We Were Never Heroes (A Superhero RP) IC

[Glaswegistan]

“Sure, if you’ve got a plan? I mean, if there’s nothing else to do here…I kind of need to find somewhere with Wi-Fi anyway, let m- let some people know I might be gone a while…” Sarah replied to Sokoloff's offer to partner up.

Sokoloff thought that over before stating "That shouldn't be a problem about the world-fi, I was planning on finding a computer cafe or something to look up this 'Sinaloa Cartel' and see if they have any suspected hangouts here in Seattle. ...Maybe give them a visit and ask around if you get what I mean?"

Sokoloff let Sarah think on that a few moments before asking "You still in?"

“Works for me, so long as you don’t mind stopping off somewhere so I can change some money over.” Sarah smiled, suppressing a laugh at the thought of two superheroes hanging out in and doing all their research from an internet café. With the bunker, they at least had a centralized base of operations, but even caught up in her own excitement, Sarah realized it’d take a few days at best to dig up a good lead on their mark.

“Sorry…” she shrunk back awkwardly; “I didn’t really think my inventory through before I made it to the States…reckon I’ll have a little while to fix that before we get an actual lead though…”

Sarah had barely had any water, and no food since she landed in Seattle, and she never had found anything to take the edge off what felt like her body dying around her, but a few hours after hitting the ground, she was finally starting to feel her strength properly returning. “…On that note, there a Greggs around here somewhere? I kind of need something to eat.” she hauled her duffel sack up, putting the weight on her left shoulder, this time without tipping noticeably, and slowly headed towards the exit, half-hoping the exit would be delayed by someone else turning the duo into a group.

“Let’s do this!” Blake cheerfully said as the crowd of heroes began to disperse. A few were already making their way for the elevator, and while Blake was tempted to tag along she caught sight of the man who had given a little speech only moments earlier: the Hussar. Easily distracted, Blake wormed her way over, waving Titan and Zedekiah to follow along. “There’s this little internet cafe I go to all the time,” Blake interjected, forcing herself into the conversation in a friendly manner. “It’s over near my apartment in Fremont. They have this really good mochaccino with white chocolate drizzle and… and, yeah, wi-fi. I can take you if you want.”

“World-Fi” she snorted, quietly, as Blake barged in. Sarah gave her best smile as her headache gradually began to fade; “Sounds great! Be nice to have someone who knows Seattle on board…don’t suppose you know somewhere I can change pounds over for dollars?"

[Derelldia]

Victoria

Victoria was flattered by the gesture. "Why thanks, and I think that's a good idea. Getting in his home see-" She was cut off by that vampire yelling her way. "Ugh, vampires. Those guys are only good in movies and that's how I like it. Well getting back to business, I thin-" then she was cut off again by some other guy appearing in front of her unexpectedly. She yelped in fear. "Damn dude, at least give me a warning next time." He asked to join to which Stephen give her the last call. "Uh, sure I guess. Its always nice to have another hand. Well Avery, i'm Victoria. He's Stephen and we're going to get Amberose. We already decided to "get in" his home if you understand me, so do you have an objections to that or are we good?" She pushed herself back to a wall as she crossed her arms.

"Thank you for letting me tag along." Avery "Seems an excellent idea and with no objection from me." The elevator doors closed as Avery had his back to them, and it began ascending to the older warehouse. The elevator noise seemed to fill the gap of silence between the trio as they ascended, with Avery tapping his umbrella on the metal flooring every so often. "So how are we planning on getting there? I didn't bring any form of transport with me here and, from what I saw when I arrived, few people did as well." He spoke up as to try and make things feel less awkward.

[Shadowwell]

Tyler Jefferson

He had stayed in the back of the group ,Relatively speaking, while listening to the Benefactor. Although he was both curious and worried, if this turned out to be a trap, he stood there calmly in his hoodie. While he used his powers as a Variant rather well to fight and steal things, he would still be nearly unrivaled when it came to his ability to escape. As long as he was somewhere that contained Air, or things of Metal or Earth, or even the other elements he would be able to escape. He said nothing, letting the others ask the questions. When he heard that the brother of the man they would be searching for, Robert Klein had ties to a criminal group he smirked as a plan started to form in his head.

Some time later

Tyler had left the abandoned area and went to a bar, little more than a dive really, to contact the contact his friend had given him. When he heard Tyler was heading to seattle, he gave tyler a slip of paper with some info on a person, who while a small fry held all sorts of contacts and info that Tyler would need. From there he traveled to some other places before he was finally led to someone who could help him. This person in turn led him to a bar, more reputable than the dive he first visited. This bar housed the Pit, a fighting arena like most, but it catered to a higher and more powerful class of clientele. Some were just rich people taking a walk on the wild side where as others were from criminal groups that came here to make money and possibly recruit people to their side, for whatever reason. It was the latter Tyler came here to find and establish contact with.

In a hidden room below the bar, there was a pit that had a dirt floor. Above it there was another level, where the patrons of the Pit could view the fights. There they could place bets and lounge around while waiting in between fights. In the Pit stood Tyler, without his hoodie, he was wearing just a tank top which clung to his frame like a second skin. It highlighted his grace and the power contained within his muscles. He was sent down here to wait for his opponent, He knew that the odds were against him. The person he spoke to here, didn’t believe in His strength, Tyler could see the disdain in the other party’s eyes. He had been in such situations before and knew that they would pit the current champion or someone of a similar caliber against him. After he finished up here he would go towards Ames lake, possibly to check out Robert Kleins house.

He was pulled out of his musings by a loud and condescending voice saying “ Ladies and gentlemen, today we have a great match for you. The contender and Champion from one of the numerous less, prestigious fight clubs scattered around, Adya, as he is known, has come here to challenge our fighters. He like our Champion is a Variant and should provide a good show for us all.” After the announcer finished speaking, the people above started clamoring placing last minute bets and the like hastily. The person who had been speaking announced once more “ Last minute betting is now closed the fight shall be starting momentarily.” After the announcer finished speaking a gate on the other side of the Pit raised and a powerfully built darker skinned man with arm wrappings came out.

Without saying a word of greeting the man, jumped towards Tyler and slammed a fist into the ground cracking it. The shock-wave from the hit blew Tyler away and into the wall behind him. The concrete wall behind him cracked and splintered as he impacted against it. He coughed out a large amount of blood upon impact; He was not distracted however, he laid a bare hand on the concrete behind him. His skin took on a greyish hue momentarily before returning to normal. The man ran towards him and heavy punch at his abdomen. Tyler stepped back and swung one arm sweeping the punch to the side. Many in the audience were surprised that his seemingly less powerful arm was able to parry the stronger man’s blow. His arm was more durable now that he had taken on the form of the earth.

The other man was thrown off balance for but a moment before he used his momentum to perform a leg sweep. However Tyler was heavier than he looked at the moment, and he wasn't knocked down, but the force of the blow still moved him into another wall, but this time he wasn't as heavily damaged. He was of the Earth and both ground beneath him and the walls around him lent him strength. While he wasn't as strong as the man he was facing he was far more durable and enduring. As the other man rushed towards him once more, Tyler reached into his pocket while returning to normal. He pulled out a vial of pure spring water and doused it on his arm. Like when he touched the cement wall his skin took on a bluish hue and was transparent. This was but for a moment however, when the darker skinned man threw another devastating punch at him, he flowed with the blow minimizing the damage.

He Then grasped the mans arm and fell back in one smooth motion and released the man, sending him flying into the wall opposite. The move was rather deceptive, as it looked like it had little power within it, but it used the momentum the other man had built up and when he impacted against the wall, creating a crater larger then the one cause by Tyler in the beginning of the fight, one could see how powerful it was. The man crawled off of the ground and staggered slightly before continuing his seemingly relentless assault on Tyler. He had gotten slightly more cautious when fighting him now, he had switched his fighting style, to rely less on strength and more on versatility. He threw a punch but before Tyler could counter like he had been, he switched it into a legsweep, and tried to catch Tyler off balance. However his leg merely passed through him, causing him to become off balance instead.

