Reed Overton/Agent Fury | Kameron/Vengeance & Cameron/Violence | Icarus Valaith/Shielder/Plant Overlord | Felix Valaith
April 3, 2018 | early afternoon | Manhattan, NYC—Central Park Tower
collab with
@slifer and
@jeshem, Derrick (
@LuckycoolHawk9)
Victoria (@Gands), Mystification (@LuckycoolHawk9), Spectre (@Astroblaze)
Rocketing across the sky, Vengeance flew back towards the city with an unconscious Derrick in tow. One hand was still pressed against his side, gently applying pressure to his injury and creating a sort of telekinetic brace. The sooner this was over with, the better.
He pulled out his phone and started typing up an email. Fury and the teenager with him weren't exactly informative about what was going on. The boy did, however, mention something about Shielder. Maybe Vengeance could get some answers there.
If the kid is an acquaintance with Shielder, he may not be too happy when he finds out what went down at the zoo.
Then that will be his problem.
The email he sent Shielder was short:
〔We need to talk. Top of Central Park Tower.〕
Then, another email was sent as if an afterthought:
〔Fury and kid.〕
A vibration from his phone distracted Icarus when he was safely away from everything else, high up in a tree and resting. Victoria had found out about his association with Fury. This was all going south very quickly, and he didn't like that one bit, especially since he had to do damage control for being neutral.
A smile rose to his lips at a simple text from Agent Fury. Whatever happened, he had Reed in his corner. The man's antics always made him smile. Reed was like his own personal bad boy: drawing him into doing things whether he meant to or not.
〔Sure, I'm up for it. Tell me the details.〕 He hit send and waited expectantly for the reply like a teen waiting for a reply from his crush, lessening the hateful feelings inside of him, at least for a little while.
The phone silently vibrated in his hand, causing him to glance down at it. His blood froze at the name on the screen. He picked it up, and hearing Felix's scared voice made the protective side of him come out with claws bared. He listened to his boy's words, his anger igniting at what he was hearing. It was all he could do not to show any of his anger to Felix. He had to be the supportive parent, even though he wanted to hurt, to destroy. It was difficult like it always was, but he forced the pure unadulterated rage into a laser-like focus directly aimed for Vengeance. Somehow he managed to calm down Felix with the fact that he was coming over to him before reluctantly shutting off his phone.
Vengeance hadn't physically hurt Felix, but psychological scars would be there for a while. As for Fury—Reed—the thought of the man being hurt made his heart squeeze painfully in his chest. The two most important people in his life had been in a life or death situation. Damnit, he was a mess right now and none of this was helping. Too many people were tugging at him, so he had to knock all of his problems out of the way, one at a time, starting with the little shit known as Vengeance.
A special notification from his work email popped up, giving him the chance to focus on something else, just as Fury sent him a text. Quickly he sent a text to Reed, as Felix was the biggest concern here:
〔Keep Felix safe. I'm heading towards you. I'll deal with the piece of shit later.〕 Then he quickly opened the email to see who would bother to email him.
Curiously, the work-related email was blank of any real name. The contents, though, had Icarus seeing red for a moment. The email was from Vengeance, and it had the man's location. Perfect: now he could make some goals, ones involving protecting Felix and beating the living shit out of Vengeance if it led to that. He hoped the man had an incredibly well-thought out reason for doing what he had done, otherwise he'd nail the man's head on his wall back at his apartment.
Icarus replied to the email simply
〔YOU BETTER HAVE AN EXCELLENT EXPLANATION FOR THIS〕 before sending it. Casually he took out some trail mix and a breakfast shake after he had climbed down from the tree with ease and started walking towards the Central Park Tower, eating his snacks for more energy as he did a quick Google Search on what exactly was on top of the tower. From what he could see, there were plants up there: something he could use on the man if he needed to. Either way, he was going to make the man wait as he walked to said tower and then proceeded to take the elevator up there, taking a hold of his powers and forcing them up to the surface as he prepared for the meeting the meta had called with a razor sharp focus that only came when it involved people he cared about. He had an edge over Vengeance, but he would have to burn a lot of energy to keep that edge.
