AKA [IC]

[HypErcApitAl]

Firebrand







"Y'all got Yoga here? I hope so, 'cause I'd like to join in. This 'fire girl' needs to get more flexible." She asked the trainer, who now was her 'friend,' or so it had seemed. "Y'all know my name, and that I'm Firebrand . Y'all prolly saw clips on the News of me burnin' stuff up really good, and taking villain names. But, I'm not Firebrand all the time. I'm not Batman . I get tired. I work hard doing what I do. I enjoy what I do, I don't just do it for others. A part of it's for me. Why? Because, Balance, honey. You work hard, help others, and get rewards and accolades at the end." She explained. The trainer listened to her speak, enjoying the way she explained things.

"So what do you think about Argus and being an Argonaut?" The trainer asked Grace. She smiled. "Argus is good, being an Argonaut's even better, but I wish my team was an actual team. I know that on day twenty-five, they'll act more like a team, but I wish it'd come sooner. How are we supposed to deal with villains and crazy-ass people when we're crazy, ourselves? When my teammates are laughing at me and not taking me seriously because I have Ginger hair like I'm Irish, or some shit. When no one in the team's willing to talk to me. Just talk. Have a conversation. Have a cuppa-tea. Do whatever. Just don't argue."

She got wore-out from Boxing. She sat down, and continued to have the chat with him. She kept calling herself 'the fire girl' in third-person, sometimes, because that's how others see (or have saw) her. They don't see her as a reasonable, normal girl. They just see her as an object with "purdy" emerald eyes that "shine up in the Night."

She just saw herself as a normal person, a normal young adult in her early-Twenties that just-so-happened to have fire power(s). She didn't get why, exactly why people saw her as an aberration. She was a normal girl that was good at School, played the Flute, tried her hardest to learn, had normal dates and romantic relationships. She wasn't born in a lab. She wasn't some homeless, orphan chick that was walking the streets and terrorizing Canada or whatever. She was a real person, and her parents knew this too.

[Sadakoyama]

Quandary

A soon as the guy with the big fork attacked Marty, Quandary popped over to the door. There was no smoke, no light, no sound, just: she was by the wall, then she was at the door. She looked back, but Chief was still naked and seething. She slipped out the door, quiet as a whisper.

She balled up her fists as she stomped accross the lawn.

...Play nice-nice for a bit...

Let's see how it goes...

She started running, until her chest heaved and lungs burned. That wasn't a training session, that was a fucking ambush, and she fell for it.

She thought about leaving, but there was nowhere for her to go. As bad as this was right now, she couldn't go back to that empty world she'd been slowly dying in. She found her way to the cafeteria. She didn't have any money, but maybe as an Argus member she had a line of credit or something, or could charge it to her room? People did that, right?

She got a bottled coffee, one of those fatty, sugary ones she liked (and wasn't supposed to drink anymore), and took it to the counter. Set it on the counter. Waited, while the cashier, a plump but sweet looking blonde girl, probably a local, stared right through her. Finally, the girl noticed the bottle and turned to her co-workers, picked it up and said something in Swiss or German or whatever. Q didn't know the words, but the meaning was clear; 'why is this here?'

She screamed, as loud as she could, and the girl's face turned in her direction but still didn't see. Q slapped the bottle from her hand, heard it shatter on the tile floor, but she was at the door in the blink of an eye and out of it almost as fast.

[Khasinkonia]

Carmagnola
Yoga Attu a Mèttiri Midicina

This really was getting out of hand. Even the simian, who himself was quickly going actual apeshit, recognised this fact. I really wasn’t in the mood to see someone get their teeth punched out, and it felt to me as if some of the group was in dire need of some remediation. Something to calm people down, and something that was still going to keep people active. A few times, I had done yoga with my class when everyone was stressed, and it had worked well most of those times. Given that singing a Daniel Tiger song or repeating a rhyme would certainly have remarkably poor reception, I unequivocally opted for the yoga proposition. I jumped up and hovered a few feet above the ground to give myself some height, and then gesticulated.