Tyler decided that it was time to finish it, he pulled the vial that had contained the water, and refilled it, before reverting his form. After the other man, pulled himself together and had stood up he looked around for Tyler, he was nowhere to be seen. He then felt a blow to his abdomen, while lacking in force compared to the other blows, this one had penetrated his skin and he had started bleeding. He kicked out hoping to catch his opponent, he felt some resistance making him think he had hit Tyler, but his hopes were dashed as a blow from behind sent him sprawling. He stood up and ran, to the wall putting it behind him, this was a mistake. At first he just felt the air around him start to move and push against him, pretty soon however the force became more insistent. He was pinned against teh wall, and his body started to be pushed into the concrete, making an almost comical indention in it. When the find stopped and the dust it had kicked up cleared his bloodied form was still in the wall, and embedded rather deep. This alone caused the patrons watching to be slack-jawed, it was not over however.

At first, one could only see a ghostly figure, before Tyler's form fully took shape. As he solidified his form returned to normal and he pulled and ornate lighter out of his pocket, and ignited it. He pushed his hand into the flame no noticeable change happened, but if one looked carefully they could see his eyes took on an orange and yellow hue. He then erupted into flame, even the Patrons could feel the heat he emitted, his physical form dissipated as he turned into a flame whirlwind. He then directed himself towards the wall where his opponent was stuck and the poor man started screaming as his flesh and the wall it was stuck into started to burn and char. Some of the patrons vomited but others started to breath heavily in awe and admiration towards the brutal scene being played out in front of them. Soon enough it ended and tyler turned to normal as his opponents prone and injured form loosened from the wall.

As his opponents bloodied form fell from the wall he had been charred to, impacting the ground with a dull wet thud, Tyler turned towards the crowd who had fallen deathly silent and addressed them “ He can still be saved if you get him proper treatment. I shall be returning later for my share, if that still applies in an establishment such as this, I will also discuss some other things. Until then I will take my leave.” After he spoke he walked towards a wall and melded into it. Shortly afterwards the crowd erupted, at the display they had just been shown. Some of them were lucky enough to win a sizeable amount of cash; others who had lurked in the shadows pulled out their phones and contacted their superiors. The Announcer who had been disdainful towards Tyler felt glad that he hadn’t actually brought the champion out, that man can’t afford to be injured.

[New Neros]

Titan | Thad Carter

-Blake

The idea seemed like an excellent place to start, but Titan glanced at his current outfit. "Lead the way... I just hope there's some cosplay convention going on nearby, otherwise, I might get some looks." He explained briefly, "Or I could just change, I guess." The hero looked up as Blake lead them to Sokoloff, the man who tried to rally the other Variants with his story. He was interesting, he had experience, something Titan could trust and admire. He was chatting with a woman named Sarah - Titan hadn't heard much of her - But his attention remained on Sokoloff, magnetically attracted to him as a leader.

However, rather than interject and interrupt, Titan instead made a suggestion after hearing Sarah bluntly ask for the Hussar's power. Originally, Titan thought that keeping your power a secret would be beneficial, but now that it seemed they'd be working as a group, trust needed to be built. What better way to trust a Variant than to know exactly what they do, after all? "If we're going to be working as a team, I think we ought to know what each of us is capable of, right?" Titan asked, looking from Blake to Hussar, to Zed, Sarah, even Andropov and Derek. "What can you all do?"

Before they could answer, Titan continued. "Since I suggested it, I'll go first, start us off." Titan breathed in deeply and exhaled, clearly not comfortable with giving out such information, since he's never had to do it before. "In the simplest of terms, I can manipulate and project electricity, I can control the amperes, and even decide if I want to use direct current or alternating current. I got this power some years ago and I've been developing it on my own for all of those years - It gives me a lot of additional powers, but the umbrella is electricity manipulation."

"Also, I go by Titan. Something strong and powerful, kinda like electricity. Better than Electric Man, I guess, but the name just decided to stick, since I wanted to keep my normal life and my vigilante activities separate." Titan then breathed a big sigh of relief, like a weight lifted off of his shoulders, finally being able to tell some people what he was. "Wew, anyone else? That felt pretty liberating."

[Transoxthraxia]

The entire presentation was awe-inspiring. Maria had always looked up to the Benefactor, and was already aware of his capabilities, especially in terms of speeches and charisma. However, she always did enjoy listening to the man talk. As the presentation ended, she was content with the amount of people who were actually interested. Not like most of them had any real choice. She thought to herself scathingly. The mission was clear, however, and Bloody Mary had already been briefed on their objectives before the rest of the group. She had done a bit of research on Ambrose and Klein, and knew how Ambrose fit in with the Benefactor's plans. Maria had a secondary objective, however, and that was to figure out which of the newly-recruited members of the Benefactor's group would actually be useful to them. It wasn't strictly ordered by the Benefactor himself per se, but Maria was a military woman at heart and wanted to know the capabilities of those that worked under her. She secretly doubted a number of them for a number of reasons, especially those too young or too, well, gimmicky.

As the presentation ended, and those who chose to stay with the Benefactor began to split up into groups to figure out what to do next, Maria closely observed from her position next to the big briefing monitor who was grouping up with who. Maria had an affinity for picking out those that she recognized from a crowd, and the first one that she found was who she'd later learn was Sarah Walker; the kid who had made the mistake of teasing her superior officer about her get-up. Maria scowled and made a mental note to keep tabs on her. She had demonstrated her power earlier, teleportation, which was most certainly useful, but the girl had a lot of ground to cover in terms of respect and maturity. The other two that she had briefly interacted with was the creepy, handsome Cherkinov, who seemed to be straight out of a Dracula novel, as well as the Swede, Karin. She didn't know anything about her ability, but the woman had intrigued Maria, and she wanted to learn more about her. She seemed like one of the few genuinely useful people in their group with few issues, physically or emotionally, though she still didn't know the woman's power.

She had just picked Karin out of the crowd of assembled Variances when she had heard the woman talk,

"Well then, this introductory period has been fun, but it is time to go, and thus I must say adjö. I will be setting out on my own for now, unless someone wants to come along with me."

Quickly, Maria yelled out towards the woman in her light accent, "Yeah, I can come with you." Behind where Maria stood next to the briefing screen there had been a dufflebag. Normally this would have carried all her weapons, but today it only carried her M/39. It's not like a woman who dressed and appeared the way she did could carry around a fully-loaded, 7.62×53mmR rifle without turning a few heads. Swinging the bag over her shoulder, she trotted down towards the Swedish woman, and caught up with her. "Hey, I don't think we really got the chance to talk for an extended time before we were called down here. I'm Maria, but most people call me Bloody Mary. You?"

[Aghrabia]

Victoria

Victoria was flattered by the gesture. "Why thanks, and I think that's a good idea. Getting in his home see-" She was cut off by that vampire yelling her way. "Ugh, vampires. Those guys are only good in movies and that's how I like it. Well getting back to business, I thin-" then she was cut off again by some other guy appearing in front of her unexpectedly. She yelped in fear. "Damn dude, at least give me a warning next time." He asked to join to which Stephen give her the last call. "Uh, sure I guess. Its always nice to have another hand. Well Avery, i'm Victoria. He's Stephen and we're going to get Amberose. We already decided to "get in" his home if you understand me, so do you have an objections to that or are we good?" She pushed herself back to a wall as she crossed her arms.

"Thank you for letting me tag along." Avery "Seems an excellent idea and with no objection from me." The elevator doors closed as Avery had his back to them, and it began ascending to the older warehouse. The elevator noise seemed to fill the gap of silence between the trio as they ascended, with Avery tapping his umbrella on the metal flooring every so often. "So how are we planning on getting there? I didn't bring any form of transport with me here and, from what I saw when I arrived, few people did as well." He spoke up as to try and make things feel less awkward.

