the idiot shapeshifter running across our path. If anyone tries to fault you for this, we've got about two dozen witnesses saying you weren't responsible. And hey—" her smile turned fierce— "I'm a freaking lawyer."

The voice had been distant sounding as the ringing had grown more subtle. Ana could still hear her breaths loudly, and her heart. The outside world was distant and at the sound of her name she had sighed, slightly raising her gaze about to look for where she was being called from she stopped as a folder was placed before her by Valerie. Big, bold capitals that read ‘REDACTED’. Clenching her jaw, she flared her nostrils with a hard exhale before looking towards the woman. Pushing her hair back she looked away from Valerie. Raising a brow and looking back at Val with narrowed eyes, Ana turned to look over her shoulder. "Is he still there?" Her voice may have been too loud or too quiet she wasn’t sure as in her head she sounded just fine. Closing her eyes with a sigh she shook her head, as if it would help the ringing go away, she could hope.

Folding her arms across her chest she leaned in closer and turned her head slightly to listen to the woman’s words. "It makes sense for it to be him. What did he look like?" She met the dark irises opposite her. "Actually nevermind... he probably looks nothing like what he did at the bar." Catching the movement of the officers approaching the EMTs and them, Ana dropped her eyes again and shuffled backwards some more. Swallowing back, she clenched her jaw, a shaky breath escaping her. Nostrils flared for a moment as she quickly glanced up before looked back to the asphalt and dropping her arms. She felt the cool touch for a moment and looked towards the hand on her shoulder before glancing at Valerie. It was a hybrid of a scoff and a chuckle as her gaze lingered on the woman before dropping to the street again. "Doesn’t matter if I wasn’t at fault or did something wrong or right. They’ll find something to pick at or say." Another shaky breath.

Glancing up at the dented trailer and then remembering the locked door of the truck, she almost snarled at herself. Collateral damage. Meg’s door and roof. Collateral damage. Nothing right could be done with these laws. Everything led up to what you would have to pay for using your abilities. That was pretty much it, how it worked. If you were born with unnatural abilities you were born into a life where you had to literally pay money to use something that was a part of you. Whether to help or hurt others it didn’t matter. Money mattered. Anastasia agreed with Valerie, she didn’t think she had done anything wrong. Could she have avoided denting the side of that trailer, yes, at the cost of letting it cause more damage to Meghan’s car and maybe even to others that were around the area. Could she have not broken the truck door? Yes, but that driver would’ve been dangling sideways in the cab and possibly dealing with different types of injuries in comparison to just a cut on his forehead and whatever else may have happened in the crash.

A shake of her head followed by a heavy sigh came from Ana as she looked towards the officer who cleared his throat. She could ignore the authorities and go after that shapeshifter, but that would only cause more problems, despite how much more important it was to catch him than deal with this bullshit. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t. As badly as she wanted to.

"Ladies, I understand you were involved with this incident?" The officer spoke. Hands on his waist, right hand lingering just above his side arm. "Care to explain what happened?"

Ana clenched her jaw. She could understand his uncaring demeanor towards her, she was unscathed, but Valerie had clearly suffered some cuts and bruises in the accident. Not even a question if they were okay? Or if she was at least? "I was making a left turn when a lady decided to run across the street. I was forced to stop in the middle of the intersection and that’s when the truck hit us." She swallowed back, her words were spoken quietly.

The officer folded his arms across his chest and nodded slowly. "From what I gathered, you are a metahuman, correct? Is that how you two managed to get out of a wreck like that unscathed?" He raised a brow.

Ana’s response was a simple nod. 'Here come the legalities...' she told herself.

"Last I saw, he was still there, yeah," Valerie affirmed. "I didn't get a good look at his face—I was distracted by the document." As she spoke, she tucked the folder in question into her bag for safe keeping until they could read through it with John and the others.

Looking up as the police officers joined the rapidly expanding group, she listened quietly as Ana discussed the details of the crash with one of them. Before he could continue his train of thought about her being a meta, however, she stepped forward almost in between her clearly anxious friend and the accusatory officer, standing tall with her arms folded confidently.

"Yes it is, and if she weren't, there would be at least three more people in the hospital than there are." She smiled, a bit thinly. "Hi. I was her passenger. I'd most likely be dead if she hadn't intervened. There's no need to threaten her, officer," she added, noting his earlier reach for his weapon. "If my friend had evil intentions, she wouldn't have rescued the driver or even stopped from hitting the pedestrian in the first place. Speaking of whom—" she glanced to where the shifter was sitting— "I'm quite certain that the shapeshifter who we almost hit is of significantly more concern to you than a meta doing what she can to protect life as much as possible. I have reason to suspect that he is the same who murdered two people at the Manhattan jewelry store last night. My friend here is actually one of the metas who apprehended him."

Look out: Valerie Newmann has gone into lawyer mode.

Ana’s eyes came up as Valerie stepped in front of her and between herself and the officer. Clenching her jaw, Ana leaned to the side slightly as she watched listened and remained quiet.

"I’ve threatened no one, ma’m. I am sorry if it seemed that way. I’m simply trying to do my job, make sure everyone is okay and make sense of this whole situation. I’m not pointing any fingers or accusing anyone of anything. Assuming that the truck hit you, I cannot do anything to your friend." He motioned towards Ana. "Should the company that the trailer of this truck belongs to or the driver wish to pursue anything further for any potential damages caused, then I can do something. Right now as it stands, she’s done nothing wrong and has fully cooperated so far." The officer spoke calmly as he kept his eyes on Valerie. He continued to listen to her as he raised a brow towards her next comment. "How would you have information on an investigation that is still in progress?" he wondered and glanced towards Ana, who remained where she was and simply met the officer’s gaze. "Is what she’s saying about this shapeshifter true, miss?"

Swallowing back, Ana nodded and muttered a "Yes."

The officer didn’t seem pleased with this. "Please allow the paramedics to inspect you before leaving the scene. Do you intend to pursue any legal actions against the driver, m’am?" He asked as he stepped to the side to look at Ana fully.

"No, sir." She spoke in a rather military fashion.

"Your vehicle will be towed, from there it’ll be up to you and your insurance company to deal with the situation," he explained and looked at both of them before walking past them to investigate the potential murderer.

After the driver was in the ambulance, the two were approached by two paramedics. Ana attempted to wave them off and state that she was okay, but the man insisted that she allowed him to do his job. Sighing, she chose not to argue as she was checked. They had to go, how they would get to the MET she wasn’t sure, but this was just causing further delay.

Coming to the conclusion that Ana only suffered from a torn shirt, the brunette waited as they finished with Valerie. Placing her hands on her hips, she tucked some hair behind her ear as she sighed, eyes coming up to look at the other woman as Ana had begun pacing while she waited.

Valerie nodded thoughtfully at his analysis. "I understand. Thank you for your diligence," she responded politely, her smile warmer now that she understood his intentions. "A close friend of mine was present on the scene as well," she added in explanation to his query, deciding to leave Spectre anonymous for the moment.

With no further concern for her friend's safety, she stepped aside to passively listen again as the officer continued to speak to Ana. When the paramedics approached her, she submitted more willingly to examination due to having actually sustained injuries, even if only bruising and a couple of minor cuts which were quickly bandaged. Once released, she rejoined Ana, checking her watch nervously.

"We need to get going," she noted, keeping her voice low so only the other woman could overhear. "PW won't wait forever."

"I know we do. This whole situation was just bullshit." Ana turned around and looked at the mess of dented, bent and snapped metal that surrounded them, the collision so severe that she was grateful for the fact that she had whatever powers she did. "So you’re okay then? They said everything was fine," she asked and stated. "I eavesdropped. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have," she explained. "Can you walk for a bit?" She raised both brows in question, remembering that Valerie had been limping around throughout this whole thing. "I just need you to walk for a little. If not, I can carry you." Ana spoke casually as she looked from Valeria towards a row of small buildings. It was very close to the scene but it was their best option right now. Her face was stern, jaw clenched as she sighed heavily. There were two choices in her mind and one was the much faster one, also what she was leaning towards, as much as she didn’t want to.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about the limp, my legs are just bruised. The soreness has mostly faded though, I think. I don't mind that you eavesdropped, it's kinda hard not to," she added with a slight laugh. Following Ana's gaze to the secluded space, she had a feeling she knew what Ana was thinking of.

For the first time during this whole ordeal and since meeting Valerie, a small, genuine smile spread across Ana’s lips. "Well, still. I’m sorry. It’s rude," she explained and began leading them towards the set of buildings. Stepping through an alley that was next to a chinese restaurant, Anastasia pushed Val ahead of her as she looked around cautiously. "Okay. Here we go." Taking hold of Valerie’s arm, Ana placed it around her neck. With one arm behind the woman’s knees and the other wrapped around the middle of her back, Ana looked down at the woman and swallowed back as she clenched her jaw. "Make sure your bag is shut. We don’t wanna lose that file." She looked up. "Hold on tight." Her attention came back to the woman in her arms. "Oh, and by the way. Thank you." A wider, genuine, true and thankful smile came across her lips. Looking back up, Ana bent at the knees and pushed up through the air, the sound barrier shattering against the force as she flew up high enough to not be seen by pedestrians before looking towards the direction of the MET and launching them that way.

