Heroes of Tomorrow Redux [IC | DONE]

by **Gudmund** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 12:39 am

Forest State wrote:The kitchen didn’t have too much of note. At least, it didn’t when looking at it on the surface. Charlie’s search of the area would reveal that inside most of the cabinets, there were things that didn’t seem like regular supplies for cooking. In fact, they weren’t cooking supplies at all, but clear bottles, some of them smaller and some of them larger, most of them made out of glass. Some of them had been repurposed from other things, some seemed like they were always designed for storing the liquids inside, that is, chemicals. It seemed like chemicals, anyway, because there was no need to store water in a special container, outside of the fridge.

Some of the other liquids weren’t clear and didn’t resemble water, however. There were also ones that had colored liquid, and there were even some containers that looked like they had powder in them. Mixing these various chemicals would likely create some kind of reaction, which was why they were likely being stored here. But was just this enough proof that the Sewer Rats indeed owned this building and were using it as a base of operations in Brooklyn? The presence of chemicals itself was strange, but it wasn’t quite an admission of criminal activity. For all they knew, the place might belong to a chemist.

In the other room, Serge moved to the laptop before seeing that it was locked and that someone would have to get through the password before they would be able to get anything off of it. Shit. That meant they couldn’t do much with it here in the field, when they had limited time. Hacking a password, after all, wasn’t like it was in the movies. It wasn’t a matter of simply plugging in a flash drive or pulling up a command console and typing in a complicated sequence of letters and numbers.

Forest State wrote:Glory dove backwards but the dummy would disappear quickly enough and she dug her heels in, stopping herself from moving anymore as her eyes focused on the real thing. The feint attack hardly did much because it only meant that Glory was even more on guard by the time the actual Szarlota showed up, her first weapon already raised to block some incoming attack. The second one, the one that could obliterate armor, was at her side and she could raise that one at any time if she needed it too, but the one that was in prime position for use was the one that moved quicker than any other in her collection.

And that’s what she would do as Szarlota attacked. She moved fast. Faster than most people could attack, the speed of her attack enhanced by the special properties of the blade. She went low as Szarlota closed on her because it would take a longer time for Szarlota to move her own weapon down to block, or to see the attack coming for her leg and get out of the way, but it would cut deep if it struck and was the kind of attack that could knock someone off their feet in a single blow.

After all, with the velocity of the blade, there would definitely be more damage than there’d be from a normal swing of a weapon like this.

Charlie Burkhall | Brooklyn, Repo Duty

Opening his backpack, Charlie slipped on a pair of gloves and continued his investigation of the kitchen. Of the four Sewer Rats members, Jacob knew that one of them specialised in not-so-safe chemicals. Carefully looking around for a moment more, Charlie made an educated guess that most of the chemicals were illegal, taking note of whatever he could and photographing the evidence on his phone. Only halfway through, his acute cat ears suddenly perked up, pointing in the direction of some suspicious noise. Craning his head upwards, Charlie tries to recall the building's layout, "That almost sounded like someone falling over, or maybe stomping. Either way it was coming from upstairs."

For a brief moment, Charlie simply stood idly in place, contemplating over whether or not he should check it out. Shaking out his nerves, Charlie thickened his scales and left the kitchen, heading for the stairs leading to the second floor; his padded feet making each step oddly quiet. It wasn't very far, presumably only needing thirty or so seconds to reach at his current pace. Serge and Artemis were still on the first floor with him, meaning Harold and Szarlota were upstairs. Charlie smiled, imagining one of his squadmates falling flat on their face, something he could easily tease them for. Unfortunately, now was not the time for jokes.

by **Forest State** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:16 am

??? "Sieg"

They knew the young man as Sieg. Upon looking at Sieg on first glance, one might think that the name was some kind of play on the more famous expression, Sieg Heil, the one that dated back to the last time the world was at war. From the black armor to the red eyes and the weapons that were inscribed with runes of a past age, it was easy to think that Sieg was somewhat inspired by a certain group of people from that war. He certainly looked the part and was capable of acting quite evil to match, if the need called for it. But the fact of the matter was that they didn’t call this maybe-independent maybe-villain metahuman Sieg just because he had the aesthetics of a Nazi and the bad attitude to match. Really, those had been things that were tacked on after the fact, ran with once others pointed out that it would be fitting.

They actually called him Sieg because he had never lost a fight.

Of course, it was impossible to really verify. There could be fights behind closed doors, and it was also hard to define what a loss was. Some would say that you lost a fight if you couldn’t beat your enemy down completely, while others would claim that a war of attrition that left both sides standing, but one in a better state, was a victory still. Even so, it was hard to make a solid argument that Sieg had lost before. Not in a fight that others had witnessed.

In seemingly all of the fights that had been watched by others, Sieg had slashed, shot, and pounded his way through all of the competition and typically didn’t give them much of a chance to deal any damage at all. One of the fighters that was strong in every area but not exceptional in any except for maybe one, Sieg owned his skillset and made his opponents fight on terms that were good for him, not falling into traps and taking bait like some villains might. Really, the most dangerous thing about Sieg wasn’t the abilities, it was the knowledge of how to use them.

It had left plenty of people wondering about the figure behind this impressive combat record.

Even some of the top information brokers in New York had to wonder, sometimes. “What do you fight for, exactly? Actually, if that’s too personal of a question, let me rephrase it. Who are you fighting for? Someone paying you for these fights?” asked the man that was sitting across the table from Sieg at Ivanonv’s Coffee in Brooklyn, one of the main meeting places for some of the more undesirable metahumans that were in the area. While it looked like a perfectly ordinary place, it was also somewhere that bounty hunters and other hired guns could be found for the right price, and at night, it could sometimes transform into a more secretive meeting place for those who had some kind of shady business to attend to. While anyone could walk in during the day, those night meetings had a much lower risk of having informants attending them.

This, though, was in the broad daylight. Sieg didn’t wear a mask, either. His face had been seen already, but even less than an hour away from Angel’s Village, the beating heart of the Guardians organization, Sieg didn’t feel fear or bother taking measures to avoid being seen here. There was nothing to worry about, for someone that wasn’t going to lose. “Who do you think I’m fighting for?”

“I think you walked straight outta the SS, but my sources also show that you seemingly have no connection to those types of groups,” said the man. Mystirio, he was known as. While his appearance, which featured a theater mask, seemed comical, he was one of the ones that had the most experience when it came to gathering and handing out information within this city and the United States as a whole. If Sieg was looking for someone… Mystirio was the one to talk to about finding them.

“You would be correct. It’s an aesthetic rather than an ideal, something to strike fear into the hearts of those that I face. The mind can be surprisingly powerful, after all,” Sieg replied. “And besides. A bit of misdirection never hurt anyone-”

“So if not that, who are you currently working for?”

“You think I would just say that.”

Mystirio shifted, tapping his fingers on the table for a moment before coming up with a response. “I’m saying it’s a give or take, here. You give a bit of information. I take a bit of information. You seem experienced enough to know that nothing comes for free, and I’m already… Somewhat set when it comes to material things.”

Sieg shrugged, accepting this. “Bengal. I’m working for Bengal right now, but key word is right now. It could change, might not-”

“Yeah, bullshit, Bengal isn’t concerned with the type of stuff you do, with fighting heroes. Maybe if you were doing heists or something I could believe-”

“Maybe you haven’t done your research as much as you say, if you did you would know just how many factions of Bengal there are. Just happens that the one I’m rolling with for the time being is concerned with higher goals than making the next drug sale or stealing some relic,” said Sieg, cutting off Mystirio and reaching for his phone to open a picture, showing it across the table. “My turn to ask something. Are you aware of who this is?”

It only took a moment for Mystirio to nod. “Not that obscure of a name. It’s Soli Vanhanen, member of the Young Guardians Program over in Angel’s Village. Studied magic in London from a relatively young age and it made news when the Guardians picked her up at sixteen because of her aptitude and the fact that she has some kind of really rare magic. Sent her to Toronto to do some stuff and she came down here I believe… Last year, to join a team formally and further her training.”

“Right. Soli is slightly well known because of how the Guardians picked her up early on, but do you know about this?” asked Sieg, switching to another picture and displaying a grainy photo of a quite intimidating looking woman with black hair, and a face that it was hard to make out the details of. The colors of the picture were washed out, making it closer to grayscale than to full color, and it had been taken from a slight distance, making it even harder to clearly see the figure in the photo, who seemed to be holding a pistol.

That photo took Mystirio longer to analyze. “Where’d you find this-”

“You’re going to have to give up more if you want to get that. Just need to know if she’s been seen in the area or not by anyone you’re in touch with. She might present a potential obstacle-”

“I’ve seen her, yes. Or rather, I’ve heard from others that have seen her. She’s said to be a dangerous fighter without a cause. Something of an assassin, now that I think about it I see some parallels between her and you. Strong magic, not apparently attached fully to any faction, clashes with heroes but no goal that’s apparent to anyone else, even something that’s expected like getting rich. I believe the last time she was seen was… Now that I think about it, it was right here in Brooklyn, maybe last month. Ended up in a fight with some gang members, it was said to be over money. None of ‘em lived to tell the tale.”

Sieg stood up, placing some money down on the table to pay. He nodded briefly at Mystirio, in acknowledgement. “That’s helpful. You want something about her to look into, her name’s Shaitan. First showed up on the scene in West Virginia, years and years back. You think Soli’s magic is strange? Shaitan's the one that taught it to her. Raised her, too. Not the kind of person you want to get in a fight with, but that’s what I might end up doing.”

After speaking, Sieg paused and leaned against the table. “Anyway, that’s all I needed. Looks like I might be in for some trouble, but I’ve never shied away from it. I’d suggest not looking too much into the Shaitan stuff… Trust me, she’s not someone that even you would want to mess with.”

And with that, the villain without a cause stood up straight and walked out of the restaurant, formulating a new plan that would account for… A certain variable that hadn’t been considered before.

by **Union Princes** » Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:50 pm

Forest State wrote:Repo Duty

Glory dove backwards but the dummy would disappear quickly enough and she dug her heels in, stopping herself from moving anymore as her eyes focused on the real thing. The feint attack hardly did much because it only meant that Glory was even more on guard by the time the actual Szarlota showed up, her first weapon already raised to block some incoming attack. The second one, the one that could obliterate armor, was at her side and she could raise that one at any time if she needed it too, but the one that was in prime position for use was the one that moved quicker than any other in her collection.