Stephen

"I brought a bike- though I doubt we'd all fit on it, unfortunately," he grimaced. "I'll have to come back later to get it." He shook his head as the lift dropped towards its destination in the warehouse. "Tough we'll have to drop by my accommodations (if you can even all them that) to pick up some crucial equipment we'll need to get into Klein's house- see lock-picking kit, masks, gloves, etc."

The lift came to a rumbling halt at the back of the warehouse. "I guess we're going to have to get a bus- I saw a bus stop on the way here, we can check if any buses go to the rat-hole of a hotel," he spat. "So unhygienic..."

"Anyway..." he continued, moving out of the warehouse and towards the bus stop. "Hey look! It stops right outside of the place! Sorry... do you two need to pick something up from your places?"

The bus came towards them and he hailed it for them, it stopped and the driver looked out at them a bit strangely. "Where do you want to go?" he said in his strong Settle accent.

"Pioneer Square, please."

The driver grunted and handed them the tickets, they got in and the doors closed behind them- the bus started moving. I can't help but shake the feeling that this is a point of no return... he pondered, ominously.

[Ubaria]

Lucio Martelli
Secret Bunker
Somewhere in SoDo, Seattle.

Their mission, whether they chose to accept it or not, was to locate one Biomedical scientist by the name of Jonathan Ambrose, an Alias however. The situation that was explained resonated all too well with Lucio, for he himself was an Ex-Scientist, working for a pharmaceutical company, in possession of stolen research and also being hunted down by elements most nefarious, and if the Benefactor knew of this 'Jonathan Klein', it was safe enough to assume that he also knew about Lucio's situation, he already knew about his powers. The task, whilst it seemed simple in nature, was complicated by the fact that the doctor possessed three Variants, his own personal entourage of powered beings to act as his personal bodyguard, the extent of their powers were unknown but the Benefactor capitalized on how dangerous they were.

Lucio wasn't convinced to say the least. Firstly, there had been no proof of the Doctors misdeeds, the Benefactor had said that he partook in questionably ethical experimentation in genetic alteration, the Variants could be living and testifying proof to that but they were on his side, why would they side with a man who experimented on them? They looked young to say the least, one probably no more than 16, perhaps brainwashing or some sort of mental manipulation was in play, though hard to tell without the bigger picture. Secondly, this 'research' , how did they know the Doctor had malicious intents? Lucio possessed a whole catalouge of information on genetic research, albeit incomplete, but still dangerous to the wrong people, the Doctor may have seized the documents for himself, to stop them being used. Lucio too had done this to stop the serum he helped develop, being sold onto the black market. They both possessed dangerous material, capable of creating new breeds of human, yet only one was the target. Why?

Others were quick to entrust the man that they hadn't even met for the whole of five minutes, like swans to water. Perhaps high on patriotic fever instilled by the Benefactor and their own whimsical dreams of crime fighting, sure that was a noble endevour, but why did they need the Benefactor for that? Fornow, Luca would go with the flow, but he only trusted himself to find out the truth about Klien.

"I don't like this. Not one bit" Luca muttered lowly to himself, but the Benefactor probably heard it, considering he had eyes and ears everywhere, not that Luca particularly cared.

[Deramen]

"Thank you for letting me tag along." Avery "Seems an excellent idea and with no objection from me." The elevator doors closed as Avery had his back to them, and it began ascending to the older warehouse. The elevator noise seemed to fill the gap of silence between the trio as they ascended, with Avery tapping his umbrella on the metal flooring every so often. "So how are we planning on getting there? I didn't bring any form of transport with me here and, from what I saw when I arrived, few people did as well." He spoke up as to try and make things feel less awkward.

Stephen

"I brought a bike- though I doubt we'd all fit on it, unfortunately," he grimaced. "I'll have to come back later to get it." He shook his head as the lift dropped towards its destination in the warehouse. "Tough we'll have to drop by my accommodations (if you can even all them that) to pick up some crucial equipment we'll need to get into Klein's house- see lock-picking kit, masks, gloves, etc."

The lift came to a rumbling halt at the back of the warehouse. "I guess we're going to have to get a bus- I saw a bus stop on the way here, we can check if any buses go to the rat-hole of a hotel," he spat. "So unhygienic..."

"Anyway..." he continued, moving out of the warehouse and towards the bus stop. "Hey look! It stops right outside of the place! Sorry... do you two need to pick something up from your places?"

Victoria | SoDo

Victoria yawned and stretched her body as they left that warehouse. "Yep, we gotta take the bus. Hey Is it that hotel near Lange Drive? Alright well i'm going to go home and prepare. Once i'm done I'll meet you there." She waved to the other two and then walked down the street to the bus that took her here. When she entered it she pulled out her phone once more. She opened up Jetflex and put in ear buds as she watched an episode of some show. She closed her eyes and relaxed herself into a calm state as the characters cracked jokes. She kept feeling calmer and calmer until suddenly she was shaken awake. "Huh?" She looked up groggily to a angry man staring at her. "Ma'am its the been a full rotation since you got on and your still here! Get your ass out of here or else I'll get the cops!" Victoria stood up embarrassed as she removed herself from the bus. "Sorry! Sorry!" She explained.

Once off she realized she was near her apartment. "Oh good lord i'm lucky." She uttered. She traveled until she reached an old, rusty apartment
building. She moved to the door and unlocked it. She apartment door to find trash next to it and a ripped piece of paper reading,

"Throw out the trash sometime you idiot."

She grumbled as she pushed aside the trash. She pulled out a different key as she unlocked the door. Victoria stepped in to find the smell of rotten cheese and old socks. "Ew. Goddamn it P, clean up for yourself once in a while." She commanded to no one in particular. Victoria stepped over trash and clothing as she made her way to her room. Once inside she put down her purse and emptied it. She took out her own uniform from her closet which she stuffed it into the purse. Then she took a good chunk of her cash and put it in the purse. Lastly she made sure to take all info she would need if the police needed something. She zipped the purse up and then she made sure to take the the spray and use it over the place making sure to get the door. She left her apartment and walked over to the hotel. She didn't see anyone yet so she waited.

[Aghrabia]

Stephen

"I brought a bike- though I doubt we'd all fit on it, unfortunately," he grimaced. "I'll have to come back later to get it." He shook his head as the lift dropped towards its destination in the warehouse. "Tough we'll have to drop by my accommodations (if you can even all them that) to pick up some crucial equipment we'll need to get into Klein's house- see lock-picking kit, masks, gloves, etc."

The lift came to a rumbling halt at the back of the warehouse. "I guess we're going to have to get a bus- I saw a bus stop on the way here, we can check if any buses go to the rat-hole of a hotel," he spat. "So unhygienic..."

"Anyway..." he continued, moving out of the warehouse and towards the bus stop. "Hey look! It stops right outside of the place! Sorry... do you two need to pick something up from your places?"

Victoria | SoDo

Victoria yawned and stretched her body as they left that warehouse. "Yep, we gotta take the bus. Hey Is it that hotel near Lange Drive? Alright well i'm going to go home and prepare. Once i'm done I'll meet you there." She waved to the other two and then walked down the street to the bus that took her here. When she entered it she pulled out her phone once more. She opened up Jetflex and put in ear buds as she watched an episode of some show. She closed her eyes and relaxed herself into a calm state as the characters cracked jokes. She kept feeling calmer and calmer until suddenly she was shaken awake. "Huh?" She looked up groggily to a angry man staring at her. "Ma'am its the been a full rotation since you got on and your still here! Get your ass out of here or else I'll get the cops!" Victoria stood up embarrassed as she removed herself from the bus. "Sorry! Sorry!" She explained.

Once off she realized she was near her apartment. "Oh good lord i'm lucky." She uttered. She traveled until she reached an old, rusty apartment
building. She moved to the door and unlocked it. She apartment door to find trash next to it and a ripped piece of paper reading,

"Throw out the trash sometime you idiot."