Valerie returned the smile, following Ana into the alley. She was caught a bit off guard by the other woman suddenly sweeping her off her feet but pressed herself against Ana's body as much as she could to help with her grip, hooking her fingers over Ana's shoulder. Patting the flap of her bag to ensure it was fastened, she responded to Ana's query with a single brisk nod, pulling the bag onto her lap and securing it there with her free hand.

As she made sure she had no loose pieces on her person that could fly off in the air, she lifted her head quickly to meet Ana's eyes at her final comment, narrow eyebrows slightly lifted in surprise before she responded with a soft smile and a quiet "You're welcome."

Then they were off. Valerie couldn't help how her smile widened into an excited grin as the wind of their ascent whipped across her skin, forcing her eyes mostly shut and testing the strength of her hold on her companion. She had flown a couple times with Spectre in the past, but the sensation never lost its luster. The thought reminded her of her friend and she craned her head to see if she could spot the park from their location, but her angle was wrong. She was sure he'd be alright, though, whatever happened there.

Ana had smirked in response to Valerie’s ‘you’re welcome’. She hadn’t been used to anybody standing up for her really, not since she had a squad in the army. Anything she had done upon coming back home had been on her own, she had to stand up for herself, deal with everything that came at her by herself. She had no friends, nobody to lean on, until she had met Meg, and when that happened she wasn’t in the field of heroics, and more often than not the brunette was standing up for them, not the other way around, that didn’t mean that Meghan hadn’t stood up for her when needed but that wasn’t often the case. It was nice to see that not everyone was an asshole just because she wasn’t human as most people liked to say.

"Looking for something or just taking in the view?" Ana asked casually. "You should see it at night." She said with a chuckle.

As they got closer to the MET, Ana began to descend, staying high enough to be out of view as she tried to spot a secluded enough spot to come down quickly and avoid curious civilians. Spotting a dead end alley, she swept in quickly, a thunderous sound following them, that aspect didn’t really help with the whole stealth approach but Ana would rather be a blur than someone who could be identified. Once they were low enough to be covered by the surrounding buildings, she slowed down and brought them into the alley with a soft landing. Exhaling through her nose, she looked at Val and cautiously put her down. It hadn’t seemed like her first time flying, but better safe than sorry. Keeping her arm around the woman’s back, she met her gaze. "Are you okay to walk? Or do you need a moment. I know that flying can be sudden and disorienting, although it didn’t seem like that was your first time. Which is a good thing." Ana chuckled before letting go of Val completely.

Once they were ready to go all they would need to do is get out of the alley, cross the street and walk to the corner and they were there. Let’s hope this meeting was worth all the crap they had just dealt with. Adjusting her ruffled and hiked up shirt, Anastasia cleared her throat before pointing towards the mouth of the alley. "After you," she spoke casually.

"Both," Valerie responded simply, having to raise her voice a bit to keep her words from being swept away in the wind. Her mouth split in a smile. "I believe it."

Adjusting her clothing and bag when Ana set her back on her feet, she affirmed, "Yeah, I'm alright." She glanced up to the other, smile fading for a more serious look as she turned her eyes to the alley and mind to their destination. "Let's see what PW wants," she muttered half to herself as she set off, stride confident and purposeful.

Ana’s response was a nod as she followed Valerie and let her lead them along to the MET. Hopefully there wouldn’t be anymore issues for them today. They had dealt with enough and Anastasia’s stress level was constantly rising at the thought of that file sitting in Val’s bag. "Hopefully this is something that we can get over with quickly," she stated simply, eyes and ears open and studying their surroundings. She stayed behind Valerie, looking around like a spooked woman, as if everyone was out to get them. Opening the door to the Metropolitan Museum, she held it for the woman and waited for her to get in. Clenching her jaw tightly, Ana continued to scan their surroundings.

"Agreed," Valerie murmured in a voice low enough that only Ana would be able to hear her as the two of them entered the museum. Noting her nervous expression and posture, she added in the same tone, "Act natural. We don't want to attract unnecessary attention. Just two ladies looking at art. PW probably already knows we're here and why, but the rest of the passersby don't need to." As she spoke, she nodded a brief greeting with a friendly smile to a stranger who randomly met her eyes.

Walking to the front desk, she retrieved a pamphlet with a map from a stand and opened it, scanning the legend until she located the Medusa exhibit.

"This way," she confidently told Ana, heading into the midst of the museum. She kept her stance and gait casual, frequently glancing from her map to their surroundings and occasionally drifting to one side or another to seem less directed.

"There are a lot of things that are preventing me from acting natural," she spoke simply and continued to follow. "I know that he knows we’re here, he asked me to come." Ana clenched her jaw. "I just hope it’s not a stupid set-up." She sighed. Anastasia did her best to keep herself seemingly calm, it was hard as she allowed her senses to open up, trying to focus on the park if she could, the sounds of the museum overloading her ears every time there were whispers or footsteps. Another deep exhale escaped her as she looked around, keeping only a few steps distance from Val. "This feels awfully specific," she muttered to herself. The relation between Medusa and Aegis was enough to worry her. Hopefully they wouldn’t be getting the same redacted file from him. Ana was trying to keep that on the down-low. For now she was okay, but later she’d have to put it all on the table for everyone involved. If these cases were going to be recreated to exact details of how they had happened, this one was going to be a hassle. Did that mean there was someone else who was capable of exactly what she was or did it mean she would somehow get sucked into recreating that life-altering event?

Valerie nodded in understanding and agreement to her muttered response. She was curious what about the scenario felt "awfully specific" to Ana but figured she'd have to ask or find out later.

Turning a corner, she started up a flight of stairs that would lead them into the exhibit.
 
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Logan Campbell

Logan Campbell was instead worried about the impact that had caused him to drop his file that he had been holding on to help Myst. Well, he was out of a job and that was not his only problem. The crash had startled him and well he had tripped over a car and slammed through a glass shop window and he had... had turned back into his human form. The form that he assumed would have been eight, but seemed closer to Michael's age. Yet another mystery to add to the pile of questions that he didn't have the answer too. He stared at his reflection as the cop approached him. " Son, I heard from the woman that you are a shapeshifter and dangerous."

Logan scoffed. " You mean the people who crashed a car and startled me when I was crossing the street. Do I look like a killer? I'm 16. How many killers do you know who walk into traffic and willingly get themselves hurt? A shapeshifter is probably the easy thing for the woman to say instead of admitting that she hit a kid."

The officer raised an eyebrow. " Son, I demand an air of respect. I don't know many sixteen year old killers, but there is a first time-," . Logan hated his lecture, so he had taken the moment while he did that to "trip" the officer. God, he was going to need a hospital or... a shift. He looked over at the officer who had landed in the trash can and then at the name. Officer Jones. Hmmm.... he took a look and making sure he wasn't being watched, he dragged him into the alleyway and took his clothes and focused on a shift of the cop and walked past them. Once he was out of the crime scene, he would head to the MET. Even if he had lost the file he had, he couldn't let the Phantom Writer give the heroes a second one, especially when Myst had put an extra effort to make her first recreation happen soon. Once he was out of view, he took a new form of a teenager male.


He hoped that he wouldn't run out of disguises before the heroes would start to recognize him, but only time would tell.
 
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April the 3rd- Chinatown/The Subway- Around 10:45 am

Felix Valaith and Michael Chambers

For a moment Felix stood stunned as the kid he talked to turned into an adult right before his eyes. Thankfully the clothes on his body adjusted to the rise in age. Sure, the man now looked...kinda nice (damn his hormones) but even he wasn't in the mood to be flashed at eleven in the morning. After a moment of standing there, shocked, he quickly got over it, as he had seen Icarus do some crazy things, like summon a Groot and travel through trees before. "Dude, it's alright. My name is Felix. I'm not going to rat you out as a meta. We can find you a place to calm down." The first part was said at a normal volume, but the second part was whispered to the now grown man. He looked around, relieved that they were in the camera's blind spot, as well as out of the shop owner's view. Even as somewhat self absorbed as he was, he quickly focused on the guy, ignoring his superficial problem of finding a bag for himself. He would pay for the one that this guy had chosen for him. Sure, it was cheaper, and once upon a time he had the best items bought for him, but now that he lived with Icarus, brand names were rarely bought unless they were on sale.

Michael had wondered if he had stunned the boy to silence or if he would have a chance to explain what had happened to him. He was thankful that his clothes had adjusted with him, the last thing he wanted to do was flash the poor boy who had witnessed it. He needed to take a deep breath though, as he was panicking a bit on the inside and he didn’t want that to show. He bit down on his lower lip. “I didn’t even know I could-” his nerves was making the floor freeze beneath him. Oh god, that was going to be more difficult to explain then the aging. At least with the aging, he could have used that he had walked with an older brother and the younger one had left without the shop owner noticing. “I think that might be a good idea because the floor might be slightly damaged if I keep getting this nervous, I don’t mean to do these things, but coming from my family, they don’t exactly like metas and me being one is probably not something they are going to like. I’m sorry, I’m oversharing. I do that when I get nervous, things often don’t go my way and it makes me so damn nervous. That bag is really nice,” he said, trying to distract himself by checking out the shirts and pretending that he was interested in any of the items which he was not.