Agent Fury was nearly under the brick arches of the zoo's entrance when his phone buzzed. Retrieving it from his pocket, he scanned Icarus' return text with a humph. Abruptly turning on a heel, he dropped back against an arch, leaning casually against a brick pillar. Upon opening his messages to reply, he found another text from the man, seemingly sent while he was preoccupied with rescuing Felix from Vengeance, confirming an interest in the penguin rescue. That at least brought a slight smile to his painted face: he always knew he could count on his ally to be in for a good time. No use responding in text: they could draw up assault plans in person when Icarus joined them. Of course, that required retrieving his penguin first.
An irritated glower quickly replaced the smile at that thought. That white-suited bastard had gone behind his back, terrorized his charge, stolen his prize, and then had the audacity to act like it was
he who was in the wrong. The most aggravating part: Fury had absolutely no idea where the hero had scuttled off to. His main idea had been to chase after the psychic in the direction that he had flown, but who was to say that he continued in a straight line? And so, he was forced to wait, the one thing that he despised the most vehemently, especially when the ones making him wait were doing so to gain some form of advantage at his expense. This was all just one massive goddamn waste of his time, and at the one time he had the least to kill. He checked the clock on his phone: nearly quarter past three. Damnit, he had no reason to believe that this event would wait for him, no matter how much it ought to. Hopefully Icarus would show up in a hurry so they could figure out where the hell that son of a bitch scattered off to.
Several minutes passed with no sign of Icarus. Damnit, what the hell was taking him? The last place Fury had seen his ally was the fountain, which was barely a stone's throw away from the zoo—albeit that Fury could throw a stone several lengths farther than most. Had something come up? Felix had brought up Shielder—perhaps Vengeance had gone to confront him? If that snow-clad prick had fucked with his ally- Fury's teeth ground, lips peeling back in a snarl as his hands balled into white-knuckled fists behind his muscle-bound arms where he had them folded across his chest. Impatient in both anger and worry, he snatched his phone from his pocket and shot a hastily constructed text to Icarus:
〔Okay, where are you?〕
Icarus made it to the entrance of the tower, purposefully going slow so he could finish off his snacks quickly. Seeing the message from Agent Fury made him sigh, forcing him to stop for a moment to reply before going into the elevator.
〔Vengeance sent me an email to go to the Central Park Tower so I went there. I want to hear his explanation on what happened. The only reason I won't kill him is because neither you or Felix have been hurt.〕
He sent the message before pocketing the phone and entering the elevator, cutting off all communication for now.
At Icarus' return text, Fury's mouth curled into a triumphant grin distorted to hideous extremes by his paint.
'There you are, you son of a bitch.'
〔Don't fuck him up without me. We're on our way.〕
With that, he dropped his phone into his pocket and, pushing off of the pillar, turned to Felix.
"Change of plans," he declared.
"Icarus isn't meeting us here, but I know where he is going. I'm running out of time, though, so I'm gonna expedite the process a bit." Before the boy could protest, he promptly scooped his charge into his arms. Cradling him protectively close to his chest, Fury turned and sprinted from the zoo.
A few minutes at his steady, purposeful lope brought them out of the tree-shade of the park into the strong afternoon sun. Ignoring the nervous backward glances of the people they passed on the sidewalk, Fury weaved naturally around the blocks until he finally stopped in the shade of a massive tower.
"Here we are," he noted, setting Felix back on his feet as his eyes scanned the building all the way up to the distant edge of the roof.
"Stay behind me, and stay close."
With that, he stepped through the door. As he paused to locate the elevator, a receptionist and two security guards shot to their feet upon sight of him. The mercenary lifted a placating hand.
"Just passing through." Not as if they could stop him, but he didn't have time to waste evading them.
With frequent backward glances to make sure Felix stayed close at his heels, he crossed the lobby and called the elevator, stepping in when the doors slid open and guiding Felix in after him. Commanding the car as high as it would go, he leaned against the back wall and waited.
