Collateral ( A Super Hero RP with Consequences) IC

[Huntress]

April 3rd - 2018 – Central Park, NYC

Ana nodded towards the large man that had joined them. "Agreed." She muttered as she exhaled sharply. "You seem capable enough. I'll leave you to it, considering I need to get to the zoo and see what the hell is going on there." She clenched her jaw. "Good luck." There was another nod from the brunette before she turned around and jumped up into the air. As she faced the direction of the park's zoo she turned slightly, her eyes scanning the location she had just been in, Ana just wanted to make sure that everything was alright down there. Her mind still attempted to process what had happened between her and the heroine who, just last night, was giving her just as much attitude as Anastasia herself had been. Was it some sort of ploy? Was it just intrigue from the other? She had stated the word attractive but Ana wasn't the one-night-stand kind of girl. Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts she returned amber eyes back in the direction of her next destination, the zoo, as she prepared to launch off that way. There was no time for stupid distractions. This stuff needed to be settled so she can get that damn file.

"Meghan, get behind me. Get behind me,"

Stiffness consumed Anastasia, her breath catching, eyes wide as she was frozen in the sky, hair whipping in every direction against the breeze as she listened. "Meg…" She whispered as her heart sank. Meghan had left. Why was Valerie's distinct voice speaking her name, with urgency nonetheless. What was going on?

Thoughts grew blurred, common sense fading. Her former goal became non-existent her body was on auto-pilot as the sound barrier was shattered. Ana now stood before the two women on the bridge, her form fully erect and taut. The tension surrounding her expanded, it's weight growing heavier and heavier as it came down on all those present. She glared at the mad-man that stood just at the foot of the bridge. Her head slowly turned to the left, amber irises burning, eyes wild as her glare towards the other two was unintended. "Leave.now." The words were a low primal growl. Ana's attention returned to the idiot that dared to attack them.

Startled into a step back by the figure that slammed into the bridge right in front of them, Valerie watched Ana with rapidly growing apprehension until the roar galvanized her into action.

Meghan peeked out from behind Valerie, her hand gripping the side of the bridge. She kept silent, fear consuming her just based on the thick air that had crashed upon them the moment Anastasia appeared.

"Come to save the little humans?" The man laughed. "Let's have some fun then." The currents running along his arms grew more intense, pulling one arm back, he fired a bolt directly at Ana, the second following quickly after.

"GO!" Ana almost roared at the two women, a brief glance shot towards them before the brunette braced for impact, her attention on the fool that hadn't the slightest idea of what he was about to endure. The first bolt hit the right side of the brunette's chest, her shoulder jerking back slightly as she bared her teeth. Electricity crackled and arced around it's point of impact. She could feel it spreading across her body. Her exhale was sharp as she gritted her teeth.

Meghan's grip tightened around the edge of the bridge as she watched her friend take the first hit with a stifled gasp. Her feet slowly pulling her backwards. She couldn't do anything to help in the situation, but she also didn't want to leave her, as bone chilling as Ana's demands had been.

The man's aim was precise, the second bolt could've very easily slipped just passed her neck and towards the two behind her had Ana not stepped in its path. It hit just below her left collarbone. There was another heavy huff as she snarled towards him. The electricity dancing across her skin before seemingly phasing through the surface. Her fists were clenched tightly. Veins pulsating as they glowed with the traveling energy that continued to spread across her form.

"Meghan, come on," Valerie urged the blonde, stepping out from in front of the other woman to pull at her arm as she warily backtracked away from the face-off. "We need to get out of here." She didn't need the years of experience that she had to tell her that this was going to get ugly and fast.

Meghan's urge to fight the grip had been strong, but their attacker's words and Ana's commands were strong enough to let her step back slightly while in Valerie's grasp. Cloudy greens still on the scene before her.

"Resilient aren't we?" The man seemed surprised. "Might have to kick it up a notch then." Bringing both his arms up as they charged and began to glow intensely. He giggled like a lunatic before winding up and sending a conjoined, continuous stream of electrical currents straight at her.

It struck Ana right in the middle of her chest. There was a grunt as her back arched outwards, a couple of stumbling steps following as she grimaced. Looking down at the constant stream she groaned but held her ground with quickly obtained solid footing. There was a heavy, pained exhale as she looked up through her hair at the grinning metahuman. Amber irises sparked with crackling silver's and pale blues. His brow came up as the stream of energy ended. Dropping to one knee Ana's head dipped as she looked at the cracked bricks beneath her.

A gasp escaped Meghan as she pulled against Valerie's hold. "...Ana…" She whimpered in fear and broke free from the other.

"Meghan!" Lunging forward in a desperate panic, Valerie seized hold of Meghan and forcibly pulled her backward, the slighter woman's countless hours in military-modeled training revealed in the startling strength overpowering the blonde's resistance. "Meghan, come on, we have to run!" she pleaded even as she dragged the other woman away, watching the scene unfolding before them in helpless horror. "There's nothing you can do for her. We'll just get ourselves killed if we stay here!"

Being jerked back Meg turned and glared at Valerie "Let go of me!" She called out as her voice cracked in her attempt to pull against the other. "She's hurt!" Her struggle continued as she lashed out in the woman's arms. "I don't care!" She stomped her feet against the bricks as she continued to pull against the other.

The discharge of the electrical energy sparked around the brunette, but as a stream would come up from her body, it would curve right back into herself. The pulsating veins continued to glow in random waves. Ana's lip pulled back into a small snarl as she exhaled with a rasp. Her chest rising and falling with panting breaths. Her head twitched to the right slightly as she swallowed back, the sound of Meghan's cries entering her ears. She could hear the two moving away as there was sharp pain that stabbed at her temples. The irritated expression was quick to show on her furrowed brows as she closed her eyes.

The electricity flinging mad-man laughed at the sight. "That wasn't so hard!" He cackled.

The smaller flailing blonde continued to fight the other woman. All Anastasia needed was a chance to get back up, if she could help her, even as a distraction, that was good enough for her. Meg knew that Ana wouldn't let her get hurt, maybe what she needed was that push. As irrational as her thought process was, the typically timid Meg was determined to help. Whipping her head back she felt and heard the thud. Catching the brief moment of Valerie's weakness, Meg took full advantage and forced herself out of the other's strong grip. "Ana!" She ran towards her friend.

The sudden explosion of pain in her forehead pulled a startled cry from Valerie as the woman staggered backward, clutching her head in both hands. Did she just- Why was Meghan so dead-set on being an impulsive, suicidal idiot? "Meghan!" she shouted again after the blonde, her voice sharp and accusative this time.

Straightening her back, the former heroine opened her eyes as she scowled at the man. The previous storm-like flickers that were crackling across her irises were now violently glowing. Ana's body sparking more viciously. A shock ran up her spine, spreading across her shoulders to the rest of her extremities. It was painfully electrifying as she keeled forward. Her right hand slamming against the ground to keep her from falling as her left clutched at her stomach. She gasped wide-eyed, her gaze affixed on the back of her hand. Blood pumped rapidly through her system, the veins across her body swelling with charged energy.

"...Ana" Meghan moved closer and reached for her friend. Anastasia was quick to move out of the way and avoid her touch. It was thanks to that small, heart-wrenching action that Meghan's life was saved by a hair. The blonde was positive that she felt the static from the bolt that had buzzed just passed her shoulder.

The brunette's growl was unintended as she looked from the man to Meg. "I told you to leave!" She spoke harshly. "Get out of here!" She yelled, glaring at her friend, stormy eyes flicking back towards Valerie. This wasn't safe for them. Why were they still here? And what sick joy was this lunatic getting from watching this and barely acting with the intent to harm, like he was just moments ago? Ana's attention turned back to the aforementioned male. As she went to get up she was struck by more pain. Growling against it she forced herself to her feet slowly, her body already beginning to adjust to the influx of power. The small jolts of pain easy to ignore, for now.

"Ana?" Meghan whispered the question as she stepped back, her heart racing and her stomach knotting as she looked up towards the other with a swallow of her evident fear. The heavy, almost pained breaths of her friend only making her worry grow, confusion creeping across her face as well. Something was different about her. Clenching her jaw Meghan stumbled back towards Valerie. She had wanted to help, she wasn't sure how she would but she had tried. Evidently, she hadn't seemingly succeeded and as the air began to shift around them, Meg was now considering that maybe it would have been best for her to have left earlier when she was being pulled away. She wasn't sure what she had done to anger her friend, but the terrifying sensation that surrounded them wasn't a good sign.

As Meghan stumbled backwards away from Ana, Valerie was quick to regain grip of her forearm. "Okay, now that you've almost been electrocuted and Ana's pissed off," she snapped, "now can we get to safety?"

Fabric had grown tighter and as Anastasia clenched her fists shut, her bones popped and cracked. This fight needed to end now. Taking a wider stance she kept her gaze on the imbecile. If he wanted to attack again and speed up the process, Ana welcomed it. She had been on the defensive long enough, he hadn't backed down yet and that was enough for her to initiate the offensive.

Meghan's confused and scared eyes landed upon Valerie. The woman evidently angry at her as well. Looking to the ground, her nod was subtle as she clenched her jaw after shooting a quick glance back at Anastasia. She allowed herself to be pulled away by Valerie but her attention remained on her friend.

Ana dashed forward, small sparks left in her trail that followed her form as she took hold of the man that had attacked them. Her grip was tight around the front of his shirt as she lifted him up to her eye-level. The surprised look remained on his expression for only a moment as he was quick to glare back at her. Taking hold of the brunette's arm, he sent more currents through her. His hands and arms glowing with the electrical energy that appeared to be coming from beneath the surface of his skin. Ana grunted and growled. There was a sharp exhale that escaped from her nose as she bared her teeth. The slightly painful feeling that spread through her system coupled with the sound of some of the seams along her pants and shirt giving way had Anastasia snarling at the man. Pulling him in closer she growled. "How much longer is it gonna take for you to realize this isn't working?" Her eyes studied his face, the currents still flowing from him.

Ana was growing impatient with this man. Pulling her head back she knocked him hard on the forehead. It was enough to make him stop as he reached for the throbbing spot. Her fist was quick to come up into his gut. Gripping his shoulder she held him up and leaned in close. "Next time you decide to go on a little spree after taking some messed up drug, you should definitely think some more before attacking random civilians." Pushing his chin up with her left Anastasia purposely looked down at him as her electrified right fist came across his face. The man ate dirt as sparks shot out in various directions from his form.

Getting up slowly he glared at Ana as he wiped his bloodied lip. The brunette raised a brow as she was surprised to see him get back up so quickly. Impressive. 'Then again, never doubt an addict that needs their fix.' She told herself with a clenched jaw. Taking a fighting stance she couldn't stop the small smile from spreading across her lips.

His hand shot up quickly, a solid bolt colliding with her shoulder with enough force to make her stumble slightly. "You think I didn't notice?" there was another attack from him. "That little moment of pain that spreads across your face?" He fired more rapidly.

Ana managed to roughly gauge the force of his blows, managing to keep just a little more steady with the next few hits. She grimaced slightly, the points of impact from his blows violently sparking. There was another show of her teeth in anger. Fabric slowly beginning to tear against her changing body. Holding back wasn't something she liked to do when challenged, it was one of the main reasons she usually avoided conflict to begin with; that, and sometimes she just couldn't hold it all back. She was well aware of her problem with keeping her anger in control.

The man grinned as he kept up his barrage of solid blows and moved towards her. As he placed himself at arms length he sent a double, solid attack right into Anastasia's stomach, it was strong enough to make her step back with a gasp. Bringing his leg up as it glowed with vicious sparks, the bottom of his foot collided with her gut and Ana was sent flying backwards.

Hitting the ground with ridiculous force, Ana bounced a couple times before rolling to a stop. Dust and dirt had kicked up across her path. A cough escaped her as she got to hands and knees. Narrowed, storming eyes glaring at the approaching silhouette. There was a small grunt before her feet tore through the bricks of the bridge as she launched herself at him. Taking hold of him mid flight she shot up at a ninety-degree before suddenly halting. She spent no time to look at him or mock him. Her right arm simply came back as she whipped him down into the dirt. It could've been described as an explosion, the thud was loud and the ground must've shook even slightly. The cloud of dirt and dust wasn't settling anytime soon. Anastasia brought herself to the crater the man had formed. Looking down within it, she clenched her jaw and huffed as she stepped in and took hold of his shirt yet again.

Dragging the unconscious lunatic out of the hole she dropped him and simply looked down at him. Swallowing back she closed her eyes with a sigh that turned into a sharp inhale as he head dropped and her body tensed, her shoulders came up in a tight shrug as she hissed an exhale from behind clenched teeth. Groaning in a low tone the brunette rolled her neck and shoulders as she felt the shifting settle, for now. There was one final, deep sigh before she opened her eyes and looked down at her hands. Clenching and unclenching her fists she turned her hands around to look at the back for a moment as they sparked, a pulse of the blue-ish silver glow exposing the intricate system of the veins that coursed beneath her skin. Turning her head to the right she reached up and tore the piece of fabric off her face, eyes focused on the distant figures of Valerie and Meghan.

Swallowing back with another sigh that held sadness Ana shot up into the air and landed before them. Looking between the two women her gaze faltered briefly, her attention quickly back upon them. "Evidently it's not safe for either of you to be here." Her voice was low and soft. "Go back to the bar. Please." Ana's storming ambers locked onto Meghan's cloudy greens. "I'll get everyone there after...somehow. There's no reason for either of you to be here." A spark that traveled up her arm to her shoulder had her clenching her fist shut. The pain pushed back by a deep swallow. Her gaze moved to Valerie, Anastasia was hopeful that the woman could convince Meg to go back to the bar. Although with how shook the blonde looked she didn't think it would be much of a struggle.

Valerie had kept an ear trained on the conflict behind them and wasn't surprised when Ana landed in front of them once again. She noted the electricity sparking along the brunette's form and the pain that flickered across her face, but Ana seemed to pay it little mind so she kept her concern to herself, trusting that the meta woman knew what she was doing.

Meghan looked over towards the figure that landed before them. Swallowing back she clenched her jaw tightly as she looked up at Anastasia. She could see the difference in the woman. Her sparking eyes felt intimidating as Meghan simply stayed close to Valerie and looked away from Ana with a swallow back and a sigh from her nose. Her heart stuttered as misty-emeralds looked up to the clashing amber's before quickly flicking to the ground with another shaky and deep breath. Her words had been soft and gentle, genuine concern and worry travelling with them. Meg could feel Ana's eyes on her but she couldn't find the courage to look at her. Several reasons and emotions stopping her from doing so. She tried not to let the thoughts linger but she couldn't help it. The blonde wasn't sure what to think.

Valerie nodded agreement to Ana's advice, pulling out her phone. A quick search revealed that they'd have a significant walk to return to Chinatown from their current location no matter what transport they used. "Can you get us to the nearest train station?" she asked Ana. "My car's parked near the courthouse."

The former heroine's attention was on her friend. Biting down hard Ana exhaled sharply and looked away. She was aware of why Meghan wasn't looking at her. Her words had been harsh, her actions probably hadn't been very comforting either. It had been for her safety, but Meg had no way of knowing that. Not yet at least. Streaked amber's flicked to Valerie as she spoke. Anastasia shook her head. "I can't." she maintained the calm, soft tone in her voice. "I have no control of these currents. Making physical contact would only hurt you two." she explained. "The discharge isn't like static, it's full blown electricity. I can escort you but that's about it." Her attention returned to Meghan, the blonde's gaze still on the ground at her feet.

Valerie nodded her understanding. She had suspected that would be the case. "I think we'll be alright," she assured the brunette. "Go do what you have to do. We'll see you at the Nook." She could sense the tension thick between Ana and Meghan, but again she kept quiet about it. Their disagreements weren't her business. Hopefully, they'd get a quiet moment to talk out their issues later once matters had settled down somewhat.

"Okay." There was a small nod from Ana, eyes flicking from Meg to Valerie and back to the blonde. "Meg?" the brunette raised both brows, her voice almost unnaturally soft in comparison to her current large and intimidating form. Their eyes met for a moment before the blonde looked away. Anastasia sighed as she folded her arms across her chest and clenched her jaw. A small nod of understanding followed as she muttered an alright. "Stay safe, please…" She looked at Valerie with begging and pleading eyes before turning around and launching off into the air.

She knew the zoo wasn't far, she just had to get there deal with the stupid document situation and then figure out how to dig herself out from this hole she seemed to be falling deeper and deeper into.

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

ANASTASIA
- @Draku69 - Draku Rodriguez
- @Astroblaze - Valerie Newman

MEGHAN
- @Astroblaze - Valerie Newman


MENTIONS:
- @Gands - Emerald Dream

 

[Astroblaze]

Reed

Felix

KCameron

Reed Overton/Agent Fury | Felix Valaith | Kameron/Vengeance & Cameron/Violence
April 3, 2018 | early afternoon | Manhattan, NYC—Central Park Zoo

---

collab with @slifer and @jeshem, letters from Mystification (@LuckycoolHawk9), Derrick (@LuckycoolHawk9), Icarus (@slifer)
everyone at the event, Nicholas Harris (@LuckycoolHawk9)

Felix was walking beside Fury, not sure how to feel. Icarus might be in trouble, and that could ruin everything. If he had to, he would even try to talk to Icarus' employer, and strike his own deal. His mother's lawyer had just sent him an email, and it turned out that he was a lot more influential than even Icarus could predict as his mother had effectively made him the heir of everything, and he meant everything Valaith-related. It was his own secret, one that not even Icarus knew.

Approaching the zoo with Felix in tow, Agent Fury noticed a row of envelopes tied to the spokes of the cast-iron gate. As he stepped up to them, he realized that each was addressed to a particular person: some names and aliases he'd never heard before, but those that he recognized were all figures he'd spotted at the event, and amid them with a skeptically quirked eyebrow he recognized his own. Plucking that envelope from the gate, he slipped open the flap with a thumb under the edge and pulled out the folded page within.

His own name sprang out at him from the unfolded paper.

Hissing a startled "Shit!" in a moment of panic, he hastily clutched the letter to his chest. When a wary glance about him indicated no prying eyes, he cautiously withdrew the page and continued reading.

Dear Reed,
Of course I know your real name. ('How the fuck even, though.') Some things are easier to find than others and it wouldn't look good for anyone if I just published your name on this pinned note. Of course, there needs to be some fun. After all, it's always interesting to learn how far people can fall. A person who graduated high school interested in law and became a criminal, trying not to follow in your family's footsteps but mirroring them beautifully. (Fury frowned in skeptical confusion. 'What the fuck is she spouting off about. My blood family is nothing to me, and my adopted family is my greatest inspiration.') You wanted to be better, but yet you are undoubtedly worse, hiding behind tricks and masks. (Fury's mouth curled into a smug grin with a low, mocking chuckle. 'Yeah yeah, you're just jealous because I actually have the balls to do my work in broad daylight instead of hiding behind proxies.') Oh, I know if you get those case files, you are going to sell them back to the heroes. (He rolled his eyes. 'Well duh, that's the only benefit I stand to get out of this clusterfuck. Nothing better than getting paid to make a handful of Lawful Goods sweat.') It makes me disappointed how predictable everyone is. For once, I wanted someone who is different, but perhaps I asked too much. (He curled his lip. 'Melodramatic much?') Ah yes, the clue. That's why you wanted this note. Find the man whose name sounds suspiciously more animal than human. Bring him to Nicholas Harris and you win. I hope we do get to meet in person.
Love, your pain in the neck kind-of enemy Myst.
P.S. Mixing love and work never ends well.

Fury just shook his head, rolling his eyes with a sigh.

"What a bitch," he muttered to himself as he returned the letter to the envelope and tucked it into his jacket. The pitiful attempts at insulting him were nothing new, and certainly nothing he had any reason to give a second thought. So what if he wasn't unique? He did what he did purely because he could; he needed no further reason. He didn't give a shit what anyone thought about him, and this unoriginal excuse for a manipulative asshole was no different.