And that’s what she would do as Szarlota attacked. She moved fast. Faster than most people could attack, the speed of her attack enhanced by the special properties of the blade. She went low as Szarlota closed on her because it would take a longer time for Szarlota to move her own weapon down to block, or to see the attack coming for her leg and get out of the way, but it would cut deep if it struck and was the kind of attack that could knock someone off their feet in a single blow.

After all, with the velocity of the blade, there would definitely be more damage than there’d be from a normal swing of a weapon like this.

Szarlota Raczkowska
Aw shit. That thought repeating itself over and over in Szarlota's mind as she looks on at the woman's defense and counterattack. She underestimated how quickly her opponent has recovered from her initial shock of her charging dummy. Szarlota quickly analyze her opponent's stance and her own. Since she already committed to running, she can't slow down or turn away and run in the opposite direction without giving the woman an open window for the first strike.

I need to alert Artemis. The Pole reminded herself in her brain as distance between the two fighters was closing in. The blades of the woman looked nasty and was already in position to swipe at her legs. Keen on keeping her feet connected with the rest of her body, Szarlota thought up on one last attempt on staying unscathe.

Noticing how the woman's head had moved closer to the ground, Szarlota spot an empty area in the hallway just behind her opponent's current position. Hmmmm, a new opportunity perhaps? Well, here goes nothing. the Pole silently remarked as she unleashed her first Hail Mary of a plan. She jumped with her Scythe and Dirk raised high in the air to strike down onto her head before activating her Pain Suppression ability.

But jumping attack was a farce. As Szarlota jumped, she spawn another "dummy" in the area behind her opponent that she had spotted before initiating her trojan horse. The Polish girl immediately swap places with her dummy, allowing it to take the full brunt of the woman's swing with her blades which causes the dummy to disappear as well once the blades passes through its legs.

Szarlota, meanwhile, took the opportunity to close in behind her opponent and wrap her scythe around her neck while her hand poked her dirk into the woman's side. With her Pain Suppression still active, Szarlota doesn't have to worry of getting knocked out by a headbutt. "The tables turn," The pole loudly whispered into the woman's ear. "Now you drop your weapons and follow me downstairs."

by **Lessoni** » Tue Feb 26, 2019 5:57 am

Brock James

Brock woke up with a pounding headache and a bad taste in his mouth. An empty bottle of whiskey rolled out of his hand.

He'd drank... heavily, last night, and he regretted it. He knew he should kick the habit, but he never quite seemed able to.

The first thing he'd done when the VTOL he came in on landed was unpack his many clothes. Next, he'd meant to go to the cafeteria, but he saw the bottle and... one thing led to the next. But he was gonna kick it. Definitely. He even had a mission to go on, one with Jack. Just like old times. Brock was gonna have to find him. It'd be a hell of a reunion.

by **Lunas Legion** » Tue Feb 26, 2019 3:33 pm

Aella Mezerova

It was surprisingly difficult to hold her composure as Bryanne okayed her plan; she wasn't exactly used to having things accepted on their own merits, Nike insisted on adding things or changing things or otherwise meddling with perfectly acceptable and workable plans and it was just painful to her to have her hard work changed like that.

But she managed to remain seated rather than bolting upright and running over to hug Bryanne, but she couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face as she nodded towards her in acknowledgement instead before she turned back towards the map, standing up and leaning in to peer over it, memorising the layout of the base and the location of the object they were going in to retrieve.

Such effort for such a small thing. But they were getting paid after all, and the best mercenaries quickly learned to only consider the job and the risk. Things like 'why' were above her pay, after all. She stood up, preparing to leave. Time was very much of the essence, after all, and she hated lost time.

by **Forest State** » Tue Feb 26, 2019 3:43 pm

Interlude: The Trials of Overlord

New York. The city where dreams were made, the city where dreams could be broken. If you could make it here, you could make it anywhere. Or that was what they said, anyway. The expression seemed mostly true for those who were in the game between villains and heroes, the constant back and forth that affected the entire world. New York was one of those places where there were always plenty of others willing to start a team, either of villains or heroes. There were always plenty of things to get into for a newcomer to the scene, too. Heists and jobs stopping heists, important figures that were wanted by both sides of the law, valuable targets that could make plenty of money on ransoms or in rewards for their rescues. Starting off in New York wasn’t hard. Surviving for long was another story.

For someone that was just arriving here, it could seem oh so cold, however. It wasn’t like it was cheap staying here. It was the opposite, and while there was always work in New York for someone with powers, there wasn’t always good work. While it was easy to jump in, climbing the ranks was something that was much harder. After all, how many other cities had this many others trying to do the same thing? How many people could reach the same dreams before it became too crowded at the top and some were pushed back down to the bottom? That was what the woman in the mask was contemplating as she stood in the rain in Nassau County, staring up at the Guardians Building that could be seen through the fog because of its bright lighting. She’d come here a few days, just looking at it and waiting near the gates to Angel’s Village. But they wouldn’t let her in.

Even though she had come from more than a continent away to get here. This was maybe the third or fourth time she had come here and just stared at the building from a distance and waited near the gates, as if she was waiting and hoping she would see someone, but she hated the place because of it. The Guardians claimed to protect the downtrodden. But when someone who had nothing, like her, came all the way over here, they wouldn’t even let her in the area. She could have broken in, yes. But she didn’t know how much help that would be. Angel’s Village was an entire town, really. Finding someone there wasn’t necessarily easy when she would have to sneak around to do it.

Mentally, she was standing on a knife’s edge. She had endured many things. But traveling thousands of miles to see someone and being turned away at the gate? That was somehow worse than most of the other stuff. At least back then she had been hopeful. Now, it was becoming increasingly apparent that just having that hope wouldn’t be enough for her, and that even as she reached what she thought would bet the last step before finding some happiness for herself, more was required. She didn’t know how much longer she would be able to keep going. But she knew she had to try. “We’ll see each other again eventually,” she stated to herself, staring up into the fog once again. “Even these oceans… Won’t be enough to keep us apart.”

It was hard for her to pinpoint one spot where her fall had actually started. Things had been bad for awhile and there weren’t many people that had suffered as much over such a long time span while still surviving. Which event was the one that had started it all? Being taken away from her parents? The tortures that she had endured during her adolescent years? Fighting not just with the enemies, but with the people that she had considered her own friends, ones that she would definitely give her life for if the situation demanded it? Maybe that was when she had really fallen. Through everything that had happened, there had been others around her. At some point, she had even been considered the glue that held them all together. Until she wasn’t, anymore. And things went further downhill for her from there.

There was one specific night which she could blame her fall on, too. Maybe blame was too harsh of a word. More accurately, there was one specific night that she could track it all back to. If the cracks had begun to show earlier than that, that one night in Guangzhou was the point where they opened up into a split. A divide between her and just about everyone else, a point of no return which she was still recovering from to this day. The day when a friendship had fallen and she had made an enemy out of someone she had looked out for in the past. She could remember it vividly, even if she didn’t want to. Somehow, even after things had changed this much and after her opinions on certain people changed, it hurt her that things had turned out this way. It wasn’t how she had wanted it to happen even at the time, but once things had started setting themselves into motion, she couldn’t bring herself to back down. Perhaps that was one of her flaws, and one that had bit her. The inability to realize when she should have just backed down and taken the loss before things went further than they needed to.

It had been on a rooftop, overlooking the city, during one of the rare times when they didn’t have to worry about completing some objective and they were just relaxing while they were waiting to return to base. Two of them, however, weren’t relaxing. She remembered standing there, not far from the ledge, wind blowing her hair across her face as she stared at the beastlike woman standing about three to four feet in front of her, one foot propped up on the edge as if she had no fear of falling, even in the wind. That was so like her. To have no fear, even when one slip could mean death. Not that falling would be the worst way to go for someone that was regularly shot at. It would be a much quicker and easier death than the battlefield was.

“Look, I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but if you have a problem, I’m standing right here,” said the bestial woman. Sure, she was only an arm’s length away, and she could be pushed off the roof, potentially. But she wasn’t weak, even if it did look like she was in a dangerous position. She stood at 6’6”, didn’t have a huge figure to match but she definitely weighed enough to throw her opponent around, and her strength wasn’t that of a regular person. She’d smash a regular person in normal hand to hand combat, the other girl had witnessed it first hand and she knew that if they were in a fight, she wouldn’t receive mercy just because they were friends. Or because they had used to be friends. No, she would be up against a brawler who would do anything that she needed to do to win, the scars on her face acting as a reflection of that. She’d sacrifice her body to take down an enemy, there was no way she was going to go easy just because of the past. “So if you want to settle things, let’s do it. Otherwise, you should quit acting like a teenager and shut the fuck up about it around the rest of the team.”

She reached up and brushed the hair out of her face. If something was going to go down, she was going to make sure that she could see properly. If she did start the fight here, she would be the almost certain winner, but that wasn’t what she was trying to do. Starting a fight here would have consequences. Especially when it was against the leader of their group. She could secure the kill, yes, or even beat down her opponent non lethally, but how much help would that be to her when it simply landed her in trouble? And her opponent knew that, not breaking her stare as she waited for a reply. Smug bitch. She knew she would lose in any straight fight and yet she knew that she was also untouchable. Maybe that was the only reason she was willing to stand so close to the ledge while tempting someone almost as tenacious as her to fight her.

There was a choice to be made. She could take what some would call the high road and she could walk away right here. She could surrender, not fight for what she cared about, and accept the truth that was in front of her. Or she could fight back against it, maybe not with her fists and with her powers but with her words and through more subtle actions. She could say that she wasn’t going to surrender. Even if it ripped apart the very fabric of what this team had been built on for years, splitting up the two people that had acted as the glue for their respective corners, and two people that had looked out for each other in the past, no matter what they thought of each other in the moment. Could they depend on that loyalty from each other going forward? Probably not. Not if the path of resistance, of selfishness, was taken.