Kameron sat on the edge of the building with his feet dangling over the edge. An invisible field of telekinetic force swirled around him as his attention retracted inward to his twin.
Well, this is a mess. Got pulled into something we know nothing about and into a fight with a criminal, and now getting shit from another hero for something or another.
Calm down. What happened with Fury has already happened. Shielder, on the other hand, should be easier to talk to, even if he is upset. We'll just get our answers from him and decide what to do from there.
Kameron let out a sigh and got to his feet as he heard the elevator ding behind him. The swirling force abruptly held still as it formed an invisible barrier that completely surrounded him. Whoever exited the elevator would see that he was up there by himself, Derrick nowhere to be seen.
Icarus used his breathing exercises to calm himself down to a point where he wasn't going to go for Vengeance the moment he saw the man. He would find his answers first, and then if the situation warranted it, he would hurt the man and it would feel amazing. His stomach felt kind of bloated from the overeating of snacks, but that would soon dissipate once he started to use his powers. Thankfully the building was tall enough that he actually had time to think and calm down.
Three floors away from the top prompted him to let his power work, letting it slowly spread over his skin until a purple shield was all around him, outlining his whole body. It was a skill he needed to practice, but it let him use more of his shield and protected him better than being able to turn into diamond. He held it there, loving the feeling of using his powers. Now all he needed was to find plants on the roof, and he would use his other power to let them grow while he talked, manipulating the plants to whatever he wanted.
Finally the elevator doors slid open and Icarus walked out confidently as Shielder. He saw Vengeance by himself, without the penguin man that Agent Fury had mentioned. He stopped some feet away from the antihero and didn't say a word, waiting for an explanation even as his plant powers reached out, found plants all around him and teased them into more violent shapes.
A quick, scanning glance about the roof as Fury stepped out of the elevator drew his attention first to the figure of Shielder standing a few feet away, tinged in the familiar faint purple of his forcefield ability. Shit, now that he had rejoined his ally in person, the mercenary realized that Shielder might prove more of a distraction than a help.
'Snap out of it, Fury. You're better than this. Stop thinking like a lovestruck goddamn teenager.' At least the other man seemed nearly as pissed as Fury himself. That would come in handy when it came time to make the psychic pay.
The psychic in question stood near the edge of the roof, a considerable distance away from Shielder and himself.
'Keeping a safe distance, are we...' At least the antihero had gotten that through his thick skull. If he had, then he'd likely be shielded as well, which might prove a bit of a stumbling block but hardly enough to be a concern, considering how easily he'd shattered the previous attempts. The humanized penguin who he had taken was nowhere to be found, however—damnit, what did that masked bastard do with him. Clearly he intended to force Fury to negotiate with him. Fine, Fury would allow it this one time only because he was left with few options, but he'd better be ready to pay for this humiliation.
Ushering Felix into a secluded spot to keep him safe in case Vengeance decided to try something else unheroic, Fury stepped forward to stand somewhat in line with Shielder.
"Where's my prize, you son of a bitch?" he growled.
"If you want anything out of this arrangement, you'd damn well better give back what you stole, and be snappy about it."
The white costumed man stood silently measuring the duo in front of him. He'd already encountered Fury today and knew that arguing with the man would be less than productive. Time to see if the fellow hero would be more cooperative.
"Hello Shielder," Vengeance began as he approached the mercenary and the hero. The two of them can feel the air press against them as Vengeance's telekinetic barrier kept both of them at a distance from himself.
"I don't want to waste your time so I'll just cut to the chase. I'm sure you've noticed the hacking of all the electronics earlier this morning by someone calling themselves 'Myst.' This 'Myst' directed a few of us towards the city's zoo where we found letters addressed to each of us. Whatever was in the letters Fury and I received evidently sets us at odds."