Icarus looked down at the ground at this man's admission, awed to see ice forming on the floor. Damn, the meta was cool. Why did Icarus and this guy have to get the cool powers while he got stuck with nothing? Dammit, focus. He had to calm this man down somehow. "If you want to, you tell me your name. We can walk around the city after I buy the bag, and maybe I'll get you something to eat if I can afford it, of course only if you want to." A small part of him questioned why he was actually trying to help a man who had powers that weren't exactly controlled well, and who wasn't Icarus, but the kinder part of himself squashed that other part down with malicious force. "First..." He gently pulled the man up to the counter, placing the bag on the counter and pulling out the fifty Icarus had given him. Somehow the bag was only fifteen dollars, which was in his opinion practically a steal. That was when a text made his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled out his phone and skimmed through the message, confused. Well, all he knew was that they were definitely going to Central Park-as soon as he sent a text to Icarus. He had to get to the bottom of this text message, maybe get the file for himself, and calm down this man. "Change of plans-I can get us to Central Park. You want to come? The subways are pretty quiet now and I know the park is calming at this time of year." With that, he sent a quick text to his big brother before focusing again on this guy, who was still nervous.

Michael bit down on his lower lip and noticed that he was amazed and his very first reaction was a moment of shock. He wasn’t sure how he wasn’t freaking out about it when it was freaking him out. He did notice that this ice was better formed then the other one. “I’m Michael Chambers, but I don’t mind being called Mike. I have money on me too… Dean gave me some before I left…” He went to grab his wallet and phone out of his pocket. He quickly noticed that like him, the objects were considerably older. The phone was new, but there was a crack where there hadn’t been one before, but it was the same phone and same model. He looked over at the wallet and it looked older and more worn. The bills were more worn as was everything else. He checked the slots and the cards were worn and his ID was much different. The number, the date, the birthday, it was all different. He had to remain calm though. It wasn’t permanent, it couldn’t be. He looked to get a new bag of his own and he noticed that something happened the moment he touched it, it aged and weathered. He bought the bag for five dollars, despite it being twenty since the shop owner seemed to pity the poor quality it had become or was. He looked over at him and purchased a pair of gloves too, getting them for five. He slid them on his hands and he touched the door on the way out, it didn’t change. “Central Park seems like a good place to be… I wouldn’t mind coming,” he said, trying to remain calm though it wasn’t going so well after all.

With a fascinated horror, Felix watched at Mike's things all aged right before his eyes. "Well, that's an interesting way your power works." Felix observed, not really going to touch Michael after that particularly startling revelation. The teen now was an adult, and evidently could age items too. Huh, the power even changed his ID. Well, he was always someone who liked to notice things. "I'm not sure how long this power's going to work, or if it was just a one-time thing. Right now, let me take you to the nearest subway entrance." Felix lead Mike outside, thinking that he wasn't going to tell Icarus this. Similarly to how he never really told Icarus at how his mom called him sometimes, trying to get him back. It would only upset Icarus, which was something he didn't like. Icarus did try for him, which was more than his mother ever had. The pair got onto the train, thankful that there weren't that many people on the train at 11am. "So, what kind of music do you like?" Felix asked, putting on his headphones specifically so no one else but Mike would talk to him. It always freaked him out when people tried to approach him on the train, and he didn't want to get arrested for kicking a person away out of startled fear. It was nice to sit on the train and be with someone else for once that he could talk to, outside of Icarus. IT just gave so many possibilities. "If anything, try to call your brother when we get there. Your voice hasn't changed that much, and although you've aged, your DNA would still be the same, so you can prove that you're Micheal Chambers. Oh, my last name's Valaith." Maybe his mom and eldest brother knew the Chambers. Nah, he didn't want any help from his parent unless Icarus or himself was in real trouble.

Mike wasn’t sure if he had seen what had happened and he looked over at him. “I am going to be honest with you, I have no clue how my power works, hell, I didn’t even know I could do that until right now, I hope that it is just items though,” he said, looking over at him, but knowing better than to touch him. He didn’t want to accidentally age his new friend up, especially because he didn’t know if reverting himself back to normal would be able to turn things back to normal. He looked at the gloves and hurried to the subway station with him, careful to not touch anything outside of the metrocard he owned on him. He wondered if he could use his powers in reverse and make himself half of his teen years, but he didn’t want to experiment with it. He didn’t want to even touch the things with his gloves in fear that they would glitch. Michael was thankful that the train was emptyish. He didn’t want to accidently turn a toddler into a grown man or woman, even if it was by accident. “I like calming music, the classics from the old composers or Broadway stuff can be nice at times, but old broadway, I’m not a big fan of the pop era that they are going towards either." He kept his eyes on the other passengers, but nobody batted an eye. To be fair, in NY, it wasn’t weird for someone like a brother’s friend to hang out with his kid brother while the other went on a date or something else of the like. “I could, my voice isn’t that much deeper, but I have a feeling that it mostly because it hasn’t fully set in yet. I’m not exactly thinking like an adult right now either. Yeah, I can prove who I say I am, even if the obvious things are not the same. You know, this Central Park meet-up is weird… also, was an older guy watching you earlier?” He asked.

Felix sighed, not really sure what to do in this scenario. A freeze guy just gained new powers in front of him. It wasn't like he was Icarus, with his handle on things, no matter what he had to do to have a handle on things, he was himself- a teen with self-defense skills, knowledge in First Aid, and parkour skills. "I got nothing to say to that. Finding another hero with powers might work out the best for you now. After we go to Central Park to follow up the test and possibly experiment on some trees." Listening to Mike's response, he contemplated the answers to that, hoping that his worry over what was to come and what was occurring wasn't really showing, even if it was deep seated. "Um...I don't know what you're talking about." Felix said finally at the mention of someone following him. "Where did you see an older guy who was watching me, and what does he look like?" It would be obvious if it was Icarus watching him, as they looked like siblings. Well, there was two options in this situation-the whole thing was orchestrated by Icarus, or he was being creeped on. No matter how much the fact that Icarus insisted on controlling his life annoyed him, it was infinitely better than being followed by an older man. "Though with your power-I think it only really changes the physical parts about you. You aged the years so quickly your consciousness had no time to catch up. Like in that one Tom Hanks movie. Besides that, we have nothing better to do then go to Central Park." Felix had lowered his voice so that really only the two of them could hear. "We're not totally unprotected if we go there." The tree guardian was in the park, and if he got close enough, the construct would most certainly help him because he had the password.


Michael noticed Felix sigh and wonder if this was too much to expect that someone wouldn’t freak out or know the right things to say. After all, this was a kid just like he was. It wasn’t like he had the answer to everything in the world and that was honestly the truth of the matter. “Maybe it would be a good idea to find another hero and to make things better. I would rather see this on trees on people. Last thing I want to do is freak out a mother by turning her baby into a teen or something,” he admitted. Mike raised an eyebrow and looked over at him for a brief moment before he did his better to describe the man. “Well, he’s like 6’3, wearing a mask, I honestly can’t tell since he was hiding himself in the shadows and trying to be ignored. I can only know the exact height because it is something that I’m really good at, measuring the height of people without thinking about it. Kind of picked it up when I was a kid and was in school and wanted to know my classmates and didn’t want to ask,” he replied, being honest about it. “It only really takes me one look, I could probably tell you my height if we pass my reflection,” he paused, realizing that he could do that now. “I would say about 6’3 which makes sense to me. I don’t think think that it only changes the physical parts about myself because I do remember when I was fused that my mind was older. I just think it is taking my mind slower to age since it is about anywhere from 10 to 16 years that he has to figure out and process which makes sense,” he added, looking over at him and bite down on his lower lip for a brief second before he thought about it again. “You know, I wonder what else could go wrong while I’m here, but I know that is just asking for trouble,” he admitted to the younger boy.


Felix looked unsure at the mentioning of this random follower. "Is...what does the mask look like? If it looks like a scary clown, we're ok. If not, then we kind of have to run because I'm probably in trouble. Not to worry you or anything." He let out a short chuckle that was clearly full of nerves. "I don't know what height the person I heard of could be, but it would be be something Icarus knows. He likes tall men. Not to mention his preferences, but still. I'm not sure how you managed to see that, but ok. It's cool that you can figure people's height out just by sight. I'm not really in the mood to get attacked. Or die. Anything like that. I can only defend myself up to a point before I get hurt or kidnapped. Hopefully not to use against Icarus. I'm good at running away at least. You're an adult now. You'll be better at running away. Oh, maybe age up the villain if he or she attacks us! Or freeze them." Felix suggested, looking a little better, considering that he was with a hero, no matter how little control they had over said power. "Though, if anything were to happen, I would hope you would try to save yourself if I get taken. I wouldn't want you to get hurt over me." To anyone looking, it was weird that a teenager was telling an adult male that it was ok to run away, but Mike was still a kid to him, no matter what the other said. Mike was nervous and dealing with his powers, and he had to be the rational one here, before things got out out hand.