“Is this how you’re going to treat one of your best friends?” she asked, fighting as hard as she could to keep her voice level and not show any sign of weakness or hesitation. Any weakness, and she would be devoured by the beast standing across from her. Not in the literal sense, but in the sense of the argument. Above everything, she had to show she wasn’t caving. “Think of all the times I’ve been around. I’ve saved your life, you know. I’ve never been afraid to suffer pain because of you. I’ve always been willing to take it if it meant helping you, and that’s only talking about the things we’ve experienced on the battlefield, you know good and well that I’ve also advocated for you all the damn time outside of it. Who was always there to cover for you and explain what you actually meant when you ended up letting your temper get the better of you and you pissed off one of your friends? It was me. I was the one that made the peace, but it’s not like you’ve ever spent much time thanking me for that. Not that I even asked you to in the first place. Who was the one to keep you in line when you were ready to snap and do something that would get yourself killed? It was me that talked you down from those things, multiple times. You’re still hanging in there because of help that I gave, and the only thing that I ask for in return is-”

“That I back off from this?” the other girl asked, taking a step forward and grabbing her opponent’s collar, pulling her ever so closer without stepping down from that ledge, even as the wind picked up and whipped against the faces of both of them. It was hard to tell if the feeling of butterflies was from the tension of the conversation, from the fact that they were both a few feet away from their deaths, or both. “Yeah, figures you would ask that of me. I’m not the one that started this, you know. So maybe instead of lashing out at the entire team for it, and me specifically, you should talk to the person that did start it-”

“You think I mean to lash out at the entire team? Because I’m sorry if that’s how it comes across, that’s not what I’m trying to do. I want nothing but the best for this team and you know that. You know that I love each and every one here, even you despite you testing that bond in the past few weeks and months, but when you keep pushing me and you’re working on taking the one thing that makes me happy despite being stuck with the same shitty job that all of us are stuck with, with even less prospects of getting out than you yourself have, and you keep pushing me about it and rubbing it in my face… It’s hard to not let any of the frustration come out. I would say it’s impossible.”

“You’re a tough one, you know. I’m sure you can handle this. I’m sure you can handle seeing it, if you put your mind to it. Or if you really want to do something about it, you should do something about it. But whatever you do, I’m telling you to stop letting it out around the team. Around my team. You have such a problem with me these days… Either stop me or shut the fuck up about it-” started the beastlike girl, before she was thrown to the side and onto the inner part of the rooftop, as the other girl flicked her there without putting in any effort at all. There would be consequences to any fight, but for now, those consequences didn’t matter. If she was going to throw away the friendship that had been forged between them over the past years, and act so coldly towards her so-called friend, all bets were off. There would indeed be a fight.

“You wanted me to do something about it, eh? Be careful what you fucking wish for. You can’t tell me that I didn’t fucking try, that I didn’t give it my best fucking shot to not bring my temper into this and to talk to you calmly and rationally. I thought that maybe you valued being friends and valued holding this team together as much as I did, after all, you’re the leader and I would have thought that you’d care more about team chemistry. That maybe you would sacrifice something for it because that’s what a leader does. But if you want to be like this, I can be like this too, and you already know that you have no way to beat me when I do feel like being this way,” said the girl who was turning away from the edge of the rooftop, walking towards her target and the others that were now watching in a slow and methodical way, holding both of her arms out as blades were created out of the thin air and hovered around them, following her movements closely. Her blue eyes flashed intimidatingly, almost like there was a fire burning within them, and as she walked, more blades were formed in the air behind her and around her, following her in a pattern that resembled the kind of fancy tail that might follow a bird, each one of them ready to move and destroy her target on her command.

The girl on the ground had miscalculated. Pushed too far. Bit off more than she could chew and she didn’t even move, not because she physically couldn’t, but because she was shocked. Sure, she had baited the enemy into an attack, but she didn’t think the actual attack would come. No, she imagined that she would convince her enemy to back down that way because of the consequences of attacking her, but once those consequences were no longer cared about… She lost her most valuable shield, and without it, she was nothing more than a mere brawler. Maybe she was a larger brawler than most and she had exceptional strength, yes, but she was still just a brawler, and even with her weapons, she was no match for the person in front of her that could bend reality itself and simply pull weapons out of thin air. Even if she did have her own weapons with her right now, she knew that the enemy would just keep coming, and coming, even if she fired and hit her mark-

Perhaps the bestial girl wasn’t going to die today. Her enemy wasn’t that far from her, as more blades appeared in the air around her and pointed towards the downed target on the ground, but there was someone in front of her who had jumped up from the group that had been watching and stood in front of the target. Maybe the one person that could end this, the person that had been the source of the split and the only person that could keep it from becoming deadly. Her eyes were wide and there were tears welling in them, and it wasn’t hard to understand why. She didn’t want anyone to die. Not because of her, even indirectly. So if she was the source of this fight, she would die to make sure that it didn’t take anyone else’s life, if necessary. She hoped that cooler heads would win out and that it wouldn’t come to that, but even she couldn’t be sure, as the figure with the blades continued walking into the path of her downed opponent.

“Look, I know things aren’t going good with her and I know you deserve better and… And… I’m sorry. I’m fucking sorry, you don’t deserve this to happen to you and you’ve never deserved any of the things that have happened to you but I’m asking you not to take it out on her because of something that she’s not really responsible for. If you want to go after someone because of my choice… Go after me and not her. I’m right here, it’s not like I can do anything to stop you, and I know that I hurt you. So kill me, if it will save her life,” the girl in the middle said, her arms still spread as if she was waiting for the inevitable attack from the blades to come. But even after seconds passed, there was nothing but silence. Nothing but a cold stare as the blades remained still and didn’t move out of their position in the air.

Nobody said a word for what seemed like a minute, but in reality it was a much shorter time. “You know I can’t do anything against you,” said the girl with the blades, pausing as she stared into the eyes of the person in front of her. “Even after… Even after getting hurt. I just have a question for you. One that you don’t have to answer but I’ve been thinking about this for weeks… For months… And it’s been tearing me up inside, damn it...Why her? WHY HER? What has she ever done compared to everything we’ve done? I still remember when we used to be joined at the hip and I still remember that fucked up mission in Brazil where you helped pull me back together and I remember the talks about how if we somehow escaped all of this we would do it together and… You went with her? I just want to know why. Why wasn’t I good enough? Did I do something to hurt you? Is it because-”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Please just don’t take this out on her,” the girl in the middle begged, and how could the one with the blades say no to her? She was indeed the reason why all of this had started in the first place and she out of everyone… She was the one who carried the most weight in her words. “I’m so fucking sorry, it’s not that you weren’t good enough or that you don’t deserve better it’s that… I just thought… That you didn’t need it as much and I’m sorry-”

“Enough! Just stop! You’re only making it worse,” growled the one controlling the blades, and she swung her arm downwards to cause all of them to shoot downwards into the concrete rooftop, penetrating the surface and sticking there. It was intimidating, yes, but it was a better outcome than the alternative, which was that the blades went into an actual person. She turned and looked at the girl in the middle one more time, staring her down with an intensity in her eyes that she had never quite had before, losing all semblance of her normal calm. “She needed it more, huh… Heh. After everything we’ve been through. You really are heartless, K211.”

The new employee at Ivanov’s Coffee was an interesting one. When the application had said that the employee’s main experience in the past was being a veteran of a number of foreign conflicts, it seemed like this person would be a physically imposing, maybe bearded or tattooed, man who would most likely be in his thirties or maybe even his forties. The person that actually showed up, however, looked much different from the stereotype. She had indeed been a mercenary, but she wasn’t anything like what the image would suggest. She was just a girl. One that looked college aged, but still a girl, and one with a decent looking face and dyed hair that was not what one would expect from someone with a military background.

She perplexed her shiftmate, Drago Marovic, because of that. The fact of the matter was that she definitely knew her stuff. Based on a few talks with her and just seeing the way that she carried herself, the application hadn’t been exaggerated. She knew things that someone wouldn’t have known without seeing combat, and she carried herself as if she was still on a battlefield. It was a bit subtle, but it was still possible to notice if you paid enough attention to her when she didn’t know you were looking. Her eyes would dart around to every customer frequently as if she was a soldier in the Middle East checking out each civilian to see if they were a potential hostile insurgent.

When talking to her, she used some of the same slang that the actual soldiers that Marovic had talked to used. They could have a discussion about something related to warfare and she knew more technical details that Marovic knew. Things like the small details about certain weapons, strategies which were clearly beyond that of which a normal person would know about, and even details about specific locales. She claimed to have been to a number of different ones, from peaceful locations where she worked against metahuman and regular criminals, such as in India and Brazil, to flashpoints around the world such as Syria, Yemen, and West Bank. According to her, the latter was where the more consistent money came in as a mercenary while the former paid less unless it was for a specific job such as capturing a metahuman who was very wanted by the authorities. She said she had personally been to infamous cities such as Idlib, Aden, and Baghdad, and she could describe them in way more detail than someone that had just read about them on the internet, mentioning obscure details and factions within those places that weren’t known to most of the public.

Furthermore, she had accompanied Marovic to the boxing club down the street a few times and she clearly knew what she was doing with that, too. She said that she had never competed on the amateur or professional level and that she was just using the skills she had learned as a mercenary, but she was quite good and she had beat a few of the more experienced members of the gym. And that was without knowing the specifics of the sport of boxing and just relying on her general athleticism and sense for how a fight was going, which turned out to be pretty damn good. Marovic had the feeling that if he took her down to a shooting range at some point, she would excel in that too and say something about how she had learned the skills as a mercenary.

In not that long of a time working at the shop, she had quickly become one of the boys. Not just in the sense that everyone liked her but in the sense that she had stereotypically male interests and she shared them with the rest of the staff. When it wasn’t her shift, she was frequently in the back with the others watching football or chatting about the latest fights that happened on the weekends down the street at the gym. She didn’t just do it because she thought it would make her more friends, but because she genuinely liked things like this and showed an almost childlike happiness when she was able to experience them. She didn’t even have any real connection to this place. It was run by some Russians, Serbs, Greeks, and others from far away lands. And yet she cheered as she watched their teams on TV, made her home in a place where their flags decorated the walls, and she even learned to cook their menu as she started working more at this place and took on a bigger role than just making coffee and keeping the place clean.

Marovic couldn’t help but stare at her as she sat in the back room with the others just after her shift had ended, chatting about some story from her past and chuckling about it, seeming so peaceful. It was a bit of a contrast from the subject matter of the story, since she was talking about getting shot at in some third world country. Why had she adopted this place as her own, out of everywhere that she could have gone? She was clearly talented. She had also apparently received some kind of special training, giving her a lot of skills outside of just mercenary work. She claimed that at some point they had made her learn how to fly planes, and that she could find work doing it if she felt like it. But according to her, she wasn’t that interested in it.

“Oppa!” she called out to Marovic, using a Korean term. It was kind of funny, how she could switch between multiple languages with ease. Just another thing that she was seemingly a prodigy with. She’d spoken Korean, Arabic, some Chinese, and French to them. She said she’d start learning either Russian or Serbian, just so she could talk to them in their own language, and she didn’t consider it a big deal. Said that it was pretty easy when you had been doing it long enough that picking up more words became a reflex. But when they asked her where her actual homeland was and what language she had spoken originally, she said she didn’t know. It was a strange answer. How many people didn’t know where their homeland was? But it had only been mentioned briefly, so it was never brought up again since then. It still didn’t keep Marovic from thinking about it. She was indeed one strange girl. “How long are you going to stand there instead of coming to listen to my story?”