Kameron looked up at the duo, his stance relaxed with his hands folded in front of him. The invisible barriers erected surrounding him were shaped in three layers: the outermost layer was a paper-thin wall in front of Shielder and Fury that acted as a trigger, while the layer behind that was significantly stronger, rivaling the one Vengeance used to hold up Fury back at the zoo, and formed a 3 foot radius dome surrounding Vengeance. The final layer was a layer of dormant psychic energy that covered Vengeance's body, awaiting a certain signal to activate.
"I'm not going to lie: I don't trust Fury. I'm not even sure if I should trust you, but at least I know you're a hero. Tell me what is going on."
Fury gritted his teeth. He was just being snide when he called the psychic 'dense' earlier, but perhaps the insult actually held a ring of truth.
"No, jackass," he snarled,
"you set yourself against me when you assaulted my charge!" He drew up straight, eyes widening sarcastically.
"But oh sure, the one in the wrong here is totally the one hired to protect the kid. God forbid it ever be the one who literally made him scream for help." He tossed his head, releasing a scornful scoff as narrowed violet eyes glared down at Vengeance.
"You're no hero. I'd say you're as bad as me, but at least I'm fully aware and open about being a threat."
He huffed, folding his arms.
"But anyway, I don't know what the hell your letter said, and if it was anything like mine, I honestly don't give a damn. I don't need to read more lousy psychoanalysis attempts by this manipulative superbitch who thinks she's all that and the bag of fucking chips."
Shielder was the picture of calm at the moment, merely because he had transcended angry and was close to losing his shit on Vengeance if the man said the wrong thing, and all of that would be with a serenity that bordered on madness.
"It's quite simple. Are you going to give back the penguin man or not? We're not going to hurt him, but if you plan to, that makes us enemies. Somehow, Myst knows about things that we wish to keep to ourselves, but in the end they are notes."
Meanwhile, all around them the flora twisted and turned under Shielder's power, bulking up with thorns, snaking poison ivy, oak, and sumac, with nettles and hogsweed mixing in with more deadly plants like the gympie, which with a touch at its concentration could cause an allergic reaction and enough pain to absolutely destroy Vengeance and whoever else touched it, and a Venus Flytrap larger than most people. His research and experimentation on regular and irregular plants with his abnormal mutation had brought about monstrosities and dangerous plants.
"Though really, if you haven't figured it out yet, then I suggest you change careers."
Even Fury's presence, one which calmed him significantly, couldn't do shit to make him feel even a smidge better.
Vengeance let out an exasperated sigh.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to learn how to be more cooperative, Shielder," he says, vaguely aware of the shifting greenery. With a mere thought, the second and third layers of Vengeance's barrier began to move. To Shielder and Fury, the air in front of them would appear to shimmer as if under the effect of rising heat.
They've made their decision. They don't wish to talk. We should just take our leave before this escalates any further.
You're being hasty. We still hold all the cards and they're damned fools for not recognizing that. Wait a while longer and if they don't fold, we'll just get answers from Myst herself.
As the brothers held their discussion, Vengeance began to float upwards, the movement of his barriers increasing in speed and ferocity as he did.
"You want the penguin. Fine, but I get my answers first."
And now they were back here, full fucking circle, not the slightest notion of advancement. If anything, they were in worse condition than before. Fury resisted the urge to let out a literal hiss in irritation.
"How long is it going to take to get this into your thick skull?!" he roared.
"The only reason we are currently at odds is because you're insisting on being a self-righteous prick!" His voice only continued to rise as he spoke.
"I thought I'd already been plenty clear about this but fine, I'll spell it out for you, again: give me back my fucking penguin and I'll tell you what you want to know. Capiche? I can do arrangements—recall that that's my fucking job! But I don't have time for this fucking bullshit!"
Emphasizing his final words, his hands shot out and slammed nearly full-force into the barriers that he could feel attempting to push against him.
The moment Fury's hands met the surface of the first barrier, it shattered before him like sugar glass. Immediately the ears of the duo filled with a thundering crash as Vengeance's second domed barrier burst outward, tearing at everything it washed over. Fury's skin would save him from everything save for countless scratches, though his clothes might be a different story. Shielder's power would protect him completely, though any plants unshielded would surely be torn apart.