“Yeah, I would say scary clown seems to be the look,” he replied, relieved that he knew who that was and not to be worried about. He did wonder what he would do if he had to defend them or be helpful. He was terrified of his new power and that was the honest truth of the matter. He was afraid he would hurt someone. Michael felt like he was getting too much information and paused, feeling a trigger of memory. A hospital bed… or was it a gurney? Electric shocks. He managed to drag himself out of the memory, but he had no clue what any of that meant. Why was he remembering that and not before? Was that something he had experienced in this form or was it part of the year he was missing from his life. He didn’t honestly know. "I don’t think anyone wants to die. I know I don’t and I don’t think my sister did either, though…. I don’t know how I feel about that. Someone who was literally a part of me killed her and we don’t know what happened. It also doesn’t help that so much happened since then. I’m not sure how I would do that. I wouldn’t be able to reverse or fix them and that might be a problem. I don’t know what I would do in all honesty, I am uncertain how I would…” he paused, trying to think of what to say next. "React to that sort of situation. It would be good if I had more control over my powers, it seems they only seem to activate when I’m freaked out. Between the bar incident with the ghost man and you, it seems high emotional states trigger them….. And I don’t know what untriggers them.”

"That's a relief." Felix said, the tightness in his shoulders soon disappearing, letting him finally relax a little. "At this point, you need practice. There's no way around it. We'll try the best we can to make sure that you don't hurt anyone. I'm sorry all of this happened, and I'm sorry that a man that was...a part of you, whatever that means, hurt your sister. Though I don't know about that, I know that I'm going to try and protect you as best as I can. That's all I can do. Even if this goes south, I'll try and help you, even though this isn't my fault. Probably. As far as I know, my presence didn't do anything to you. I'm sorry all of this happened, and maybe, we can find some answers for you. Icarus can maybe help, and I know he's doing a bodyguarding gig at the moment." He took off his headphones, looking at Michael intently, forcing him to look into his eyes. "It'll get better soon. That's all I can tell you. Maybe not now, but we can find you someone willing to help." Hopefully, he was persuasive enough to help Mike before the kid-turned man freaked out and did something. Man, he hated being the rational one. "The stop's coming up soon, so we'll see what the fuss is all about. Once that's done, we'll contact your brother. You can mention my name if you'd like. I don't know if he would know my family, but he might know Icarus." He had to push back the urge to pat Mike on the back, just in case the power worked on him and aged him upward. Fortunately, he looked enough like Icarus so that it wouldn't be that much of a problem if he was aged up five or ten years. Though in about two stops, they would be at one of the Central Park entrances, and then they could get crackalacking.

Michael looked over at him and was happy that his tension resolved and he was okay. He knew that he needed practice, but he was also terrified that his powers would fuck up and he would screw up. “Yeah, it’s complicated, but I was…. I don’t know how to explain this, but I have gaps of my younger years missing, specifically, the times where I was eight to nine years old. I don’t get answers when I talk to my dad about it or even my brother will talk about. I just know that after I came back, I would have these times where I wouldn’t have remember what happened to me. I think that was when I was them. Yeah, I don’t think this is your fault, I think this is my power just screwing with me,” he replied with a sigh, happy that nobody was on this train. It would have made this conversation more awkward. He looked into his eyes and took a deep breath as he was happy that Felix was there to calm him down. “I know that I have to believe that, but it will be difficult for me and it is great that I will find someone to help me,” he said, running a gloved hand through his hair as he looked over at him with a smile, happy that he was not freaking out. He wasn’t getting any younger, but of course, things could get a lot worse. “Well, it is a good thing that you were keeping track of the stops because I wasn’t. He might know Icarus, I don’t know who my brother knows my name, but I’m sure he must have at least heard of your brother,” he said, grateful that he hadn’t touched him. When the train stopped finally came through, Michael couldn’t be happier to get off the train at the stop when they did. Of course, fate was a cruel mistresses and three things happened before that were bad as he went to get off. He tripped over his open shoelace and his glove slid off his hand. Acting instinctly, he grabbed Felix’s shoulder with his ungloved hand and held it for a second…. Fuck, fuck, was the kid okay?

Felix had to think through his reply, feeling somewhat out of his depth, because he knew crap about his powers, except for what Icarus had shown, and those were vastly different from each other. "To be honest, it's probably a lack of control. Your powers aren't exactly sentient. I'm sure in time you'll be an awesome meta. Like Iceman in The X-Men. Though for the memory gaps-that's something you'll have to investigate. Maybe when he's not home, you go into his office and look, because that sounds incredibly suspicious. Though...get some second opinions first before doing anything." This was all nuts-and he was especially nuts for not hightailing it out of here at the moment he heard that Mike could be missing memories, and in theory had done something terrible in those moments where he blacked out. "Honestly, I would think that you should look for a meta with the closet power set that you have. Now I know that all metas are different, etc, etc, but seriously, it might help. Otherwise...other than the park, I got nothing." He gave Mike a helpless shrug, not sure of what else to do.


There was a split second in which Felix had two things he could have done. Option A, was to let Micheal grab his arm to steady himself while option B was to move out of the way and like the man fall flat on his face. Now, Felix wasn't an asshole, so he stood there, and felt the man grab his shoulder and steady himself. A shock of cold went through Felix, as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on his shoulder before Micheal jerked his hand away from his shoulder. When he looked down and to the right, all he could see was that his shoulder had been coated with a sheet of ice. Reacting with the first thing that came to his mind, he started to breathe on his frozen shoulder, thankful that his neck muscles could still be moved. He tried to move his right arm, and found that he could, for now, only move it up to the elbow. For a moment, a flash of panic went through him, until he realized that he hadn't lost his arm-it was still there after all. It was just under a layer of ice. Felix had to do something about it, so he wasn't without an arm for a long while. It was actually quite warm outside, a nice Goldilocks kind of temperature, but that would not help his arm melt as quickly as say, 100 degree temperature would. Right now, he had to do crowd control, and from the look on Mike's face, he could see that the man was going to need some serious reassuring before he actually got frozen . "I'm fine Mike. I promise. It'll just take a few hours to melt. Don't worry." Thankfully, he still had the same clothes on, and the same face-Mike hadn't aged him up, another godsend.

Michael looked over at him before he had fallen over and was silent for a moment before he took a deep breath and wondered if the younger teen was right. Would things be better if he had control over his powers and he didn’t accidentally do the things he did. Maybe if he had control, he wouldn’t have the outbursts where he accidentally aged himself up or freeze the floor, but it would require him not being terrified of his powers though. He did remember from his knowledge that he had of the X-men movie that adult Iceman had a really nice beard, so he was about halfway there. He hadn’t considered the fact that he could go exploring in his house to see if they knew. What if his dad had made him this way by trying to fix his powers when he was younger? But that wouldn’t make sense since Dean didn’t know he had powers before he had frozen stuff by accident…. Unless their dad made him believe he saw was fake. It might be a good idea to find a mentor who could control the elements or had ice powers and then he could master them. Though, he would also need to find someone with aging powers too. Of course, he thought this all before he had grabbed Felix’s shoulder in a panic.



In the split second before he had frozen before he froze his arm, his thoughts wondered what an older Felix would look like, but he pushed that thought aside quickly when he noticed that the clothes hadn’t been aged to dust and he had noticed that he felt a burst of even colder air in the area. He guessed that meant he knew what triggered his ice powers which was a great thing to know if it hadn’t come at the cost of making Felix’s shoulder cold and frozen. He also came to a second and slow realization that sent a shiver down his spine. If the bodyguard had saw that, he was fucked.


Actually, now that he thought about, what had the bodyguard who had been watching Felix seen? Had he seen him become an adult and age the bags and other items? Did he knew who he was? Was it dangerous if he knew who he was. He hadn’t considered any of these facts before this moment and he also realized something else rather quickly. He had no way to unfreeze Felix’s arm. It was spring, but it would still take hours of the shoulders being frozen and that was not a good thing either. It would be very bad actually if he couldn’t figure out a solution soon. He knew the teen wasn’t freaking out, but he was breathing hard, waiting to be punched and be on guard. He knew that he couldn’t just run away with all the damage that he had just caused and he took a moment to reply before he turned to him and replied. “ I’m really worried about your bodyguard’s reaction…. I don’t think he will be too happy that I know froze your shoulder by accident,” he replied, slightly terrified of what would come next.


All Felix could do now was groan-shit, Michael was right. The psychopathic shitty clown (not his words) was going to go after him, and now it was his job to protect the man. This was shaping up to be a weird and slightly terrible day to be sure. "I'll stand in front of you if anything happens. He'll get the picture sooner or later. He won't hurt me, considering that Icarus will murder the shit out of him. I can be a nuisance and a distraction if I have to be." Really, it wasn't that terrible of a strategy, just one fraught with peril for Mike, especially because the evidence of his power usage was slowly making Felix's arm numb.
________

Icarus Valaith- Central Park- 10:55 am

A limousine haphazardly pulled up to one of the multiple entrances in Central Park, pulling up in front of the only free spot in the area-specifically by a pump. Icarus shot out of the car as soon as it had stopped, all dressed up in his uniform. It had been awkward, changing in the back of the limo for five minutes while Victoria was forced to sit in the front with the driver, because no matter how well he knew Victoria, he was not about to undress in front of her. It didn't help that she was now his boss, which made the situation even worse. No matter, they were here, and right now, he had to focus the eye on the prize- Felix.