Maybe she was some kind of drifter and she was looking for a family to finally settle down with. She had talked about plenty of things in her stories and some of them involved other people but she had never talked about an actual family. The reasons why for that, Marovic wasn’t sure. Maybe she wasn’t good with her actual family for whatever reason and maybe she was still getting over moving from the life of a mercenary to a life that was… Different from that. There were a number of possible reasons for why she had clung to this group, but she was here now, and it seemed like she would be staying for awhile. Marovic just wondered if, as time passed, they would find out more about her. There had never been someone around here, after all, that was so close and yet so mysterious at the same time.

Hired muscle was one of the things that you could obtain on the black market in New York City, and it wasn’t really that hard. For the right price, you could send some pretty powerful people against your enemies, and there was even a submarket of the main one which specialized in dealing with heroes in specific. There were quite a lot of heroes in the city and many of them had built up enemies over the years. While the top ones could be considered almost impossible targets, there were others who were easier to get at and were less experienced and more vulnerable to getting taken down by bounty hunters who specialized in fighting with heroes and other powered individuals. And for that growing black market, one of the meeting places in Brooklyn was at Ivanov’s Coffee.

The place looked normal enough, sure, but plenty of the customers had hidden goals and plenty of meetings took place that, while they looked normal to the public, were more sinister in nature in reality. Deals about taking down certain heroes, capturing them for ransom, and other things of the sort. Sometimes, certain individuals would hang around the place to offer their services to others who would come there to shop and see who was available. After all, you got what you paid for, and that applied to this business too. If you paid more and went with someone with a solid reputation, there was a much higher chance that you would get a good outcome rather than finding you had spent your money to deal with a hero only to find they had escaped without harm. Some even gave a money back promise in case they failed, even though that added more risk on their own end because it meant they had to keep doing well if they wanted to make anything.

After getting the job at Ivanov’s and quickly becoming one of the favored employees there for her hard work and dedication regardless of her position, it didn’t take long for the new foreigner to get let in on the secret of the place, especially when she showed plenty of combat skill herself and always seemed down for a fight, showing up at the boxing gym somewhat often and putting in work in both traditional boxing and kickboxing against some of the best fighters there. Her fighting skills weren’t limited to that either, and well, she would make a good hero killer if that's what she wanted to do. It wasn’t like she didn’t have the gunplay skills, either. This new employee was a complete package, and not giving her the offer to work with the others around here and chase more lucrative profits would be a mistake. A mistake that Ivanov’s didn’t make.

She had quickly been signed up for the team of hero killers that operated out of the building during the night, many of them working there or being regulars during the day time. With their identities masked, not many would suspect these ordinary people of taking on superpowered individuals in one of the most dangerous cities in the country, and even beyond that as they traveled up and down the east coast to find work elsewhere. But that was one of their strengths. They wouldn’t have heroes coming by to investigate the coffee shop which seemed normal by all accounts, and they had fallback identities unlike some of the other more wanted people in the city, making it a safer job for them altogether. It wasn’t like they were going to go hungry if the circumstances changed and forced them to lay low.

She fit in well with the group. Learned their customs quickly, kept her identity secret just like they had told her to, did her job without bringing attention back to the shop. But what was she after? What was she after when there was no one else but her, and she was alone with her thoughts and her feelings? That was something that the others just hadn’t figured out yet. This code, it was harder than the typical one to break.

Another day, another raid successful. The crew would be coming back with some well earned money, but for now, they stood and looked out over the city as they lingered on one of the rooftops that was on their escape path. The newcomer, specifically, couldn’t help but look off into the distance, almost like she was gazing to a specific direction and looking for something, some sight off in the distance that she was hoping to see. It made Marovic stop and linger, standing next to her and looking out to see what she was searching for.

But she didn’t say anything to clarify and Marovic didn’t ask. Not directly, anyway, as she turned and started following after the others again, hopping from roof to roof in an area that was tightly packed together enough to make it a viable strategy to avoid the roads. As they ran, Marovic stayed behind the newcomer, asking questions between the times when they would jump and try not to miscalculate, which could prove deadly. “What are you even looking for? Money? Power? Some kind of other vice?”

She didn’t reply for a bit until they were on the next rooftop, and then she stopped Marovic, putting a hand on his shoulder and turning him away from the others. She pulled her mask off, showing a rather serious expression on her face before she sighed, almost as if she was conceding to revealing her intentions here. “You really want to know, eh? I guess you deserve to know. I came here…”

There was one more pause. A bit of awkward silence. And then, she spoke.

“I came here to find someone. Everything else until then, that’s just temporary. But if I do find them and that doesn’t work out? Well… I don’t know what I’d do. I think I’d lose myself.”

by **The Cross and Davids Star** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:06 am

Nev Hurn

Garage

Nev was still rather miffed about the interrupted simulation, with the gnome insult not helping to that, but if there was one thing Nev knew that could calm him, it would be tending to his machines. In this case, tending meant giving his most recent project a proper test run. Popping in his earplugs, Nev hopped on the bike and pulled the ignition cord, his strength allowing him to start it up in one go as the engine roared to life in a literal sense, the various hanging tools inside now rattling from the engine's vibrations. After performing a quick check, Nev shifted his bike to first gear and pushed on the throttle, rolling the bike out of the garage and into the open air. Surely everyone not in a soundproof room would be able to hear the damn thing to Nev's perpetual glee. As soon as the bike was clear Nev pushed the throttle as far as it was able to, the monstrous vehicle taking off onto the road before turning onto the empty runway. Nev shifted gears again and again until he reached sixth gear, watching his digital speedometer to discover the bike's top speed. 50...100...150...200...250...300...314! The speedometer stayed stable at 314 mph, which Nev recognized as his bike's top speed.

Within him, he felt satisfied with the speed, but there was one more thing that needed testing, which led Nev to going to the R&D building. After talking with one of the officials, Nev stationed his bike at the ballistics range with a junker car as his target. Using the crosshairs on his windshield, Nev lined up his aim, and pressed the trigger. As naturally as one would breathe, the autocannons fired, smashing their ordinance into the car while his bike was pushed back by the recoil. After about 20 rounds fired, Nev stopped and smiled. His bike was ready, and he couldn't wait for the chance to use it in the field.

by **Endem** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:54 am

Tadeusz Rybinski

A cat strolling through various buildings of Angel Village definitely would surprise many but a cat in R&D facility would be enough to question yourselves sanity but did Tadeusz care, not at all just like a normal cat, he found himself on ballistics range where someone was testing his creation. Tadeusz intrigued decided to know who is the man that this piece of machinery belonged, between salvo's he jumped into the vehicle.

In it he found a small man that appeared very enthusiastic of the whole situation, Tadeusz softly touched him with his paw and let out a pretty loud

"Meow!"

by **Lessoni** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 1:02 pm

Jack Dredd

A succesful mission left him quite tired, he had found out. He'd slept nearly 13 hours after getting back to Angel Village. When Jack had woken up, he'd been informed he was on another mission. Some hero kidnapped, needed rescuing. Simple enough, though it was bound to be dangerous.

As he scanned the list of his teammates, he saw a name that made his breath catch in his throat.

Brock?

It'd been so long... where'd he been? And more importantly, how exactly had he managed to secure a spot on the Young Guardians?

Jack sighed. He had some searching to do.

Brock James

Brock had been sober for 2 weeks, and it was driving him insane. After disposing of his booze, he'd turned to excersize as a placebo. He'd been in the gym every second he could for most of the time he'd been at Angel Village, and that's where he was now, using a treadmill at max speed. He had music blaring in his ears when a hand dropped on his shoulder.

The hand startled him, and Brock flew backwards. He collided with what seemed to be a wall. A strong hand gripped him before he fell, and he looked up at the face. It was Jack.

"Jack!", Brock exclaimed. "It's, uh... it's good to see you!", he stammered out.

"Where'd you go?", asked Jack. Brock heard no note of accusation or anger there. What he heard was simply sadness, and it broke his heart.

"I... my dad said I couldn't associate with you anymore. Please, I didn't want to listen, but, I had to-"

"Hey Brock?"

Glad Jack had taken over the conversation, Brock replied with, "Yeah?".

Pulling him into a tight embrace, Jack told him, "Shut up."

Brock breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't angry. But it looked like they had a lot to talk about.

by **The Batavia** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 1:39 pm

by **Forest State** » Wed Feb 27, 2019 10:12 pm

Repo Duty

It was a tough spot for Glory to be in. She had an opponent behind her, an ally in front of her, but that ally couldn’t do much without putting her in further danger. She had a fast moving blade, but she didn’t know if it was fast moving enough that she would be able to do something against the enemy standing behind her and threatening her with weapons of her own. So she did the choice that would preserve herself and she dropped the weapons, turning her attention to Kendrick, who was entering the bedroom. “Run. I’m going to fight the case and see if I can get out that way, you’re not going to do anything by fighting,” she said, gesturing away from herself.

Kendrick turned and sent a gust of wind down the hallway by moving his wings, lifting off the ground slightly and heading back into the bedroom and out of the window that was broken and open, the one that had been used as the point of entry. It wasn’t abandoning an ally as much as it was keeping things from getting worse for said ally. If they found themselves wrapped up in a fight, they could end up facing more charges than if one of them was captured, the others fled the scene, and they worked on figuring out how to get out of this case without breaking the law. Or, maybe if things didn’t go that well, they could think about a prison break.

“Fine. You’ve got me,” said Glory, her weapons clattering to the ground as she dropped the twin blades, a pang of sadness hitting her as she did so. They’d cost a lot to acquire, and they had to be obtained from Asia, too. At least if she wanted this style. She had the feeling she wouldn’t get them back, but that wasn’t her biggest worry right now as more of the Guardians, Serge and Artemis, came upstairs to check out the commotion and ensured that she wasn’t going to be able to get out of this one.

“I’ll take it from here,” Artemis stated, moving behind Glory and fixing a pair of handcuffs to her wrists and then adjusting them. It was a pretty good accomplishment, taking what was certainly one of the members of the Sewer Rats. Not only did the face match up to the one that had been seen in grainy photographs from security footage, but the weaponry definitely identified this woman as the one who went under the hero name Vanilla Dragon. She was the only one in the group that had blades like that, and they were definitely the same type of blade.