She grumbled as she pushed aside the trash. She pulled out a different key as she unlocked the door. Victoria stepped in to find the smell of rotten cheese and old socks. "Ew. Goddamn it P, clean up for yourself once in a while." She commanded to no one in particular. Victoria stepped over trash and clothing as she made her way to her room. Once inside she put down her purse and emptied it. She took out her own uniform from her closet which she stuffed it into the purse. Then she took a good chunk of her cash and put it in the purse. Lastly she made sure to take all info she would need if the police needed something. She zipped the purse up and then she made sure to take the the spray and use it over the place making sure to get the door. She left her apartment and walked over to the hotel. She didn't see anyone yet so she waited.

Stephen

Having said goodbye to Victoria, who left the two of them to go to her own apartment - Avery and Stephen climbed onto the bus and drove away. They chatted a bit, before falling into an awkward silence. The scenery of the urban jungle passed by quickly, but not at an overly fast rate. After about 10 minutes the bus finally reached their intended destination, a small, dirty old place near Lange Drive.

Stephen tapped Avery on the shoulder. "We're here, man," he sighed. "Disgusting place isn't it." The grime and dirt on the building had permanently fused into the once fancy façade on the building, the polluted fumes from the cars that passed certainly didn't help the look- the once white stone had faded into a sort-of grey. They walked up to the building, Stephen pushed the door open and they went inside. A smell overwhelmed them, it was a mixture of sweat, blood, animal-as well as human- excrement, an... another type of bodily fluid. The receptionist grunted as they came in and ignored them as they moved towards and up the stairs. On the way to his apartment on the 3rd floor, the pair viewed a wide range of human decadencies. As they stepped over a couple engaged in and intimate embrace in the middle of the corridor, Stephen remarked something about getting a room and not wanting to see it- this sentiment was returned when the man told him in no uncertain terms to perform a sex act on himself and continued with his current activity.

They eventually reached the room and stepped inside. It was at least a measure cleaner than it was outside and the smell was a bit more subdued than it was in the hall. Stephen told Avery to wait in the room as he went to scavenge equipment. Within 10 minutes he had found 5 pairs of rubber gloves, a set of lockpicks, 3 bandanas that could be used as makeshift masks, a torch, a cheap digital camera and some tic-tacs. He offered his current companion one, which he refused- so Stephen ate it himself.

They yet again passed through the halls of Hell, through the reception area and onto the street. Victoria was already waiting there. "Hi, Victoria- are you ready?" he asked.

[The Olog-Hai]

Steven Fashinbauer/The Birdwatcher
Steven hesitantly shook the offered hand. "Nice to meet you too," he replied. "I go by The Birdwatcher. Kinda explains the outfit, right? Well, I can assure you that the feathers used in it were collected cruelty free. I know where a few birds nest. Well, more than a few."
Great job ranting, he thought. Ya've gone and done it again. Stop already.
"I guess my power is evident by my name, maybe. Kinda useless down here..."

Finian inhaled a deep drag on his cigarette, then turned and blew it away from the Birdwatcher. He studied the man closely, sizing him up as an officer might size up a new recruit. Not much, but looks could be deceiving..., Finian thought, taking another puff on his cigarette.

"I do stuff with smoke, like create it or make it disappear. Amazingly useful in killing gangs, surprisingly." Finian said, halfheartedly joking. He already wanted to leave this warehouse and the creepy people surrounding him, and make it back home to Aria already. She deserved to know he was still safe, and he also didn't trust anyone in the warehouse farther than he could throw any of them.

The Birdwatcher
"That's neat," Steven replied. "It sounds like it could be useful."
Godammit. he thought. Why do the people who always seem nice end up having these sorts if powers that are just... I don't even know. Counterproductive to what I'm doing? Bad for the environment? I guess this guy could be handled if I'm careful. If he has any modicum of control, we'd make a nice pair. Smoke spreads out outside, right? So, he's ineffective while he's outside, kinda, and I'm kinda ineffective in a building. That works out perfectly, right?
Steven glances around at the people leaving. "You know how the Benefactor, whoever the hell he is, wants us to form groups? Well, you and I could work well together, maybe"
Great job. Your awkwardness shows again. At least you didn't go full out rant about the environment like you do sometimes. And why do I think in the second person sometimes? Or at least admonish myself like this? Oh well, the sooner I'm back upstairs, the better. It's so cramped down here. No feeling of birds. This is a horrible place...

[Altito Asmoro]

The entire presentation was awe-inspiring. Maria had always looked up to the Benefactor, and was already aware of his capabilities, especially in terms of speeches and charisma. However, she always did enjoy listening to the man talk. As the presentation ended, she was content with the amount of people who were actually interested. Not like most of them had any real choice. She thought to herself scathingly. The mission was clear, however, and Bloody Mary had already been briefed on their objectives before the rest of the group. She had done a bit of research on Ambrose and Klein, and knew how Ambrose fit in with the Benefactor's plans. Maria had a secondary objective, however, and that was to figure out which of the newly-recruited members of the Benefactor's group would actually be useful to them. It wasn't strictly ordered by the Benefactor himself per se, but Maria was a military woman at heart and wanted to know the capabilities of those that worked under her. She secretly doubted a number of them for a number of reasons, especially those too young or too, well, gimmicky.

As the presentation ended, and those who chose to stay with the Benefactor began to split up into groups to figure out what to do next, Maria closely observed from her position next to the big briefing monitor who was grouping up with who. Maria had an affinity for picking out those that she recognized from a crowd, and the first one that she found was who she'd later learn was Sarah Walker; the kid who had made the mistake of teasing her superior officer about her get-up. Maria scowled and made a mental note to keep tabs on her. She had demonstrated her power earlier, teleportation, which was most certainly useful, but the girl had a lot of ground to cover in terms of respect and maturity. The other two that she had briefly interacted with was the creepy, handsome Cherkinov, who seemed to be straight out of a Dracula novel, as well as the Swede, Karin. She didn't know anything about her ability, but the woman had intrigued Maria, and she wanted to learn more about her. She seemed like one of the few genuinely useful people in their group with few issues, physically or emotionally, though she still didn't know the woman's power.

She had just picked Karin out of the crowd of assembled Variances when she had heard the woman talk,

"Well then, this introductory period has been fun, but it is time to go, and thus I must say adjö. I will be setting out on my own for now, unless someone wants to come along with me."

Quickly, Maria yelled out towards the woman in her light accent, "Yeah, I can come with you." Behind where Maria stood next to the briefing screen there had been a dufflebag. Normally this would have carried all her weapons, but today it only carried her M/39. It's not like a woman who dressed and appeared the way she did could carry around a fully-loaded, 7.62×53mmR rifle without turning a few heads. Swinging the bag over her shoulder, she trotted down towards the Swedish woman, and caught up with her. "Hey, I don't think we really got the chance to talk for an extended time before we were called down here. I'm Maria, but most people call me Bloody Mary. You?"

Leonid was quite surprised to see someone other than both of them approaching. "Well, well, well, looks like we have someone in this trio too, Karin" said Leonid to Karin, wanting to sound like a gentleman with a thick Russian accent but more like to be annoying. Leonid didn't bring anything aside from his smartphone, but that's probably for the better. "I'm Leonid, and I guess we already know each other, too. I want to invite Karin to be together in this mission, more people means more success chance, right?" with a wide smile on his face to Maria.

"We can go in my car, too."

[Derelldia]

Stephen

Having said goodbye to Victoria, who left the two of them to go to her own apartment - Avery and Stephen climbed onto the bus and drove away. They chatted a bit, before falling into an awkward silence. The scenery of the urban jungle passed by quickly, but not at an overly fast rate. After about 10 minutes the bus finally reached their intended destination, a small, dirty old place near Lange Drive.