The casual name-drop was just a dick move, though. No self-respecting criminal did that to another criminal. "I hope we do get to meet in person" yeah, so did he, so he could punch her right in her smug face.

When Agent Fury walked into the zoo, all he could do for a moment was stare uncomprehending at the mass of penguins that had totally overrun the walkway, the perplexed furrow in his brow only deepening the longer he stared. 'What the fuck?'

Eventually he just closed his eyes, shaking his head with a heavy sigh. Fuck this event, and fuck this superbitch. He was getting the documents, he was getting paid, and he was getting out before matters got any more ridiculous.

A quick scan of the area drew his attention to a man standing amid the penguins, some distance from the entrance. "The man whose name sounds suspiciously more animal than human"—best go check him out, considering that he was the only man in sight.

"Come on, kid-" Fury started to beckon Felix, but cut himself off upon turning toward the teen. Or rather, where the teen had been and was supposed to be, because Felix was gone.

Again he released an irritated sigh. "Well, shit." Icarus was going to be pissed if he heard about this.

Finally, they made it to the zoo, with envelopes tied quite plainly to the gate. Felix read through the names, not recognizing a lot of them. Icarus' name popped up, which prompted him to take that note and slip it in his pocket. Then a name caught his eyes: Felix, his own name, was written on an envelope. His blood ran cold at the thought of being noticed by someone who was considered evil, especially by the way Fury looked as he saw his own name on the paper. Instinct took over, and before he knew it, the envelope was ripped off the fence, stuffed into the pocket with Icarus' letter, and he was off, leaving Fury in the dust. This time it wasn't specifically to make Fury's life difficult, but because he didn't trust him. Sure, the man would look out for him, but that was because of Icarus. Fury didn't care about him, and sometimes he wasn't even sure if he cared about Icarus, beyond all of the other problems he had with Fury and how the man brought out Icarus' darker side, which none of the goody-two shoes seemed to understand. He needed to be alone, and thankfully the empty zoo was the perfect place to get lost in.

After he felt like he had outrun his problems, he stopped at a sign telling him where he was. Hmm, he was close to the leopard cages, which seemed like the best place to go in his semi-panicked state. It took a few turns and a minute down the path, but he made it to the snow leopards' exhibit. No one was around, as expected, but it still felt too out in the open. Too much had happened, and he had to do something to calm himself down. For a moment he stared at the beautiful leopards, and at their cage... The idea came to him in a flash. Icarus and Fury would kill him later, but who cared? Approaching the fence, he tested the fence, finding it sturdy enough to hold his weight. The leopards seemed to be disinterested in him, which was fine with him.

Thinking for a moment, he moved over until he was by a support beam. He gripped onto it carefully, and soon he was scaling up the beam like a natural, climbing until he was on top of the cage, sitting precariously on the portion of the netting where the fence met the support beam. Felix sat down on the beam, finally pulling out Icarus' letter with unsteady hands.

Dear Icarus,
So many names to choose from, but I decided to go with your given one. Aren't you the interesting character? You aren't good, you aren't bad, you're just nice. And as a musical once told me, nice is different from good. Ahh, but I'm letting myself escape. Normally, here I would put a veiled threat, something about hurting your youngest, but I see a little of myself in you. You do what you think is right. Alas, sometimes the right thing to do is also the most difficult. Normally, I would put a hint here, but I have already given the one you seem to be romantically interested in a giant clue, so you won't need it. Some love stories end badly. I hope yours doesn't, at least for your own sake. Nothing worse than caring for a kid with a broken heart. But now, I bid you a farewell. Best of luck.
Sincerely, Myst
P.S. Not everyone who works with me has the best intentions and may have their own agendas.

Icarus' letter was... actually kind of pleasant. Myst seemed to know a lot about everyone, which worried him, but maybe... maybe understanding Icarus could help them understand Myst. Even here, it showed that Myst had a kid, probably a son. Myst wouldn't hurt him, which was surprising, but that could be psychologically motivated, along with the fact that Icarus wasn't as involved as the other "heroes" were.

Then, there was the letter that was meant for him. Why would Myst call him out? He was a civilian. A rich civilian, but he wasn't actually a part of this. This time, his hands actually shook as he opened the letter to read his own message.

Dear Felix,
It feels so weird to write this letter to a civilian. Everyone who I have written a note for has been a hero or a villain or somewhere in between. But not you. You're human, kind of like my son. So beautifully human. I'm sorry, I seem to have lost myself to the world again. Ahh, yes, you really don't need to hear me prattle on about useless plans. But a hint, oh, a hint would be good for such a nice boy. I can't exactly be more direct than Reed's hint at who he is, but violence is not the answer. I wrote 'dead or alive' as a test. Nicholas was given specific instructions that if the asset was harmed in any way, the files were to be burned. But you see, between these notes, you should know it. Let him have the choice. People can surprise you.
Sincerely, Myst

Felix's breath came out in short, desperate puffs as he finished the letter, his brain going silent for a few minutes as the whole situation hit too close to home. Icarus was like her in a way, which was fine, but being called a "nice boy" was something that terrified him to no end. Quickly, he got out his phone, taking pictures of the letters. His phone went into one pocket before he stuffed the letters inside his jacket pocket, zipping it shut with trembling hands. His fingers wrapped themselves around the fence, steadying him more mentally than physically. Contrary to popular belief, he was safe up here. Icarus taught him well, and he could parkour as well as any video game character in their prime. When Fury eventually found him, he would give the notes to him and then get Fury's note to Icarus somehow. Myst might have actually revealed more to him than she meant to with the last few sentences, and having the knowledge of three letters might actually put Fury at more of an advantage. He did want to see the other "heroes" who made Icarus' life miserable get scalped by Fury. Which in turn returned his thoughts to Icarus. He had to remind himself later to pull money slowly from his mother's funds, mostly for a rainy day. Then, make some charitable donations.

Vengeance rocketed through the sky as he telekinetically flung himself toward the zoo. As he blasted through alleyways and zipped between buildings, questions plagued his thoughts. What was going on? Who was the woman who managed to broadcast her voice throughout the entire city? Had he and Violence been so focused on their own cases that they somehow missed this entirely?

Doubt it. We've been talking to my contacts, been on the lookout for everything, even went so far as to hack several heroes' databases. We didn't find anything about this.

The flying hero managed to let out a mental sigh to his brother's assertion.

True, but we weren't looking for... this. Whatever this is.

And? So our little villain managed to hack a couple of cellphones and computers. I can think of at least a dozen other individuals that can do that. As for these crimes she's taking credit for, nothing that would bother your hero friends too much. Vengeance began to slow his flight as he approached the zoo. You think as though some copycat criminal is going to lead to the end of the world. If that were true—

—Then the world is over and we're all burning in hell, finished Kameron.

He hovered at the entrance of the park for a minute as his eyes scanned the area. Below him, he saw a tall man standing at the entrance holding paper in his hands, the man looking around frantically.

That looks like Agent Fury.

You know him?

Acquaintances.

"Agent Fury," called Vengeance from above, still twenty-some feet above the man's head. "Fancy meeting you here. Staying out of trouble, I hope. Are you looking for something?"

While he waited for the man to come up with a response, Kameron looked back towards the gate and noticed something peculiar: a white envelope, neatly tied to the very top of the gate with a piece of black string. Curious, he reached out and telekinetically retrieved the envelope, sending it flying into his waiting hand. He opened it up and retrieved a folded card from within.

Hello Vengeance,
What do you consider fun? Is your life fun? Going around saving the damsel in distress, killing the dragon, winning the princess' hand in marriage? But we both know hero work is not like the fairy tales, don't we? You know you're not the dashing prince or the knight in shining armor. You know you heroes compromise, manipulate, and scheme just like the villains. In fact, you hate the heroes despite being one yourself.
I've set up a game involving crimes, destruction, and some special files that everybody wants. Special files that could, for example, eventually bring down this age of heroes and give rise to a new, upright generation of goody-two-shoes.
Your clue: Find the emperor bird and kill it. It will be, as you heroes like to say it, for the greater good.
Your soon-to-be best friend,
Myst

Kameron folded the card and returned it to its envelope before placing it within the pocket of his suit. The emperor bird...

Penguin.

So this "Myst" wants me to kill a penguin for the files? What's the catch?

At this, Cameron remained silent as Kameron returned his attention to Agent Fury. "So, what did your note say?"

Fury stiffened slightly at a voice from overhead. Turning over his shoulder toward it, he found the source high in the sky above him, features indistinct in the distance but clearly clothed entirely in white. He curled his lip at the question. A hero then, and one of the obnoxiously righteous variety.

"Sorry, have we met?" he called back, the corner of his mouth lifting in a mocking sneer that hinted at his false fangs. "If you recognize me well enough to address me by name, I think you can answer that question for me. And keep your pretty little nose out of my business, a'ight?"

His eyes narrowed as the white-clad figure stretched out a hand, a small object flying into it seemingly from the gate. Possibly a telekinetic, then. With the object in hand, however, he seemed to take no further interest in Fury, so the mercenary turned back to his original intentions.

He stiffened at the following question, however, discomforted by the hero's tone, which seemed to indicate that he had spotted him reading. Hopefully, he didn't possess any enhanced vision abilities.

"It said that it's none of your fuckin' business," he snapped over his shoulder, a bit more defensively than he intended. Releasing an exasperated huff, he turned back toward the levitating hero. "Look, I have a deal that I'd really like to take advantage of, so if you'll kindly stay out of my way, it'd make both of our lives easier."

With that thinly veiled threat, he turned away from the other, ignoring him in favor of approaching the man he'd spotted. He could look for Felix later. He was familiar enough with the kid to predict what he might do, but he had no guarantee that this stranger wouldn't bolt as soon as his back was turned.

Kameron took a moment to consider how to respond to Fury's hostile response.

"Look, I know you're not a villain," he began as he slowly floated downward toward ten feet above Fury. "Or at least not like one of those psychopathic kill-everybody-burn-orphanages-kick-puppies kinds of villains." His voice remained level, controlled, yet his mask continued to hide any emotions displayed on his face. "Maybe we could scratch each other's back."

As he spoke, Vengeance began to gently prod Fury's mind, trying to gauge the man's thoughts, emotions, or intentions. Fury himself would most likely notice this, feeling as though Vengeance was ten feet in the air above him yet at the same time somehow right next to him.

There's somebody else here, Cameron suddenly commented. Not too far. They're off the ground, though.

Vengeance lifted his head slightly and scanned the park. Indeed, a little distance off, he could see another man sitting at the top of a fence. He made a mental note of the man's position and mental presence.

Fury's eyes narrowed at the white-suited man's suggestion. Perhaps the hero wasn't so high-and-mighty as he had initially assumed. Best not to burn bridges just yet, though he stayed guarded as the sudden closeness that he sensed between himself and the levitating man who he'd already identified as a potential psychic raised significant alarm bells.

"Look," he responded, turning back toward the other man, "I'm always happy to fuck shit up for people, but I'm currently a little preoccupied, and already on hire." He paused, considering the hero's location. Perhaps while he was offering, the other man could yet be of service to him. "Though if you can see a certain kid brother I'm babysitting from your angle, I'd appreciate having him back at my side where he's supposed to be." He still viewed flight as a bullshit cheater's ability, but it had its uses.

"Oh, by the way," he continued, voice turning hard as he turned to affix the other with the full force of his glare, "don't think I didn't notice what you're doing. Get the fuck out of my head." He emphasized the demand with as much mental vitriol as he could muster against the psychic, hoping to viscerally repel the man if his words didn't suffice for him to decide not to be an underhanded fucking coward.

Vengeance silently severed his mental connection with Fury. It was clear to him that the man was agitated or at least guarded yet willing to work together. "Baby brother? Hm, you certainly never struck me as an older brother type," the hero commented. "Very well, I'll help you find your brother. Of course, you'll owe me one later on."

With this, Vengeance flew away towards where he saw the other individual literally sitting on the fence. Getting closer, he could see now that the individual was a teenager, maybe fifteen or sixteen years old.

Wait, this kid looks familiar.

Does he?

Kameron ended up hovering several feet from the teenager, keeping a distance that would allow him to react if the boy should suddenly attack him.

"I know the signs only say 'no flash photography' and 'no loud noises' but shouldn't 'no climbing the leopard cage' be common sense?"

Felix was snapped out of his thoughts by the sight of a hero—Vengeance if his memory served him correctly.

"It's meshed well enough to hold my weight. Besides that, I can climb onto almost anything with ease. I like it up here any way. I'm not scared of heights." He had a slight bit of false bravado in his voice, using a healthy offense to try and prevent Vengence from possibly attacking him. Vengence didn't know him, or what he could do anyway. He smiled, exuding positive confidence that... somehow he actually had. He could get down if he wanted to, because he was both taught well by Icarus and wasn't a cat.

Fury scoffed slightly to himself as the hero left. Felix wasn't his brother—his brothers were both older than him and he hadn't seen them in years—but it didn't matter all that much and he wasn't in the habit of sharing unnecessary information.

Turning back to his own business, he approached the man that he had spotted.

Penguin

"Okay, so what's your deal- Hey!" The brusque greeting had begun at a casual tone but turned to a shout as the man bolted, the mercenary immediately leaping forward in pursuit. With his enhanced abilities and larger stature, the stranger hadn't gotten far when Fury caught up to him, grabbing his arm as a sweeping foot knocked his legs out from under him and dropped him abruptly flat on his stomach on the pavement. Taking a knee beside the man, Fury pinned him to the rough concrete with a knee in the small of his back and the captured arm twisted behind him pressed into his spine. The mercenary gritted his teeth in impatient irritation, baring his false fangs at the man.

"Buddy, there are a million ways I could knock your ass out cold, and none of them will be all that pleasant for you when you wake up. Please don't tempt me—I know the event said 'dead or alive' but I doubt a certain lady will be all that happy if I rough you up too bad."

Okay but damn if he wasn't cute. Fury shook his head—not the time to be checking him out. He needed answers.

"So before we go any further—" he leaned closer, lowering his voice though he kept the threatening tone as a warning— "what's your name?"

The man panicked a lot and looked over at the man charging at him. That couldn't be good. He didn't want to die. He had just gotten used to learning about life amongst other things and he bolted, though he hadn't expected to get far. He was entirely out of his element, and that was a cold, hard fact.

He hadn't expected the man to catch up with him, but that was a different story entirely. He didn't know how to react to whatever the man just did and landed on his stomach on the pavement. He wasn't sure why he wasn't panicking even more. Maybe it was the fact that he had no clue what the man was going to do to him. He hadn't known humans to be too good when they were told what he was and he took a deep breath and looked over at his false fangs, frowning a bit about it.

The man processed that none of the things he was saying were good, and he knew that he could die. He didn't know what he had done to the person to deserve this, and he took a deep breath, not knowing what else to say. He took a look at him again and pouted his lower lip, trying to look cuter so that the man didn't want to injure him and maybe would keep him safe.

The man blinked twice and he looked over at him, still with those pleading eyes. "My name's Derrick... Penguin," he said, realizing too late how terrible of a last name disguise that was.

Fury released a quiet humph at the name, watching uncertainty flicker across the soft features. There was the "suspiciously more animal than human" just as he suspected. "Yep, found you."

With that, he lifted his knee from the man's back, keeping a light but firm grip on his arm as he stood, guiding the other to his feet with him. He started shifting his grip to sling him over a shoulder but hesitated and changed his mind, instead scooping an arm under his knees and lifting him into a bridal carry.

When a glance to the man revealed that the panic in his eyes hadn't even slightly faded, he released an exasperated sigh. "And for fuck's sake, relax. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm no hero, but I'm not a murderer, either." Usually he encouraged fear, but this Mr. Penguin would be much easier to deal with if he wasn't constantly trying to escape.

Derrick didn't know what to do. He knew that to everyone else, this was a game to get files, but for him, it was about finally being free to do what he wanted to do. But he didn't know what it meant for the other man. He felt the knee being removed from his back as he helped him rise to his feet, and he didn't know what to expect when he switched to carrying him forward. He felt slightly more comfortable this way, but it didn't make the panic erase from his eyes.

He would relax, but he knew he would be going back to him. Him. The scientist who loved to make the subjects feel pain. He didn't understand how he could be labeled by some as a hero when he did such horrible things as well. "I won't be hurt by you, but once you get those files and give me to Him, I will be hurt all over again," he said, looking over at him.

Wait, what? Fury stopped short. That sounded like... He released a heavy sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. Of course it was too easy to just retrieve the guy and bring him back to the event. Getting paid was his priority, but even he wasn't so heartless to leave a guy to a torturous fate. Especially one so cute.

He frowned slightly to himself, struggling to figure out the best medium between work and morals, but then his mouth curled into a devious grin as the perfect solution sprung to mind.

"Oh, I know what I can do about that," he chuckled, shifting the man's head to his shoulder to pull out his phone. "Hey, Penguin, eyes over here." Once he'd caught the man's attention, he snapped a quick selfie, making sure that the angle gave Derrick the sweetest possible puppy-eyes.

Reed: Feel like making a mess? I've got a cute "penguin" who's gonna need rescuing when I've got the docs

Attaching the selfie to the brief text, he sent it to Icarus and done. Sometimes knowing hero-types had its perks. He could suggest the same to the white-suited psychic if he reappeared. This was going to be fun.

Derrick looked over at him and wondered if the sigh was a good thing or a bad one. He couldn't exactly tell and he hoped it was one where he was going to help him or hurt him in the end. He had never been good at telling a predator from a prey. He noticed him frown and wondered if the devious grin was a good or bad thing for him. He couldn't honestly tell.

Derrick blinked twice and looked over at him and then at the phone and understood what he needed to do completely. He gave the camera the world's sweetest puppy-dog eyes, making sure to add an adorable pout to make it seem even cuter than it already was, and he was careful too.

He wondered what he was writing in the text and he also wondered when he would get a chance to learn how to read. He understood "cute penguin" and "rescuing," all words that he liked with all that was happening to him.

He would try to be of help. He wondered if he could be cute in front of the living weapon if he would feel pity.

"I don't think the problem here is whether or not the mesh would hold you, nor is the problem your comfort of sitting in high places," Vengeance replied as he drifted nearer the fence. He didn't need to read the teen's mind to know that he wasn't planning to attack. "Nevertheless, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to insist that you come down from there."

With that, Felix would feel a tugging force pulling him off the fence and gently lowering him down towards the ground feet-first. As Vengeance telekinetically moved the teen back onto solid ground, he himself followed, landing near Felix.

He's too relaxed around us to be a normal civilian, thought Kameron. But he's no hero. I don't recognize him.

And he's not a villain I recognize either. Fury was looking for somebody, this can't be a coincidence.

"So kid, you here by yourself or are you here with somebody?" Vengeance asked as he landed. His telepathy went to monitor Felix's most surface thoughts, a task so simple even Felix would not notice unless he knew what to look for.

Felix was fine with Vengeance's presence. He was more than tolerant towards the heroes, and even the villains.

Up until the moment where he felt a tugging force pull him off the fence. For a moment he was shocked. Hero this man was not, no matter how he professed himself to be. Vengeance had forced him off the pole without actually asking him to get off. At that, Felix started to thrash in the air, a single thought coursing through his panicked mind: 'LET ME GO!' A visceral scream ripped its way out of Felix's throat, one that could be heard from far away, one that Fury could probably hear from that distance.

The moment Felix touched the ground, he turned towards Vengeance, backing away from him like a cornered animal. All he could think of was all of those moments, of being so controlled at his own home that he had to run to Icarus. Kameron wouldn't see Fury in his head, but the comforting image of Icarus. The question didn't even register with him as panic threatened to consume him. His skills would mean nothing here, and he doubted Vengeance would be bought off with cash.