“You’re going to hear from my lawyer about this after busting into my house the way you did…” Glory stated through gritted teeth, as Artemis turned to guide her down the stairs and towards the vehicle that was waiting out front, while Serge checked down the hall to see if there was still anyone else in the building.

“It’s the end of the road, kid. Might as well accept it,” said Artemis. “No amount of legal protection’s going to help in this case, we all know that the blades are yours and that they’re the same ones that have been used in crimes. You’ll probably get a lighter sentence if you-”

“I’m not a snitch. Never have been.”

With that, Glory was placed into the back of the SUV that was waiting outside, as the local police were notified that the Guardians had made the arrest. They hadn’t found what they had originally been coming for, but this, this was more of a victory than just finding out that the place was owned by the Sewer Rats and finding some links to their real identities. They could possibly get that just from the prisoner, after all.

Shanghai Hustle
Collab with Vanquaria

Sun reacted instantly when gunfire broke out. It was a combination of military training and raw survival instinct. His mouth uttered a few, unintelligible words as he raised both his palms up and a split second later, 2 fiery circles appeared around him and Klausen. "Take cover, sir!" he shouted at the billionaire, the Korean man's brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed in an expression of complete concentration and focus on the task at hand. Sun's shields would swirl about, visible flames crackling from within as they blocked bullets from hitting the main man and Sun himself.

One of the fire shields would suddenly disappear, the remaining being placed in front of Sun as Klausen followed the lead of the other Guardians and took cover behind the crates, and in their place came a streak of lightning from Sun's hand, emerging through the fire shield protecting Sun's body. In speeds faster than a bullet, it arced towards one of the gunmen, or gungirls, and sent the assailant flying. Sun kept both hands raised, keeping his shield spell active with one and returning fire in the form of arcs of lightning on the other.

Aubrey looked from side to side and tried to guess the right move before deciding that they didn’t have time to figure out a detailed plan while they were having gunfire rained down on them from a concealed position. “Come on, we’re going to jump the barrier and get around that crowd,” she said, gesturing to the spot where the plaza let out from the road. Immediately after finishing the order, she reached to her side and took out a large pistol, firing suppressively at the group of hostiles before gesturing for Sun and the others to go ahead of her. “Sun, grab Klausen and come on, I’ll cover!”

And that she did. She fired until her magazine was empty while taking cover behind one of the large lights, something that wouldn’t offer full protection but would make it slightly harder to aim at her and hit. There was a chance that she would go down right here, sure. But if she couldn't take that risk, why did she even have the job? Being in the DRMA meant being in the trenches, and that was what Aubrey had signed up for. She waited until Jess, Ursula, and Gabriella, and Sun had made their moves before peeling away from her position and rushing behind them, loading another magazine and continuing her cover fire as she had them climb and jump the barrier that was separating the plaza from the road, which would put them out of the immediate danger of getting hit with the toxic substance.

“You’re having us run right now?” Ursula growled, turning around and looking Aubrey in the eye as she stood in front of the barrier, deciding if she was going to climb the seven foot tall thing or stay here in fight. She simply received a glare back, and a look that told her to hurry up and get on with it before she got one of them hurt by holding them up.

“Unless you have a better plan that avoids the crowd, the sniper, and the poison gas,” Aubrey replied back in a calm tone, and Ursula let out a sigh of annoyance before climbing the wall easily, and positioning herself to help any of the others that needed to get to the top. After helping Jess and Gabriella out, and watching Aubrey pass, she lowered herself from the top of the wall and started running after them, as they went north in the direction of the parking lot.

Only thing was, they had awhile to walk and they wouldn’t make it before two of the crates could be loaded into the back of a truck that had been parked there earlier, one which was being driven by the attackers that had suddenly gotten the jump on them. That truck, it was pulling out of the lot by the time the heroes were halfway there, and starting off towards wherever the destination was. Probably somewhere to offload it and load the cargo back onto another vehicle that was less suspicious, one that the Guardians and other authorities hadn’t seen already.

“Damn it! We… We let them get away?” Ursula asked in anger, turning to the others as the group stopped.

“Wouldn’t have happened, maybe, if the leader of your group didn’t take off to who knows where and leave the rest of us to handle the ambush,” sighed Aubrey, looking down at her phone to see if there were any updates on the situation. She lowered it, picking up her radio and contacting the other agent on the scene. “This is Aubrey. Hostiles have escaped with two of the crates, the ones that… Well, it appears that whatever faction this is now has two prototype androids. Very valuable, possibly very dangerous depending on the hands they’re falling into. I’ll contact command, see if they have anything about where they headed, but this entire thing seems professional. Wouldn’t be surprised if they dropped off the map entirely.”

She paused, a long sigh exiting as she looked up to see if her ally was visible again on top of one of the nearby buildings. “Just like ghosts.”

Bellamy Lys & Dagon Argrave
Collab with Doughertania

Floor 32 wasn't exactly a maze, but by the fourth or fifth turn Dagon was starting to loose his sense of direction. The featureless white walls looked the same, and while he could've tried making landmarks out of the signs he past, he was too busy making sure the blue-haired girl was in his sights. The distance between them had closed some. If he wanted to risk it, he could try to fire a tendril at her, grabbing her legs and forcing her to stop. But he decided against it. He still wasn't convinced he wanted to return her to the Klausen Heavy security forces. Even if he was, the runner evaded bullets, she likely could avoid his reach. But he couldn't chase her forever. So after a few more moments of putting some extra distance between them and any pursuers, he called out to the girl, referring to her by the name he'd given her in the simulation.

"Hey New Voice, timeout!" He started to slow down, his white and red armor detracting back into his spine, leaving him in his usual red hoodie and black pants. "I know you were all for competition back in the sim, but aren't you getting bored?"

She spun around on her heels, dropping one hand to the ground to balance herself before standing up and staring at Dagon, panting from exertion but not in the same way that a regular person would after the acrobatic feat of vaulting around the 32nd floor and then running away from the guards. It didn't take her that long to recognize Dagon as one of the ones that had been in the simulation, and her mind flashed back to his performance in it before returning to the present situation. Right. For whatever reason, he had followed her. "Daring of you to come after me. For all you know, you could be putting yourself in danger. After all, I am a dangerous individual and I have the entirety of the Guardians after me!" she said, practically shouting the last part.

"But no, in all seriousness, I'm surprised you followed after me. 'Specially when they started shooting in there, over me. You want some answers, huh?" she asked, taking a couple of steps forward and folding her arms over her chest as she leaned on the glass window in the hallway that overlooked the Long Island area around the Guardians Building. "I can answer your first one. No, I'm not exactly bored with this adrenaline rush, and as for any others that you have - and I know from your body language that you do have questions - feel free to ask away. Your bravery has earned it."

"Yep, that's me, brave." Dagon stuffed his hands in his hoodie's front pocket, sauntering over to the shorter girl. "Also impulsive, talkative, and most of all, curious." He stopped once they were a few feet apart, taking a moment to look over this dangerous individual. She was short, her head barely reaching his shoulder, with blue eyes that matched her hair color. She wasn't visibly armed, and from her posture she wasn't exactly worried about a fight breaking out. Certainly not what he expected from someone who security tried to apprehend with live ammunition.

"Let's start at the beginning." The man held out his hand, a small smile on his face. "I'm Dagon, coolest Young Guardian as decided by this official hero census." As he spoke, his other hand fished out a scrap of paper. It had a number of signatures on it, and while the original title was scribbled out, a new one was written above it in messy handwriting. Sure enough, it read "Petition to Make Dagon the Official Coolest Young Guardian."

I still can't believe they fell for your pay raise petition.

"Guess that makes me the most clever, too." Dagon looked up, talking briefly to the ceiling lights.

His gaze returned to the girl, stowing his ill-gotten parchment back where it belonged. "And you are?" He knew she wasn't a Young Guardian. He made it a point to at least know the names of his fellow heroes, even if he wasn't close with all of them. So what was she then? A new Guardian he hadn't met? A employee of Klausen Heavy Industries? Some other third party?

"I mean, I could keep calling you New Voice, but that wouldn't make a lot of sense." Dagon raised his hand, tapping his temple with his index finger. "You're not exactly in here anymore."

"Bellamy Lys or Bellamy Bright, I couldn't care less which one I get called, they mean the same thing. Otherwise, you may hear my official designation, Rook, being used more and more in the coming weeks," said Bellamy, taking Dagon's hand as she turned away from the glass wall and started to pace, something she often did when she was feeling restless or deep in thought. It wasn't really a conscious movement either, but something that she just did on her own without thinking about it. "Based on your body language, though, you probably want to know more than my name. Now that you know who I am, you want to know what I do."

She paused and placed a finger on her chin as she thought of a way to explain. "You could say I'm with the Guardians, even if I'm not quite with the Program in the way the rest of you are. You guys are supposed to head out in the field and fight crime. I'm the one using all of the resources of the Guardians to watch over you, and the one who has to make the reports that you read before even heading out. I know, I know, it's a lot of work. But it's a rewarding job. Or so they tell me. I don't have powers in the same sense that the rest of you do, unless you count the physical abilities you just saw right now."

Her finger moved from her chin to point at one of the cameras in the hallway. "What I do have, though, is a body that allows me to use the computer network which is connected to the Providence AI system for my own ends. That network is bigger than you think. Everything from cameras and radios attached to vehicles in the field, to drones, to that camera right there is connected. So you could say that, while Providence is a mass of processing power which has the raw strength to move some metaphorical mountains, I'm the human face on it and I'm the one responsible for... Directing it, and making sure it serves its purpose when there's teams out in the field. At least, that's what I'm supposed to do when they let me," she continued, losing herself in her long thought for a moment before looking back to Dagon.

Dagon stayed silent for her explanation, letting her say her piece before saying anything himself. Not that he needed to jump in; his intentions seemed pretty clear to Bellamy, and she was happy to help explain herself to him. Assuming she wasn't lying, he had definitely been underestimating her abilities. All of the Guardian's tech was tied to the AI, a technological powerhouse unlike anything else on the planet, all wielded by a girl who didn't look much older than Evelyn.

Returning his hand to his jacket's pouch, he met her gaze when she looked back at him, free of whatever thought she was chasing. "Gotta say, I expected Big Brother to be a bit more intimidating." Looking her over, he added, "Though maybe Big Sister is more appropriate?"

"Anyways, sounds like you've got a pretty important job." The fact that she was with the Guardians made things a little easier for him. If things were as they seemed, he wouldn't have to worry about trying to make choice between dragging her back to the organization he's supposed to be loyal to or letting her go. But there was something in her description that made him pause. So he added, "You actually enjoy it at all?"