Stephen tapped Avery on the shoulder. "We're here, man," he sighed. "Disgusting place isn't it." The grime and dirt on the building had permanently fused into the once fancy façade on the building, the polluted fumes from the cars that passed certainly didn't help the look- the once white stone had faded into a sort-of grey. They walked up to the building, Stephen pushed the door open and they went inside. A smell overwhelmed them, it was a mixture of sweat, blood, animal-as well as human- excrement, an... another type of bodily fluid. The receptionist grunted as they came in and ignored them as they moved towards and up the stairs. On the way to his apartment on the 3rd floor, the pair viewed a wide range of human decadencies. As they stepped over a couple engaged in and intimate embrace in the middle of the corridor, Stephen remarked something about getting a room and not wanting to see it- this sentiment was returned when the man told him in no uncertain terms to perform a sex act on himself and continued with his current activity.

They eventually reached the room and stepped inside. It was at least a measure cleaner than it was outside and the smell was a bit more subdued than it was in the hall. Stephen told Avery to wait in the room as he went to scavenge equipment. Within 10 minutes he had found 5 pairs of rubber gloves, a set of lockpicks, 3 bandanas that could be used as makeshift masks, a torch, a cheap digital camera and some tic-tacs. He offered his current companion one, which he refused- so Stephen ate it himself.

They yet again passed through the halls of Hell, through the reception area and onto the street. Victoria was already waiting there. "Hi, Victoria- are you ready?" he asked.

After waving goodbye to Victoria, Avery followed Stephen onto the bus. It wasn't the comfiest of journey but at least it didn't last long at all. The bus soon came to a stop in front of a rundown looking hotel.

Avery looked at Stephen after being tapped on the shoulder, "I see it most definitely is a rat-hole of a hotel, that you so nicely described it as earlier." They entered the building to a very revolting stench that seemed to perforate anyone's sense of smell. Just a filthy concoction of almost all the worst kinds of smell imaginable in a city. "Sooth I know not why people would live like this. Surely t'would be better to not eat in the same halls one shits." Avery spoke in as close to a classical English accent as he could pull off in such an area. Passing through to Stephen's room, mostly unremarkable, they enter a place much cleaner than the rest of the hotel. At least it didn't hold the throat of those who enter, unlike the rest of the hotel.

Passing on the tic-tac, instead taking a swig from the flask in his pocket, the duo left the room and into the halls of torment. This time making it a more hurried walk out of the hotel and onto the street, with Victoria standing there. Taking a moment to cough and take another swig from the still under half empty flask, Avery stood up straight again. "Never would one make the choice of living there. Truly a pit of depravity and heartless sorrow. But yes. Onward and upwards, to the point nobody else would go, if you are ready Miss." Avery jestered slightly as he spoke.

[Deramen]

Victoria | SoDo

Victoria yawned and stretched her body as they left that warehouse. "Yep, we gotta take the bus. Hey Is it that hotel near Lange Drive? Alright well i'm going to go home and prepare. Once i'm done I'll meet you there." She waved to the other two and then walked down the street to the bus that took her here. When she entered it she pulled out her phone once more. She opened up Jetflex and put in ear buds as she watched an episode of some show. She closed her eyes and relaxed herself into a calm state as the characters cracked jokes. She kept feeling calmer and calmer until suddenly she was shaken awake. "Huh?" She looked up groggily to a angry man staring at her. "Ma'am its the been a full rotation since you got on and your still here! Get your ass out of here or else I'll get the cops!" Victoria stood up embarrassed as she removed herself from the bus. "Sorry! Sorry!" She explained.

Once off she realized she was near her apartment. "Oh good lord i'm lucky." She uttered. She traveled until she reached an old, rusty apartment
building. She moved to the door and unlocked it. She apartment door to find trash next to it and a ripped piece of paper reading,

"Throw out the trash sometime you idiot."

She grumbled as she pushed aside the trash. She pulled out a different key as she unlocked the door. Victoria stepped in to find the smell of rotten cheese and old socks. "Ew. Goddamn it P, clean up for yourself once in a while." She commanded to no one in particular. Victoria stepped over trash and clothing as she made her way to her room. Once inside she put down her purse and emptied it. She took out her own uniform from her closet which she stuffed it into the purse. Then she took a good chunk of her cash and put it in the purse. Lastly she made sure to take all info she would need if the police needed something. She zipped the purse up and then she made sure to take the the spray and use it over the place making sure to get the door. She left her apartment and walked over to the hotel. She didn't see anyone yet so she waited.

Stephen

Having said goodbye to Victoria, who left the two of them to go to her own apartment - Avery and Stephen climbed onto the bus and drove away. They chatted a bit, before falling into an awkward silence. The scenery of the urban jungle passed by quickly, but not at an overly fast rate. After about 10 minutes the bus finally reached their intended destination, a small, dirty old place near Lange Drive.

Stephen tapped Avery on the shoulder. "We're here, man," he sighed. "Disgusting place isn't it." The grime and dirt on the building had permanently fused into the once fancy façade on the building, the polluted fumes from the cars that passed certainly didn't help the look- the once white stone had faded into a sort-of grey. They walked up to the building, Stephen pushed the door open and they went inside. A smell overwhelmed them, it was a mixture of sweat, blood, animal-as well as human- excrement, an... another type of bodily fluid. The receptionist grunted as they came in and ignored them as they moved towards and up the stairs. On the way to his apartment on the 3rd floor, the pair viewed a wide range of human decadencies. As they stepped over a couple engaged in and intimate embrace in the middle of the corridor, Stephen remarked something about getting a room and not wanting to see it- this sentiment was returned when the man told him in no uncertain terms to perform a sex act on himself and continued with his current activity.

They eventually reached the room and stepped inside. It was at least a measure cleaner than it was outside and the smell was a bit more subdued than it was in the hall. Stephen told Avery to wait in the room as he went to scavenge equipment. Within 10 minutes he had found 5 pairs of rubber gloves, a set of lockpicks, 3 bandanas that could be used as makeshift masks, a torch, a cheap digital camera and some tic-tacs. He offered his current companion one, which he refused- so Stephen ate it himself.

They yet again passed through the halls of Hell, through the reception area and onto the street. Victoria was already waiting there. "Hi, Victoria- are you ready?" he asked.

Victoria looked up to see Stephen and Avery looking at her. "Huh, oh yea im ready. So are we going to "Borrow someones car? Or we going to take the bus to the closest stop?" She pulled out her phone. She looked up where the closest bus stop would be to the address. "Turns out the nearest bus stop is about, a mile away from Ameberose's home." Victoria looked up. "Oh wait, we gotta change into our outfits. Do you have a bathroom that I change in?"

[Independent States of Tula]

Włodzisław "Hussar" Sokoloff
SoDo, Seattle, WA

“There’s this little internet cafe I go to all the time,” A small Vietnamese girl Sokoloff believed was known as Blake stated as she jumped into the discussion before adding "It’s over near my apartment in Fremont. They have this really good mochaccino with white chocolate drizzle and… and, yeah, wi-fi. I can take you if you want.”

Before Sokoloff could reply Sarah beat him to the punch “Sounds great! Be nice to have someone who knows Seattle on board…don’t suppose you know somewhere I can change pounds over for dollars?"

Sokoloff just added in "Welcome aboard."

The man who'd already arrived in costume introduced himself as Titan and informed everyone of his power, Sokoloff nodded and replied "Włodzisław Sokoloff, my code name on ops was the Winged Hussar or Hussar, Advanced Healing Factor. ...It's nice to meet you three, how about we head topside and discuss our plan of attack? It might be best if we split this group up to hit two targets at once. I'm talking about the Internet Cafe and Robert Klein's house. You guy's thoughts?"

[Rupudska]

Leonid was quite surprised to see someone other than both of them approaching. "Well, well, well, looks like we have someone in this trio too, Karin" said Leonid to Karin, wanting to sound like a gentleman with a thick Russian accent but more like to be annoying. Leonid didn't bring anything aside from his smartphone, but that's probably for the better. "I'm Leonid, and I guess we already know each other, too. I want to invite Karin to be together in this mission, more people means more success chance, right?" with a wide smile on his face to Maria.

"We can go in my car, too."