"Go away!" He wasn't going to give a good answer, and neither was his mind as the fear and panic seemed to war with the wavering picture of Icarus. Kameron could pick up one thought from Felix: 'I hope I can see Icarus before I die.' The man had committed quite a few sins in on, something Felix wasn't going to forget any time soon. The panic from Myst's letter, Icarus' letter, all of his worries floating under the surface had come upward, mixing with Vengeance taking away his choice with his powers, his old fears surfacing of not having Icarus near and a meta attacking him mixed together in a complete unwillingness to go near the man.

Fury's head shot up as a distant but familiar scream pierced his ears, his grin gone in an instant. Felix. Hissing a vehement "Shit!" through gritted teeth, he bolted to the entrance. He set Derrick in the shadow of the arch, nearly dropping the man in his haste, and stepped back, pointing to him with a warning glare. "Stay here. Do not move." With that, he turned and sprinted toward the scream.

Derrick covered his ears. He didn't know what the scream meant to the man, but it was so loud that he couldn't concentrate. He wondered if he knew who the scream had come from. He didn't want to upset the man, so when he put him down, he nodded and sat on the ground, looking around the park and wondering why he could never be free. Maybe he would find the answer one day.

As the snow leopard exhibit entered Fury's line of sight, he immediately identified his teen charge, his form stiff in terror as he backed away from who the infuriated mercenary recognized as the psychic with whom he had been speaking only a moment ago.

"Hey! Domino!" he shouted, slowing to a long-legged stride. "Back the hell up before I beat your two-faced ass into next year." His jaw clenched in a snarl as he grabbed the brass knuckles from his pocket and slipped them onto his hands, closing his fists threateningly.

Kameron was taken a little aback by Felix's sudden outburst. Sure, there were individuals who were frightened or annoyed by him using his powers on them but this kid was downright terrified. As the boy thrashed and screamed, Kameron levitated him for a second wondering if it really would be alright to put him down. Nevertheless, the hero gently put the teen on solid ground but kept a telekinetic hold on him to ensure that he did not do anything stupid.

"Calm down," said Vengeance, more as a command than as a plea. His telepathic mind went forward and traveled into Felix's in an attempt to understand what was going on as well as calm the boy down. As he was not concerned with hiding his influence from Felix's perspective, the hero might as well have been standing right in front of him, gripping his shoulders. As he went through the boy's mind, he picked up certain images and names such as 'Fury' and 'Icarus'.

'Icarus'? Know anybody by that name?

Unless it's the dude who flew too close to the sun, too many. Otherwise, not a clue.

Meanwhile, Felix would begin to calm down, even if it were against his wishes. His terror would begin to dilute and rational thoughts would become clearer and easier to form. His breathing would also begin to slow as his heart rate returned to a more controlled beat. As soon as Vengeance could sense that Felix had calmed down, he would release him. Until then, however, his telekinetic grip restrained the boy.

For Fury, as soon as he got within five feet of the hero, he would abruptly find himself unable to move forward as if an invisible wall had been placed in front of him. Vengeance had a white gloved hand raised toward him.

"Save your threats for somebody they will work on," calmly replied Vengeance without turning to face the mercenary. "This boy. He's with you." Not a question but a statement, perhaps even an accusation. "I know who you are, Fury. I know what you do. But him?" Vengeance pointed at Felix. "All I know is that he isn't one of us: not a hero, not a villain, not somebody in between. He shouldn't even be here." Turning, the hero slowly approached the invisible barrier he had put Fury behind, still disallowing the mercenary from advancing. "I'll ask you nicely now: what is going on?"

Fury's eyes widened at the sudden force preventing his movement, then narrowed as his teeth ground in rapidly mounting rage. This bitch- so he was of the self-righteous variety after all. He sensed his breath quickening under the influence of adrenaline, blood rushing in his ears as red edged his vision, but the mercenary controlled himself, limiting his reaction to a spiteful scoff, head tilting slightly back as one corner of his mouth pulled up into a sneer.

"You know what I do, huh?" he repeated mockingly. "Then you should be able to connect the dots. Or are you just that dense?" He shrugged, smugly feigning nonchalance. "But fine, if you really need me to spell it out for you, I guess I can accommodate you."

He lifted a hand, indicating Felix. "This kid's brother hired me to look after him." He smirked. "He chose to get involved. I just followed like I was supposed to, and took advantage of the situation while I was in the area. But you should've guessed that, too, if you know me so well," he amended venomously, affixing Vengeance with a black stare with teeth gritted in an ugly grin.

"And as for this puny thing—" he rapped his knuckles sharply against the invisible psychic barrier before him— "what? You think I kept the reputation I have just by never encountering a psychic?" His laugh was harsh, almost cruelly scornful. "No, I can deal with you just fine—" the following words were growled through gritted teeth— "and if you don't get the fuck out of my way, I'll be happy to prove it." With a sharp jerk of his head, a crack of his neck emphasized the last words.

But of course the hero wouldn't get out of his way. They never did. Time he showed off his true colors.

Kameron and Cameron watched Fury behind the invisible barrier through Vengeance's eyes. The words, the eyes, the body language, even without delving into the mercenary's thoughts both knew what was about to happen.

Geez, this guy is mad.

Mama hen needs to take care of her chicks.

You think the barrier is going to hold?

Probably not. Might want to get a defense up.

Fury's jaw clenched, lips pulling back in an ugly snarl that exposed both sets of fangs. In an instant a lightning-quick fist shot out at the invisible barrier with the full force of his intensely augmented strength, a force that had rammed through brick walls and shattered steel plating. The resistance giving way barely registered as he lunged forward, closing the few feet between them before Vengeance could even process that he had moved. He was tempted to deliver an equal blow to the hero but restrained himself just enough that the brass-clad assault wouldn't completely shatter his jaw. The following uppercut still sent the white-clad hero flying as easily as a ragdoll.

Sure enough, Fury's brass knuckles smashed through Vengeance's telekinetic wall, causing the hero to wince a bit as he felt the mercenary's fist shatter his concentration, leaving barely any time to set up a secondary barrier in front of his head. The following blow was not exactly soft either and though it may not have caused the hero to fly like a ragdoll as Fury may have hoped, it certainly did knock Vengeance onto his back.

The mercenary smirked to himself with a low chuckle as he turned away, fully aware of what that had done to the man. "Easy."

The grin vanished the moment his gaze fell upon Felix. Immediately he was upon the boy, startlingly gentle hands searching his form for injury. "Are you okay?" he demanded, insistent in urgency. "Are you hurt?" But other than his being utterly petrified, it seemed that nothing was amiss. The mercenary's eyes shuttered a moment, breathing a relieved "Jesus..." as he stepped back from the teen.

Relief had turned to frustration, however, when he returned his attention to the boy, tone turning scolding. "Goddamnit, Felix, you can't go running off like that! I can't exactly protect you if I don't know where you are. Look, I'm not gonna hurt you—for fuck's sake, I've been hired specifically to look after you! If you get hurt, I failed, and I don't fail, okay? If I really wanted to fuck you up, I've had plenty chances and reasons to do so, but I didn't take any of them because I'm a man of my goddamn word. So do me a favor and don't go disappearing on me because you're just going to get me in deep shit."

He shook his head, taking the boy's wrist lightly but insistently. "Now come on. I got the penguin—we need to get back to the people running this thing."

This is a waste of time, thought Kameron as he lay there while Fury went to check on Felix. We have a bird to catch.

And Fury may have just found it for us.

What do you- wait, they weren't there before. Why didn't we sense them?

Because they weren't panicking until recently, right before Fury showed up.

I've got them. There: under that arch.

As Fury continued to reprimand Felix like a child, Vengeance silently levitated into the air and flew away toward the arch.

Felix turned to Fury, his emotions coming back in full force without Vengeance's influence working on them. He was pissed, so much more pissed than he should have been. Maybe it was his emotions talking—it was certainly his emotions talking, but right now all he was thinking was that the man could in polite terms go screw himself. "You think that I don't know that the only reason you won't hurt me for leaving your side is that Icarus paid you? You have the luxury of doing whatever you want. I don't. Do you think I normally leave and do that? He pulled me down from there without even asking me! I'm terrified right now!" He pulled out the notes from his pocket, shoving them toward Fury.

His voice, which had been full of raw fear and panic, was lessening quite quickly as he started to run out of steam, his feelings all coming out now. "Mystification noticed me. The person who's targeting metas noticed me. Vengeance, that piece of shit, treated me like a goddamned criminal and trapped me with his #$%*@%^ powers. A lot has happened since Icarus left you with me, things you wouldn't even believe, and how am I supposed to deal with it? I am thankful for your presence, even though you're not here because you actually give a shit. That asshole Vengeance is leaving, probably to get the penguin guy, and I now have more-" He stopped himself before he could reveal anything else to Fury. Now his voice was quieter, more tired than it had been before. "Can we just go do what you have to do? I know you care about Icarus somewhat and I want this done so he's not a part of this anymore." Getting his own revenge on Vengeance was something that would come later for sure, but Agent Fury couldn't know about it.

Before Vengeance left, he would get the full Felix emotion sandwich, thinking that the man was a piece of shit for doing what he did to him, that he was a sociopathic trashbag, and that he understood nothing about anyone. Even Mystification was better than Vengeance was, and Myst was coming after metas, which did include his brother. The most important thing was the way Vengeance had made him feel, and with all of the hate rolling off Felix, he should probably watch his back before a non-meta possibly tried to get back at him for all of this. The telepath would feel the sense of pure violation coming from the young boy that he had done that, acting as a fake hero.

Stunned into silence by Felix's unexpectedly vehement outburst, Fury listened to the boy rant, a slight frown puckering his brow. He didn't recall ever seeing the kid this worked up in all the time that he'd worked with Icarus. The psychic's treatment of him must have really left a mark. The mercenary gritted his teeth at that thought—that white-clad son of a bitch would pay dearly for his actions.

Papers slapping against his chest snapped the man out of increasingly violent thoughts. He lowered his gaze to the pair of letters that Felix had shoved into him, taking them from the teen's hands. Did Felix intend for him to read them? Observing the envelopes, he recognized Icarus' name on one, Felix's on the other. He started to open the envelope addressed to the latter, a bit self-conscious about reading something intended for Icarus, but stopped short as Felix mentioned the psychic's flight, turning to find that the hero had indeed disappeared. The mercenary rolled his head with an irritated grimace—he knew he should've punched the man with full force. He wouldn't make the same judgment error again. In the meantime, he tucked the letters into his suit-jacket alongside his own. He'd read them later when he had a moment.

A painted eyebrow quirked in skeptical curiosity and suspicion as Felix abruptly cut himself off. "More"? More what? Though tempted to pry, he recognized that Felix was far from emotionally stable at the moment. Likely the boy wouldn't react well to the prodding, and he didn't have time to chase him down again.

But then Felix's tirade had turned to Icarus with a remark that had Fury blinking in surprise and no small degree of discomfort. Was he really that obvious? Shit, he needed to be more careful.

Finally the boy seemed to have run out of steam, so Fury took his lapse into silence as his cue to respond. "Believe it or not, I'm getting pretty fed up with this situation as well," he agreed. "I got involved to cause trouble for a bunch of high-and-mighty assholes like Mr. Messiah Complex over there, not to get sucked into their overcomplicated world-saving bullshit."

With that, he turned back in the direction of the zoo's entrance. "Come on, let's go. I'm gonna be pissed if that self-righteous, two-faced son of a bitch steals my penguin after I went through all the trouble of retrieving him." Pausing thoughtfully for a moment, he turned over his shoulder to Felix, baring his fangs in a dangerous grin. "Oh, and if you ask nicely, I might help you get revenge on the guy." They both had reasons to hate this "Vengeance" fellow, and Fury was certain he could find some loophole in his contract that allowed for the two of them applying some "vengeance" of their own.

Making sure that the boy would follow, he struck out for the gate, long strides eating up the brick paths.

They're not even trying to hide their anger. They're coming.

And they're in no mood to talk.

Vengeance lightly touched down in front of a strange, cowering man hiding underneath the arch of the entrance. "And you are?" he asked with a tone of impatience. "Well? Spit it out!"

The man looked up at Vengeance the same way a prey would look at its predator. "Penguin! Derrick- Derrick Penguin!" he exclaimed, trying to recoil away, leaving the hero stunned at the answer.

"Penguin as in-" Kameron started raising his hand but suddenly dropped it to his side as he felt strength sap away from that limb.

Cameron? What are you doing?

Listen to me: we are not doing this. We are not playing this woman's game.

Then what do we do? Bring him to the heroes?

Or keep him to ourselves until we figure out what is going on. Either way— Kameron turned his head to see the mercenary and the teen a hundred feet or so away but striding nearer every moment— we're running out of time.

Turning back to Derrick, Vengeance took note of the parked cars in the zoo's parking lot. He then abruptly raised his arms and clapped Derrick in the ears, knocking the man out cold. He stood back up straight and turned to face Fury and Felix, raising his right hand towards the mercenary in the form of a finger gun as he did so. Without leaving time to react, he dropped the thumb and launched a projectile of compacted air the size and density of a small cannonball into Fury's solar plexus, which would knock the wind out of the mercenary, possibly throwing him a good ten feet or so back. Given that the man was no ordinary human, however, Vengeance knew he would not stay down for long.

"I don't know what you are doing here today, Fury. Frankly, I don't care. You have the kid, now walk away," Vengeance said, taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves. As he spoke, three parked cars began to shudder before leaving the ground, lifted by an invisible force, and floating over towards Vengeance.

As the duo stepped into the main entrance of the zoo, Fury's sharp hearing picked up a familiar pair of voices—one impatient yelling, one terror-stricken babbling. Before the arch where he had left Derrick, a white-clad figure loomed over the man sprawled on the ground, frantically struggling to make distance from the threatening figure. So Vengeance had gone after the penguin. His penguin. His prize. The one thing that stood between him and a highly profitable interaction with the local heroes.

Then Vengeance turned, extending a hand toward him, and Fury didn't need to see what he was doing to know he needed to evade. The mercenary easily sidestepped the psychic's intended trajectory, twisting away as an invisible force whipped past dangerously close to his chest. Despite his indignation over the hero's behavior, he couldn't help the sneer that tugged at the corners of his mouth. So he wanted to fight? He'd better be ready to get his ass kicked because Agent Fury was done playing nice.

"Count yourself lucky that missed," he called out toward the man, continuing toward him unfazed. "I told you to keep out of my business. I promise you will regret not listening to me."

As cars lifted into view beyond the brick arches, floating closer to Vengeance, Fury's mouth widened into a ferocious grin. He threw his arms wide, a low chuckle rapidly swelling into full, deep laughter. "Go ahead!" he shouted in a voice that was more snarl than cry. "Make my day."

His heart raced as adrenaline flooded his veins, breath quickening in approaching exhilaration. He knew he'd get to do something fun that day.

All Felix could do was watch as Fury dodged the ball of air, realizing that he needed to bring out the big guns. Shielder was pretty dangerous and his name did have a reputation attached to it. "If you attack us, Shielder's going to come, and he's going to be even more pissed than Agent Fury. Then they'll both crush you like a bug." Vengeance would feel the deep conviction that Felix had that the moment Shielder was contacted, he would come. There was no doubt that Shielder wouldn't drop everything he was doing and come to absolutely destroy Vengeance or die trying. Even in Felix's mind, Vengeance would see some images that Felix saw, like Shielder using his shield to suffocate Vengeance without even being in the area, or Stumpy coming out of nowhere and kicking Vengeance into next week, or his favorite: vines wrapping around Vengeance's neck and hanging him from a tree, similar to a horror movie he had seen last week. His good will had left the building the moment Vengeance had used his powers on him.

Fury throwing his arms wide open while moving towards Vengeance was an interesting opener, to say the least. Almost immediately, three bolts of force would strike Fury midstride, one to the solar plexus to rob him of his air, one to the throat to cause him to choke, and one to his nose to cause his head to snap back. Meanwhile, Vengeance had yet to physically move another muscle. It seemed that for all that talk Fury had been spouting, he had forgotten that the hero's power was completely psychic. Sure, movement and pointing helped a bit with the concentration but it wasn't completely necessary.

As for the cars, Vengeance gradually minimized his influence on them, lowering them safely back to the ground. As a hero, Vengeance would not be as quick as Fury to resort to damaging property for the sake of a fight. Still, simply lifting them had evidently given him all the misdirection he needed.

With his entire concentration focused on Fury, Vengeance advanced with a continuous barrage of telekinetic blows to force back the mercenary, refusing to let Fury regain any momentum. He subconsciously heard Felix's threats but regarded Fury too much of a threat to ignore. Continuing to stroll towards the duo, Vengeance finished off the barrage with a snap, blasting Fury in the chest with enough force to knock the mercenary a good distance on his back, if not send him flying completely.

"Those aren't threats you throw around lightly, kid," Vengeance finally responded to Felix without taking his eyes off his opponent. He could sense truth in the teen's words but even so he couldn't simply allow somebody like Fury to run around without knowing what was going on.

We need to disengage. If other heroes are involved, they can come to us later, advised Cameron. Kameron nodded in agreement and brought his hands together as he began to lift into the air, gathering a large amount of concentrated telekinetic force to surround him.

Even as the mercenary proclaimed his challenge, piercing violet eyes remained fixed on the psychic, studying his every move. In truth, Agent Fury was far from the mindless brute whose role he preferred to play. Several mentors and over a decade of experience had taught him that assault rarely took the expected angle, especially when the attacker had stealthy or underhanded alternatives. With that in mind, when the hovering cars indicated no further movement, he immediately leaped sideways, twisting away from Vengeance as sure enough, the set of predicted blows whipped viciously through where he had been only an instant prior. He grinned at the backdraft the strikes left in their wake. Impressive: that might have even hurt if they'd landed.

He started forward but a sudden invisible barrage knocked him nearly off-balance, forcing the mercenary to a knee as he braced against the merciless bombardment, teeth gritted and the hand not pressed into the pavement to maintain his stance lifted to shield his face behind a muscular arm. Of course, knowing the patterns and the psychology didn't make the sneaky attacks any easier to calculate, or any less obnoxious. Neither did it adequately prepare him for the solid whack to the ribs that knocked the wind out of him.

The impact of his back meeting unforgiving concrete jolted him back into the present with a pained grunt. Recovering quickly, he immediately took advantage of the backward momentum remaining from the sucker punch to flip over onto the balls of his feet, one hand braced into the pavement as he skidded to a stop. Releasing a quiet humph to himself, he lifted his head to bare his fangs in an aggressive grin at Vengeance.

"You sure like to pound into a guy, don't 'cha?" he called out, grin widening in mischievous amusement at his own deliberately dirty remark. The grin turned dangerous with a low chuckle. "Keep it up, Domino. You'll see how much I can take." The white-clad hero seemed distracted, nodding slightly to himself as though listening to something. 'Listen to this, smartass.' The mercenary launched himself at Vengeance in a burst of speed unbefitting his size, right as the hero lifted into the air. 'Oh no, you're not getting away from me now.' A calloused hand snapped out to seize the man's near arm, aiming to yank him out of the sky and throw him to the unforgiving pavement with which he had just so rudely acquainted Fury.

You're rushing, underestimating, chided Cameron. Calm down, remember-

I am in control.

Vengeance was slightly irked upon seeing the first few blows miss their mark though the barrage that followed seemed to work better. Not enough, however, for as soon as Vengeance stopped to respond to Felix, the mercenary was already on him, latching onto his arm and flinging him to the ground.

The hero grunted as his back met the unforgiving pavement, redirecting some of the telekinetic force he had channeled behind him to cushion some of the impact. The moment Fury's fingers released Vengeance, he would feel a crushing force around his ribs and chest as Vengeance shaped the rest of his channeled power as a vise around Fury's torso, inhibiting his breathing and lifting him a good hundred feet into the air before he could latch back onto the hero.