He strode up to the passenger's side so that Victoria could hear him clearly"Don't worry Victoria, I have something that can and most certainly will protect you. I wouldn't leave you here like this otherwise." Icarus said confidently. He turned towards the entrance of the large park, breathed in carefully, and let out a sharp whistle full of nature-based power. For a minute, nothing happened, but soon a large figure could be seen coming out of the park, carefully stepping on the ground as to not rip open the grass and ground. The large tree-like creature jogged over to Icarus and Victoria, stopping still before them for a calm moment, up until the plant creature reached down and hugged Icarus tightly, swinging him off of the ground. "DAD!" The creature cried out happily, tightening his grip on Icarus for a few moments before setting him down carefully. "Yes Stumpy, It's good to see you again. Now, I need you to protect her. If something happens and you can't handle it, bring her into the park and find me. Understand?" Icarus replied, pointing at Victoria before pointing to the park. IT was hard not to indulge his favorite tree guardian, but he didn't have the time to do so. "Yes Dad!" Stumpy said in a gravelly voice filled with cheer.

The creature, which somehow looked like a cross between an Ent and Groot looked especially happy, although he was technically enslaved and under Icarus's power. Icarus did treat the spirit like a son though, which probably explained his joyful demeanor. Like a child imitating it's father, Stumpy crossed his arms over it's "chest" and stood there, scanning all around the limousine for danger. Once Icarus gave him a mission, the tree would stick to it so long as Icarus was alive, or otherwise ttold him to stop with the mission and hide back in the largest park in NY.

Now that Victoria was pretty safe, Icarus could safely leave. "If you get in trouble, or if he gets set on fire, run into the park. If he's not set on fire but you get in trouble, let him carry you into the park. He's fast. Also no, I'm not sure how I know it's male. Either way, I'll see you later. Text me if you need me." With that, Icarus turned on one heel, and ran straight into the park. He looked out into the horizon for a moment, before focusing on a pretty oak tree near the entrance that happened to be surrounded by grass. With reckless abandon, Icarus dashed towards the tree, looking like he was about to plow into said tree when he seemed to step into the tree and disappear from view, leaving Victoria there with Stumpy the Tree Guardian.



Interactions: @LuckycoolHawk9 @Gands
Mentions: @Astroblaze
 
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  • Nice Execution!
Reactions: Astroblaze
Victoria Murphy

Victoria sat in the limo thinking. With so many meta's involved, this could get dangerous very quickly. She had no illusions about her safety in the limo even with the "Ent" guarding her.

So she unleashed a flurry of texts. First to her office, cced to Valerie, her friend and associate.This directed her office to move any file associated with the cases mentioned into the primary safe. Hire extra security for all employees and the office. Blind Cced to Vanessa.

Next she activated a couple of stealthy surveillance drones to follow Icarus and check the meeting.

Then a text to Vanessa giving her a lowdown of what was going on at the park and a copy of the add.

@vantas @LuckycoolHawk9 @Astroblaze
 
Vanessa O'Toole aka Emerald Dream

She took Aimee down into the garage. At the bottom level, there were maybe a half dozen cars of various types. She directed Aimee to a dark green Bentley Continental. The auto dripped luxury inside and out. If Aimee gets in, Vanessa starts it up and heads towards the MET.

" Had this custom designed with a carbon fiber shell and a top line fuel system. "

The ride is otherwise mostly quiet as they head through town in the luxurious ride, until Vanessa gets a message from Victoria, which she reads and immediately deletes.

"My half sister is heading to some sort of meeting in Central Park, with a meta she knows. Some sort of add by a corporation. Damn ! "

Arriving at the museum, Emerald was in an especially poor mood.

" Fire, I am not particularly strong with my people skills. I …. I may need your help with that. "

@Michale CS @LuckycoolHawk9
 
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Reed
Felix
Michael
Reed Overton/Agent Fury | Felix Valaith | Michael Chambers
April 3, 2018 | noon | NYC—following Felix

collab with @slifer and @LuckycoolHawk9
Icarus (@slifer), Dean (@LuckycoolHawk9)

Agent Fury had tailed Felix and his apparent new friend onto the subway, moving with surprising stealth for his size and manner of dress, and stood silently at the other end of the train car, arms folded and eyes trained on the two as they conversed, seemingly unaware of his presence only a few yards away. A few minutes into the ride, he recognized the prickling sensation of eyes on him and looked down to one side to find a nearby civilian passenger, one of the few who hadn't been able to hastily switch cars upon sight of him, nervously watching him out of the corner of his eye. Clearly, he thought he was being stealthy as he froze in surprise and apprehension at the mercenary's returned gaze. Fury held his eyes in an ominous silence for a discomforting moment before suddenly baring his false fangs at the man in an ugly grin. The civilian visibly started and quickly turned his eyes to the floor, posture warily stiff and arms tightly folded. The criminal snickered to himself as he returned his attention to his charge, smile slowly fading in favor of the deadly serious look he had worn before.

The train rolled to a halt at the station at Central Park and Agent Fury glanced to the nearest door, waiting for it to open so he could disembark. Returning his attention to the two he was monitoring at a sudden commotion, he found the older man had seized Felix's shoulder, leaning heavily into the teen. Even from his location he could glimpse the telltale sheen of ice on the teen's shoulder. Did he just- 'Oh no you don't, you son of a bitch.' Gritting his teeth in the fury that earned him his alias, he stormed across the car toward the two, large, calloused hands curling into fists as he honed in on the man with full intent to make him regret his actions.

Almost as if in a movie, Felix turned around to try and orient himself, seeing the psycho clown rush towards them, appearing as if by magic. Oh shit, it was true. His suspicions were undoubtedly correct. If they got out of this, Icarus was most certainly going to hear about this. With that, he awkwardly maneuvered himself in front of Mike, planting himself directly in Agent Fury's path. All he knew was that Agent Fury wouldn't hurt him, especially in this state where he wasn't on his A game or even on his B-F game. Even though defending himself would be difficult, he slid into a defensive stance, turning his icy shoulder away from the man (that was debatable in his opinion) to protect it in case the man decided that money or Icarus wasn't worth beating the shit out of him to get to Mike. "Stop! Don't hurt him! It was an accident!" Felix hollered to the man, stepping back until he was almost an inch away from actually making contact with Mike. On the outside he looked angry and defensive, but on the inside he was worried, splashed with terror.

Mike stared, not entirely certain why Felix had decided now was a good time to stand up to the psycho clown, but he was grateful and also nervous as fuck. Nerves were what... he fell back, losing his balance from his revert back to his teenage years. Of course, now was the worst time to figure out how to undo his powers. He was scared and now also freezing the train floor in front of him. "Well, fuck. Thanks a lot, powers."

Fury pulled up short, taking a slight, surprised step backward at Felix's shout. He had been expecting the boy to get out of the way when he saw him coming, not place his comparatively tiny and frail, not to mention partially frozen, body in between his bodyguard and his attacker. His eyes narrowed in a glare equal parts confused and irritated at the teen, paying no heed to whatever was going on with the other man.

"The hell you doing?" He jerked his head to one side. "Step aside."

"No, it's not his fault. I won't let you hurt him!" The fire in his eyes would be a surprise to anyone except for Icarus as the boy did have some fire in him. Besides, he was somewhat confident that the man wouldn't hurt him. With that, he looked at Fury dead in the eyes, probably a stupid decision on his part, but more of a 'I'm standing my ground' kind of move. He wasn't provoking the man, just sending the simple message of 'no.' Maybe mentioning Icarus might help a little bit. "Icarus won't mind, because he didn't attack me." Felix emphasized once again, hoping the psycho got it through his thick skull. He had no idea what Icarus saw in this man who couldn't even put on makeup correctly.

Mike would normally be more worried about the fact that they were at the stop and going to miss it if it wasn't for the psycho clown. Over the train, an automated voice announced, "Please stand clear of the closing doors." Closing doors was a bad thing for a two-fold reason. One, they would miss their stop. Two, less witnesses in it. "It was an accident, I swear." He moved and froze the area close to the door so it wouldn't close.

For fuck's sake, this kid was being a bit of a pain. Fury supposed he got the fiery spirit from his brother. Normally, he'd find it admirable, but at the moment it was just preventing him from doing his job properly.

He raised his eyebrows at the boy, taking something of a sarcastic stance. "Ohoho, is that right? So I guess I'm not needed, huh?" Barely had he finished his sentence when his brow dropped again. "No, it doesn't work that way. Outta my way, kid: I've got a job to uphold."

He couldn't care less that it was an accident: this man injured his charge and Agent Fury was not known to be merciful. Taking note of the announcement of closing doors, he made sure the man in question wasn't going to bolt, ignoring his own pleas. They could make their way back to the park from the next stop: this needed to be dealt with here before he could get away.