Karin sighed. She wanted to tell them that she didn't want to work alongside them (mostly Leonid.) She tried to tell them that she didn't want to work alongside them (mostly Leonid.) She very nearly did, too.

But she didn't. Something in her told her not to, for whatever reason. She tried to decide a good reason not to go with them, then tried to decide a good reason to go with them to explain why she felt the urge to at the least let them come along. It wasn't good but it was a reason.

"Fine, fine. You are right, Leonid. More people does mean a greater chance of success. You can.... come along. Maria, too."

[The Warriors of the Sun]

Zedekiah McMurry
SoDo, Seattle

Zedekiah stiffened and blushed as Blake pulled him to her side. She quickly told him that they were going to be heroes as she gestured to an imaginary horizon. He couldn't help, but look to where she gestured as he sported a grin on his face. He couldn't really muster a response when she released Zedekiah from her arm, still overwhelmed by her sudden contact, but he also couldn't stop smiling. Her enthusiasm made her dream sound pleasant and obtainable. And by the grace of God he was able to find two Variants who were glad to have him with them, even though he had a hard time talking to them. But before the three variants' conversation could go on much farther The Benefactor began to speak to the entire group.

Zedekiah listened to The Benefactor's briefing on what would be the group's first mission. They were going straight into it, not even a day to think it over. At least this would be a good way to see if he really belonged in this group. But this mission was a bit a much, at least for Zedekiah. Some of these other variants seemed to be veterans already to fighting crime, but Zedekiah was certainly not among them.

When The Benefactor finished, Blake almost immediately headed towards another hero. Zedekiah's heart felt like it froze for a moment as he wondered why Blake was already abandoning him. But his heart returned to normal as he was relieved to see Blake wave for Titan and Zedekiah to follow her. He needed to stop, if he was really going to be some kind of hero he shouldn't have his emotions so easily swayed by such paranoia. Zedekiah closely followed Titan over to Blake and two other Variants, Hussar and Sarah.

Titan and hussar quickly introduced themselves and their own powers, while Zedekiah tried his best to think on how to describe his own. He never really thought about how his power worked, it just came to him and he used it whenever he felt lonely, which was more times than he would ever care to admit to others. Zedekiah was content to introduce himself last and even more relieved when Hussar suggested heading up and discussing their plans of attack allowing Zedekiah at least a few more moments to think up of a response as he quietly followed Titan and Blake along with the group they joined.

[Altito Asmoro]

Leonid was quite surprised to see someone other than both of them approaching. "Well, well, well, looks like we have someone in this trio too, Karin" said Leonid to Karin, wanting to sound like a gentleman with a thick Russian accent but more like to be annoying. Leonid didn't bring anything aside from his smartphone, but that's probably for the better. "I'm Leonid, and I guess we already know each other, too. I want to invite Karin to be together in this mission, more people means more success chance, right?" with a wide smile on his face to Maria.

"We can go in my car, too."

Karin sighed. She wanted to tell them that she didn't want to work alongside them (mostly Leonid.) She tried to tell them that she didn't want to work alongside them (mostly Leonid.) She very nearly did, too.

But she didn't. Something in her told her not to, for whatever reason. She tried to decide a good reason not to go with them, then tried to decide a good reason to go with them to explain why she felt the urge to at the least let them come along. It wasn't good but it was a reason.

"Fine, fine. You are right, Leonid. More people does mean a greater chance of success. You can.... come along. Maria, too."

"Great!" said Leonid as he hugged Karin, a quick hug.

Leonid asked Karin and Maria, still near the elevator, "So...I bet there's gonna be leader, yes? Who wants to be one?" and then Leonid called his chaffeur, "James, prepare the car. There are about 2 people that will join us for a ride. And look for whatever information you know regarding The Syndicate, the one with Sinaloa. You are a former corrupt cop, right? Just look at one, thanks." said Leonid in the end, as he called off the call.

[Kuhlfros]

Karin sighed. She wanted to tell them that she didn't want to work alongside them (mostly Leonid.) She tried to tell them that she didn't want to work alongside them (mostly Leonid.) She very nearly did, too.

But she didn't. Something in her told her not to, for whatever reason. She tried to decide a good reason not to go with them, then tried to decide a good reason to go with them to explain why she felt the urge to at the least let them come along. It wasn't good but it was a reason.

"Fine, fine. You are right, Leonid. More people does mean a greater chance of success. You can.... come along. Maria, too."

"Great!" said Leonid as he hugged Karin, a quick hug.

Leonid asked Karin and Maria, still near the elevator, "So...I bet there's gonna be leader, yes? Who wants to be one?" and then Leonid called his chaffeur, "James, prepare the car. There are about 2 people that will join us for a ride. And look for whatever information you know regarding The Syndicate, the one with Sinaloa. You are a former corrupt cop, right? Just look at one, thanks." said Leonid in the end, as he called off the call.

Lucas couldn't put into words what exactly he was feeling, but if he tried he could say he was feeling intrigued by the thought of the Benefactor trying to form heroes, annoyed that he has no option but to work for him or knows no reason why the Benefactor wants this and the scientist, suspicious of how the Benefactor gets all of his information and what his end game is, and finally curious what he could do and if things could change for the better if he followed through with this.

He was near the back of the crowd and quiet throughout the Benefactor's talk and the Q&A session, he had questions yes, however he was not going to ask them...yet, nor let his identity be fully known. Except now that everyone had contacts with eachother, now his name was atleast known, as well as occupation if they found him on social media.

It was then he heard Lord Russian Dracula talking on the phone, "Of course he's rich, alright, money doesn't mean power, but it is certainly a useful tool for anything."

"Do you have room for another?" He asked Leonid, masking the awkwardness of the sudden introduction behind a smile and offering a hand to the Russian and said, "My name is Lucas Quinn, I live in Olympia normally so I don't have much for transportation here in Seattle, not to mention working as a team is part of the goal right?"

He worded it precisely as he wanted to, appealing to the idea of future cooperation as the heroes the Benefactor wanted them to be, "Like the little puppets he want's us to be..." Lucas thought to himself with a wave of suspicion. Shaking it away he looked around at the other too and said politely, "I really hope you don't mind if I come along too...if it's not to much to ask."

[Transoxthraxia]

Karin sighed. She wanted to tell them that she didn't want to work alongside them (mostly Leonid.) She tried to tell them that she didn't want to work alongside them (mostly Leonid.) She very nearly did, too.

But she didn't. Something in her told her not to, for whatever reason. She tried to decide a good reason not to go with them, then tried to decide a good reason to go with them to explain why she felt the urge to at the least let them come along. It wasn't good but it was a reason.

"Fine, fine. You are right, Leonid. More people does mean a greater chance of success. You can.... come along. Maria, too."

"Great!" said Leonid as he hugged Karin, a quick hug.

Leonid asked Karin and Maria, still near the elevator, "So...I bet there's gonna be leader, yes? Who wants to be one?" and then Leonid called his chaffeur, "James, prepare the car. There are about 2 people that will join us for a ride. And look for whatever information you know regarding The Syndicate, the one with Sinaloa. You are a former corrupt cop, right? Just look at one, thanks." said Leonid in the end, as he called off the call.

"... Cristo." Maria said, towards Dracula. You'd think that a man with his looks would know boundaries. She thought begrudgingly. In her accent, she told the vampire, "Look, you touch me like you touch that girl and I'll make sure that you'll appreciate every drop of blood in your body. Also, did you ever think that you might be making that poor girl uncomfortable?" After she spoke, Dracula talked vaguely about leadership and then got on the phone with some sort of chauffeur, acting as if he had some god-given right to be the group's leader. "Did you perhaps forget who you are talking to? I am the benefactor's second-in-command, and I will be leading this group. That being said, I am not against any suggestions from the group as to what to do next, and would love to hear any input from any of the people here." Maria flashed a friendly smile, out of character for the stern lieutenant. It wasn't genuine, though it sort of looked like it was. She wanted to appear as the benevolent leader, not the tyrant.