Fury maintained a strangely calm disposition despite the abrupt and relentless force that had propelled him to dizzying heights nearly before he processed the psychic grip, his chest swelling almost defiantly against the crushing vise. Lidded violet eyes watched the white-clad hero far below, a self-assured grin still playing about his lips. What was he going to do—drop him? Hardly a heroic move, but Fury had already identified the psychic as unconventional. Either way, the mercenary wasn't bothered: he'd walked away from falls an ordinary human would consider severe enough times to be certain that the intensified severity of this height would be so slight as to be negligible.

Vengeance lay there for a moment, concentrating on keeping Fury suspended in the sky. He could drop the mercenary, or even smash him into the ground and continue the fight. Fury's supernatural durability, however, meant that actually hurting him would be far more trouble than it would be worth. Instead, Vengeance continued to hold him in the air as he picked himself up, grimacing as he felt pain shoot up through his side. Though his telekinetic buffer had taken most of the impact from Fury's throw, it wouldn't surprise Vengeance if several of his ribs had been fractured if not broken. The slight lapse in concentration caused Fury to suddenly drop, though the hero quickly caught the mercenary before he fell anything more than a foot. Vengeance gritted his teeth and got to his feet before turning to Felix.

"So Shielder is your what? Guardian?" Vengeance scowled, his displeasure and annoyance as visible as it was verbal. "Well, tell him Vengeance wants a word with him. I'll contact him when I'm ready."

He made his way back to the entrance of the zoo where his jacket lay next to the unconscious body of Mr. Derrick. Levitating both of them, the hero took off, flying up to Fury while staying out of arm's reach.

"You're a rather difficult person, Fury. All this could have been avoided if you had just answered some simple questions," he said with a sigh. "I'm sure this won't be the last time we see each other. I'll be in touch."

With that, Vengeance dropped him, letting the mercenary free fall back to the ground. Knowing that the mercenary would be fine even from this height, Vengeance did not bother watching Fury hit the pavement before taking off across the sky.

Watching with vibrantly violet eyes narrowed as Vengeance lifted to his height, Fury's jaw clenched in a surge of rage upon sight of the unconscious "penguin" held aloft in the psychic's grasp, just out of his reach almost as though the white-clad hero were mocking his state. He opened his mouth to form a snappy retort but barely had the hero finished speaking when the vise constricting his chest simply vanished. Oh, he did. The mercenary remained calm, a tight, defiant grin spreading wide across his painted face as he watched the ground rush up to meet him.

Though he rolled over one shoulder to disperse the force, the pain that instantly accompanied the collision with unforgiving pavement indicated clearly enough the micro-fractures shot through his shins in the shock of impact. Gritting his teeth against the white-hot bolts that pierced his shins, he dropped his weight back to sit on the cobble for the moment, resting his hands on his knees and taking a moment to breathe as he felt the fractures knitting themselves closed. Within seconds he was back on his feet, a glare lifted to the clear sky following where the hero had fled.

"What a fuckin' prick..." he muttered darkly to himself, his lip curling in disgust. His attention turned to his teen charge, who seemed to have stayed frozen where he stood the entire time. So much for the kid wanting revenge... He shrugged at the boy, feigning nonchalance despite his growing irritation at the whole clusterfuck of a situation. "Oh well. We'll get 'em next time."

Felix knew his limits well, and at the moment he couldn't do shit. The revenge would take some time to happen. Right now, he was a liability.

"I... right now... I have a bad feeling about him. Icarus wouldn't do anything to harm an innocent and his note said to support you. He would never have fought you if his intentions were pure," Felix reasoned, unfreezing now that the fight was over. It was difficult standing there, not being able to do anything to help or defend himself. More terrifying than anything else. "If I want to get him back, then I'll have to wait for a perfect time to do so. Or get Icarus to attack him, but I wouldn't do that to Icarus."

What Vengeance didn't realize that it was easy to make enemies, and when Icarus heard about this, shit would go south. Icarus was a mercenary second and his brother first, so this gross act of violation from a man who hadn't goddamn stopped to think or waited at all would probably be the man's undoing.

"What note did you get?" Felix asked, not really mentioning his own note or Icarus'.

Fury involuntarily lifted a hand to his chest where he had tucked his letter into his jacket, considering its contents. "Nothing of any import," he responded dismissively. "Just a superbitch giving me the easiest clue on the planet while attempting to psychoanalyze me and failing miserably because she doesn't actually know shit about me." He shot Felix a glance sharp with impatience. "But why are you asking about that? I don't have time for small-talk." He turned toward the arched entrances to the zoo, retrieving his phone from his pocket. "Come on, we need to find your brother and figure out how the hell to get my penguin back."

As he crossed the pavement, stepping around stray penguins as he strode, he shot another text to Icarus:

Reed: Turns out the hero-type who showed up is a two-faced son of a bitch. He stole my penguin and now he wants to meet with you, hopefully to give him back if he has any sense. I'm headed your way with Felix. Where do you want to meet?

He would retrieve his prize, and nothing that nosy turncoat bastard attempted could stop him.

 

[Astroblaze]

Fey

Gabriel

Fey Maslan | Gabriel Angelus/Templar
April 3, 2018 | early afternoon | Manhattan, NYC—Manhattan Police Department

---

collab with @Minerva
Spectre (@Astroblaze), Nicholas/Shadow (@LuckycoolHawk9), Emerald Dream (@Gands), Shielder (@slifer), Draku (@Draku69), Agent Fury (@Astroblaze)

Officer Fey Maslan strode down the hall of the precinct, one thumb hooked in her utility belt. Reaching the office of Captain Harper, she paused, turning toward the office. Through marbled glass windows the police captain's figure could be observed at his desk, the exact purpose of his movements obscured by the glass. The youthful officer took a seat in one of the chairs lining the wall just outside the door, retrieving her phone from her pocket as she settled down to wait.

Looking up at his greeting, the lady at the front desk returned Gabriel's query with a polite smile. "Yes, sir. Captain Harper is currently unavailable, but he will meet with you in just a moment. Would you like to wait by his office?"

Gabriel sighed and then nodded. "Yes, that will be fine," he said calmly. He stretched his right arm across his chest to stretch it out, and then put it back by his side. "I know the way."

He made his way through the maze of hallways and offices to Captain Harper's office. His uniform got a few looks from people making their way up and down the hall, but most people were just doing their own thing. Every so often, he adjusted his jacket. Finally, after two flights of stairs and five hallways, he arrived. He glanced at Fey and then at the door.

"You get called in, too?" he asked with slight humor in his tone.

Fey hadn't been waiting for long when her periphery caught someone approaching. She paid the figure no mind, assuming they were just using the hallway, but lifted her head at the greeting. Upon turning curious magenta eyes to the man, she instantly recognized his red-accented white uniform and stood, setting her phone on her seat and offering a hand to the man, lips quirking in a friendly smile. "Yes, sir. You must be Templar. I'm Officer Fey Maslan. I'm told we'll be working together."

He let out a small chuckle. "Indeed. Gabriel Angelus, at your service," he said, extending his hand to meet hers. "Must be something big if we're called to work together, huh, Miss Fey?" He was incredibly formal in his motions and speech.

Fey's smile broadened as she took his hand. "A pleasure, Mr. Angelus." Releasing his hand, she folded her arms thoughtfully, pursing her lips with a nod. "Certainly seems to be, from what I've heard. Apparently something serious and involving a handful of famous metas has gone down in Central Park. I wasn't given details but I'm sure Captain Harper will elaborate."

"Ah good, pacification," he said with a chuckle. "Preventing the apocalypse one situation at a time." He ran a hand through his hair. "Anyway, you're right, we should wait for Captain Harper." He took a seat and adjusted his sword and jacket.

"So, what's your power?"

Reseating herself beside him, Fey blinked in surprise at the query but then recalled her strangely hued irises. That must have been the giveaway. She couldn't help a slight chuckle at herself: she was so used to her eyes being a strange color that she'd forgotten they were a strange color.

"Body manipulation and adoptive muscle memory. Not so flashy as some powersets, and certainly not so much as yours," she added jokingly, "but practical and effective."

"Eh, powers are powers," he said calmly. He looked behind him. "So, how long's the captain been in there? Usually the meetings don't go on this long."

Fey shrugged. "Not sure. I've only been here a couple minutes. He probably has a lot more going on than usual, what with the sudden spike in criminal activity lately."

Gabriel chortled. "Tell me about it. I feel like I haven't caught a break lately." He adjusted his collar. "Either way, should be an easy fix, right? Get there, summon an angel or two, and then we take names and return here in the span of an hour or so."

Fey nodded, but she was cautious. "Hopefully, but you know what they say: hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

Just then, the office door opened as Captain Harper stepped out, hands folded primly behind his back as he turned to the pair seated outside.

Harper

"I apologize for the wait," he greeted them, his deep, smooth voice calm and controlled as always. "The call took longer than I anticipated." He gestured to the open door. "Please, do come in."

Rising from her chair, Fey followed the captain into his office, letting Gabriel pass her before pushing the door shut.

"Have a seat," Captain Harper invited the pair, gesturing to the chairs before his desk as he reseated himself in the chair behind, folded hands resting on the polished wood as keen eyes observed the pair.

"Thank you for arriving on such short notice, Templar," he briskly began once the pair had taken their seats. "We've received several calls within the last hour or so of violent metahuman activity in Central Park, including the unauthorized distribution of an uncertified and confirmed dangerous drug reported to grant or enhance metahuman abilities. Clearing the situation may require your expertise considering the figures identified on-site."

He indicated Fey, who cast a friendly smile to Gabriel before returning her attention to the captain. "I'm assuming you've already become acquainted with Officer Maslan. She is herself a metahuman and one of the most skilled officers in the force. She will act as your partner."

"Of course, it's no problem. You're a busy man," Templar said with his trademark smirk. "I hope the call went well."

He took the seat offered to him and cleared his throat and straightened his jacket. He glanced around the room as he sat down, checking the walls and windows.

"Of course. I came as soon as I could. Traffic was a bit heavy, but it all worked out." He let out a small chuckle and a strange wave. "Anyway, I understand. Is a narcotics squad already there to take the drug for analysis after we deal with the situation?" he asked calmly. "I'm just curious about the sitrep on what we might be headed into."

At the mention of Fey he nodded. "Understood. We should get along well, Captain."

Fey ducked her head slightly with a bashful smile at the captain's and Templar's analyses of her. "Thank you, sir. I hope we will."

"A squad will accompany Officer Maslan and yourself to the scene," Captain Harper affirmed, "as will a few other officers. The central area from the reports appears to be Bethesda Fountain. A couple officers are already en-route and should be present when you arrive," he added. He paused, recollection drawing his brow slightly together. "However, a more recent caller reported that the table carrying the drugs has since been set on fire amid a brief skirmish, presumedly by Spectre."

Fey straightened in her seat, narrow eyebrows lifting in surprise. "Spectre, sir?"

"Indeed. He is one of the more recognized heroes identified on site."

Fey's lips pursed in a concerned frown. "He wouldn't do something that drastic for no reason," she murmured, half to herself. "It must have gotten serious."

Captain Harper nodded in agreement. "According to eyewitness reports, Nicholas Harris, alias Shadow, is hosting the event that started this incident. Other well-known heroes were named as well," he continued, "including Emerald Dream and Shielder. There have also been sightings of one 'Silent Thunder'," he added with a frown, "which is not a name we have on record. He may be new to the scene. Maintain caution."

Fey nodded in agreement. "Of course, sir."

"However," the captain added, tone turning serious, "Agent Fury was also spotted, though I'm told he has since left the area. Be on the lookout: it's difficult to predict his motives. I'm sure you're both well-aware of how dangerous he can be." He leaned forward slightly, piercing eyes urgently stern in warning. "If you see him, do not engage and report in the sighting immediately. A specialized team will be deployed to neutralize him."

'This better pay well,' Templar thought as he heard the names listed and the fact that it was more of a riot than a small incident.

"Understood. I may need to change my tactics. I don't want anyone getting needlessly injured," he said with a head tilt, giving a slight glance to the cellphone and pistol he had holstered. At the fact that the drugs had been destroyed, he shook his head and sighed. "They must have panicked, or it got heated. Something of the sort. That's not something someone would do for no reason. Assets like that are too valuable to just waste like that." He started chewing on his thumbnail, slowly grinding it with his teeth as the captain continued. This was going to be more intense than he originally thought. He'd have to change his combat style on the ride there.

"I'll keep a lookout, sir. I think we can handle this, we'll just need to be more careful than normal and not get involved with Agent Fury." He nodded to the captain and to Fey, and then prepared to get up before he had a thought. "Any last things we should know before we go?"

"Just be on your guard," Captain Harper summarized. "I'm told the situation has escalated rapidly since Spectre incited the first altercation. You may be entering into an active riot zone," he added warningly.

Noting that the detective seemed satisfied, the captain turned his attention to the officer who remained seated before him. "Do you have any further questions?"

Fey shook her head. "No, sir."

Harper dipped his head slightly in acknowledgement, then inclined it toward the door. "Then you're both dismissed."

Rising from her chair, Fey turned and followed Templar out.

Templar gave a nod to the captain as he stepped out. "Yes, sir." As they walked out, he held up a pair of keys, which clinked as they hit one another. "Separate or same car?" He twirled the key ring in between his fingers. "I'm fine either way—six one, half dozen the other. It's all a matter of convenience."

"Oh, I wasn't thinking about you having a vehicle," Fey admitted with a sheepish grin, fuchsia eyes turning to the white-suited detective as she kept pace with him, one thumb hooked into her belt. "I planned on driving the both of us in my cruiser for ease of communication if perhaps limiting our transport options."

After a moderately short walk through the police department, the pair crossed the parking lot behind the building to the distinctive black and white-striped cruiser parked nearby. Stepping into the driver's seat as Templar took shotgun, Fey started up the cruiser with a low rumble of a powerful engine, flipped on the overhead emergency lights, and pulled out onto the road.

The drive started out quietly, with Gabriel changing a few things on his phone. He finally tilted his head. "Oh, I should mention: If my eyes turn red or white and I start acting erratically, please handcuff me until I pass out. It's a weird aspect of my powers: if I stretch too far, I get possessed. Theophany, the angel, is kind enough, but Leviathan, the demon, is... something," he said calmly.

Fey spared a glance from the road to briefly turn a concerned frown to the man sitting beside her. "Eek," she muttered to herself. She knew little about the more supernatural side of the metahuman population and hadn't considered the possibility that such a thing could backfire. "Alright, I'll do that," she agreed, lifting her voice to address him again though her eyes remained on the road this time. "I guess we'll just have to hope it won't be necessary."

"It should be fine," he said calmly. "I've arranged everything so I won't go past my current strengths." He looked at his phone. "Was just giving a heads up."

With an understanding nod, the young cop fell silent a moment, carefully considering the situation that they would soon be entering. "If Spectre is still on site, we may be able to speak with him," she noted, beginning to lay out a potential action plan in her mind. "I'm sure he'd give us a clearer perspective on what happened. I'm not as familiar with the other heroes, but it'd be worth our time to approach them as well if they're willing."

Templar looked out the window as they drove and finally turned when Spectre was mentioned. "You have a personal connection with him or something?" he asked, with a slight chuckle to his voice.

"We run in the same circles, so to speak," Fey explained. "Mutual connections. I don't know him super-well, but we're on friendly terms." She smiled a bit to herself, considering what she knew of the man. "He's a pretty nice guy. His methods are unorthodox, for certain—though aren't most heroes'?—but he just wants to help to the best of his ability. Honestly, I think he'd make a good cop." She scrunched her nose, frowning slightly at the road. "I think his day-job is in IT or something crazy like that, though." After a moment, she shrugged, mostly to herself. "Well, you get all types in the hero business."

"I see. Maybe you should spur him to join, or maybe form a private agency or something," he said, adjusting his arm and putting it against the car handle. "Just a thought."

Fey blinked and glanced over to Templar at his suggestion. Considering his remarks, she humphed, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Huh, maybe. I'll pose him the option next time I see him." Pausing in realization, she pursed her lips. "He probably wouldn't be let into academy with his track record, though. That's why I was and still am so careful about mine."

He continued staring out the window at the people walking by as they drove. He did one final check of his pistol, taking out the cartridge and loading it back into the gun. "Looks to me like we're almost there," he said, pointing out two cop cars parked off the side of the road.

A few short minutes later, the dull gray buildings lining the road turned to lush green foliage, warm sunlight striping the cruiser as its overheads left patterns of red and blue on the tree trunks. Fey slowed as near their destination the road turned notably congested with civilian and emergency vehicles alike parked somewhat haphazardly along the curb until a fire engine blocking the way forced her to pull off and park her cruiser behind another.

Shutting off the vehicle but leaving the overheads active as a warning, she double-checked her equipment and stepped out of the cruiser, adjusting her collar as her skin prickled with the newly sparked preparatory growth of scaly armor about her torso and crawling down her arms, mostly hidden under her uniform except for the nape of her neck, where the dull yellow-hued scaling soon started to peek out of her collar. With a glance back to ensure Templar followed, she adjusted her cap low over the callous-like growth that had started to frame her face, forming a tough protective layer over her temples and creeping along the line of her jaw.

Skirting between police cruisers and ambulances, their emergency lights casting their distinctive two-toned patterns about the area, Fey stepped around the hastily erected fencing onto the brick-tiled expanse surrounding Bethesda Fountain. Unfamiliar uniformed metas bustled about frenetically, working in tandem with the law enforcement already present to subdue the raucous, jostling crowds. As she watched, one of the several paramedic teams present rushed a stretcher bearing an unconscious man into the back of an ambulance and the vehicle sped away, sirens wailing. What voices Fey could pick out from the civilian masses were raised in anger liberally striped throughout with fear bordering on panic. Tension saturated the atmosphere, mixing with screaming sirens to leave the air heavy and bitter, but at least much of the rioting seemed momentarily under control, at least in this area. Fey hadn't a doubt their services would still be desperately needed elsewhere close by.

She released a low whistle, pausing where she stood to wait for Templar. "It's situations like these I'm glad there are superheroes in the field who can be the first responders before the first responders," she noted to him. Fuchsia eyes scanned the crowded grounds, searching for any familiar faces who they could approach for further information.

 

[Astroblaze]

Valerie

Meghan

Valerie Newmann | Meghan O'Neill
April 3, 2018 | early afternoon | Manhattan, NYC—Central Park

---

collab with @Huntress, text to John/Spectre (@Astroblaze) and Victoria (@Gands)
Ana (@Huntress)

After parting ways with Ana, Valerie and Meghan maintained something of an awkward silence for the first few minutes of their walk to where Valerie's phone indicated would be the nearest train station, allowing the dark-skinned woman to muse back over the situation that they had just left. Though her initial anger had since faded, she remained frustrated over Meghan's impulsive actions. Finally she realized with a heavy sigh that she needed to say something.

"Meghan," she addressed the other woman, a firm hand to her shoulder forcing the blonde to stop and face her, "we need to talk about what happened back there."

She took a quiet breath, preparing herself before turning a stern gaze upon Meghan. "You have to stop letting your emotions control you. You're going to get someone seriously hurt, and most likely it's going to be you." She lifted a hand toward the direction that they'd come from, reminding both of them of the horror that had transpired on the bridge. "You heard what Ana said about the electricity she absorbed. If she hadn't evaded your attempt to touch her, the sheer force of the current could have killed you. How do you think that would've made Ana feel—having to spend the rest of her life carrying the knowledge that she killed the one person who meant the most to her?"

She tilted her head, eyes softening slightly in sympathy as she considered the woman before her. "I understand that you're concerned about her. She's your dear friend—it'd be strange if you weren't. I'm concerned about Spectre every time he enters a violent situation," she admitted, hoping the parallel would show how well and personally she understood, "but I don't get involved because I know that I'd just make the situation worse."

She lifted both hands to Meghan's shoulders, dark eyes earnest. "I know doing the right thing is rarely easy," she assured her, "but you have to develop the willpower to do, or not do, what you have to or it'll only hurt you in the long run." She tilted her head with a slight shrug. "Eventually it will become natural."