Shielder held out a hand to Fury before speaking.
"Agent Fury, stop!" Though it was too late to stop the man from breaking the shield, it was easy enough to curve a shield around Fury so that Vengeance's telekinesis didn't hurt him but also as a little deterrent for Fury so the man wouldn't try to attack again.
He turned to face Vengeance and took in a deep breath with an even longer exhale before continuing to speak.
"As you can tell, I am quite upset with you. I am furious, in fact. Right now, though, I am giving it one last shot: an equal exchange of information. I can see that Myst has written something to you about the penguin man. You have him and we want him. I can ignore the fact that you made my charge emotionally suffer simply because you did not know better and it is a mistake you did not mean to make. I will give you this one peace offering. You can stand as far away as you need to be, but we will all be within speaking distance. No fighting. We will all give each other information. I can understand that you mean well. I will show you an act of good faith now."
It would be clearly understood that if Vengeance didn't take the deal, then Shielder would absolutely come at him. Shielder waved his hand offhandedly and the plants all subsided, morphing into vines and ivy that wrapped around the building, heading downward and away from the center of the tower. It hurt to see them so torn because of Vengeance's power and he had to shove back the urge to go after him—unless he retaliated, of course.
Meanwhile, Felix was hiding behind what he was hiding behind, clearly not an idiot. He knew what Shielder was capable of and wanted to be out of the way as not to be used as a hostage. If that happened, then Shielder would wig out and all hope for peace would be demolished.
Did he really just try to set the conditions?
Either they don't understand that we could just leave right now or they have a backup plan.
Do you think they've actually planned for that?
From what they've shown us so far, no. They're desperate. This may be something we can push.
"I asked a simple goddamned question. Why is it so hard for you two to actually answer it?" Vengeance sighed as he lowered his hand, storing the power he had been gathering.
"I don't need to read your minds to know how desperate you two are, though. Fine, I'll indulge you this time."
Vengeance's last barrier was harmlessly dispersed as his feet made contact with the roof again.
"We'll talk here. I've got better things to do than run around and I assume you do, too. First, however, drop those shields. After that, I'll tell you everything I know so far, including what Myst told me. Then you'll tell me everything you know, including what's so important about the bird. Once you're done, I'll tell you where I stashed the bird. If you don't like that, I'll just leave now."
The warning shout accompanied by the purple hue that flooded Agent Fury's line of sight startled him into a slight step back, right as the thunderous roar swept over him. His hands tightened into fists at his sides, recognizing it for exactly what it was: that psychic asshole had just tried to attack him.
"You never fucking once asked any 'simple goddamned question,'" he snarled.
"All you've done so far is wasted my time with insults and underhanded attacks." He pinched the painted bridge of his nose in impatient irritation.
"But at least now that you've finally decided to cooperate, we can actually fucking get somewhere." If continuing to be a fucking prick counted as cooperation, that is. This son of a bitch was lucky that Shielder had deemed to give him the time of day. Oh well, he'd make it work. This whole fiasco had gone on far too long as it was, so he might as well just take what he had and get it over with.
He folded his arms, shifting his weight more onto his heels.
"Honestly, I don't think I give a shit about what the latest superbitch told you," he declared.
"If you want to make yourself useful to all the other goody-two-shoes, go find the ghost-man Spectre: he seems to be coordinating some sort of attack against her. But that's only my problem so far as this penguin man is involved. I'm sure he can tell you more if you really care that much."
"What Ghost-man told me in the park is that Superbitch is recreating the five worst collateral cases in legal history. This penguin man is stage two in a scavenger hunt one of her accomplices put together, probably just to add more roadblocks and delays to buy her time if I know anything about villainy." He bared his false fangs in a wide grin, appreciating his little bit of irony.
"Whoever gets the penguin back to this Harris fellow gets the two case files set as the prize." He lifted a gloved hand in a reassuring wave.
"Don't worry, I have no intent to sabotage them. In fact, I've already made arrangements with Ghost-man: as soon as I get those documents, they're going straight to him. I've still got a business to maintain, you know. He saves the world, I profit." Grinning, he spread his hands.