Felix looked back for a moment to see that Michael had reverted back into a teen—which didn't help them in any way shape or form, of course—who also froze the goddamned subway. It was no wonder people hated metas so much. "I'm fine. My arm's just numb. Once it melts, I'll be okay." As he predicted, the heat from the subway car was already making the ice on his arm look shiny as beads of water dripped slowly down his shoulder, making his pants and boots wet. "I'm not hurt, at all. I'll be fine. It's already melting."

Fury gritted his teeth, enunciating his words very deliberately. "I don't give a shit. The bottom line is: he used his powers on you, my sole responsibility as of right now is making sure that doesn't happen, it did happen, so there will be hell to pay." He curled his lip in a snarl that allowed a hint of his fangs. "Don't make me move you myself."

With more fire than he was really feeling, Felix shot back almost carelessly, aiming to make Fury leave. "There won't be any hell to pay, because I AM FINE. If you have to move me, then things will get ugly. No matter how much Icarus likes you, he won't stand for that while you were 'bodyguarding' me. If I needed your help, I would not stop you from beating the shit out of whoever hurt me. Mike is my friend, and I can't let you hurt him." That was pretty much a lie since he had no idea if Mike thought of him as a friend, a nuisance, or a means to an end. He kept his promises though, and he would protect Mike to the best of his ability. "Save your strength for the real enemies that might attack me."

Oh shit, Icarus. To the mercenary's credit, there was only a momentary flash of apprehension in his eyes at the man's name before he regained his composure, but he worried that Felix would miscommunicate what happened here and then he was basically screwed for any kind of anything with him. Not like he cared about having a relationship with Icarus. Of course not.

"The only thing your brother won't stand for is me hurting you. He never said a thing about touching you, especially if that involved getting you out of harm's way." His snarl returned in full force. "I don't have to save my strength. You have no fucking idea what I'm capable of, boy. What exactly do you think you could do to stop me? If you attack me, the only one you're going to hurt is yourself. And as for not being able to let me hurt him, unfortunately for that, and him, I don't answer to you. I answer to your brother, and no one else." His last two words hissed through gritted teeth. "Step. Aside."

A part of him wanted to leave, but that was the cowardly part of himself. He had to stay strong and out-stubborn him. "I'm pretty sure that Icarus said to not let anyone hurt me, not to not let someone mildly annoy me. At this point, that's all he did. If I need you, I will literally scream out for you to help me. I'm sure Icarus wants you to annihilate anyone who hurts me, but if I'm literally defending him, then he's not going to like that, because he's a good person. Your story will differ from mine, and no matter how much he likes you, he'll believe me over you at any time." The romance prod should work because he could see that the thought of Icarus affected him. "I promise that whatever attacks us, I won't say anything and you can destroy them with all of the malice in your body."

This goddamn kid... Fury had half a mind to pick him up and bodily move him out of the way, but there was no way he wouldn't misconstrue that as much as he possibly could and utterly ruin Icarus' opinion of him. Releasing an almost animalistic growl, he abruptly spun away and began pacing the train car from one side to the other, his teeth visibly gritted and one hand pressed into his forehead.

"Are you shitting me right now. My goddamn charge won't let me do my fucking job. This is fucking stupid. Fine," he practically snarled at the kid. "Have it your way, then, but keep in mind that if he so much as gives you a chill, I will be making good on my contract no matter what you have to say about it. Got that, little mister cryokinetic?" he added ferociously to the man in question.

Felix's shoulders dropped in relief as he heard the man's response. "That I can deal with. Though with the way you're acting... I'm not sure why Icky even likes you-" He shut up abruptly, at both the nickname and at his perception of how Icarus treated Agent Fury. Icarus didn't have time for anyone's shit, and it was telling how much he let Agent Fury get away with things. Though at least now they could get on with things. If this happened again, he would let Fury hurt Mike next time because then it smelled of sabotage rather than an accident. It amazed him how Fury could get away with acting like an animal all the time, especially because he did it so well. The man was off-putting but he could be... reasoned with.

In the distance, Icarus suddenly sneezed, almost missing the tree he was going for.

Fury curled his lip at the first part of Felix's remark, turning back toward the wall of the train car, but his eyes opened wide at the second, stopping him in his tracks. Brow furrowed, he cast a quick glance toward the teen, searching his face to try and figure out what he meant. Did he mean that the way it sounded? It was all he could do not to grab the kid by the shoulders and demand clarity. That sort of behavior would hardly befit the Agent Fury persona. And yet... Icarus liked him. Even if that just meant in a strictly business-oriented way that he appreciated what he was willing and able to do, it was a start.

Goddamnit, so much for not caring. He shook his head at himself, gritting his teeth again. And of course, there was no way that Felix didn't notice that momentary lapse of his standard aggressive aura. He had to stop letting himself do that in public...

Mike hadn’t been paying attention to what had had been happening between Felix and his protector. He had been too focused on not missing their stop. He had frozen the door, but it wasn’t too long before the ice had started to melt and the door was closing. He had put his hand and moved to hold it open. One or two times, the doors tried to close before it was stopped. He looked over at the Psycho Clown. “That’s great that you agree to pummel me to pulp, real lovely. Can we get off the train before I get myself more hurt?” He asked. It wasn’t like holding open train doors with your body was painless.

Glancing up at the other meta's remark, Fury finally acknowledged how the man—well, teen now—was struggling to keep the doors open. Well then, it looked like they wouldn't have to miss their stop after all. With barely a glance to him, he met Felix's eyes, motioning toward the door. "After you."

Ohhohoho, Fury liked Icarus back. That was some juicy information he was keeping to himself for sure. Since he wasn't suicidal, he chose to not really say anything about Icarus or romance. Stepping outside with Mike and Fury was a relief in comparison to staying in the cramped car along with the collateral that was there. "We're going to the park, as I think you can tell. We were sent a weird text saying that a file from the five worst meta cases were there. I was going to peek in on that and help Mike here freeze trees," Felix informed Agent Fury in a normal tone of voice, not aware at all that he had probably recieved the same text as well.

Mike took a deep breath once he saw that Felix was out of the train and knew that he wouldn't be holding it for much longer. Hopefully, Psycho Clown would follow suit and things would get a whole lot better. Of course, they also could get a whole lot worse, too. He also realized he hadn't texted Dean and shot his brother a quick text to tell him that he was going to Central Park for some "fresh air and flower picking." He didn't want his older brother to worry about what he was actually doing there, so a little lie here and there would have to do. "That sounds about right to everything we will be doing at the park, quite honestly," he replied, hoping Psycho Clown believed the truth.

Stepping out of the train car with Felix, Fury frowned thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes. "So that's what that was about," he muttered, mostly to himself. "I wondered if you got that text. The way I got it stunk of somebody's bullshit, but don't worry." His mouth curled into a grin. "You know how to find me." He glanced over to the other teen, "Mike," gritting his teeth as the meta provided his own input again. "Parroting everything he says isn't going to help you," he growled. "Just don't fuck up again."

Felix started walking away with Mike in tow. After a few minutes, he looked back to see where Agent Fury was and blinked, not seeing the man behind them anymore. Oh well, he must be in the shadows somewhere, watching. It was good riddance on his part, though he hoped that Agent Fury didn't take his words the wrong way. The prospect of a relationship between the two was terrible, but he wouldn't do anything to stop it, either.
 
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JohnR
Samuel
Felicity
Reed
John Reidenbach/Spectre | Samuel Alerio | Felicity Alerio | Reed Overton/Agent Fury
April 3, 2018 | noon | NYC—Central Park

Draku (@Draku69)
Ana (@Huntress), Valerie (mine), Vanessa/Emerald Dream (@Gands), Amiee/Firefly (@Michale CS), Martin (mine), Fey (mine), Felix (@slifer), Icarus/Plant Overlord/Shielder (@slifer)

Having driven separately for the purpose of having both cars on hand, both John and the Alerios had a near-discomfortingly quiet drive. John drove without even the radio to break up the silence, feeling his stomach turning with the anxiety that he often felt when forced to enter a blatantly dangerous situation with no way of knowing what was going to happen as he kept his faintly glowing eyes trained on the road. He wondered how Valerie was doing with Ana, if their rendezvous with Phantom Writer was going well or if it had even begun yet. He wondered what Vanessa and Amiee were up to, wherever they were. Had they gotten his message? Perhaps they were on their way to assist him.

He wondered if he would be seeing Martin earlier than usual.

In Samuel's little silver coupe, Felicity awkwardly attempted to make conversation but eventually gave up as Samuel never once even cast a glance to his teen sister sitting in shotgun. The inactive metahuman wondered why he had ever allowed himself to get roped into this. Danger before, danger behind, he couldn't win. He only hoped he could get out of whatever was about to transpire intact.

The trio parked together near the park and walked to where the gathering crowds indicated that the contest was taking place. Most of those present appeared to be ordinary civilians, although there were a handful in costume, a couple recognizable from the news but the majority practically unknown.

"You two go ahead and mingle, but be careful."

Samuel glanced over at the weird echo in his friend's voice and started at the white-haired figure who now stood beside him. Apparently, John had gone into Spectre mode somewhere between getting out of his car and arriving at the park. His glowing green eyes were cold with steely determination, darting amid the myriad present even as he stood completely still, pale muscular arms folded across his chest.