The silence was uncomfortable and heavy. Meghan had kept her eyes on the ground as they walked. The whole scene had been on a loop in her mind, from the instant that Valerie had pushed her back to the moment that Ana had yelled at her. It made her heart race, confusion and fear still lingering within her. She had almost died to save her friend, who was superhuman. What did she think she'd be able to do to help Ana, of all people? She had instinctively reacted—the idea of being a distraction at the cost of her life, to give Anastasia a chance to get up... it was ludicrous, yet she still did it, without a moment's hesitation. The severity of her choice only setting in after the fact. After being yelled at, after being rejected. She blinked rapidly against the thoughts as she swallowed back and shook her head slightly to make sense of the situation, of her process. It didn't seem that there had been any sense, just recklessness and impulse. Meghan wasn't typically impulsive, only when strong emotions got in the way did she act out. Everything she did was calculated and thought of, analyzed and then put into action. Of course she cared for Ana, but it seemed that the connection was maybe deeper than she had thought... maybe.

As she clenched her jaw against the fluttering sensation in her chest, which she could only associate with anxiety, she felt Valerie's grip on her shoulder. Exhaling at the sound of her name, the blonde looked up and met the dark browns opposite her. All she did was listen, her gaze moving away from Valerie after a moment and lingering past the other's shoulder before falling back to the ground. Meghan didn't think she had the right to respond to what was being said. She knew she had been in the wrong, and arguing wasn't something she liked to do. Cloudy greens came back up to browns. There was a small nod as she looked away. "Okay," she muttered almost mindlessly. Hearing the words was one thing, processing them was another.

Meghan's mind was distracted, her ears picking and choosing what she wanted to analyze and think about or try to make sense of at least. Meghan wasn't sure if she'd be able to learn how to deal with all of this, how to handle it. She wasn't even sure if she truly wanted to. The escape of air from her nostrils was harsh as she turned to continue walking.

"You have to stop letting your emotions control you. You're going to get someone seriously hurt, and most likely it's going to be you."

Valerie's words repeated in her head. 'No emotions,' Meg told herself with a nod. It would be difficult but she'd have to start somewhere.

"How do you think that would've made Ana feel—having to spend the rest of her life carrying the knowledge that she killed the one person who meant the most to her?"

The internal debate had already started upon remembering more of Valerie's words. So she wasn't allowed to let her emotions dictate her actions. Did that mean that she would just have to become emotionless towards Ana? Ignore their past and history, all those feelings that existed between them? She narrowed her eyes as she pondered. If Ana cared so much, if she was truly so important to her... then wouldn't Meghan turning her emotions off towards their situation hurt Ana? She didn't want to hurt her. That's what she was trying to avoid. Sighing, Meg shook her head, gaze dropping back to the pavement beneath her feet. Perhaps now wasn't the best time to try to figure this all out. She needed time to clear her head, get in the right space to be able to better analyze and understand the situation. Maybe a drink or two would help with that.

"Meghan," Valerie called out after the blonde as Meghan pulled away from her, hurrying to catch up with her. Even while she'd been speaking, she could tell that the other woman hadn't been entirely tuned into her words. She was uncertain how much Meghan had picked up on and was worried that the other woman missed the point of what she'd been saying.

"Meghan," she insisted, laying a hand on the blonde's shoulder as she kept step with her, "you need to hear this. All of it." But Meghan remained unresponsive, lost in her own thoughts.

"Meghan." Hand tightening on her shoulder, Valerie forced the other woman to stop and turn back to her, tone turning stern aiming to snap her out of her stupor. "Look at me. I need to see that you're listening."

Once she was certain she had the blonde's attention, she persisted, "I want to make sure you heard me say that you don't need to not be concerned at all. It's okay to be concerned for your friend's safety. It's okay to express that, too. You should care about her well-being—she's your friend, it'd be concerning if you didn't. You just can't let that make you put yourself in harm's way for her sake. Do you understand?"

The tightened grasp and forced action had Meghan stopping, eyes flicking to the hand on her shoulder before looking up at Valerie. Rolling her shoulder to rid herself of the other's grip, she pushed aside the woman's hand.

"I get it." She spoke with narrowed eyes and perhaps a hint of irritation. "Don't get involved in the metas' business and don't stress about what they're doing. I understand." She clenched her jaw and exhaled heavily before turning back around to carry on towards the subway.

The blonde simply needed time to process properly, she needed to relax and do what she did best: think, analyze and figure out the best option for herself and how to handle this situation. She had been the one to push Ana into helping those metas out, maybe even think about the whole hero business. That meant that Meg had to work out her side of the deal, whatever that would entail.

Valerie pursed her lips slightly at Meghan's terse reaction to her insistence. She hadn't intended to make things tense between them. She just wanted to ascertain the other woman's safety.

Keeping step beside the blonde in an uncomfortable, uncertain silence, Valerie took the opportunity to send a quick update text to Spectre and Victoria:

Valerie: Meet site changed to the Nook

Hopefully they could inform those of their group whose numbers she didn't have.

And now back to Meghan. The woman knew she should say something to clear the air and move them past the heavy topic that they'd just been discussing.

"So," she asked, a bit awkwardly aware that the subject change might come across as abrupt, "how long have you known Ana?"

Meghan wasn't paying much attention to the outside world. She kept an eye on her surroundings when crossing side streets and roads but beyond that she was distracted, lost in her thoughts. The blonde was trying not to think about the whole situation that had just taken place, that small hint of stubbornness that came through when she set a goal in mind not allowing her to shove the thoughts back. She just wanted to find the middle ground, where she could stand in this whole situation with Ana, and not be a hindrance or useless. Clenching her jaw with a sigh she finally managed to look up and straighten. There was a small shake of her head as she scoffed and exhaled slightly, swallowing back the uncertainty as her gaze dipped again.

The thick silence that somehow managed to block out even the bustling sounds of New York was broken by Valerie's words. Meg glanced up at the other for a moment before returning her attention to the sidewalk again. "About five years," she responded simply, almost bluntly.

Valerie emitted a soft hum in acknowledgement of the somewhat terse response, dark gaze dropping to the path they walked along. She was uncertain how to respond and Meghan seemed disinclined to elaborate. Honestly, the blonde seemed distracted, lost in thought. After what had just transpired, Val could guess that she had plenty to process, though she'd never been wont to pry. Perhaps it was best that she keep quiet for the time being.

Nodding slightly to herself, Val released a quiet breath through her nose, lifting her head to observe their surroundings. Beyond the usual city bustle, the park seemed relatively quiet—ordinary, even, as though unaware of the recent and possibly ongoing metahuman chaos within a mile of their location. She could almost forget what they'd just left herself in an atmosphere such as this.

 

[Astroblaze]

JohnR

Warren

Matthew

John Reidenbach/Spectre | Warren Tanner/Wildfire | Matthew Harris/Twiggy
April 3, 2018 | early afternoon | Manhattan, NYC—JFK airport

---

collab with @LuckycoolHawk9, text from Valerie (@Astroblaze), text from Jonas (@LuckycoolHawk9)
Aaron (@Minerva), Mystification (@LuckycoolHawk9), Michael (@LuckycoolHawk9), Colton (@LuckycoolHawk9), Ana (@Huntress)

Just over two minutes after departing the park, Spectre found himself soaring over great white structures and vast gray tarmac: the JFK airport. Narrow eyes instantly honed in on a flurry of activity near one of the terminals and the vigilante dove for the apparent center: a flame-enveloped pyrokinetic run rampant upon the area while a young man lay unresponsive on the pavement nearby, a figure clothed all in green kneeling beside him seemingly attempting to revive him.

Spectre shot forward, diving between the pyro and the pair on the ground and twisting toward the former with an ectoplasmic shield spreading from his crossed arms just in time to deflect the scorching blast of flame from its intended target. Immediately the vigilante leaped upon the pyrokinetic, slamming into him shield-first nearly at speed to thrust both of them away from the grounded pair.

Once he calculated that he'd made sufficient distance to get those on the tarmac out of harm's way, he leaped backward away from the pyro, hands spreading open and slightly flexed at his sides as the shield melted into deadly green energy wreathing them, equally brilliant eyes fixed on the pyro.

"Stand down!" he commanded the other meta in a voice that rang out over the airport. "This will be your only warning!" Now that he was facing the meta, he realized that the other man seemed oddly familiar... He'd figure it out later.

Warren felt like a stranger in his own body. Yes, he understood that he was the one actively shooting flames all across JFK airport, but it wasn't like he was in control of what he was doing. The second after Aaron had landed the plane, he had lost himself. He had to wonder what this said about himself. The other two didn't seem to be able to be mind-controlled, but he was Mystification's puppet. Something that couldn't be stopped because he wasn't there. This wasn't his fault.

But on the other hand, he knew. He fundamentally knew that it was. He was the one who had not resisted the mind control. He was the body she had used to kill Michael's sister and Blaze. Oh fuck. He had never been in control. But when and how? Warren understood it was mind control or at least programming, but how far did it go and who had done it? Who was Mystification to be able to get close to him? And why was it harder to resist now?

Matthew watched Warren from a distance. Of course, he knew of Wildfire—with a name like that, he couldn't forget him. And this wasn't him. Something was happening and he could clearly see that. Now if the other man saw that was a different story entirely. Or if he believed it—some people had a hard time accepting the truth.

Warren wanted to say he couldn't, but he had no control of his lips and instead flames were shot at Spectre. He looked at him and struggled against the control and after the fire blast finally replied: "I-like- can't- to-stop-destroy." It was notable that every other word felt fought for, almost as if he was trying to get a message to Spectre.

Repelling the blast with a shield projected from a lifted hand, Spectre's eyes narrowed at the pyro's strangely forced-sounding response, mouthing the words to himself. 'I... can't...' His eyes widened in realization: the meta was being controlled. Was this also Myst's doing? Perhaps, but did that even matter? Neutralizing the man had to be his immediate priority. He could puzzle out the fine details of the situation—including why the other meta seemed so vaguely but insistently familiar—when he wasn't trying to avoid getting set on fire. In the meantime, this new revelation changed his objective in a significant way. It wouldn't be fair to the meta to merely beat him into submission when he was the unwilling participant of his own actions. He watched the other man with eyes soft in sympathy, hoping that his gaze adequately expressed his apology for what he was about to do.

"Then I'll stop you for you," he responded quietly. A sudden, lightning-quick lunge set him upon the other meta, one ectoplasm-shielded hand whipping forward for an open-palm strike to the corner of his jaw. The best outcome of this situation would be to knock the pyro out as quickly and cleanly as possible.

Warren was thankful that Spectre had deflected the attack with a shield, even if he shouldn't be. He knew that Myst would want him to be angry about it and want him to be miserable. God, he hoped that the meta knew he was being controlled, but he wasn't certain about that. He looked around the field to see what else was happening, though it was a struggle to see through his own eyes. It was mostly in small, quick flashes. The hero known as Twiggy moving civilians out of the way of the attacks and making sure the other hero was away from the action. The planes avoiding him. It was so weird to think that he could see all these things, but it was so hard to come into focus. God, he didn't want to do this. The damage that was being done was so massive, not just to his powers, but to his reputation. First a murder, now a terrorist attack. When he did finally meet Myst, he would punch or slap them. If it was a dude, one cold, hard knock-out. If it was a lady, one soft slap and a lot of shouting.

Though he could barely hear it, he did hear 'stop you.' That was all he could hope. He struggled to resist blocking it. He knew Myst wanted more damage, but he wasn't about to give her what she wanted. 'This is my life, and you don't get to control it, you... monster.' He let that be his last thought before the punch connected.

The instant the heel of his hand met the pyro's jaw, Spectre knew it had been a clean shot. He watched the man sag almost before his head snapped sideways, the inferno wreathing his form petering out as the brilliant red faded from his hair and shuttering eyes. Immediately the vigilante wrapped an arm around the man's shoulders, swooping with him as his levitation was suddenly disabled to catch up his knees with his other arm before the man could fall too far.

Descending smoothly to the ground in the shade of a terminal, he dropped to one knee, laying the limp pyro gently on the pavement. With a quick scan of his surroundings, he identified with gratitude the green-clad hero, who he now with a clearer observation recognized as the local speedster Twiggy, keeping the curious and awed crowds at a safe distance, though with no small irritation he observed the strong sunlight glinting off of several phones. No matter how dangerous the situation, there was always that one idiot hellbent on becoming internet-famous. Not far from the crowds, an ambulance, overhead lights flaring in frenetic patterns of red and white, had pulled up near the unconscious man he'd noticed earlier, paramedics swarming around him in a flurry of activity that the distance made mostly indistinct. Overall, the situation seemed under control, thankfully with minimal damage and—so far as he could tell—no casualties, aside from that one young man whose state didn't seem to have been caused by the pyro anyway.

Turning his full attention to the pyro allowed Spectre to fully process that the man was almost completely naked aside from a simple set of presumedly and thankfully flame-retardant boxers, blackened fragments of what the mutant assumed had been his clothing flaking from his skin. That was an issue: he'd need to figure out a way to cover him to keep him protected from the elements and whatever else could arise.

It was very obvious that it was a clean shot and people were already taking pictures of it. Twiggy had to sigh. Everybody wanted their five minutes of fame and loved to spread misinformation about heroes. What he was more concerned about immediately was the fact that the pyro's secret identity was about to go as the brilliant red faded from his hair and his eyes closed. He couldn't exactly break their phones, but he needed to draw their attention to something else. Anything else.

It was fortunate that he had moved the crowd fast enough back to have trouble seeing the face, even if they used the zoom feature on their phones. That being said, he knew civilians had used less information to figure out secret identities. It was better not to underestimate. He was getting frustrated, but then he realized he knew the answer. He checked the time and sighed—well, not yet. There seemed to be a ton of idiots here who wanted to get famous. He was thankful the ambulance had arrived and that nobody had gotten a chance to see who the other man was and had been perfectly timed to be ignored. He was thankful that the situation was good and that the damage had been so minor, and it was with that slow realization that it dawned on him. What if it had been done on purpose? The murder on the news from last night, the simple defeat here. What if... oh god, that couldn't be it, or could it be? He was worried that he was right, but he wouldn't be certain until Myst made her next announcement.

Twiggy noticed that the crowd was starting to get bored and die down. Those who had tried for the fame were leaving and only one or two were left, but were more interested in the ambulance than they were in the charred mutant who had been shot out of the sky. He was thankful that was the case as secrets were something that he liked to try to keep. At least he wasn't completely naked, which was a relief as well.

Leaning his weight into the arm propped on his raised thigh, Spectre rested his other hand on the pyro's muscular chest. He knew all-too-well that he could miscalculate even his own strength at times—fortunately not yet to manslaughter, but he wanted to be certain. To his relief, he did feel the man's chest rising and falling in a slow and even cycle. When he lifted the hand to his head, gently parting the eyelids of one eye, he found the hazel iris rolled back, unresponsive to light. Yep, out cold.

Sitting back on his heels, he considered the man for a moment. Now that he'd successfully put the pyro out and on the ground, how would he deal with him? He couldn't just leave him here: the man could be injured exposed as he was, and what would happen to him when he woke up? But neither could he turn him in: his crimes were not his fault.

Suddenly, without warning as he studied the man's face, it clicked: this was the man who had been briefly present at the Nook the previous night. Spectre recalled dragging him into the basement to break up the fight between him and the headstrong brother of the murdered girl, questioning him there only to find him completely unaware that anything had transpired moments before he shifted into a completely different person, and later witnessing the warlock who introduced himself as Colton separating him from the two with whom he'd been fused. He and Ana had brought the trio back upstairs, and when this one had woken, he had quietly left the bar alone and seeming a bit lost and confused. Now he reappeared here under a form of mind-control—this incident had to be connected to Myst.

A sudden sharp buzz from his hip startled the mutant from his musings. Retrieving his phone from its pouch, he found a new text from Valerie:

Val: Meet site changed to the Nook

He could bring the pyro with him. The man might have useful information about Myst, and besides, Spectre wanted to ensure that he would be alright after the blow he'd been dealt. Further, perhaps they could put their heads together to determine how Myst was controlling him and use that information to help him break free.

Twiggy took a moment to make sure that the other meta hadn't killed Wildfire before he would come over to talk to him. That certainly would get the attention of the cops and they wouldn't be too happy about anything that had happened. It was something else that time hadn't brought more danger here. He took a deep breath and used his speed to go over to talk to Spectre, knowing that was the best approach as he didn't want to startle the other meta.

"You know that was pretty brave and stupid of you. One miscalculation and he could have been dead and this would have been a whole different conversation we would be having. Name's Twiggy, but I doubt that you didn't already know that. You know, something about this is just all sort of wrong, though," he said, looking over at Spectre.

"If this is supposed to be a recreation like Myst wanted—and before you ask, the villain made sure I got the message too, no matter how much I didn't want it—here's the thing: some of the finer details to this case, especially if this is the recreation I think it is, are wrong. The plane nearly crashing and the mind control are right, but here's the thing: the civilian casualties aren't. If this is the case I'm thinking of, that number should have been a lot higher: closer to the whole plane. But that's not the big thing—there should have been more damage here to the airport itself. It's almost like this is a warm-up to something bigger, like a tease to make us think these things are going to be imperfect before the villain turns around and makes them worse then the originals ever were. Oh, by the way, I can tell you with safe honesty this is one of the recreations, but I have always been bad with remembering numbers."

Twiggy felt his phone vibrate and he groaned as that thing had sent him a text message. Huh—it was the case number. Well, that was... oddly well-timed.

Thing: Case number 13, dear brother.

"Maybe we should bring Wildfire off of the field and to wherever you want to go. I don't think it will be safe to keep him here if we want to keep his identity secret. Also, I just got the case number in a text from one of the villains: thirteen is the recreation that Myst was going for. But still, it's very wrong: too small-scale. It's almost like it's being built up."

Starting slightly as a figure suddenly appeared in his immediate periphery, Spectre lifted his head to find the green-clad speedster himself standing across from him. Annoyance at the somewhat patronizing warning from a meta who appeared even younger than himself drew a slight frown to his face, but he maintained a calm tone as he rose to face the other.

"Don't worry, I've been at this awhile. If I'd miscalculated, he may have been injured, or on the flipside he may have just been stunned, but he wouldn't have been killed. Spectre," he added by way of brief introduction, extending a hand to the speedster. "I've been pursuing vigilantism for about four years now, but I'm not surprised you wouldn't recognize me—I'm usually more nocturnal and I prefer to stay out of the public eye, though I'm well-aware I haven't been entirely successful." He paused for a moment, the furrow in his brow slightly deepening with a wary glance about their surroundings as that remark reminded him of the curious crowds just out of sight. Hopefully, no one was brazen enough to search for them. "This is a bit of a strange and uncomfortable situation for me," he admitted, "but I know when I'm needed."

Twiggy was at least glad that he had lifted his head when he had spoken to him. He was so used to either being ignored by the other heroes or considered annoying, even if that wasn't his intention. He noticed the slight frown and knew that he should have shut up about the super-strength punch. Maybe this hero knew what he was doing and wasn't like others he had met.

Twiggy wondered how come he didn't know who Spectre was, or had ever heard of him before today. He was grateful to hear that the other meta knew how to control his own powers. "It's nice to meet you, Spectre," he said, taking his hand in a handshake. "Boy, your hands are cold." He was surprised that the other hero had been pursuing vigilantism for less time than him, but then again, he wasn't exactly a hero for that time. He had spent the first thirteen years of his life powerless and just living to his father's expectations. Of course, that had all changed when he had turned thirteen and gained his super-speed. Then his father had taken him out on missions… And it had been good. Well, no, it hadn't. His dad always had the problem that he wanted him to be perfect in everything, no mistakes ever. So for nearly five years, he had to keep his grades up while being the best. He had nearly cracked under all that pressure.

Returning his attention to Twiggy, Spectre shrugged. "My body temperature is naturally lower than it should be—side effect of my mutation." He responded to the speculation about Myst with a grim nod. "I rarely assume anything of a villain, especially one who I haven't previously encountered. Never expect someone who finds violence 'fun' to pull their punches."