There was something else that stuck out to Dagon. "Also, wait, what you're supposed to do when they let you?" Cocking an eyebrow, he continued his query. "Do they not let you connect to Providence when there's not a mission? Or are you saying you do other things while you're hooked up to your AI super brain?"

"Enjoy it? I dunno, I do what I have to do. I get taken care of because of it, I'm not sure if most people would tell you that they enjoy what they do, statistically the majority of people around here, even in Angel's Village, are probably cooped up in some office and aren't going out in the field and doing awesome stuff. They'll do it because they need to survive, or they'll say something about doing it because it needs to be done. I suppose that's why I'm doing it, because it needs to be done," said Bellamy.

"And yes, I'm just about always working on something, I'm just about the best multitasker on the damn planet. Sometimes stuff for the Guardians, sometimes not. I'm responsible for running a lot of the simulations that are supposed to take all of the data from the intelligence wing of the Guardians and put it together to help understand villains and their motives. Boring shit, I know. Stuff like running the same simulation a thousand times to find out that it would make the most sense for someone to rob a location at a specific time," she added, shrugging. "But I do get to use the processors when they aren't needed, so that's a plus."

Dagon nodded along with what she was saying. He could understand doing a job because it's important, regardless of your own predisposition to it. He was lucky that field work was a job he liked, rather than a chore. The more important take away was that she wasn't being held here against her will. Whatever the reason for her running, it wasn't out of a need for escape. But he had other questions first, ones that played to his need to be constantly doing something.

"Always multitasking?" He looked around, as if worried someone would turn down their empty hallway and catch them talking, before leaning in slightly, speaking in a low tone. "You cooking up anything interesting?"

Straightening up, he added, "Any of it worth getting shot over? Even with a healing factor, that's not exactly a thank you for a job well done." He might know who Bellamy is and what she did, but the reasons for the rather dramatic scene were still a mystery.

"Healing factor? Gah. That's for pussies that can't take a hit, I'm proud to say I'm in the group that can take a .50 cal and shrug it off," said Bellamy, somewhat proudly. It wasn't like it was exactly a common feat, even if it did raise some questions about her and her other capabilities which she hadn't touched on. Some of them being ones that she was forbidden to talk about to just anyone. "But yes, I'm always working on something. Most of it isn't interesting stuff, though, and is more along the lines of trying to figure out which criminal is going to do what, and how to stop it. Sounds interesting on paper, gets boring after running the same simulation for the ten thousandth time."

She chuckled. "The shooting, that was because I decided to stretch the boundaries of what I was supposed to do with the training sim. Turns out not everyone values thrills and creativity, not for what was supposed to be a simple exercise originally."

by **Forest State** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 2:59 am

Arc Two: Divine Fury

Time Skip
June 19th, 2024

The Bengal Consortium had lost their damn minds. They had been a pest for the Guardians for awhile, yes, and they had long been a force to be reckoned with when it came to criminals who weren’t concerned with the ideological or personal goals of some of the other villains and just wanted to make profit, whether or not they had powers. They had proved impossible for both the government and the Guardians to purge from their home country of India, and even taking them down abroad had proved to be a challenge, with one Bengal related group going down and two more taking its place routinely.

But even with that, and their growth throughout the world, it wasn’t like them to try things like this.

The Guardians tended to be off limit for them. They reduced engagements with them as much as possible because they didn’t want to have to deal with superheroes coming for them any more than they already did, on top of the police forces of every country that they were operating in, and international agencies such as the DRMA, who went after them for their members who misused superpowers for criminal gains. More enemies wasn’t what the Bengal Consortium wanted, they had enough both within and outside the organization. So why were they doing this, and kidnapping a member of the Guardians without even putting up a ransom price?

“I hope you all realize,” said Samson Bastani, as the team was gathered in a briefing room and pointed at a map at the center of it, which displayed the compound where they would search for their kidnapped member, “That this is a real operation and not like the ones that you’ve carried out in training. The guns are real. You may have powers, but that doesn’t reduce the effect of them for most of you. This isn’t a movie. It’s not going to be one of those scenes where the hero faces a dozen enemies with guns and all of them happen to miss and do no damage, or the hero just gets shot in the shoulder and shrugs it off by the end of the fight. Make the wrong moves here and you will return home in a bodybag, for a closed casket funeral.”

Bastani sighed and leaned against the table, running a hand through his black hair and wiping a bit of sweat from his face. “I’m not saying this to be harsh, I’m saying it because I’ve personally seen what happens when heroes get arrogant and I’d rather not have it happen under my watch. If this was entirely my decision, then you wouldn’t be on this mission right now. However, the Council believes that you would benefit from a chance to act in the field in a high pressure scenario to help someone that is a member of this very program. I would respond to that by saying that the Council is out of touch with reality, but that is another argument for another day. I believe it’s time for Ainsley to go over the plan here. Pay attention. Your life will depend on it.”

As Bastani stepped away from the map, Ainsley stepped forward and began gesturing to the different buildings. “Right. This right here is the main building in the compound, where our intelligence believes that Soli is being held. We don’t know why she was kidnapped by Bengal or what business she has with them at all, but they’ve decided to take her and our main goal here is to take her back. You’re going to be doing this with the help of one other team. On the north side of the compound, the New York Dynamo will arrive and will draw the attention of the bulk of the enemy forces away from you. At that point, about ten minutes after the initial attack begins, you will land in the south side of the complex and take care of any hostiles in the area. The only powered enemies that you are expected to face are Shatter and Baroness.”

Ainsley took two pictures out of a file, displaying footage of both villains that had been recorded by civilians during encounters with them. The pictures were accurate enough that everyone would be able to make out the details, with Shatter’s more flashy black and gold outfit which included light body armor, and Baroness’ more professional and businesslike outfit of a dark suit. There was a bit of a difference in their physical appearance, too. Baroness was the older one, and looked to be middle aged, while Shatter looked like someone in his twenties. Both of them, though, wore masks which concealed most of their faces and kept their identities hidden. Shatter’s was more like a hockey mask, painted gold and simple in design, while Baroness had one that took inspiration from masquerade masks, and was painted black.

“Shatter is a glass manipulator and therefore can fight in a number of environments, but because this one isn’t urban, you’re going to have the advantage. However, keep in mind that Shatter is very much an unorthodox style of fighter and that you should expect tricks that you might not get from a normal opponent. Baroness is the more traditional of the two but that doesn’t mean she isn’t dangerous. Her power set allows her to manipulate sound, but we have limited intel on it. We do know, though, that she typically has multiple non powered allies around her at all times. In addition to facing these two, you’ll also have to go against a larger number of enemies of a similar skill and armament. They may not present problems on their own, but they do as a group. Which is why we’re sticking to the plan of eliminating hostiles first before we make any moves towards finding Soli.”

Ainsley turned away from the table to look at everyone else that was assembled. “Any questions? Alright then.”

Hours after the briefing was over, and the team had been prepped on how things were going to work, it was only minutes away from go time. They were rapidly approaching the compound, which was located out in the countryside to the west of St. Louis and hidden as a regular farm, one which wouldn’t attract the attention of the Guardians. At least, it wouldn’t have attracted the attention of the Guardians if it wasn’t for Bengal making an out of character move and kidnapping one of the group’s members, forcing them into action. The other alternative was that they caved and, well, nobody on their side would want to see that happen.

The VTOL was flying low, getting ready to make a quick entry, and the fight had already started in the distance. The compound was indeed guarded by members of the Bengal Consortium, but they couldn’t be underestimated. When they were entrenched in a place like this, with a building that seemed to be built in the style of a single floored office, it was hard to get them out. One wrong move could spell death, and so the building had to be approached methodically. Even if it was by a team of superheroes that could make short work of any of the Bengal muscle in a straight one versus one fight. Things were rarely simple like that, though, and the team that was just arriving would also have to take that into consideration.

Finally, the VTOL touched down just outside of the front entrance to the complex, the barn to the left of the group and the main building straight ahead, a large lawn separating it from the Young Guardians. As the leader of the mission, Ainsley wasted no time in barking orders and pointing to where her group needed to go. “In about a minute or two, we’re going to get swarmed by enemies with guns. Be quick with your strikes and take them out as soon as they show up,” she said. “But keep an eye out for either of their powered members, too… They might be occupied by the Dynamo, but that might not last forever.”

by **Lunas Legion** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 3:11 am

Can't you see?
This is a land of confusion.
This is the world we live in.
And these are the hands we're given.

Land of Confusion

There was something to be said for the ocean. On a hot, sunny day like this, you forgot how refreshing that distant ocean breeze was. It also made standing out on open tarmac under the burning sun a tiny bit more tolerable, but for a man like Ashley, tolerable was paradise.

It wouldn't be tolerable for long.

He pulled his canteen off of his belt, shaking it, hearing the water slosh against the leather sides. Full. He was triple-checking, just making sure. It wasn't paranoia, it was called preparation in his line of work. He stood alone on the tarmac, wearing desert-patterned camouflage trousers and a matching vest, sand-stained boots, a brown-red coloured facewrap hanging around his neck, a belt and a pair of bandoleers studded with pouches and a frankly absurd number of pistol holsters, all currently empty, scattered across his person.

His company wasn't particularly talkative either, a stern-faced elderly Saudi man in an officer's uniform next to his own graying mane of hair and his sun and weather-beaten face and combat gear as he glanced down at his watch. Too damn early in the day. He liked sleep. Treasured it. But some assholes had made him get up for this, and to babysit some kids at that.

Time passed. The sun moved overhead by a few degrees. The wind died down, and the roar of planes taking off and landing faded in and out as he waited.

Eventually, after another glance down at his watch, he heard a different distinctive whine of engines, different from the commercial jets. The Guardians VTOL had finally arrived, after stopping off at Gander in Canada, Charles De Gaulle and finally Cairo on the way there. There hadn't been much of a hurry, this wasn't an urgent thing after all given they had no obligation to respond. Ashley was, quite literally, the Guardians man on the Arabian Peninsula. They had no actual branches there, but he acted as an associate and liaison between them and the assorted Arabian governments and Metahuman Departments. This was simply earning goodwill with the Saudis, and potentially nipping something bigger before it got bigger.

The VTOL set down a short distance away and Ashley hopped off of the box he'd been sitting off, moving at a slow walk towards the VTOL as the engines died down into silence and the rear ramp opened, the group of Young Guardians he'd been sent one by one climbing out into the harsh Abu Dhabi sun.