"You look like you're preparing for the worst," the aerokinetic observed nervously.

"I am," Spectre affirmed grimly. "Less likely to be surprised that way." He glanced to Samuel, eyes softening ever so slightly. "Don't worry: I'll keep an eye on you."

Meanwhile, Felicity looked around at all the metas present with an excited giggle. She had never been around this many at once, and all so unique in their abilities and dress—she couldn't wait to talk to all of them!
Ana said:
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
The teen drew up short, her smile vanishing at the recollection. She wasn't being stupid, was she? Of course she wasn't. But, what if she was? She shook her head briskly, stubbornly banishing the accusatory remark. No, it wasn't fair of her to say that. She didn't know Felicity, and the remark was rude and uncalled-for. But still...
Ana said:
"I don’t think she knows how dangerous this could be."
Of course she did: metas are dangerous by nature of what they are. Just because they could hurt her didn't mean they were all out to get her. So many of her longest and closest friends were metas, like John, or Fey, or her own brother, Samuel. Like Valerie always declared, metahumans were human, too, and had the exact same capacity for kindness and cruelty. Having powers didn't automatically make someone evil; that was the common misconception that caused so much meta hate, and she absolutely refused to ever jump on that bandwagon. As for the contest itself, she'd be careful and look out for what John told her to do: it wasn't like she wanted to get herself killed. If this "Ana" lady wanted to be rude to some random kid, that was her problem, not Felicity's. She didn't need to worry about it.

It still hurt, though.

She huffed, her brow furrowing stubbornly. She would show that lady. She would get through this incident just fine and show her just how wrongly she assumed about her, and she'd have fun while she did it. In the meantime, Spectre had told them that it was okay to mingle, so mingle she would. As she perused the crowds, her eyes were drawn to a massive figure dressed mostly in black with a mohawk tipped in a nuclear green. He was the tallest and most built person she had ever seen in her life, and that plus the aura she could sense around him even from how far she stood from him made it practically impossible for him not to be a meta. Accordingly, she made a beeline right for him.

"Okay, mister, you look awesome," she announced with a huge grin when she reached him. "What's your name?"

Watching after Felicity as she made a beeline for an impressive-looking metahuman he had noticed upon entering the park, Spectre turned away after a moment, shaking his head with a slight smile. As he continued scanning the park, noticing in the process a couple of guys pointing to him and whispering amongst themselves in clear excitement, he spotted a familiar face on the outskirts of the crowd, standing under a tree in a similar position to his own. 'Oh, good God in heaven, please tell me that's not who I think it is...' Unfortunately, there was no mistaking the creepy, clown-like facepaint design and the polished black horns jutting from his head. Releasing a frustrated sigh, the vigilante half-walked, half-glided around the perimeter to confront him.

Looking up from where he stood watching Felix at smooth movement toward him, Agent Fury spotted a familiar white-haired figure approaching him. He had encountered the vigilante a number of times in the past, usually on opposite sides of a combative scenario. While his strength had always been vastly superior, it couldn't quite compete with the vigilante's ridiculously augmented ability to dodge. Also he can fly, which has to be cheating.

Although the two were close in age, at a hulking 6'3 the mercenary towered over the mutant vigilante at his lean, lithe 5'8, forcing the white-haired man to tilt his head back slightly to meet the other's gleaming purple eyes when he finally halted in front of the other. Agent Fury's lip twisted into what could have been a snarl or a sneer with little distinction between the two. The face-paint didn't help, either. "Well, look who it is. What are you doing here, Ghost Boy?"

Spectre frowned at the derisive nickname, scarred arms folded across his chest in a guarded posture. "Agent Fury. The better question is what are you doing here? You're hardly a hero."

Agent Fury smirked. "Oh, I'm not here for any shitty contest. I'm on hire." At the thought of his purpose in the park, he cast an involuntary glance toward Felix.

Spectre followed his glance to the teen, noting that he looked oddly familiar. After a thoughtful moment, he realized where he had last seen that young face: he was the younger brother of the one "Icarus" from last night at the Nook. "I see," he murmured, half to himself. "So you're playing bodyguard now?"

The mercenary's smirk widened into a sneer. "Hey, it pays well. I get to do whatever the hell I want so long as my client's kid brother doesn't get hurt."

"I can see how that might appeal to you," the vigilante muttered. He glanced back to the charge in question, brow furrowed thoughtfully. "He looks familiar... What's his name?"

Agent Fury snorted, lip curling derisively. "I'm not your fuckin' informant. What do you think you're doing, interrogating me?"

"I'm hardly interrogating," Spectre denied. "Just curious, that's all."

Fury scoffed with an ugly grin. "Yeah, well, you can take your curiosity and shove it up your-"

"Okay okay okay, I get the point," Spectre interrupted, teeth gritted and shoulders tense as he hastily flailed his hands to stop the other man short. He huffed, muttering under his breath, "Good Lord, why must you always be so vulgar?"

Fury only chuckled at his discomfort. "You know I do it because it bothers little goody two-shoes like you."

Spectre just turned his head away with a huff, disregarding the insult.

"So you never answered my question," Fury continued, brow furrowing. "The hell you doing here? You're not one for public appearances."

Spectre frowned. "That's need to know, and I don't think you qualify."

"Aw, come on, you can tell me," Fury crooned. "You know I wouldn't actively sabotage you—it's not like that'd benefit me. It's about the document that's being auctioned off, isn't it? What's so important about it that it brought you out in the open like this?"

Spectre's shoulders slumped in a defeated sigh. Of course the mercenary saw right through him: his aggressive, nearly animalistic behavior disguised a dangerously keen intellect. Even if he didn't tell him, the mercenary would somehow figure it out anyway. "The document being auctioned off is a case file that was stolen from the courthouse earlier today. I have reason to believe it's at least one of five files documenting five of the worst collateral cases in the history of the laws. Those cases are currently being recreated by a lady who we only know as Mystification, and I and my allies have been chasing after the files since last night, hoping that knowing what they were will give us at least some idea of what to expect. Unfortunately, she's kept one step ahead of us the whole way, first obstructing access to the digital copies and now this."

Fury humphed thoughtfully. That matched up with what Felix had mentioned on the subway. "Interesting. Well, I wouldn't have any need for something like that. I'd be happy to sell it to you and your little hero friends if I win." He grinned. "Price won't be cheap, though."

This time, Spectre's sigh was more exasperated. "Yes, that's about what I would expect from you."
 
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Nicholas Harris, Layla Jones, Garrett Gunn, Michael Chambers and Dean Chambers

Central Park- Noon

At exactly noon, a voice could be heard coming from the Betheseda Fountain as a large crowd of New Yorkers gathered. " It seems that there are a lot of people here for my presentation. I really didn't expect such a big crowd, I mean a document and new tech, certainly is a crowd pleaser. Ahh, how rude of me. I nearly forgot the most important thing in a presentation. The name's Nicholas Harris, head scientist of Superior Genetic Modifications Industries. We aren't exactly America based due to " legal" reasons and our experiments being "dangerous", but we found a lovely home in Starlight City. But I'm not here taking about the whole legacy of the company, if I did, we would be here. You are here for the new products and the cool document, am I right? Well, the two are beautifully connected. The new invention is a meta-human enhancer and a TPG or temporary power giver . Have you heroes ever thought that your powers were not enough or that all that " training" was taken too darn long? Well, the power enhancer takes you to the next tier of your power.... no side effects that are known. As for the TPG, well, it's exactly what the name says."

Dean was already getting annoyed by this hype man. The last thing people needed was people with stronger powers or giving non-metas powers. It also wasn't going to help with the document. " And how exactly are the two connected?" He asked.

"
Mr. Harris will get to that," a man replied, looking somewhere between a hipster and a lumberjack who was uncertain what he was going for.

Dean's eyes went wide and looked over at Michael, wherever he might be. "
Is that.... our brother... who was supposed to have died about four years ago?"

"
I don't know you from Adam, I'm Garett Gunn."

" What the hell is your brother doing working for you and secondly, what the hell did you do to him?" He asked.

"
Ahh, Mr. Gunn. That is simple and also utterly complicated. To make a long story short, when your brother was officially almost brain on about four years ago, before he could decay, we allowed his companion, a talking gun to fuse with some Superior Industries tech and volia, the gun gets a consciousness and your brother gets to live a bit longer. His memory is a bit spotty at best," he replied.

"
You.... you.....-" Michael could be visibly angry and he was about to shoot Nicholas with a blast of ice, but Dean held him back.

It was at the moment, Layla arrived and looked at the scene.
" So, Mr. Harris, how about that cool document, what exactly will it entail?" She asked.

"
Ahhh, I knew there was something else important to mention it to you lot. My boss told me that the autocorrect on his phone corrected documents to document for some reason. So, there will be two cool documents up for grabs."

" And what exactly will we need to do?" Dean asked.