"Leonid, right?" She recognized Dracula's name from a list the Benefactor had shared with her. "Good work on getting your man on the case. He might know something about it." Maria wanted to see who could do what, and which of them could provide valuable input as to what to. "Anyone else have any suggestions?" As she asked, a third person chimed into the group. A good looking, Caucasian male had quietly wormed his way into the group, unsure and quiet, asking to be a part of the group rather than just staking his claim. "Sure, but I don't want anything bigger than this, it might attract too much attention otherwise. You are?" She asked the newly joined group member.

[Altito Asmoro]

"Great!" said Leonid as he hugged Karin, a quick hug.

Leonid asked Karin and Maria, still near the elevator, "So...I bet there's gonna be leader, yes? Who wants to be one?" and then Leonid called his chaffeur, "James, prepare the car. There are about 2 people that will join us for a ride. And look for whatever information you know regarding The Syndicate, the one with Sinaloa. You are a former corrupt cop, right? Just look at one, thanks." said Leonid in the end, as he called off the call.

"... Cristo." Maria said, towards Dracula. You'd think that a man with his looks would know boundaries. She thought begrudgingly. In her accent, she told the vampire, "Look, you touch me like you touch that girl and I'll make sure that you'll appreciate every drop of blood in your body. Also, did you ever think that you might be making that poor girl uncomfortable?" After she spoke, Dracula talked vaguely about leadership and then got on the phone with some sort of chauffeur, acting as if he had some god-given right to be the group's leader. "Did you perhaps forget who you are talking to? I am the benefactor's second-in-command, and I will be leading this group. That being said, I am not against any suggestions from the group as to what to do next, and would love to hear any input from any of the people here." Maria flashed a friendly smile, out of character for the stern lieutenant. It wasn't genuine, though it sort of looked like it was. She wanted to appear as the benevolent leader, not the tyrant.

"Leonid, right?" She recognized Dracula's name from a list the Benefactor had shared with her. "Good work on getting your man on the case. He might know something about it." Maria wanted to see who could do what, and which of them could provide valuable input as to what to. "Anyone else have any suggestions?" As she asked, a third person chimed into the group. A good looking, Caucasian male had quietly wormed his way into the group, unsure and quiet, asking to be a part of the group rather than just staking his claim. "Sure, but I don't want anything bigger than this, it might attract too much attention otherwise. You are?" She asked the newly joined group member.

"Relax, Senorita, I mean no harm on Karin," said Leonid to Maria. Sure, he's a vampire, but he has standards, styles, and harming women is not on his list of "vampire style", as far as he made it by himself. And then she asked about leadership, "Oh no no, just asking. I myself don't want to be leader, not a people person too much, sadly," as he gazed to the nearest wall he could saw.

"Yes, yes, I'm Leonid, Madam Senorita Maria," as he bowed to Maria. "Yes, James is my ghoul and he has links with corrupt cops in Seattle...if you know what I mean, of course. Sinaloa Cartel is quite...strong, by human gangsters standard in Seattle, to be fair." ended Leonid. And then there's a new member.

"My limousine is enough for four of us."

[Kuhlfros]

"Great!" said Leonid as he hugged Karin, a quick hug.

Leonid asked Karin and Maria, still near the elevator, "So...I bet there's gonna be leader, yes? Who wants to be one?" and then Leonid called his chaffeur, "James, prepare the car. There are about 2 people that will join us for a ride. And look for whatever information you know regarding The Syndicate, the one with Sinaloa. You are a former corrupt cop, right? Just look at one, thanks." said Leonid in the end, as he called off the call.

"... Cristo." Maria said, towards Dracula. You'd think that a man with his looks would know boundaries. She thought begrudgingly. In her accent, she told the vampire, "Look, you touch me like you touch that girl and I'll make sure that you'll appreciate every drop of blood in your body. Also, did you ever think that you might be making that poor girl uncomfortable?" After she spoke, Dracula talked vaguely about leadership and then got on the phone with some sort of chauffeur, acting as if he had some god-given right to be the group's leader. "Did you perhaps forget who you are talking to? I am the benefactor's second-in-command, and I will be leading this group. That being said, I am not against any suggestions from the group as to what to do next, and would love to hear any input from any of the people here." Maria flashed a friendly smile, out of character for the stern lieutenant. It wasn't genuine, though it sort of looked like it was. She wanted to appear as the benevolent leader, not the tyrant.

"Leonid, right?" She recognized Dracula's name from a list the Benefactor had shared with her. "Good work on getting your man on the case. He might know something about it." Maria wanted to see who could do what, and which of them could provide valuable input as to what to. "Anyone else have any suggestions?" As she asked, a third person chimed into the group. A good looking, Caucasian male had quietly wormed his way into the group, unsure and quiet, asking to be a part of the group rather than just staking his claim. "Sure, but I don't want anything bigger than this, it might attract too much attention otherwise. You are?" She asked the newly joined group member.

"Lucas Quinn, a pleasure ma'am." He replied, all the falsified meekness from before vanished, Offering his hand to Maria as well, "I may as well know your names as well if we are working together."

He smiled to himself as he found the two 'competitors' of the group, the second in command under the Benefactor, and the wealthy old vampire, only time would tell how the vampire would actually respond to the domineering attitude the woman commanded, Lucas had dealt with both of these types before, a velvet glove and an iron one, but the one in iron had covered hers with velvet to disguise herself, it wasn't a velvet glove over an iron fist...just an iron fist with velvet covering it...but he could work with them.

"I can get access to most state documents related to the Sinaloa Cartel and possibly some records related to both of the Ambroses if I can get to a place with a secure internet connection. Somewhere it can stay out of prying eyes as well...now I don't know the city that well so is there anywhere you three know of that can fit that description?"

"Alright, they know I am not a liability and I will be useful to progress...working for the state government does have it's perks." He thought.

[Altito Asmoro]

"... Cristo." Maria said, towards Dracula. You'd think that a man with his looks would know boundaries. She thought begrudgingly. In her accent, she told the vampire, "Look, you touch me like you touch that girl and I'll make sure that you'll appreciate every drop of blood in your body. Also, did you ever think that you might be making that poor girl uncomfortable?" After she spoke, Dracula talked vaguely about leadership and then got on the phone with some sort of chauffeur, acting as if he had some god-given right to be the group's leader. "Did you perhaps forget who you are talking to? I am the benefactor's second-in-command, and I will be leading this group. That being said, I am not against any suggestions from the group as to what to do next, and would love to hear any input from any of the people here." Maria flashed a friendly smile, out of character for the stern lieutenant. It wasn't genuine, though it sort of looked like it was. She wanted to appear as the benevolent leader, not the tyrant.

"Leonid, right?" She recognized Dracula's name from a list the Benefactor had shared with her. "Good work on getting your man on the case. He might know something about it." Maria wanted to see who could do what, and which of them could provide valuable input as to what to. "Anyone else have any suggestions?" As she asked, a third person chimed into the group. A good looking, Caucasian male had quietly wormed his way into the group, unsure and quiet, asking to be a part of the group rather than just staking his claim. "Sure, but I don't want anything bigger than this, it might attract too much attention otherwise. You are?" She asked the newly joined group member.

"Lucas Quinn, a pleasure ma'am." He replied, all the falsified meekness from before vanished, Offering his hand to Maria as well, "I may as well know your names as well if we are working together."

He smiled to himself as he found the two 'competitors' of the group, the second in command under the Benefactor, and the wealthy old vampire, only time would tell how the vampire would actually respond to the domineering attitude the woman commanded, Lucas had dealt with both of these types before, a velvet glove and an iron one, but the one in iron had covered hers with velvet to disguise herself, it wasn't a velvet glove over an iron fist...just an iron fist with velvet covering it...but he could work with them.

"I can get access to most state documents related to the Sinaloa Cartel and possibly some records related to both of the Ambroses if I can get to a place with a secure internet connection. Somewhere it can stay out of prying eyes as well...now I don't know the city that well so is there anywhere you three know of that can fit that description?"