He paused, glancing to the unconscious man on the ground between them as the conversation turned to him. So this was Wildfire? He recalled watching news reports about the vigilante years before becoming meta himself. Was Myst responsible for the once-famous hero's eight-year disappearance?

"I'm already planning that," he affirmed. "I and a few allies are working on gathering the missing documents to try and prevent the catastrophes that Myst intends to set in motion. We may be able to help him, and I'd hazard a guess that he could help us."

Twiggy looked over at him with his grim nod and paused, thinking it over. "Yeah, I have the habit to assume a lot, but it has been difficult with Myst: the villain hasn't given us much to work off. Well, mostly. I have noticed a recent thing—Myst seems to like musicals—but that can fit a very large number of people. It would take forever to figure it out on just that information."

Twiggy had to wonder why they had accessed the public files if the original ones were lost. He could only assume Myst had destroyed them or locked them up. "I think that is a good thing. We certainly don't need more reasons for the city to fear metahumans more than they already do."

Nodding silent agreement to Twiggy's words, Spectre turned his gaze to scanning their surroundings once again. Wildfire would need some form of covering to protect him from wind chill while they were in flight. Spectre disliked stealing, but given the situation, he had little choice in that matter. He couldn't exactly approach someone and ask for what he needed: that would beg too many uncomfortable questions for which he frankly had no time or answers. A moment's observation identified that the ambulance hadn't left yet, though it seemed close to. It might have an extra blanket that he could use to cover the man.

Wailing sirens assailed the mutant's sensitive ears, pulling a start from the man as he turned to watch the police cars pulling onto the tarmac, thankful that he had thought to hide himself and Wildfire in the shadow of a terminal as he had no desire to deal with law enforcement at the moment. In the same moment, however, he realized another possible resource that the squad cars had opened: police on the scene of a meta crime would be carrying meta cuffs, which would prevent Wildfire from attacking him if Myst took control of him again.

"Can you keep an eye on him for a moment, make sure nothing happens to him?" he asked Twiggy, stepping away from Wildfire. "I'll be right back."

Twiggy ran his hand through his hair and once again got lost in his thoughts. Eighteen was when he had first come out as a superhero and it had gone terribly. He could hardly believe that he was getting back involved now. He had been trying to keep things on the down-low: small rescues that wouldn't be too damaging or cause collateral. But here he was, in the middle of an airport, talking with another meta about Myst and what the villain wanted. He wasn't sure, but he had seen something like this before. God, this was the second time that he had dealt with someone like this.

Back when he had started, almost seven years ago, he had came across the network of small-level criminals, working under one boss. The Shadow Manipulator was the name he had gotten from them and for two years after that, he had to deal with all of the collateral he was causing to make change. Someone who could weave his words from the shadow and make people do his bidding. It had taken four years to locate him and even after that, he never did catch him. He just vanished without a trace.

Snapping out of his trance, he would hear Spectre's question. "Yeah, I can keep an eye on him," he said, not knowing where the hero was going and it was bothering him as well.

With that, the ghost mutant shifted into invisibility, self-gravity manipulation lifting himself just enough from the ground to make his approach untraceable as he turned and glided toward the nearest police car. As the officers left the vehicle to approach the scattered groups of civilians still watching from a distance, the vigilante, exchanging weightlessness for intangibility, ducked through the car door, shifting all but his shins and feet tangible to kneel on the driver's seat as nimble fingers explored the most likely crevices until he found the object of his search in the center console. Snatching up the cuffs and carefully restoring all else the way he'd found it, he shifted back into full intangibility and quickly distanced himself from the vehicle.

Switching intangibility for weightlessness, the vigilante honed in on the ambulance next, a swift glide carrying him directly into the back of the vehicle. Sure enough, he'd soon located a pale gray shock blanket tucked against the wall near the rear doors. Avoiding collision with the paramedics bustling about the cabin, he tugged the blanket free of its pocket and retreated from the ambulance right as the doors slammed shut, tucking the soft, folded fabric under one arm as he turned back toward the crevice where his charge was hidden.

It had always bothered Twiggy that he had never figured out who the Shadow Manipulator was and how he had gotten away from him. Though, Twiggy referred to Shadow Manipulator as male, but he wasn't even sure that the person was male. It was just easier to attribute a gender based on the voice he had heard from the criminal phones and how it went. For all he knew, it could have been a woman with a deep voice. That was his problem: he had gotten himself into a situation just like when he had first started. He had started to notice the natures of the villain that had gotten away and Myst were very similar: the way they taunted people and made sure they were the one who was in control. It was all of those little details that were making him slightly worried. Could this be someone from the past and if so, had they planned this from the start?

But then again, things could happen and not be connected. Maybe Twiggy was trying to force something together that made sense to him but wasn't right. What were the odds that a villain from nearly three years ago had resurfaced at about the same time he decided to start some minor heroics? It was probably just a wild coincidence. It had to be. But what if he was right? Maybe he should bring this up to the others when he talked with them. The fact Myst and Shadow Manipulator could both do some minor mind-control was just too… strange to be a coincidence.

Spectre dropped both effects upon himself a few paces from Twiggy and Wildfire, walking the rest of the way to the pair as he pressed the fingertips of his freer hand to his temple with a slight grimace to dispel the pressing ache from switching between the three physics-altering abilities in such rapid succession. Taking a knee beside Wildfire, he snapped the cuffs onto the pyro's wrists. "The cuffs are for his safety and mine," he explained with a glance to Twiggy, predicting that the speedster would ask, "just in case she tries to control him again." That done, he retrieved the blanket, offering one corner to the other hero. "Can you help me wrap this around him?"

Twiggy paused when Spectre reappeared and looked over at him. "You know, the police cuffs they use on metas are actually terribly designed. Not because powers can be used on them, but all it takes is one slip of water on them and they break. I actually brought that particular complaint to the police a while back and it looks like they still haven't fixed it. Just hope that it doesn't start to rain today and we should be good."

Spectre frowned with a quiet humph at Twiggy's warning. "I'll keep that in mind." It would be beneficial to Wildfire to give him water when he awoke—perhaps the cuffs could be covered with a towel.

"Huh, I thought you don't assume. You referred to Myst as a she. But yeah, sure, I can help with the blanket-wrapping," Twiggy said, grabbing the other corner to help Spectre wrap him up. "If you don't mind, may I also come with you to the meeting? I have a theory about something."

Spectre merely shrugged. "Not usually, but I was present at one of her vocal announcements and the voice was certainly female. To be fair," he conceded, "that doesn't necessarily mean that Myst is female, but working under that assumption has been simpler than using singular 'they'."

With Twiggy's help, Spectre quickly and efficiently bundled up the unconscious pyro in the blanket, lifting the man into his arms to securely cradle him against his chest, Wildfire's head nestled in the crook of his shoulder. The ghost mutant noted as he cautiously rose to his feet that the arrangement was a bit awkward and clumsy given that the older hero easily stood a head taller than himself, though the weight was little issue with his enhanced strength.

He blinked at Twiggy's request, turning his attention back to the speedster. "Actually, I was just about to ask you about that," he affirmed, adding seriously, "At this stage, it seems that any help will be beneficial." He paused a moment, frowning slightly as he referred to his memory for the meet-up location's address. "Meet me at the Nook—the bar at 161 Lafayette Street. My companions are currently in Central Park, but the plan is for everyone to rendezvous there shortly. You might also check Bow Bridge since that was the original meeting location to ensure no one missed the update," he suggested.

"But now I should go," he continued, stepping back from the green-clad hero as he shifted into flight. "I'll see you there." With that, he activated invisibility as he lifted into the sky, only releasing once he'd ascended beyond identification range despite the strain of extending invisibility to Wildfire and maintaining alongside weightlessness. At a lower altitude than he would usually use for air travel, he paused, a brief glance about the cityscape far below assessing his location, then gradually accelerated toward the Nook at a speed a mere fraction of his usual to accommodate the man in his arms, keeping Wildfire close to his chest to shelter the man from the wind as best he could.

Twiggy looked at him and he didn't say anything about him. "Yeah, I hope nobody ever abuses that, but you can never be too careful," he said, making sure that he was looking at him for a brief moment though.

He blinked twice and considered something though. "I can see why there might be some confusion if you use 'they' as it isn't exactly fair. I didn't catch up on the nature of the recording when I got mine and I guess I didn't really think to check to see if there was a way to figure out the voice," he replied, looked over at him.

He was thankful that they had gotten Wildfire wrapped in a blanket and was securely cradled in the chest of the other hero to make sure that he was safe. Twiggy was taught better than to laugh at other heroes and he bit his tongue down, but he would definitely keep the mental image in his head if he ever needed a good laugh at the expense of another. He wondered if he was going to be happy that he asked him about coming and it wasn't imposing.

It was always good when he was on the same wavelength as someone else and that he was about to ask him the exact same question as well. "Well, I guess great minds think alike when it comes to being a hero. I don't think I can say no to helping him," he said, pausing for a moment when he heard the location. "I have heard of it, maybe I will take a quick swing by Bow Bridge to make sure nobody is waiting there and looks dumb," he said, knowing what it was like to be left out of the loop. It was terrible and nobody should have to feel like that. That was a fact that he would always stand by no matter how long he lived.

"I expected that you might have to go, I'll see you at the Nook," he said, waving him off, knowing that it was definitely a good idea to stop in Central Park before the Nook. If he knew one thing, it wasn't likely that things were going to get easier after all. Hopefully, his father wasn't causing too much trouble, but knowing him and the thing, he wasn't too sure about that. Probably by now, everything had died down. It was nearly three now. But on the other hand, it was never a bad idea to swing by. He paused and decided against it, going instead to talk with his mother. Maybe it would make him feel better if he kept her and PW in the loop.

 

[Huntress]

April 3rd - 2018 – Central Park Zoo, NYC

As Ana flew overhead with her jaw tightly clenched and her eyes narrowed she watched the park below her. Her expression may of seemed like one of anger, but it was a mix of slight discomfort and worry. No matter how hard she fought to keep those thoughts out of her head she couldn't. A heavy exhale escaped her nose as she began her descent towards the zoo. Landing on the bricked pathway she walked towards the front gate. The small rattle of paper against metal had her attention, raising a brow she approached the entrance and spotted an array of bright white envelopes fluttering in subtle winds. Cocking her head to the right slightly she reached forward and lifted the first one, a name was sprawled across it. It wasn't her own, Spectre is what it said. As she sighed heavily she moved on to the next one. A sudden sense of unease knotted in her stomach as she swallowed back.

Continuing on along the gate she read names and aliases, some familiar some not so much. Eventually she stopped, storming irises focused on the envelope in her grasp. With a deep breath she snapped the ribbon that tied the paper against the bar. Looking down at it, her gaze lingered. Across the front it said 'Aegis?' the question mark was confusing even to her. Of course she wanted to know what the meaning to all this was, who had put these here and why. Always wanting answers, always needing to know. Although, she had an idea of who was behind this. Tearing one side of the envelope she pulled the smaller piece of paper out and unfolded it before her.

Dearest Ana,

Sometimes people surprise me. You were certainly one of them. Especially since you are— you know what you are and did. Of course, it might just be a mask. A mask to hide that you are terrified of yourself. Of what you are. I can understand if that is the case. Actually, I can sympathize if that is what it is. Of course, you are still getting yourself involved. Old habits die hard as do bad ones. I would drop a clue, but I feel like by the time you read this, there will be things already in motion. So, just know that I know. And I don't have any plans yet for you— but there might be, now that Aegis is back.

XoXo Myst

P.S Tell Meghan I said hello and love that she is a part of it. All of the fun things she can help me with. Ta-ta.

Her jaw was flexed, teeth almost ground flat and smooth as she exhaled sharply through flared nostrils. Shoving the paper in her pocket she looked back up at the collection that remained. Ana had told Valerie and Meg to head to The Nook, Valerie had said she would get in touch with Spectre and Emerald Dream to inform them that, that was the new meeting point. Anastasia hadn't seen Vanessa since the oddly timed and out of place moment they had while trying to help the Alerio's; and she hadn't seen Spectre since he had set fire to the chemicals. The note mentioned clues, although Ana hadn't been given any, maybe the others had? If so, did she take these and bring them back to The Nook?

Taking whatever envelopes she found with familiar names she held them gently before turning around. No one else was here. Had whatever was supposed to happen at the zoo already taken place? Looking beyond the gates curiously she swallowed back and stepped closer. Peering to the best of her ability she spotted nothing but a horde of penguins running amok. The sight was enough for her to raise a brow as she looked at the birds briefly. A sigh eventually escaping her before she turned around and prepared to leave.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

MENTIONS:
- Astroblaze - Spectre, Valerie Newmann, Samuel Alerio, Felicity Alerio
- LuckycoolHawk9 - Mystification
- Gands - Emerald Dream

 

[Gands]

Vanessa O'Toole. Aka Emerald Dream

It had been a rough day already. Leaving the park and a great deal of disgruntled folks there. She started to parkour her way to the zoo when something large jumped in front of her.

Emerald sighed " Always with the delays, nothing but fricking delays" She said this mostly to herself.

The Minotaur looking thing managed a fierce grin, managing a few ugly words of it's own.

" Look at the pretty green girl, I'm ready to play little girl ! "

Lucky for Vanessa, he wasn't too skilled at fighting, relying on his new found muscle power. She had speed, agility and strategy on her side. Plus her long years of martial arts training. Though he was stronger than her, she wasn't not without a supply of super strength of her own, but probably less than half of what he could bring to bear. While dodging in and out of his reach, causing him to clumsily miss her several times while becoming more and more frustrated. She then concentrated on his lower legs and his abdomen. She punished his middle with strikes meant to use his nerve clusters against him.

He did manage to tag her really hard once, sending her crashing into a deserted popcorn stand. She shook it off just as he rushed at her. She dodges out of the way to trip him, finishing the poor stand off completely. Just then she jumps on his back, peppering him with nasty nerve jabs. Weakened, he tries to get up but is finally over come. She restrains his wrists and ankles with good hard steel manacles and takes back off towards the Zoo.

Once at the Zoo, she indeed found the gate with several notes left there. She pulls one off with her name on it. She stares at it for a moment, and shoves it into a pocket. She stands there another moment convincing herself she doesn't need to read it right that moment. Right about then there is a scream. It was the scream of someone younger she thought, a desperate sound. She raced that direction.

In the distance there was someone wearing white flying, male she thought, but it was a distance still. In the corner of her eye as she was doing parkour through the zoo, there was a group of penguins loose. She couldn't spare much thought to that..The flyer was back up again and as she got closer it seemed now that there was another man up there with him. She lost sight for a moment, then she heard something slamming into something else.

She almost emerged out of the bushes When she stopped, hearing Fury's voice and that of a young man, teenager probably. Going away in the sky was the figure in white, with another limp body flying nearby it seems. She took a picture with her phone and backed back into the bushes.

She started to search another area when she got a text from her sister { " meet at Nook" }
She moved that direction in something of a hurry.

 

[Gands]

Victoria Murphy

Attorney at law Victoria Murphy was in fact bored stiff. Especially after the drones got blown all over the place. After a bit they seemed to come back on and one by one she got most of them airborne again. There was a movement away from the park and into the Zoo. Drones captured Anna's battle with the electric guy, Emerald's battle with the Minotaur looking guy and Fury's battle with Vengeance. At one point Vengeance picking up the teenager that was traveling with Fury who seemed to have some sort of ... breakdown for lack of a better word. Clear shots of faces were retrieved in every case the drones managed. This included the man Vengeance flew off with.

Victoria did get the text from Valerie. Shortly after getting the drones sent back to base, she directed her own driver to head towards the nook. She sends a text to Shielder { " heading out of the area, local bar, called the Nook. Others will be there, likely sharing knowledge there, you are invited, but not absolute, come if you wish"}
@slifer

 

[Astroblaze]

JohnR

John Reidenbach/Spectre
April 3, 2018 | afternoon | Manhattan, NYC—The Nook

---

carrying Wildfire (@LuckycoolHawk9), Charles (@Huntress), texted Emerald Dream (@Gands), texted Firefly (Michale CS), texted Martin (@Astroblaze), texted GRC NPC
Mystification (@LuckycoolHawk9), Ana (@Huntress), Meghan (@Huntress), Valerie (@Astroblaze), Silent Thunder (@Draku69), Twiggy (@LuckycoolHawk9)

Carrying Wildfire substantially slowed Spectre's airborne progress to the Nook, due not to the unconscious meta's weight but merely to his presumed inability to withstand the high speeds that the ghost mutant was accustomed to utilizing in travel—at least, Spectre wasn't about to assume that the meta's resilience was equal to his own and potentially injure the man. He had little concern over being late to the rendezvous—frankly, he expected that the rest of the group would still be occupied in the park—but he was concerned that his captive might wake up during the journey. He expected the man to panic upon realizing his state, or worse, for Myst to regain control of him. Either alternative could result in severe harm to both of them.

Fortunately, the nearly quarter-hour flight experienced no such incidents excepting Spectre almost getting hit by a bird due to his unusually low traveling altitude. Activating invisibility for himself and his cradled, blanket-swaddled captive as he closed in on the Nook, Spectre was surprised and confused to spot a small but notable handful of civilians through the windows. If the bar was open for business, where would the heroes gather? He didn't recall the building being all that large or with that many separated areas.

Touching down in the shadowed, dingy alley around the reverse of the establishment with barely a rustle from black soles meeting black gravel, Spectre released invisibility as light footsteps carried him up to the building. Careful not to drop Wildfire, he lifted a wrapping-bound hand and rapped thrice on the back door. The mutant stepped back, wary green irises darting about himself in search of any potential prying eyes.

Prepping some of the raw food items for whoever came into the bar for the night, Charles bobbed his head along to the music playing through a small radio in the kitchen. He refilled containers for condiments and prepped the fryers for anything that needed to be dunked in. From there he worked on filling salt and pepper shakers, vinegar containers and ketchup bottles. Wiping his hands on his apron he moved on to washing some dishes. Turning to move towards the counter to sharpen the knives, he froze in place. A familiar form stood before him. A tall, thin woman. Her hair was long, just above her bottom, dark brown almost black. Her eyes were also a deep dark brown, a honey-coloured ring just around her pupil. Her facial features were strong and high, similar to Charles', but she was younger.

"I've been calling to you for the last five minutes." Her voice was almost ethereal, echoing trails were short but also made it sound like she was distant. "There's-" Her words were cut off by the rapping on the door.

Both Charles and the woman looked towards the sound. From the side, the two were almost identical, the only difference between them being the fact that one was male and the other female. Looking back to the woman, Charles seemed confused and perhaps a little worried. "Do you know who that is, Angeni?" he asked.

"I don't know his name, but he is not human," she responded. "Be careful Cheveyo," she urged as she folded her arms across her chest.

Swallowing back, the man nodded towards the other before slowly approaching the back door. Pushing it open, he met the glowing green eyes opposite him. Narrowing his eyes, Charles looked at the unconscious man in the other's arms before looking at him again. "You are?" he asked, standing his ground despite not knowing exactly who or what he was facing.

"Oh- uh, I'm Spectre," the hero introduced himself, offering the man a somewhat bashful smile painfully aware of how awkward he was being before an unfamiliar face. He couldn't help a slight self-conscious chuckle at the stranger's skeptical glance to Wildfire. "It's... a long story. May I come in?" he requested, changing the subject. "I'm told we're to meet here." Glancing nervously about himself once more, he continued, "I can explain in a moment, but I need to get out of the open. You can never be sure who's watching, not with everything that's happened over the last couple days." He hoped the stranger would understand his implications, having surely been present for the chaos in this very bar the previous night.