"Win-win."
He let his hands drop, lifting them to his hips.
"But there: that's all I know. So, where's my prize?" He eyed the white-suited psychic sidelong, daring the man to go back on his word again.
Never asked a question? I knew Fury was bullheaded but not deaf.
Something isn't right. I thought he was supposed to be a professional, experienced. Yet he ignores what's being said, is oblivious of the gravity of his situation, and lets his emotions act for him. Shielder seems to have better control, but a fool keeps the company of his own.
Is that disgust I hear from you?
Disappointment.
Vengeance mused over what Fury said.
"Hm, she told me something similar to that, though it seems she left out some details," he muttered to himself. He looked up and resumed speaking to the duo.
"See, that wasn't so hard, was it? I thought I was going to go first, but—" he waved a hand as if brushing away the idea.
"As for your prize..."
Vengeance walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked over the city as if trying to remember where he had left the penguin man. Abruptly, he stepped off the edge, plummeting towards the ground. A moment after he disappeared, Derrick came sailing up over the edge, landing gently in front of Fury. He was dazed and confused as if just waking up from a deep sleep but has otherwise remained unharmed. Vengeance would not reappear, but there was a note stuck to Derrick's back:
"That was fun. Let's do it again some time. ;)"
Fury couldn't say he was surprised that the psychic made a break for it like the little coward he was. Surely he knew exactly what was in store for him after his obnoxious behavior. Unfortunately, Fury himself had no way to stop him, but—he considered his green-suited ally standing nearby—he knew someone who did.
Ignoring Derrick for the moment, he stepped forward to scan beyond the edge, painted mouth curling into a hideous sneer when he soon located the fleeing psychic.
"Oh no," he muttered,
"you're not getting away that easily."
Straightening, he turned to Shielder, grin turning more mischievous.
"Well? What do you say we secure some 'vengeance' of our own?" He nodded toward the space beyond the edge of the roof, certain that his ally would know exactly what he meant.
Shielder thought about it quite hard for a moment, desperately wanting to give in to the hateful part of himself. But in the end it felt wrong, especially to be breaking his word like that. He was honorable in his word and didn't want to break that right now. Felix was here, watching, and he didn't want the boy to see him make promises and then break them. That was when lives were on the line. Vengeance had did what they had asked, no matter how much of an asshole he was about it, though that wouldn't garner the man any favors, especially for being an idiot. Lower his shields? The man must be as stupid as he was nuts, especially since he had no clue how close Shielder had been to actually reacting and bringing him down to earth, so to speak. A flash of imagination—a shield around Vengeance's face, suffocating him without even being nearby—was amazing to even think about it, but he let it go somewhat reluctantly.
"Leave him. You have to get paid, don't you? He's not worth it. Believe me, he hasn't given us a reason to go after him. He gave us the penguin. I'm sure Spectre is waiting for you."
Fury had to learn that he couldn't attack anyone just willy-nilly. When there was a reason to, you unloaded everything on your enemy—which Vengeance had made out of them, but that was besides the point.
The mercenary studied Shielder's face for a long moment, smile slowly fading into a more thoughtful expression. With a quiet humph, he turned back toward the edge of the roof, gloved hands finding their way into the pockets of his trousers as he watched Vengeance disappear into the distance. He still longed to teach that overconfident son of a bitch a lesson he wouldn't soon forget, but... Icarus was right: that delusional prick wasn't worth his time. Perhaps he'd get a chance to knock the hero down a couple pegs at a later point, but for now, he had bigger fish to fry.
"Yeah, you're right," he sighed.
"He doesn't deserve any of the shits I have to give." The snarky grin quickly returned in force, however, when he turned back to Shielder.
"We'll get him next time, right? But in the meantime—" Turning on a heel, he strode toward Derrick, still seated groggily sprawled on the pavement.