"Alright, they know I am not a liability and I will be useful to progress...working for the state government does have it's perks." He thought.

"Well, Lucas," as Leonid talked to him, politely, "I am sort of investor, a modest investor, for a local technology-based startup business in Seattle. I can loan...well, maybe few equipment from them, for security and internet connection. The security will be minimal, sadly, as I'm no military contractor nor contracted by the military to provide security, but I do have...fast connection on the internet," said Leonid, ending his talk to Lucas.

"I can get you to my place, and with the rest, to access the files. But of course it could took some time, especially since my limousine is not maneuverable enough, and while James is a corrupt cop and has connections, I don't think he, my driver, could get his hands on the higher access on the Cartel," sad smile on his face as he explained it.

"Of course, we can always ask for Senorita Maria, to loan us the equipment needed, right?" as Leonid turned to Maria and waiting for an answer, or something like that.

[Ubaria]

Lucio Martelli
Secret Bunker
Somewhere in SoDo, Seattle.

It was a lot of information to process, all in the space of a couple of hours his life had been taken another wild turn in what seemed to be a never ending series of wild turns. The other Variants had everything planned out already and were beginning to form groups with one another, though right now all Luca wanted to do was go home, eat, rest and then figure out some sort of plan for what came next. Turning his collar up, Luca made his way back towards where the elevator shaft was located with his head tilted towards the floor in deep thought, and so, did not see the approaching figure in his path, perhaps a little too late he shuffled awkwardly to the side.

"Sorry..."

Luca turned around to apologize to the woman but was taken aback when he came staring face to face with a skull straight out of a Mexican carnival, the facepaint gave off a startling vibe, he hadn't been paying too much attention to those around him and so hadn't had time to familiarize himself with the other Variants as much as he should have, it was quite a mixture to say the least. After the minor shock had worn off, Luca managed to compose what resembled a structured sentence.

"Sorry i didn't see you there. Miss...?"

[Rupudska]

"Well, Lucas," as Leonid talked to him, politely, "I am sort of investor, a modest investor, for a local technology-based startup business in Seattle. I can loan...well, maybe few equipment from them, for security and internet connection. The security will be minimal, sadly, as I'm no military contractor nor contracted by the military to provide security, but I do have...fast connection on the internet," said Leonid, ending his talk to Lucas.

"I can get you to my place, and with the rest, to access the files. But of course it could took some time, especially since my limousine is not maneuverable enough, and while James is a corrupt cop and has connections, I don't think he, my driver, could get his hands on the higher access on the Cartel," sad smile on his face as he explained it.

"Of course, we can always ask for Senorita Maria, to loan us the equipment needed, right?" as Leonid turned to Maria and waiting for an answer, or something like that.

"I do not think a lack of security will be any concern, Leonid," Karin said, finally reentering the conversation.

"Miss Maria seems to be the mercenary type, something I was once very familiar with in my past career in the Swedish Army." Which, no matter what the pro-military press said, consisted of doing fuckall compared to the more... 'prominent' forces present in Afghanistan. I still believe we were there simply to remind the populace that yes, Sweden still possessed a military and was capable of using it... probably in case things went south with Russia.

"And as for myself, well..." She snapped her fingers, and a dozen or so golden circles appeared behind her, with an equal number of FN FNC rifles protruding out from them up to the start of the magazine.

"I like to think I can handle myself."

[Beiarusia]

HOA “BLAKE” NZUYEN
Wi-Fi & Chill, Fremont, Seattle, WA

---

Wi-Fi & Chill was a small internet café sitting on the corner of 15th and Leary, not too far from where Blake currently lived in Fremont. The building was modest in appearance, looking no different from the surrounding structures, but its interior had been decorated in what could only be described as postmodern with a dash of societal angst turned into abstract artistry. That which had been dubbed art hung from the natural stone walls with little sense of reason or organization, and large potted plants occupied whatever space seemed appropriate at the time. Aside from the counter, the space was mostly dominated by a series of tables for laptop users, with the far wall being dedicated to a dozen desktop computers. The air permanently smelled of coffee, artists’ paint, and smoke of questionable content. A certain crowd would flock to the place, from the art hippies to the free thinkers to the beatniks born fifty years too late, with the constant noise of indie rock and deadpanned poetry doing well to chase off those who did not belong. Blake, as a former art student, fit in rather well despite being a moderate in her intensity.

She, Titan, Zedekiah, Sarah, and Hussar had all made the cramped journey from the warehouse to Fremont, stopping as needed for those who asked, and parking beneath the underpass turned parking lot across the street from the café. Blake waved them along as she pulled open the door, the smell of coffee and the faint sound of music assaulting her. A few hipsters looked up as she entered but the few others inside were too preoccupied to pay much attention. Blake pointed over to the computers on the far wall as she waltzed over to the counter. Computers and internet were free to anyone who was a paying customer, and Blake was kind enough to make such a sacrifice.

“The usual, please,” Blake said with a chirp as she leaned against the dark stone counter with her head resting in her hands.

The barista and owner of the establishment, Edmonton, turned away from his task of arranging the coffee flavors to look at Blake with a quizzical look, one that he quickly dropped upon recognizing her. He spoke in a rugged but friendly voice. “Blake! Long time no see. Where ya been?”

“Here and there,” Blake answered nonchalantly, which was more or less true. Work and art had taken most of her time, as had general adulting, though her wallet’s empty stomach may have contributed somewhat to her absence. “Still going for the whole lumberjack look I see,” she added, waving at her own face to indicate his, “if lumberjacks were from San Fran.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Edmonton went to work making the drink, but not before casting a curious glance to the five others who looked sorely out of place. “Friends of yours?”

Blake nodded. “Helping with a little project.”

Edmonton raised a pierced eyebrow to the answer but said nothing. It wasn’t really his business to question paying customers. “There’s this art show coming to town next week. Seemed like your sort of thing. Ya should check it out if you have the time.”

“I know. I’m the one who told you about it,” Blake said with a small grin.

“So you should know all the details then.” Edmonton slid the white chocolate moccacino on the counter. “On the house. Good luck with your little project.”

Blake thanked the barista and headed over to where the others had crowded around a computer, dragging up an extra chair as she sipped at the sweet drink. She sat with the back of the chair turned towards the front, squeezing between Zedekiah and Titan, nudging perhaps a bit too close to either man. “You guys should really try one of these,” she suggested after a long sip, absentmindedly offering the drink to anyone who may want to try before buying – she’d allow a taste, but this was her mochacino. “So what are we doing again? We just gonna google some names until we find something important?”


Miranda Marie Tallow
the Bunker, SoDo, Seattle, WA

---

Miranda finished reading the post and, taking notice of the time, began to make her exit from the Bunker with little hurry in her step. The girl was very much a sloth, her actions retarded by the mere presence of the internet and all it brought with it. Maybe she was addicted, as some would say, and there was some truth to her dependency, but Miranda saw it as more a liberation than a problem. Technology had brought about the connectedness of the world, and Miranda was simply a human terminal, a node, with a rare glimpse into what lay beyond the terminal wall between reality and the digital universe. Reality was slow, and so was her body despite the rapidity of her mind. Miranda read the next post.

Looking down into her phone, and appearing to be lost to the device, Miranda indeed caught the words between Maria and the group of Variants – she was attentive despite perceived judgements – and stopped just long enough to speak as she passed. “I have to work soon. Bring anything valuable back if you need to,” – in regards to electronics that Miranda could easily gain access to. That said, she continued on to the elevator. The quadcopter followed after, looking at the Variants before zipping in alongside Miranda as the doors slid closed.

As stated earlier, Miranda was an intern at the regional office of Atlas Corporation at the Pinecrest Center. It was the usual running errands, copying papers, and making coffee, but it allowed her a use for the Benefactor. Atlas was a powerful entity, and Miranda could access their servers without so much as needing to try. One reason why she was important to the Benefactor as an information source.

She wasn’t much of a crime fighter anyway. Best to leave that to the new help.