'Spectre?' Charles questioned internally as an ethereal chuckle entered his ears. Glancing up and towards his right just slightly, he spotted Angeni leaning against the wall with a smile on her lips. The name sounded familiar to him, and as he looked back towards the metahuman, Charles clenched his jaw. There was no sign of ill intentions from the man, but he was sure to find out soon enough. With a small nod from Charles, he stepped back and humphed, his arm extending towards the right: the small inlet before the walk in fridge would keep the white-haired man out of sight while Charles dealt with any patrons in the store.

Angeni appeared behind Charles, over his left shoulder, her arms folded across her chest. "This Spectre doesn't seem to be anyone you should worry about. He has potential for darkness, but the light in him is strong. The one in his arms is a little worrisome," Angeni explained.

"Keep an eye on them," Charles muttered.

She watched him walk off through the doors and into the main area of the restaurant, her deep brown eyes staying on the two before her. Her presence hadn't been noted yet, and she hoped it would stay that way.

With a grateful smile to the chef, Spectre slipped through the open door, naturally light footsteps barely whispering across the tile as he ducked into the indicated inlet. He straightened against the concealing wall, shifting Wildfire closer to his chest to further protect and hide the unconscious man. As he listened closely to the chef's actions, expecting some form of all-clear signal, the other's muttered remark drew a skeptically quirked eyebrow from the mutant. Who was he talking to? He hadn't spotted anyone else in the kitchen, but perhaps another employee could utilize invisibility like himself. Whoever it was, Spectre wasn't concerned: the chef may not know him, but if he was a friend of Ana, he was on their side, so anyone being instructed to keep an eye on him would be as well.

As Charles stood in the doorway that separated the kitchen from the rest of the establishment, he looked around. Thankfully, for the moment it was empty. A pint glass sat on the bar with a little less than a sip of beer left in it. Walking to the front door, he locked it, the 'open' sign was turned off and he pulled whatever blinds and curtains were available on windows and doors. Walking towards the bar, he took the pint glass and dumped it.

"It's safe!" Charles called out as he rinsed the glass before putting it through the wash cycle. Wiping his hands with a random rag, he stood tall, eyes towards the kitchen as Angeni appeared next to him. Looking at her for a moment, he pulled his phone out and searched for Meghan's number.

At Charles' call, Spectre stepped out of the kitchen into the dim light of the bar, instinctively scanning the close room.

"Who told you to come here?" Charles asked as he opened the conversation with Meg. "Was it Ana or Meg?" He clenched his jaw as he typed out a message to Meghan: 〔There's a meta here with an unconscious man. Said his name is Spectre. Someone told him that he was supposed to come here. I locked up for now.〕

Hitting send, he slipped the phone back into his pocket before looking up and folding his arms across his chest. "Care for a drink?" Charles' brow came up as he stood tall and broad behind the bar.

"My friend Val, actually," Spectre responded as he laid his charge gently along the seat of a booth, "though now that I think about it, Ana may have told her."

Turning over his shoulder, he again scanned the bar, this time with a thoughtful frown. "Meghan is Ana's friend, right?" he clarified. "The blonde? I'll admit I expected her to be here. Is she with Ana?" he asked, noting Charles' momentary attention to his phone and wondering if he was contacting one of the women.

At the other man's offer, he shook his head, though with an appreciative smile. "Thanks, but I don't drink."

He should probably eat something, however. With the momentary lull, his body's insistent reminder that he had eaten little more than a protein bar and a hasty lunch in Chinatown since an early breakfast over the course of the high-energy day became substantially more obvious. Likely the others would be hungry as well: they could grab a bite to eat when everyone had gathered. Hopefully one of them had managed to get ahold of the last two documents.

"Val?" Charles muttered his question aloud as he watched the metahuman. His response was a nod. "Yes, Meghan is friends with Ana," he said just to make sure his point came across. When the meta didn't want a drink, Charles took a glass and poured himself some Sprite.

"Meghan was here earlier but she said something came up involving the situation from last night so she left," he explained. "I can't say if she's with Ana or not. Ana didn't come in at all today." There was another sip as he clenched his jaw. If Angeni said this man could be trusted, then Charles had no issue discussing with him. "I'm not quite sure why Meghan or Ana would recommend for people to meet here. It isn't really much of a headquarters type of space. I don't get paid to ask questions and ponder these things. I just do what I'm told." He shrugged with a gulp of his drink.

Spectre just barely resisted an embarrassed facepalm when he took note of the drink that Charles poured for himself. Of course the man hadn't only been offering alcohol, what was he thinking. Oh well, he didn't need anything anyway.

"Most likely just because it's a discreet location that we all know and can reach with relative ease," he commented to explain the location choice, lightly hopping up to perch on the corner of the booth's tall back. Oh, speaking of the rest of the group—he retrieved his phone from its pouch on his belt and opened his texts, resting his forearms on his thighs with his soles braced against the side of the booth.

〔Change of plans: we're meeting back at the Nook,〕 he texted Emerald Dream and Firefly, relaying what Val had texted him at the airport. 〔Make sure the others know: I only have your contact info.〕 Considering the faces he recognized at the event, he got an idea. 〔And if one of you could speak with Silent Thunder, he might be able to help us.〕 Perhaps Twiggy would bring allies along as well. He'd just have to wait and see.

As he shifted to return the device to its pocket, his eyes met a familiar name in his message list and he paused. Perhaps the answer to Wildfire's condition was a phone call away.

Switching to Martin's contact, he hit dial and waited, one thigh jogging anxiously against the booth. As the dial tones repeated at an agonizing rate in his ear, he impatiently hopped down from the back of the booth and started pacing restlessly along the tables, shoulders tight with brow furrowed.

"Hello, you have reached the voicemail box of Martin Fisher. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I'm free."

Spectre's shoulders slumped with a sigh as he ended the call. Lowering his hand, he silently studied the screen until it timed out to Martin's contact information.

"He'll call me back," he murmured, reassuring himself more than anything else. It was difficult to predict how long Martin would be caught up in work, especially on such occasions as he needed the nurse to actually leave his workplace. Hopefully it would be soon enough.

While he had his phone out, however, there was one more resource that he had nearly forgotten to consult. Leaning back against Wildfire's booth, he left his texting app and switched to the app that shared center stage on his home page, a bold purple acronym over a red ring stark against the swirled green background.

LabSpook0117 has created a new thread "Central Park Surveillance" in the subforum "Spectre's Network"

I need eyes around Bethesda Fountain, as many as you can spare. What's it look like out there? Also, if I can get any eyes around the zoo and the park in general, that would be greatly helpful.

Within moments of posting his request, the app pinged with a response.

Yeah, I'm still at the fountain, and I'm telling you, it is a disaster area. People are yelling, screaming, there are a lot of sirens, just generally loud as hell. A lot of people have been hurt, too—there've been a handful of ambulances in and out of the park and I can still hear more. I think at least one person is dead, like literally fucking dead. This is the worst catastrophe I've seen since the incident in Queens last winter. I'm sure there'll be a ton of pretty significant cases out of this if people can figure out who to blame.
So yeah, it's pretty bad out here. We could really use your help if you can spare it

An image attached to the post turned out to be a panorama of the user's surroundings. Spectre hissed an appalled breath through gritted teeth at the horrific condition of the fountain area.

I can't, unfortunately. I'm not far—if the situation is truly desperate, I can find a way to make things work—but otherwise I'm tied up in a pretty serious way. Are there other heroes on site?

Yeah, several. Small-name folk—I mostly don't recognize any of them—but they're doing what they can to clean up

Thank God this was advertised for heroes at large... Though about the blame situation, I know for certain that much of it can be pinned on a certain Mr. Harris for starting the whole thing and introducing deadly serums into the picture without adequate warning, but... I know some of it is also my fault considering that I took it into my hands to destroy them and thus added open flame and a great deal of stress to the situation.

Don't sweat that, you did the right thing imo. You're a hero, and heroes keep people safe, and sometimes that involves making a mess. If you hadn't said anything, no one would've known the danger of those drugs until it was too late, and then who knows could've fallen victim to them?

Spectre couldn't help a slight smile to himself at the encouragement. In the depths of the stress of vigilantism, it was comforting to know that people still rooted for him.

Well, that doesn't negate the fact that I could have done what I did in a less destructive manner, but thank you nonetheless.

No problem man

 

[Draku69]

Draku would look to the children and beckoned them to follow, with a slight jerk of his head, as he turned to lead them away from the area. He paused, looking over his shoulder slightly, waiting for his temporary charges to get their bearings before moving onwards. "Where should I leave you?" He'd ask, walking as if on a leisurely stroll through the park.

 

[Astroblaze]

Felicity

Samuel

Felicity Alerio | Samuel Alerio
April 3, 2018 | afternoon | Manhattan, NYC—Central Park

---

Draku (@Draku69)
Ana (@Huntress), John (@Astroblaze), Templar (@Minerva), Fey (@Astroblaze)

Felicity quietly listened to the interchange between Draku and Ana as she gently helped a trembling Samuel to his feet, wrapping a reassuring arm around his shoulders. The curly-headed young man just clung to her, distrusting his own ability to support himself on his feet. He closed his eyes in a weak attempt to shut out the chaos around them as his stomach turned in his lingering anxiety, the disquieted fluttering of his heart stubbornly maintaining the light breeze that sighed about him but thankfully progressed no further than making itself known.

"Our car is parked by the eastern entrance to the park," Felicity quietly answered Draku's question. "If you can get us there, I can get us home."

Home. Finally. More than at any point in this affair, Samuel desperately needed somewhere familiar and safe, or at least incrementally moreso than anywhere else. Not that he ever felt safe, but it was something, at least.

But speaking of safety, where was John? Samuel didn't much feel like opening his eyes to check again considering what else would meet him, but he hadn't seen Spectre since the hero had set the table on fire. Why wasn't he the one escorting them back to their vehicle? Hadn't he promised to protect them in the event that something of this nature came up? Why didn't he stop it from happening in the first place? Did he even know?

Though she had no way of knowing this, Felicity shared many of Samuel's questions as she cast a nervous glance about the bustling area, once exciting but now only hostile and frightening, her eyes darting between the shouting crowds and the harried officers and heroes who struggled to control them in search of the white-headed mutant to no avail. Fortunately, neither group paid the trio any mind except for a pair of heroes who, observing Samuel's state, hastened to clear their path away from the scene.

One final search drew the teen's attention to a familiar face, seeming to have just arrived, standing on the outskirts of the scene with a hero clad in red-accented white. The young policewoman's eyes gleamed a brilliant fuchsia in the shade of her hat-brim, the afternoon sun casting strange golden shadows about the scaly growth that framed her round face. Before Felicity could identify the figure, the pair disappeared into the chaos as she hurried Samuel down the sidewalk after Draku.

 

[Gands]

Victoria Murphy

Victoria made herself busy during the limosine drive. As the drones came back to home base.. Complete downloads were quickly made and sent by courier to an employee at her firm. One copy was put in a safe. Another sent by messenger service to Val's office. Still another was sent to the Nook, to her own attention. She gave instructions to have research done on any of the metah's whose images were captured by the drones' cameras.

As she arrived at the Nook, she had her driver pull around to the back alley. The limo's extensive security and surveillance system spent several moments before it gave her the all clear.

She got out, now in an expensive full length jacket and matching hat.

She was about to knock when....

 

[Gands]

Vanessa O'Toole aka Emerald Dream

Emerald probably escaped the zoo, not far ahead of law enforcement and nagging media helicopters. Disappearing into alleyways at a full superpowered run. She could easily reach 50 mph with inhuman grace and agility. Even so, she was careful to travel as out of sight as she could manage to the little neighborhood bar.

Once in that neighborhood, she did a careful check of what surveillance equipment was there, under cloak of Darkness hopefully. She added a couple of cameras of her own. Ultra high tech numbers to watch likely areas where the bar might be watched. With both of these, there was a coded wireless feed. She watched her half sister then pull up in the limo. She dropped off a fire escape as Victoria is at the door and the limo is making itself scarce.

"Good evening Victoria, a good feeling to know my attorney is hard at work !"

There was humor in Emerald's voice now. Her stealth betrayed by the scent of salted butter and the stubborn attachment of a couple of popcorn kernals. Which of course, Victoria turns and delightedly takes several moments to remove.

" it is going to be difficult to give your usual superior appearance and attitude when you smell of butter Miss Emerald. Just the same, I am glad you aren't hurt!"

Victoria then knocks at the back door of the bar.

@LuckycoolHawk9 @slifer @Huntress @Astroblaze. @Minerva. @Draku69

 

[Huntress]

April 3rd - 2018 – The Nook, NYC

The silence had remained thick and heavy between the two as they walked to the station and even during the ride. Had it not been for the humdrum of the city and the noises of traveling via subway it would've been painfully awkward for both parties involved. Meghan was in and out of her own thoughts for the entirety of the trip. The silence in her mind was nice for the brief moments it existed prior to being bombarded by thoughts and questions. She moved almost robotically, leading the way for Valerie but not necessarily paying attention to see if she was still being followed.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, tearing her from the almost emotionless state she had been in. Halting to take the device out, Meghan was quick to read the text from Charles before she glanced towards Val. "Spectre is already at The Nook." She stated simply before continuing on in the direction of the establishment.

Walking around to the back entrance Meghan reached for her keys and looked up to see two others standing by the door. Raising a brow for just a moment she recognized one of the two and nodded quickly. "Ladies." She muttered and stepped passed them to get the back door open. Using her leg to prop the door she waited for everyone to enter before she slammed it shut behind her and made her way into the main dining area, eventually stepping behind the bar. "Drinks are on the house everyone." Her voice was low as she looked between all those present, her gaze lingering on Valerie as a flash of the recent events played back in her mind. Clenching her jaw she sighed heavily and reached for a bottle of Kraken. Taking a shot she then poured herself a double rum and coke, taking out another glass with a brief sigh, Meghan made another double rum and coke before sliding it towards Val with a brief nod.

Keeping the spiced rum in her hands she walked out from behind the bar and made her way into the kitchen to sip at her drink, alone, in her own thoughts and in silence. She moved all the way to the back of the kitchen, taking a seat atop a mostly empty counter, she gripped the top tightly, cloudy emeralds staring at the shelves chock-full of miscellaneous food items, her drink right within reach.

Charles had heard the commotion at the back entrance, and from where he stood he could see straight through the kitchen and to the back door. Ana and Meghan were the only others that had keys for that entrance. Watching curiously as he raised a brow, he spotted three women walking in before the familiar form of Meg made her way through the group. She seemed distraught. Giving her space and remaining silent, his gaze turned to Angeni who sat atop the bar casually. Her attention was on the blonde before she looked towards Charles with a concerned expression. Watching his boss step out from behind the bar and towards the kitchen he shot one last glance towards the phantom before turning to try and spot Meg. She must've gone all the way to the back. He told himself. It wasn't often that he caught Meghan looking upset, and he was positive he had never seen her this upset. Something serious must have happened.

Sighing, Charles did a once over of everyone in the room before walking to the back. An emotionless, almost frozen Meghan staring blankly at...well, nothing. "Hey." The man spoke softly. Meg's attention shifting towards Charles after going through a small startle.

"Hi Charles." she nodded towards him quickly and attempted a fake smile that wouldn't even fool a child, before quickly looking away with a heavy, torso raising sigh.

"Is everything alright?" he asked as he stood next to her.

"Uh...I wouldn't say so, no." Meghan's expression was one of confusion and worry.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Charles was hopeful with his words.

Reaching for her glass Meg took a sip of her drink and shook her head as she held the glass close and stared at the floor. "No. At least not right now." she swallowed back and looked up at Charles with a soft smile and a quick sharp exhale from her nose. "Thanks though." she said before taking another sip of her drink and looking away with another heavy sigh.

Charles chose to remain silent as he nodded towards Meghan. He didn't often get involved in other people's business and he certainly didn't like to prod. Turning away after one final glance he walked back into the main bar area.


April 3rd - 2018 – New York City

Rolling her right shoulder and loosening up the tension in her neck with a groan Ana eventually launched herself up into the sky. High enough to get a decent view of the city as a whole below her. The former heroine narrowed her eyes as she looked towards the mainland. Shooting in that direction she found herself hovering once again as she seemed dead set on finding something specific. Sparks still danced across her flesh, the occasional twitch here and there was subdued to the best of her ability. Finally spotting what she was looking for she flew in that direction and eventually landed in the midst of a scrap yard. Her landing was stable, calculated and executed with minimal damage. Thankfully the place was off the beaten path away from anything dense. The silence and desolate atmosphere was definitely a good thing.

Walking through heaps of metal, rubber, foam and plastic, Anastasia kept her eyes peeled. Approaching any car she spotted on the ground; she peered through windows, under the hoods and in the trunks. After a few totally gutted vehicles she began to grow worried. Stumbling upon an old dilapidated looking shed she clenched her jaw and sighed. She had wanted to do this without causing an inconvenience to someone, but her options were growing thin.

Approaching the shed and the box attached to one of its exterior walls she took a deep breath before looking around. Opening the box she looked at all the connections and cables, gritting her teeth she pulled her fist back and plunged it through the power box. The currents ran up her arms swiftly as she closed her eyes and bared her teeth with a groan. The moment of discomfort and pain lasted for longer than she would have liked.

As the currents grew within her core she could feel them swell and reach their capacity. There was a single moment of nothingness and in that second Anastasia opened here eyes, irises consumed by the blue-ish silver hue of crackling energy, her form almost completely covered in electrical sparks before the energy was expelled in a loud, bright explosion. The area surrounding her was scorched as she fell to one knee, panting. Dust and dirt that had been disturbed starting to settle around her and the damage caused by the electrical explosion. Staggering up to her feet she shook her head as she looked at the sparking metal box. Disappointment came across her features as she took in what she had caused in such a short amount of time. Swallowing back she shuffled along the gravel of the scrapyard. Dull ambers looking up to the sky. Clearing her throat as she carried on with a huff she stopped.

Her gaze shifted from the ground back up to the sky. Bending at the knees with a small stumble she sloppily shot up into the sky. Upon feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin she halted her flight and allowed herself to free fall for a bit, eyes closed, basking in the solar radiation. Stopping herself from falling past the lowest lingering clouds Anastasia hovered briefly before slowly pushing herself to fly forward at a leisurely pace.

She could feel the heat spread across her body as her cells worked to absorb the solar energy as quickly as they could. The dullness in her eyes slowly beginning to fade as she carried on towards The Nook. Anastasia took her time getting there, she wasn't quite sure what would come next and she would rather be ready for anything than under-perform in a situation that put people's lives in danger.

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

MEGHAN
- Astroblaze - Valerie Newman


MENTIONS:
- Gands - Emerald Dream / Vanessa O'Toole, Victoria Murphy

 

[Astroblaze]

JohnR

Valerie

John Reidenbach/Spectre | Valerie Newmann
April 3, 2018 | afternoon | Manhattan, NYC—traveling from Central Park - The Nook

---

Emerald Dream (@Gands), Victoria (@Gands), Meghan (@Huntress)
Ana (@Huntress), PW (@LuckycoolHawk9), Ian Booker (@LuckycoolHawk9), Catherine Harris (@LuckycoolHawk9), Colton Blake (@LuckycoolHawk9)

Valerie trailed after Meg mostly on autopilot, dark eyes drifting absently about their surroundings as she reviewed and processed everything that had happened thus far. Considering the situation Spectre had described to her, he'd need everything she could give him. The recent activity had strained her lingering bruises from the car wreck, a dull soreness provoking a slight limp on the leg that had slammed into the center console. She was just thankful bruises were the worst she had sustained.

As they rounded the block approaching the back of the Nook, the young woman spotted a sleek black limousine pulling away from the bar and, as they stepped into the alley behind the building, two familiar figures waiting by the back entrance. She greeted Emerald Dream and Victoria with a smile and a lifted hand as Meghan unlocked the back door, then waved the two ladies through the door before stepping through herself.

Spectre lifted his head at a new commotion from the kitchen and straightened as the four women stepped out into the dim light of the bar, slipping his phone back into its pocket on his belt. An inadvertent breath upon sight of Emerald Dream caught a strong whiff of butter and salt, twisting the mutant's features into a perplexed frown. He decided not to ask.