"Welcome to the UAE." He called out as he approached the group. "I'm Ashley Bryen. Call me Ash. My untalkative friend here is from the Saudi National Security Council's Special Department, responsible for everything metahuman-related in Saudi Arabia. He doesn't speak English, but he's mostly here because the Saudis aren't going to let me run around without a minder, and I'm stuck babysitting you kids because you're not allowed to run around without a minder either and none of your heroes have any-fucking-idea about how to handle this shithole of the world and neither will you most likely." Ashley turned around, taking a step forwards before pausing, as if he'd forgotten they'd existed.

"If you've got questions ask as we walk, there's a column of a few Humvees waiting for us. They'll take us over the Saudi border, where we'll meet up with a FOB the Saudis set up for their expedition and we're taking over and from there we'll be on camels as we go to the last reported position of the Saudi's missing convoy. If it's a stupid question I'll call it stupid but answer it anyways. Out here you're all FNGs as far as I'm concerned. Come on." He started to walk again, the Saudi man looking over the group but not moving, waiting to follow them from behind.

by **The Knockout Gun Gals** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 5:48 am

Park In-hyun / Speed
Saudi Arabia

Park, arrived with the other Young Guardians, on her first-ever mission, which could guarantee her death, or her being alive. As far as she and others know, there have been no reveal of the mission, beside the presence of large amounts of energy in Rub'al Khali, and a Saudi special force was sent to investigate, with no reports from them after some...days. Now the government asked for the assistance from Guardians, and they somehow sent the young ones. Then again, despite being invited by the Saudis, this is a literal small-scale mission with limited effect on territorial basis. Young Guardians obviously would have to take on this mission, then. She hasn't opened up to the others, then again, she arrived much much later than the rest so it's normal.

Ash, or Ashley Bryen, is a man of words, like literal words. He's also a literal jerk, but considering (as far as she knows) there is no official Guardian office in Saudi Arabia, it's probably a given. Anyway, she has few questions, which she obviously asked to Ash, "Mr. Ash," as she started. "Do we have some kind of logistical or military support from the Saudi's military, or local US-based military?"

by **The Cross and Davids Star** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:01 am

Nev Hurn

Pre-Timeskip

Nev jumped a little when he was touched, whirling his head around to find out who it was, only to find out that it was only a cat. Now, cats weren't his favorite animal, but they were certainly up there, though he did wonder why it didn't run away from the sounds of the autocannons. He simply gave it a rub on the head.

Post-Timeskip, United Arab Emirates

When Nev was informed that he was leaving for the UAE, he got to work on adding a few modifications to his bike. The most major of these mods was the treads, which were removed and replaced with a new set designed to handle the desert's sifty ground, with small shovel-like protrusions to dig into the sand and provide better traction. On a side note, Nev also built a large ski to swap out with the front tire when needed. The rest of the mods consisted of simply add-ons, such as 4 spare jerrycans to carry fuel for emergencies as well as a large water tank to carry plenty of water, something that the team will be surely thankful to have. Also, in an act of unusally common sense, Nev modified his exhaust so the resulting noise was at a more reasonable level.

After many stops, much to Nev's own disappointment, the team finally arrived at their destination. Nev himself was the last to exit the VTOL as he had to push his bike down the ramp and at a good distance away from the aircraft before jumping on. He listened to Ashley introduce himself, as well as adding a quip about the rather ineffective performance of the professional heroes. To Nev, the real hero teams were not much but gloryhounds, wanting to show off and gain sponsors, so he kind of agreed with the ex-soldier. When he directed them to the Humvees, Nev started up his bike, causing a near deafening roar, but came much quiter afterwards, albeit still loud enough to be noticeable. Nev was going to ride his bike instead.

"So Boss, I do hope that they won't consider my dakka to be a problem. Less shooty is never a good thing."

by **Endem** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:06 am

Elek Mohave

Elek tried to remember everything Bastani and Ainsley said, he wasn't about to get his face torn off again.

Some Hours later

The VTOL was flying lower than Elek would like it to but after all, he could get the feeling he was finally worth something except being cannon fodder. The farm was rather a un-interesting in looks but still knowing who was there it was the most interesting place on Earth right now for Elek, he was prepared to go there when Ainsley said something about being swarmed, Elek decided to play it safe and tried to keep low a sword in one hand and three throwing knives in second he decided to only attack the ones that caused too much harm or where to close, and to switch positions after each attack.

Tadeusz Rybinski

When Tadeusz heard he was going to UAE he was quite pleased, he could finally test out the camel form. The trips were quite long, they stopped in Canada, France, and Cairo, the third one was for him quite pointless. When they landed they were created by two men who seemed quite displeased with the whole situation he wanted to ask the one talking in English a question about getting him some hay and water but he tripped and fell.

"Kurwa"

He got up to see a girl dressed in jester clothes standing before him, he thought it was appropriate to start a conversation.

"Hi...I'm Tadeusz, what's your name why are you dressed in Jester clothes?"

He said with a strong Polish accent

by **Lessoni** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:54 am

Jack Dredd

Jack heard Ainsley's speech, about how they were probably gonna get swarmed. He armored up, ready for the brawl.

He stepped in front of the team, a shield of sorts. Some of them weren't as bulletproof as him, and he had a duty to protect them as his teammates. He was probably gonna need to get a real shield eventually.

Brock James

Brock was ready. First mission jitters ran through him, but they'd pass. He was sure of it. He drew the revolver at his side and aimed it forward. His reflexes were good, but he preferred putting himself in minimal danger.

Brock saw Jack move forward and inched closer behind him. He had no intentions of getting shot today.

by **Lunas Legion** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 9:04 am

Ashley Bryen

"Saudis will be airdropping us supplies as necessary; we should have enough supplies for five to six days on the camels we'll be picking up at the FOB, afterwards they'll be airdropping supplies during the night on our campsite for us to collect in the morning, if this lasts that long." Ash replied curtly to Park as he walked, not turning around to face her. "We can call in airstrikes in theory for support, but the nearest air bases are an hour away and that's if they have aircraft prepped and ready to launch, which they won't, and they're not wasting money on having planes patrolling over the Empty Quarter just for us when we're almost certain not to need it."

Ashley flicked a brief glare of annoyance back at Nev and the irritating roar of his bike, but he was used to loud noises. Being around tanks and explosives did that to you. "Speak in proper English next time, Ruskie. If you can keep your bike fuelled and working out in the desert then bring it, but as soon as it breaks or runs out of fuel we're ditching it. You'll probably need to keep a distance off from the camels too since that racket is going to make them bolt and with the dust cloud and noise from that thing you'll be seen for miles."

He fell silent for a few seconds, before continuing. "Also, don't call me boss, because I'm not. I'm your babysitter, here to make sure you don't get yourselves killed in easily preventable ways. Otherwise keep out of my way, it'll make me less irritated which makes your lives easier."

Sophia Anya Rykova a.k.a Euclid

It was a strange feeling, being on a mission again for the first time in what felt like forever. It made her feel giddy, almost. She mentally ran through the briefing, or what she remembered of the briefing, in her head as their VTOL descended towards the ground before it finally touched down. She knew her power was strong, and she'd gotten an awful lot of practice with it, but actually using it in combat? She'd never done that before.

It was almost exciting. No doubt her brother would be proud if he was here to see her now. They touched down as she hopped out, landing somewhat unsteadily as Ainsley began to bark out orders, and she shut her eyes, using her power. Her power wasn't strong offensively, but defensively? That was another matter together. Space twisted in the darkness as she shaped her bubble into a long cylinder, coming up to about waist height and ending just above the grass. It wasn't perfect, you could get shot in the foot if you were unlucky or something, but it was cover in otherwise open ground.

"Bubble up for cover." Sophia said, her accent heavy and distorting the words. "Can maybe make... Two, three, more before out of area. Unarmed, so..." She shrugged. They didn't allow her guns since she couldn't use them properly owing to her missing digits.

by **Union Princes** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 10:25 am

Szarlota Raczkowska

During Timeskip

Andżelika was humming to herself while she was brushing her hair in the bathroom. She was only in her underwear looking at the mirror analyzing her face while her comb was going through her silky brown hair. Andżelika felt her cheek with on hand, checking to see if her skin was still smooth. She wasn't disappointed but she still sigh nonetheless. Being alone shouldn't be new to her. She and Szarlota are adults now and have to be independent as one. But still, Andżelika feels like she need more time adjusting to this new schedule.

The brunette was sinking deeper in though her she was pulled out of the hole she dug herself into when she heard the door open and a familiar voice entered.

"I'm baaacccckkkkk!" Szarlota announced, feeling a little tired herself.

"Welcome home!" Andżelika squealed as she ran out the bathroom to give her sister a bear hug, her chest squishing into her sister's. "How was the mission?"

"A success in terms what we were supposed to gather." The black haired sister explained as she took off her jester outfit and set it next to her mask. "A suspect of the targeted team was arrested and being held for questioning."

"It wasn't too hard, right?" The brunette questioned while she pushed her sister onto the bed and got on top of her.

"Except I nearly got me head blown off if it wasn't for my power." Szarlota grumbles in reply as she hugs her sibling. "And I forgot to bring my cards

"Are you gonna be leaving again?" Andżelika pesters while she played with her sister's hair.

"No shit, Sherlock." the jester girl answers sarcastically. "By the way, how you're doing so far while I was gone?"

"Still waiting a reply for my job applications." she remarked without a care in the world. "I can't imagine what you have to go through."

After timeskip

The sun was hot, really hot and Szarlota was thankful she had a white and red color version of her jester outfit. This one covered more of her body, maily her belly and back. Otherwise, she'll be a cookie in an oven. Unlike the mission before, the Pole brought her mask and three stacks of playing cards, UNO cards, and Tarot cards as well as her scythe and dirk. Her lute was strapped to her back like a guitar.

The mask is already doing a good job resisting some of the heat while Szarlota listened to their "taskmaster" assigned to them. She was doing her best listening to his harsh yet informative words when someone asked a question behind her.

She lifted up her mask, revealing her red and white face paint. The accent of the boy behind her had an accent that reminded her of her parents.

"Hey Tadeusz." the Polish girl nodded. "I'm Szarlota and this is my, let say, superhero outfit for the desert."

by **Endem** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 10:40 am

Union Princes wrote:Szarlota Raczkowska
...when someone asked a question behind her.

She lifted up her mask, revealing her red and white face paint. The accent of the boy behind her had an accent that reminded her of her parents.

"Hey Tadeusz." the Polish girl nodded. "I'm Szarlota and this is my, let say, superhero outfit for the desert."