"
Well, my boss decided it would be a great for you to participate in a scavenger hunt for those files. There is no better way to do such an event. The people at Superior Industries have hidden a dozen beautiful pink roses for you to find, some are in hidden in plain sight and others require powered individuals to retrieve them. After the flower is presented to me or Garett, you shall go to the Central Park Zoo and find the animal I donated with two clues, one false, one true. Also, you might want to save the thing as it will be in mortal danger. Follow the correct trail and the files will be yours, but follow the wrong way and face your doom. And there are actually no rules to this scavenger hunt, so mislead all you want, work together, kill, steal. It's not my neck out there. Best of Luck! Also, the enhancers and TPG are free to use and the Scavenger Hunt will end at 5 with or without a winner."

It seemed that a scavenger hunt was underway. If you were a hero, you had a choice to take an enhancer and well, enhance your powers, but there were also unknown side effects... so it was a risk. If you were a civilian, you could take a TPG and see what power it gave, like the enhancer, there were also unknown side effects, so it was a risk. Alternatively, you could try to play the game without them and see if you can win.

@Draku69 @Astroblaze @slifer @Central Park




 
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Angelo Rose- Angelo's apartment

Angelo would change the sheets later before he went to bed later, so it didn't honestly matter in the long run. He ran his hand through his hair, checking his phone for any tips. There were a few.

He didn't mind what she was doing as he was an expert at multi-tasking. You had to be for what he did in his life quite honestly and that was saying something.

Angelo was surprised that she had managed to make amazing pancakes, especially since he couldn't remember the last time he had stocked up on anything in the house.

" I would not be opposed to a repeat performance, but I'm also not demanding it. If we drift apart or don't do anything c'est la vie. As for questions, I honestly wasn't going to ask anything of you outside of how you made breakfast with what I had lying around the house... since I can't remember the last time I shopped."

" What an interesting choice of songs. Also, since you are probably going to read it over my shoulder anyway, the tips I got on my phone is that Nicholas Harris is back in town, there is a weird contest going on at a park and a tip that Phantom Writer is sending people to the MET. I honestly don't care if you are using me for information, but honestly, all of this stuff is boring compared to this.." He turned the phone over to Cyndee. She would see a picture of a blonde hair male that seemed to be photographed in Times Square.

cyndee-banner-jpg.159241

"Honey, I'm using you but not for information. True, I do snoop for my friend but only when she asks me to, and I don't see her around here." She smiled at the comment.

"So, you think this guy is associated with this Mystification guy or maybe is him? Interesting lead. Doesn't seem like the subway type. If he's not usually in town maybe he doesn't have his own vehicle... One of my hustles is driving for both Uber and Lyft... I think you see where I'm going with this. Maybe you could get an exclusive interview..." She sidled up to him.

"Oh and as for the breakfast, I made my own pancake flour, and used some club soda you had sitting in the fridge in the batter. Makes amazingly fluffy pancakes, as long as you're careful with it."

@LuckycoolHawk9

Vanessa O'Toole aka Emerald Dream

She took Aimee down into the garage. At the bottom level, there were maybe a half dozen cars of various types. She directed Aimee to a dark green Bentley Continental. The auto dripped luxury inside and out. If Aimee gets in, Vanessa starts it up and heads towards the MET.

" Had this custom designed with a carbon fiber shell and a top line fuel system. "

The ride is otherwise mostly quiet as they head through town in the luxurious ride, until Vanessa gets a message from Victoria, which she reads and immediately deletes.

"My half sister is heading to some sort of meeting in Central Park, with a meta she knows. Some sort of add by a corporation. Damn ! "

Arriving at the museum, Emerald was in an especially poor mood.

" Fire, I am not particularly strong with my people skills. I …. I may need your help with that. "

firefly-jpg.158833

"Dealing with people is what I do all day. I got this handled." Firefly said, as she looked around. "So who do we need to butter up around here?" She asked the last leaning in and speaking quietly so no one else heard.

@Gands @LuckycoolHawk9

penny-jpg.161753

Epiphany was playing a waiting game right now. She knew her text to Emerald wouldn't come through for a couple of hours due to the orbits around the planet she sent it on prior to arrival, but she did open up all the various law enforcement channels and began running facial recognition on any of the people that were sent the Phantom Writer's text, so she could lock in their locations after whatever went down, went down.

That bring a meta thing smelled bad to Penny. Very bad. Like a stereotypical villain trap out of a comic book. So, she did her civic duty in her mind...


 
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April 3rd - 2018 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

Upon entering the exhibit Meghan spotted a few others walking along the halls studying, and discussing the array of art and recreations that adorned the walls. Ancient Greek pottery depicting the battles of Greek heroes and gods fighting Medusa. Mosaic’s enclosed in protective cases, all in all there were some interesting pieces strung about.

Walking around and studying things that caught her eye as to not seem suspicious she eventually found herself within the center point of the exhibit. A wide open space with four large replica statues stood in the center, a large display case behind the faux marble pieces of art. One statue was that of Medusa herself. The other three consisted of two variations of Athena and one of Zeus. Looking up at them Meg eventually walked to the display behind them. It described how those four statues were recreated based on the busts and pieces of marble that stood behind the glass. One of the deadly Gorgon, a dangerous foe in the myths and legends, turning warriors to stone. The king of gods, holding the indestructible shield that held the face of a gorgon and the goddess of wisdom and strategy depicted with the same shield in one sculpture and a breastplate that held a gorgon’s face upon it on the other. The uncertain piece of indestructible armour and symbol of protection known as Aegis.

Carrying on around the exhibit and reading the little descriptors while studying what was around Meg eagerly awaited for this meeting she had been invited to. Her nervousness rising, her worry growing. She truly hoped that this wouldn’t go in a negative direction.

Ana allowed Valerie to continue leading the way. Her eyes darting around, this gut feeling she had not subsiding. She tried to ease the tension in her body, but she found it difficult to relax. Had she not known about Central Park perhaps she wouldn’t be as nervous. That whole situation wasn’t helping though. Exhaling sharply she just wanted to get this over with.

Approaching a set of double doors Ana looked towards them, a large decal of Medusa’s head plastered upon the entrance to the exhibit. As the doors swung open she watched carefully, the civilians stepping out as she reached for the door. Her foot keeping it open as she waited for Val to enter. Amber eyes studying the people walking out as she clenched her jaw. Taking a deep breath she sighed and moved further into the doorway. Catching the distant whisper of a voice Anastasia halted in the doorway, her palm pressed against it to keep it open. Focusing on the sound as she closed her eyes, she grimaced slightly as she tried to filter through all the other sounds of the city. The feedback from the P.A. system was painful, a snarl coming across her lips for a moment. Tilting her head to the right slightly she listened. Water was falling somewhere nearby as the voice boomed in her ears, she could feel it in her chest as she tried to ease off to make the man’s voice more bearable in her wide open senses.

"Well, my boss decided it would be a great for you to participate in a scavenger hunt for those files. There is no better way to do such an event. The people at Superior Industries have hidden a dozen beautiful pink roses for you to find, some are in hidden in plain sight and others require powered individuals to retrieve them.”

Superior industries? Ana raised a brow. Scavenger hunt? What the hell was going on over there? Powered individuals to find roses? The confusion was evident across her face as she continued to listen to what was being said. This wasn’t sounding good…she wasn’t liking the idea of it at all. So many people would be involved and so many people could get hurt. She should’ve gone to that damned park.

“…Central Park Zoo and find the animal I donated with two clues, one false, one true. Also, you might want to save the thing as it will be in mortal danger. Follow the correct trail and the files will be yours, but follow the wrong way and face your doom…”

A loud thud startled Ana from her eavesdropping. Opening her eyes she looked towards the sound, it was coming from the exhibit. She had just seen a whole bunch of people leave, there hadn’t been any sounds after them. Was the Phantom Writer planning to do this with civilians present? Clenching her jaw Anastasia exhaled through her nose. So much for eavesdropping on the Central Park situation. “Someone’s still in there.” Ana spoke simply as she glanced towards Val and ushered them in. Letting the door click shut she walked through the exhibit and towards the sound. Turning a corner which lead to the main area of this whole exhibit Anastasia halted. Narrowing her eyes she cocked her head to the left and started walking towards the person she had spotted, she needed to make sure her eyes weren’t playing any tricks on her. “Meg?” She asked as she got closer.

The blonde looked up suddenly, green eyes growing wide. “Ana? What are you doing here?” She went to step closer but the brunette was already in front of her.

“I was going to ask the same thing. I was invited.” She spoke simply.

Meg looked to the floor and nodded. “Me too. I got a text from someone telling me to come here.”

Ana clenched her jaw and swallowed back as she looked away. If he could find her, anyone could. That wasn’t good. Why would he have told Meghan to come here? She had nothing to do with any of this, she played no part, she had just been sucked in by unfortunate circumstances. A heavy sigh escaped Anastasia as she looked to her friend again.

“I’m not gonna lie Ana, I am extremely glad you’re here. I was terrified when I got that message. But I wanted to help, I’m involved in this too.” Meg moved closer as emerald met amber.

“You don’t ever have to do something that makes you feel that way Meg.” Ana explained. “Let’s just get this over with so we can get out of here.” Then maybe I’ll wait a bit before bringing up the car. She told herself.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
INTERACTIONS:

ANASTASIA
- Astroblaze - Valerie Newman


MENTIONS:
LuckycoolHawk9 - Phantom Writer
 
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