His shadow falling across the penguin man as he stooped to pick him up seemed to startle Derrick awake the rest of the way. The man instantly scrambled away from the looming figure, a hand lifted in a feeble attempt to guard himself against the mercenary with a panicked
"No! Don't hurt me!"
Fury stopped, closing his eyes for a moment with an exasperated sigh as he shifted back onto his heels.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he sighed.
"This whole thing with the guy in white has just been a continuous stream of bullshit. He stooped awfully low, lower than I would've anticipated for a so-called hero." He smirked wryly at Derrick.
"But honestly, never trust a guy who takes justice into his own hands, right?" He tilted his head.
"But me? If I meant you harm, I would've done it already. I might be a criminal, but at least I'm straightforward."
Noting that that seemed to calm him at least somewhat, he stepped forward and deftly scooped up the man, ensuring that he was securely cradled against his chest before fully straightening.
"Come on: I've still got documents to retrieve before I can rescue you."
Turning, he approached Shielder.
"Shielder, this is the penguin man I texted you about. Calls himself Derrick." He grinned.
"He's the one we'll be snatching out the jaws of hell, as it were. Though," he added with a slight frown,
"maybe you should take Felix from here: don't want to drag him into whatever shit we kick up at the park." He perked up, remembering one last detail.
"Oh, and dinner: I'll have to stop by the apartment to get changed post-heroes, but I can pick you up from your place at—" he waggled his hand slightly under Derrick—
"six o'clock? Sound good?"
He glanced over his shoulder to the empty space beyond the edge of the roof, mouth widening in the mischievous grin of an idea.
"One last thing: are we heading down normal way or dramatic way?" He winked to Shielder.
"Your call."
Shielder finally dropped his shields now that he was reasonably sure that Vengeance had left. Though he wasn't about to attack the man, he did not trust the meta not to be waiting around for them or something. He had to keep his head in the game, especially since he had a freaking date with Agent Fury himself later tonight. Even now he wasn't sure how he had let himself trust Reed enough to let him in, to let the man find out his identity and even enough to agree to a date. He tended to focus on the here and now, only thinking as far as he did because he had another person directly tied to him. When the time was right, he would most certainly get back at Vengeance, but he could wait patiently for that day to happen.
Returning to the present, Shielder walked up to Derrick, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible.
"We'll get you out later. I'll do my best to get you out." Hopefully the man believed him, especially after they didn't just beat the shit out of Vengeance to get the penguin back.
He shot a grin to Fury, thankful that the man actually remembered what was going on after all of the shit that happened today.
"Six sounds good. I'll be waiting for you. As for going downstairs..." He tried to be dramatic, but in the end Fury would probably be able to guess what he would say.
"The elevator is the best way to go. It would be better if we were alone, but we can't all get what we want. Felix, come on!"
He blew a kiss to Fury as Felix rushed toward him, entering one of the elevators alone with Felix, which would give the boy time to vent.
Fury stood staring after Shielder long after the elevator doors had slid shut between them, thankful for the makeup that he was certain hid a reddening face. He was starting to regret taking up the antihero on his dinner request. How was he ever going to get through the evening without giving himself away?
He shook himself back into the present. He'd make it work. He always did. He was Agent goddamn Fury, he could manage this.
Ignoring the odd look he could sense from the man in his arms, he took a moment to wander around the empty roof, stalling for distance between himself and Shielder. It'd be difficult for the antihero to find work if he was suspected of connections to a notorious criminal.
Pausing near the northeastern edge, he scanned the sprawling park far below. Bethesda Fountain stood just barely visible in the distance, swarming with the red and blue flares of emergency vehicles. Hopefully the cops hadn't scared off the event orchestrator: it'd be just Fury's luck to have gone through all this bullshit with Vengeance only to miss his opportunity.
Finally he headed back to the elevator. When it arrived at the roof, he stepped inside and set Derrick back onto his feet with a warning
"Stay close to me." As the doors locked shut and the car started downward, he took a moment to check his phone. He still had time before the 4pm cutoff, but not much. He needed to move, and quickly. Once they cleared the building, he'd pick up Derrick again and then straight off to the park with the two of them.