Still favoring her leg, Valerie stepped away from the others and eased herself into one of the high-seated stools placed along the bar, slumping over the polished counter with a heavy sigh.

"What a day, what a day..." she groaned, dragging a hand down her face before leaning her temple into the heel of her hand, propping her elbow on the counter. In a career that required interaction with metahumans nearly on the daily, work could occasionally be shockingly hectic, often out of nowhere, but such chaos was irregular enough that she still struggled to acclimate.

Lifting her head at a movement toward her, she accepted the glass Meghan slid across the counter to her with a quiet "Thanks."

Dark eyes followed Meghan's retreating form over the lip of the glass as she swallowed a quick swig of the sweet drink, noting an agitated unsteadiness in her gait as the blonde disappeared into the kitchen. At a shuffling to her right, she turned to find Spectre lifting himself onto the stool beside her, resting his elbows on the counter behind him. Dark brows were drawn together in a deep furrow over the brilliant green eyes that met deep brown as he lifted a chilled hand worriedly to her shoulder. "Val, you're limping. Are you alright?"

The young woman returned a reassuring smile to her mutant friend, setting down her drink to turn toward him. "I'm fine, Spectre. Ana and I just had a bit of a mishap on the way to the Met."

Spectre quietly nodded his understanding, gaze falling to the floor for a moment as he lowered his hand back to his side before returning to her with a breath. "Well, I'm glad you're safe."

The hero tilted his head, his gaze turning inquisitive. "How did your meet with PW go?"

"Really well, actually," Valerie responded optimistically. "Remarkably uneventful, though we never actually met PW himself." She patted the flap of the messenger bag slung close at her hip. "A couple of his allies met us there and gave us two of the documents. Ana and I were also able to snag a third on the way."

Spectre straightened at that, eyebrows lifting in surprise though his eyes themselves betrayed gladness and a touch of relief. "That's great, Val," he congratulated her, lips parting in a smile. "Good job."

So that was three of the five accounted for, but where were the final two? Spectre hesitated to consider the question as he already suspected he wouldn't like the answer.

Slipping down from the stool, he approached Emerald Dream and Victoria, extending a hand to the latter. "Ms. Victoria," he greeted her cordially. "I don't think we've met. I'm Spectre."

He couldn't help a smile as he turned then to the green-clad heroine with her, dipping his head respectfully to her. "And Ms. Dream. Glad to see you're alright."

Watching the exchange over her shoulder, Valerie shook her head with a smile to herself at her friend's behavior.

With a sharp inner reminder of the business at hand, Spectre lifted a more serious gaze to the heroine, turning professional in tone and stance. "Were you able to get ahold of the two documents in the event?"

 

[Gands]

Emerald Dream aka Vanessa O'Toole

Vanessa watched Val and Meghan, the later obviously deeply affected by the day's events. Truly she was rather impressed with both of them, their tenacity in light of the dangers they all probably faced.

"First Mister Specter, thank you.. But, I would say that your park party was by far the largest, most chaotic, dangerous party I've ever had the honor to be part of. I got tagged by a seven foot tall Minotaur and crashed through a popcorn stand. I was late getting to your friend Fury, but someone flew off with some unconscious guy, who I suspect Fury had found prior. I was given some documents though, by an associate of Harris."

She unzips her armored leather top, and pulls out a folder encased in a plastic folder, handing it to Victoria.

"Now if you all will excuse me, I am going to wash up a bit, I smell like freaking popcorn."

She heads towards the bathroom, her armored top opened to her sports bra, grumbling softly to herself. { " On top of which he freaking left... "}

@Huntress @LuckycoolHawk9 @Astroblaze

 

[Gands]

Victoria Murphy Attorney at Law.

Watching her friend Val limp over to the Bar stool and sit, Victoria winced then grinned.
She put a hand gently on Val's shoulder and whispered...

" How is it you always get hurt ? "

When Specter introduces himself..

" Nice to meet you Mister Specter. I of course have heard of you. I hope you are already listed as Val's client. I intend to work with her during this ... circus. Your enemy is clever, too clever. She's been ahead at every step. It's time to play catch up. I have drone film, a lot of it. I think I have film of Fury's fight with the unknown flying meta-human. Including some choice film of Emerald in the popcorn machine. Val, I had a copy of our film couriered to your office. ...... One last thing.. I had copies made of any documentation from my office or Val's on those cases. They won't be complete files, but... it's something. Once Anna shows up, we'll start our slide show. By the way, any chance of getting some food, maybe ordering a dozen pizza's ? "


Watching Emerald go to the bathroom....


"That's the first time I remember her smelling like anything in my presence.. ( chuckles )"

 

[Astroblaze]

JohnR

John Reidenbach/Spectre
April 3, 2018 | afternoon | Manhattan, NYC—The Nook

---

Emerald Dream (@Gands), Victoria (@Gands)
Agent Fury (@Astroblaze), Ana (@Huntress), Mystification (@LuckycoolHawk9)

As the heroine recounted her recent adventures, Spectre found himself wishing that he'd had the opportunity to exchange some stern words with that minotaur meta she mentioned. 'No, stop, not the point.' Focusing back in on Emerald Dream's analysis, he frowned at the news that she had been too late to stop Fury. That did not bode well. Hopefully Ana had managed to do so in Dream's stead, but he wouldn't know until she joined them.

He lifted his head at the following comment, eyes lighting up in intrigue. Documents? Which ones? Perhaps she had retrieved the necessary files after all. Unfortunately, a quick scan over the folder she pulled from her armor quickly put an end to that hope. Collateral Case #1... perhaps it was connected to the other five.

Upon returning his attention to her, the mutant started and hastily averted his eyes. He had only caught a glimpse of skin in the gap in her opened suit but that glimpse was sufficient to draw a flustered heat to his face. Folding his arms close across his chest, he lifted a hand to his mouth, feigning a thoughtful gesture in the hope of hiding the suspected blush. He didn't dare lift his gaze until his periphery caught her figure disappearing into the bathroom as Victoria addressed him in turn.

"I, uh." He released an awkward half-chuckle, both sheepish at her initial remark and painfully aware of his agitated stammering. "I think I might be listed as Val's client pretty much permanently."

Gathering his composure with some effort, he nodded along with her own analyses. Mystification had indeed proven too clever for her own good. Any information could potentially prove useful, and footage in particular. As for food...

"Well, we are in a bar," he observed with a slight shrug, "so food shouldn't be too much of an issue. I was just planning to wait until the others arrived."

 

[Huntress]

April 3rd - 2018 – The Nook, NYC

The bottle of rum had remained on the counter, as Meg would occasionally walk into the bar area in heavy silence to refill her glass with coke whenever she was completely out. The drinks got stronger with each refill but it was something the blonde wasn't fazed by, even as her world started to spin and haze over. Why was she drinking? Why had she taken this whole bottle for herself? Because she was angry. It wasn't directed towards anyone or any specific thing she was simply pissed off. At herself, at Ana, at Val, at the world...she was angry at her whole life; at least in this instance. Meg had acted like an idiot, Anastasia had lied to her, and Meghan was pissed that Valerie had been right in her course of actions, which Meg chose to rebel against. The scowl grew deeper and deeper across her features. Brows furrowed, eyes narrowed and teeth set. Her breaths were heavy exhales through her nose, as she seethed with anger. This time she didn't go to refill her glass with pop, she didn't even care for it as she just drank from the bottle now.

The sound of the latch clanking to open along with the groan of the back door was startling as she leaned over to glance in that direction, a stumble that almost led to a face plant against the linoleum was saved by pure luck. Stabilizing herself Meghan cleared her throat and leaned back onto the counter. She didn't pay much mind to who was coming in. She assumed several random and unfamiliar faces would be coming through that door and thus chose to just direct whoever it was to the main dining area.

Taking back a long chug she slammed the bottle against the counter and huffed as she folded her arms across her chest. "You can just keep walking straight and you'll find all the other godly do gooders." her voice held severe annoyance and dripped with bitterness. The form stopped next to her, she could catch the blurred shape in the corner of her eye. There were several slow blinks in hopes of clearing her hazy vision as her head took— what felt like an eternity, to turn and gaze upon exposed flesh that made the blonde swallow back before slowly looking up to meet a painfully familiar face. Confused almost glowing amber irises flicking to worry as they studied the drunk woman. "Oops. Now you know how I feel." Meghan sighed with a shrug. "What a shame." she muttered with heavy sarcasm and took the bottle in her hand again. She chugged back more of the spiced rum that had lost all flavor, simply burning her esophagus as she forced it down.

Cloudy greens turned back to the other for a moment before Meg chuckled and took another swig. "The goddess is concerned for the lowly mortal. Perhaps even worried?" she scoffed with another drink.

"You're drunk." Anastasia stated simply but quietly.

"That didn't sound like a question so I'm glad you're not that stupid." she sighed. "We all have bad days, and we each cope with those feelings in different ways. I felt like I had the right to let loose today. Is there a problem with that boss?" Meg's brow came up as she looked Ana up and down before pushing off the counter. "Are you gonna stop me? Are you going to punish me? O-or bring forth justice in regards to this serious matter? Are you gonna take me in for being drunk in my bar?" as she had started on her slurred, angry questioning, Meghan moved closer and closer to Anastasia with each inquiry in a stern and slightly aggressive manner. Staring up at the other, waiting for some sort of response. Meghan's eyes started to dart across the features before her. The intense moment lasted for a few seconds before the drunk spoke up again. "Didn't think so." Meg swallowed back as her eyes flicked from Ana's gaze, to her lips and back up.

Anastasia herself wasn't quite sure what was going on in this particular moment and thus, chose to stay silent after making her obvious statement, allowing this to play out. If Meg had something to say, or if she wanted to do something she would let her. The blonde had every right to be angry at her. Their closeness making Ana's heart stutter as she swallowed back. She tried not to let her eyes wander but she couldn't help it as she explored the features opposite her. Exhaling from her nose heavily Anastasia folded her arms across her chest. She didn't want to argue with Meg, not the way she was now, and truthfully not ever.

The silence she was getting from the other had Meg slightly confused. Not having anything more to say she stepped back and turned around. A vicious dizzy spell causing her to lose her footing and stumble forward. A slow reaction time had her arms eventually shoot forward as her legs had seemed to have given up on her. Yet somehow she was still standing. It took her a moment before she felt the rigid form across her stomach. Slowly Meg was pulled upright, eyes struggling to focus as she looked down at the arm that held her tightly. She huffed heavily as she gripped Ana's arm and tried to pry it off her. "Let go." she demanded as she continued to fight against the grip. "Let go of me!" she started to pound her fists against the other's arm.

"Okay, okay!" Ana was quick to let go of Meg once she knew that she could stand properly.

The smaller woman turned around aggressively, rage burning in her cloudy green eyes as she stepped towards the other and tried to push her back. "Stop doing that!" balled fists beat hard against the woman as she continued trying to push her away. "You have no right!" she yelled at Anastasia, who had put her arms up to cover her face. "I'm not a fragile little doll!" Her anger continued to pour out as tears welled in her eyes. The brunette stepping back slightly, but Meg carried on in her assault. "You don't get to decide what I do and you don't get to choose what I can and cannot know! I'm not a child!" she screamed at her as the tears started to pour down her cheeks. Meghan had now stopped hitting Ana. Panting where she stood she glared at her before she stepped closer.

Ana tried to step back but didn't have much space as she collided with the washing station after accepting the barrage of blows that she honestly deserved. Any and all the anger Meghan felt towards her was justified. She would allow her to get it all out, she had the right to it, as painful as it would be.

"We said no lying to each other, we said we would trust each other. Yet in a single day that all came crashing down, so what.the.fuck Ana?!" Meghan had lowered her voice at this point since she was standing right in front of the other. There was no need to yell, as much as she wanted to. "Explain to me! I deserve that much, don't I?"

Ana swallowed back with a slow nod as she put a hand out to calm the other. Her heart raced, it beat so hard and fast in her chest that it was almost visible to the naked eye. "You do, you deserve everything that I can give you." she spoke quietly. "If you want the answers right now I'll give them to you." Anastasia was trying to keep the atmosphere calm, she hoped that Meghan would relax, despite being in a rage filled state of intoxication. "Just take a breath and calm down a little. We can talk, not yell." Ana swallowed back again.

"I.don't.want.to.calm.down! I want answers!" each word was followed by a hard pound from the angry woman. Ana's left arm coming over to cover her body and take most of the blows.

"Can you please stop hitting me?" Anastasia asked as her arm came up to stop another fist. Her request was ignored, her arm never dropping as the other continued with her rage filled barrage. Why Meg felt so much anger towards her was unknown. How much wrong had she done her? How hadn't she noticed? What exactly had she done to make Meg feel this way? "Please Meg, stop." she requested again. "I can't talk to you if you keep—" her words were cut off as she was punched across the face, the thwack was loud. Keeping her attention to the side, eyes to the floor Anastasia took a deep breath and exhaled through her nose as she swallowed back and clenched her jaw.

The situation was starting to get irritating for Ana her eyes flicking up to see Charles glancing into the back room from the bar. As their gazes locked she shook her head. She was fine, she'd be fine, there was no need for interference from anyone. If this was what Meg needed to do to get it all out then that was fine. Turning to look towards a panting Meghan, Anastasia dropped her arm. She hadn't even noticed that the other had stopped. "Are you done now?" She raised an evidently irritated brow but was quick to break eye contact with a sigh. "Meg listen I—" the incoming swing was halted by a quick grasp of her wrist, an instinctual reaction. Forcing it against Meghan's body Ana moved closer with a sharp exhale. This time her eyes did not falter as she stared into misty emeralds. "I want to explain, I want to give you your answers so let me." She said. The glint in Meghan's eyes was quick to change as she took in a subtle but sharp breath. The tears that had been running down her cheeks had dried up and her heart was now racing. Studying the woman's face Ana's eyes eventually flicked down to her arm. Letting go of Meghan's wrist instantly she watched the blonde pull away as quickly as she could, cradling her arm as she stepped back slightly. She watched as Meg rubbed her wrist and made sure all her fingers still functioned. Ana's heart crashed into the pit of her stomach. "Meghan I di—"

"Just go." the burning rage had faded from the blonde as she stumbled backwards from Ana's approach. The counter behind her saving her from falling.

"Meg." the worry in Ana's eyes grew deeper.

"Leave." the blonde's voice trembled.

Stepping back Anastasia watched the other as she turned her body slightly, still cradling her wrist, eyes to the floor, head lowered.

"So I'm the bad guy here now?" Ana spoke rather dryly and placed her hands on her hips with a sigh as she hoped for a response. There wasn't one. "Fine." She muttered with a scoff. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out the envelopes she had collected from the zoo and tossed them onto one of the counters. "I wanted to help Meg. I did." she clenched her jaw. "I'm sorry for however I wronged you or whatever it is I did to make you feel this way. I just wanted to keep you safe. If you want to believe that. But I promise you, it's the truth." She explained with another clench of her jaw.

Stealing a glance at Ana, Meg sighed, her eyes quick to look away as she swallowed back. She had nothing to say to her in this moment. She just wanted to be alone.

There was no response, just a twinge of pain in Ana's chest. The brunette scoffed as she lowered her head and shook it. "I told you I'm no hero." she dropped her arms to her sides before turning back towards the exit into the alleyway behind the store.

Stepping out of The Nook, Ana exhaled heavily with another shake of her head. Gritting her teeth she tightened her fists shut before releasing a calming breath. Leaping up to the roof she hovered to a silent landing and sat down against one of the sealed electrical units. Bringing her knees up she looked at her hands on disgust before running one through her hair and undoing the ponytail she had worn all morning. Letting her hair fall she bridged the gap between her knees and rested her forehead against her forearms with a heavy sigh. Slowly she began raking her mind to try and find all the things she had done wrong to Meg. Would she even be able to fix any of it? Would Meghan accept it? The cursed questions came but there were no answers, not yet at least, she hoped there would be, in the future.

Although the door was gently shut, Meg still flinched at the sound of it. Closing her eyes as her body tingled, the blonde frowned as she massaged her temples with the middle finger and thumb of her sore arm. There was a subtle sob, but no tears as Meghan reached for what was left of the bottle, finishing it she put it down and walked over to the dented metal counter-top of the dish-washing station. Picking up what Ana had left behind, she didn't bother to read what the envelopes had scrawled across them.

Entering the awkwardly charged dining room Meg went for another bottle of rum after placing the envelopes on the bar. Walking over to a distant booth, back against the corner, she watched all the others. This way she could see them and hear them, if she remembered anything of what they decided to discuss. "I'm not a fragile little doll…" she mocked her own tone of voice as she looked down at her reddened wrist. Opening the bottle of rum she took a swig. "Go ahead…scold me…" another mutter escaped her lips as she turned in the booth and placed one leg across it. "Tell me I was wrong. Tell me how to act when I'm friends…former friends" she sneered at the statement "with a mutant. Couldn't be just a simple meta with the ability to create fire-works or something; no-no I had to owe my damn life to fucking Wonder Woman." she took back a large gulp of her drink. "Better looking than Gal Gadot though…makes me question my sexuality just as much. Probably capable than more of a demi-goddess too…How would I know though…it's just been lie upon lie, keeping all her little secrets to herself. Because apparently I can't be trusted." Meghan blew a raspberry as the bottle stayed close to her lips.

With another swig she continued to mutter nonsense to herself, not caring for anyone that might hear her. Her drunken mind was trying to distract her from the truth. That truth being that she was wrong, that she had acted like an idiot, that she was angry because of stupid reasons and she was trying to ignore the stabbing pain she was feeling in her racing heart.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
INTERACTIONS:
N/A

MENTIONS:
- Astroblaze - Valerie Newman

 

[Astroblaze]

JohnR

John Reidenbach/Spectre
April 3, 2018 | afternoon | Manhattan, NYC—The Nook

---

Ana (@Huntress)
Meghan (@Huntress)

Spectre lifted his head slightly at the distant creak of the back door, listening for an indication of who had just arrived. An explosion of enraged shouting startled a jolt from the young mutant as he turned startled toward the shadowed frame of the entrance to the kitchen. In an instant he identified Meghan's voice, though transformed nearly unrecognizable by drunken wrath, and Ana's voice quietly attempting to cut into the woman's tirade. It only took a moment to recognize that Meghan's anger was a deeply personal matter and he turned away, trying as well as he could not to eavesdrop. Enhanced senses made that nearly impossible, however, keen hearing picking up on the main points of her outburst despite his best intentions.

What seemed nearly an age later, the back door slammed, again startling the mutant. After a moment, Meghan emerged half-stumbling from the back rooms with a nasty glare about the room before cloistering herself in a booth removed from the rest of those present. Sighing, the vigilante pushed away from the booth where he had been monitoring Wildfire and shifted to weightless. Perhaps it would be well-advised for him to try and speak to Ana. That entire near-monologue had been painful to witness, especially involuntarily. He suspected where he would find her.

He lifted up through the building, gliding naturally through layers of brick, wood, and wiring until he finally emerged on the roof. Once finely tuned eyes had adjusted to broad daylight, he soon identified a lone form slumped in the shadow of an electrical unit.

Rubber-soled boots scuffed near-indetectably against concrete as he toggled his weightlessness and stepped around the unit, lowering himself to sit crosslegged a respectful distance from the silent figure. He rested his head back against the cold metal of the weathered box, shoulders sagging in a heavy sigh. After a moment to collect his thoughts, he leaned forward onto his forearms resting on his thighs, turning to study Ana with eyes soft in sympathy.

"Want to talk about it?"

After a long wait with no indication that she had even heard him, he turned away, nodding with a murmured "Okay." Pushing off of the roof, he rose to his feet. "I'll let you have your space."

He paused a moment as he stepped forward, twisting over his shoulder to regard her gently, then dropped back through the roof, angling his descent until he phased back into the bar close to where he had originally been standing.