"Nice outfit... Szarlota?"

Tadeusz was a little bit confused, but nonetheless, ( he was no moving by the way ) his eyes used the moment to see what else the girl had: a scythe, a dirk, a mask, a lute, and some cards but Tadeusz reconciled himself

"Are you a Pole?, I thought I was the only one from Poland here"

And after a quick second look at her cards added

"You mind showing me those cards?"

by **Union Princes** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:21 am

Endem wrote:
Union Princes wrote:Szarlota Raczkowska
...when someone asked a question behind her.

She lifted up her mask, revealing her red and white face paint. The accent of the boy behind her had an accent that reminded her of her parents.

"Hey Tadeusz." the Polish girl nodded. "I'm Szarlota and this is my, let say, superhero outfit for the desert."

"Nice outfit... Szarlota?"

Tadeusz was a little bit confused, but nonetheless, ( he was no moving by the way ) his eyes used the moment to see what else the girl had: a scythe, a dirk, a mask, a lute, and some cards but Tadeusz reconciled himself

"Are you a Pole?, I thought I was the only one from Poland here"

And after a quick second look at her cards added

"You mind showing me those cards?"

Szarlota Raczkowska

She didn't the staring that much as Tadeusz seem to be genuinely curious.

"Yes, I'm a Pole." Szarlota affirms. "From New York to be precise."

She then dug her hands into her pockets to show him her cards. Nothing unusual, the playing cards, uno cards, and tarot cards are items that could be purchased anywhere.

by **Endem** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 12:38 pm

Union Princes wrote:
Endem wrote:
"Nice outfit... Szarlota?"

Tadeusz was a little bit confused, but nonetheless, ( he was no moving by the way ) his eyes used the moment to see what else the girl had: a scythe, a dirk, a mask, a lute, and some cards but Tadeusz reconciled himself

"Are you a Pole?, I thought I was the only one from Poland here"

And after a quick second look at her cards added

"You mind showing me those cards?"

Szarlota Raczkowska

She didn't the staring that much as Tadeusz seem to be genuinely curious.

"Yes, I'm a Pole." Szarlota affirms. "From New York to be precise."

She then dug her hands into her pockets to show him her cards. Nothing unusual, the playing cards, uno cards, and tarot cards are items that could be purchased anywhere.

One particular set off cards caught his attention, the Tarot cards

"Those are Tarot right, I never seen them in real life only some pictures on the internet"

Tadeusz looked closer at the cards and saw one was lifted up

"Tower"

He whispered to himself before quickly reflecting and saying

"What are your powers?, I can transform into any animal or plant I want"

by **Theyra** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 2:08 pm

United Arab Emirates
Zekulu Alemu Nazwari

Zekulu slept of the most part on the VTOL ride to the UAE. He was wearing his desert attire, a white t-shirt, a dark tone beige jacket and a tan baseball cap that he was wearing backward. Zekulu's crossbow was fitted squarely on his back. His second mission and unlike the first one where things were clear, this mission was odd. A Saudi military group went missing investigating something that is causing explosions that look like nukes going off. Luckily without any radiation and maybe the missing Saudi's left a trail that he could follow. Granted if those tracks are a day old and they have been missing for three days.

Zekulu noted that their Guardian contact, Ashley was a jerk and opted not to ask him any questions. He did not have any real questions and was more concerned about how loud Nev's bike was. "Why does it have to be that loud? He thought as he covered his ears briefly. He noticed that there a someone rather new on the team, he thinks her callsign was Speed? At any case, he was curious about how her thought about this mission and a chance to learn more about his teammates. He walked up beside her and spoke with an Ethiopian accent. "Hi, I do not think we have met before and what are your thoughts about this mission?

Nightowls
Undisclosed Location
Nightowl regional leader Zacarías Espiga

"Hmmmm, this is not good", at least the Guardians were able to get a sample of the Slaughterhouse's newest parasite". Speaking in a Spanish accent, Zacarías said as he read the report of the aftermath of the Young Guardian's work in New York. He was standing in a high-tech looking command room and was reading from a holographic display. Multiple people were working at their stations. He was wearing casual looking clothes and has medium-length straight dark hair and a small scar under his left eye. "Slaughterhouse has been working on making new parasite and who knows what else they are making". He spoke to himself and looked to his left at a red-hair woman who was approaching him. "Juno, I trust that you have good news for me about the Slaughterhouse?

"Sorry, sir nothing yet, but I have already dispatched a team to investigate the Slaughterhouse's activity's after the newest strain existence was made known to us".

"Good, good Juno and what about the leads we have on the New Order?

"The most were dead-ends but, we got one promising lead in Portland, Maine. Possibly tied to how the New Order has been able to operate around the world without a clear means of transportation".

"Nice, send me the information about it once we got solid intel on it. This New Order has been a problem to find information on since they became active a few years ago. We need something to get us an edge against them".

"Understood, I will keep you in the loop and I need to discuss..."

"Commander, one of the commanding room staff, spoke up from her station. "I got a priority call from Central for you".

"Okay patch it through into my office and June we will talk about that later".

"Understood sir, Juno made her way out of the command room while Zacarías made his way to his office.

by **Skaldia** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:12 pm

Eamon Donovan

Fury
"great fury, like great whisky, requires long fermentation"

Theme

Flask. Check.
Weapons. Check.
Boonie Hat? Check.
Water.. Flask. Check.

Eamon was fairly confident he wouldn't need anything too complicated and had packed accordingly. He'd got the necessities down pat. On the whole way from New York, he'd dozed off and on. Breaks came in the form of needing a piss and wanting a drink from his special flask. Oh, fine high quality 'shine like he had was best sipped. Otherwise, it was likely to knock you on your ass. His teammates, such as they were, were largely ignored and the favor was returned. Despite being nearly seven feet tall and built like something from a Mr. Universe competition, he was pretty plain compared to some of the other odd ducklings he had encountered since falling in with the Young Guardians bunch. After years of running merc jobs with various human organizations and factions, he had grown used to being ogled by his former peers.
The anonymity he had found within the Young Guardians had been an unsuspected plus.

It went without saying that quite a few of the members around him were worthy of a bit of examination, if he had been so inclined. Unfortunately, their pockets were a little more difficult than usual to fleece of their contents, and he had been spared from trying in discovering several places in NYC that catered to his various desires. He had been lucky too. Most nights he cleared at least a few grand from the tables, and that was after his drinking tab had been paid in full in whatever disreputable establishment he made some money at. Drinking and whoring at nights and training during the day. A comfortable montage of weeks blurred into one visual milieu in the mind that had been jarred when he had been called on this mission.
Well, the lord giveth and the lord taketh.

As the VTOL touched down, he rose from his seat a bit groggily and grabbed the polearm resting next to him. At nine feet long, the spear called Wrath was a real beauty, made of a composite metal with a micro-filament edge. In Eamon's hands, it was more than capable of punching through armor and he had lost count of the dead left in it's wake. Along with Wrath, he was festooned with knives, a hatchet, two hand axes, and a machete. Due to the terrain they would find themselves in, it had been advised that he pick something with more range than what he could get with throwing his spear. He had disinclined the advice and had reasoned that he was a piss poor shot at the best of times and any mission that required him to start shooting was already doomed.

As well as all the sheaths and loops that kept his weapons secured on his person, he completed his ensemble with simple tan camo pants and boots, a tan tank top with a tactical vest thrown over that came with a few medkits and other supplies for making it in such a wasteland in the Empty Quarter. His spear was attached to his back via a magnetic plate set in the back of the tactical vest, worn diagonally so that he didn't end up slashing anyone on accident or having embarrassing mishaps. To finish the ensemble, he wore a pair of silver aviators, hiding his light brown eyes behind them as he stepped off the ramp and into the suffocating heat with a slight frown.

He listened to the spiel by Ashley with half an ear as he unscrewed the top of his flask and took a small sip of the burning liquid. He smacked his lips lightly as he enjoyed the singing sensation traveling to his gullet before returning the flask to a pocket on his vest, patting the pocket affectionately before his hands hooked in the loops of his belt. They were in easy reach of his weapons and he could respond to threats with a lot more speed than his bulk would otherwise suggest. He tilted his head back as the inevitable questions followed, allowing the rays of the sun to bathe him in their luxurious heat. Despite the heat, he knew it could be worse. At least in this kind of heat, one didn't have to worry about moisture.
No one wanted swamp ass. Ever.

His solace was shattered when the muted roar of a bike had him opening his eyes and directing his stare to someone he had heard mentioned as being named Nev Hurn. This was reconnaissance in force and the moron had brought a toy that would have them targeted by every marksmen worth his salt. He made a mental note to try and convince the bulletsponge to travel uprange of them a good distance. With that in mind, he turned his attention back to Ashley and moved up to the front of the procession. After eyeing the people he had been doomed to bleed alongside of, he focused his eyes on Ashley behind the aviators and remarked,"Let's get this shitshow started."

by **Forest State** » Thu Feb 28, 2019 6:57 pm

HawkAnon
Micronesia

862 PEOPLE LIKED THIS POST

You can choose whether or not you want to believe it, but the Hawk Institute exists. I know because I myself was one of their soldiers for a time. I may put myself in danger by revealing this information, but if they want to come for me, they can come for me. They should have considered things more carefully before making an enemy out of me. I will be revealing information about the Hawk Institute over the coming days, which may make all of you understand a bit better. #HawkAnon

DolphinFan
Moscow

12 PEOPLE LIKED THIS POST

When the hell did SocialNet become infested with schizo posters? #HawkAnon

Model_Isla
Milan

67 PEOPLE LIKED THIS POST

These rumors about the Hawk Institute are getting more and more popular, makes me concerned about more people believing fake news #HawkAnon

MOGUL
Micronesia

1.2K PEOPLE LIKED THIS POST

If Hawk really does exist... Let them come for us. Unlike the others, we do not fear this boogeyman. #HawkAnon

Imouto535349
Netherlands

2 PEOPLE LIKED THIS POST

when are the leaks coming out, fren? #HawkAnon

HawkAnon
Micronesia

1.3K PEOPLE LIKED THIS POST

When this post hits 5K likes, then I will begin making revelations. #HawkAnon

TopVoreFan
South China Sea

0 PEOPLE LIKED THIS POST

hawkanon i will vore you #HawkAnon

BrokenBird
New York City

4 PEOPLE LIKED THIS POST

If you are who you say you are, let's talk. I have some information that may be useful to you. And some information that I want from you. #HawkAnon

Heroes of Tomorrow Redux [IC | DONE]

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