“Hey guys,” I announced, “I tink we have enough fighting today. What I propose is dat instead of a first-day punching game, we instead rest, and do a more calming activity. I will be in anoder room to lead yoga if anybody want to join me!”

[HypErcApitAl]

Firebrand




She took her hoodie off, tied the sleeves around her waist, forming a pseudo-skirt. She started to feel her energy return after what seemed like hours and hours of talking to this trainer dude. Grace channeled her inner-Joe Biden/frat dude-bro. "I love pushups. I do pushups all the time. Wanna do some pushups, buddy? I think I can do s'more pushups than you. I mean, we're in the Argus gym, so why not do it?" She asked. She wasn't trying to be confrontational, or anything, but she started to feel good.

Her mojo came back to her. She felt like she finally was at the "spring of things." She didn't feel like as much of a weakling than she did when she was on the ship.

"I'll do 'em." He said, liking her spirit. The two got off the bench and started doing pushups. Grace started churning out pushups. She stopped, because she didn't want to completely blow the gym trainer out of the water. It'd make him look sad. It'd make him look weak, and pathetic, and it'd make her more sporty. She was 'more sporty,' but she wasn't a douche. "Whatcha gonna do after this?" He asked. She laughed. "Maybe change again, then hit-up the shooting range. I don't have any gun skills. I didn't have a dad that was a complete gun bro. All I had was a dad that got me into Sports. He watched alot of Tennis and Soccer, and even sometimes the Spelling Bees." She answered.

She did some squats, and then sat back down and continued the convo. "Yeah. But still. I think Converse is better than Nike. Pointblank, period." All listeners heard was Grace debating about Sneakers, Style, Swag and Drip. "Yeah, I was watching this Russian YouTuber named NFKRZ, and he has the Drip. Most-def. You were prolly watching Anthony Fantano or some no-drip-having-ass YouTuber." She continued to debate. "There was this one girl, I won't name names. I won't name names. But what, guess what? She had no drip. This girl was dressed weirdly, mind you, I came to Europe looking spiffy." She nodded, then pointed at a watch on her left wrist. "I don't keep the time, The Time keeps me." She joked.

The trainer laughed. She stopped debating. She explained herself. "Look, if I came to Switzerland with no Drip, everyone in a 60-mile radius would be laughing at me. That other French person I met called me a 'rose,' earlier. If I came here without any Style or swag, he prolly wouldn't-'ve acknowledged me. Go to Monaco. Go to Monaco, or Andorra or Liechtenstein or any other European microstate without Drip, and they wouldn't take you seriously." The trainer nodded and smirked. "I see," he said. They were debating and conversing so hard, they didn't even acknowledge the rest of the Gym. It was like the Gym was on Pluto and the duo were on Neptune.

[Futrellia]

Carmagnola
Yoga Attu a Mèttiri Midicina

“Hey guys,” I announced, “I tink we have enough fighting today. What I propose is dat instead of a first-day punching game, we instead rest, and do a more calming activity. I will be in anoder room to lead yoga if anybody want to join me!”

Richard could stand here all day and watch these guys pummel the hell out of each other, waste away his first day with a few good chuckles and maybe a few winces from the hits before retiring to his workshop to go in further depth with Arsenal about that impressive arm and the assuredly much more impressive story on how he received it. There was always that way out of this meaningless display of dick-measuring. Or he could take the advice of the woman that Richard watched walk away, offering Yoga in the next room to those that weren't as interested in watching and waiting for their turn to practice. Obviously this was doing nothing for Richard, except maybe some good entertainment, but this wouldn't be as entertaining as what was in the next room, at least for the moment. He cleared his throat as he stepped back out of the crowd and took her advice. In his years on this Earth, he's traveled so much, with his mother in his early years or alone in his middle ones. He's observed and enjoyed dozens of different cultures from the Indosphere to the Sinosphere, from African to the Aboriginal Australians, he's seen much. This didn't just apply to cultural trips, but also training in the art of killing. He wasn't for killing unnecessarily and would do whatever he could to render them unconscious, when he could and when the situation deemed it a possibility. But in the case when non-lethal wasn't an option, Mr. Reyne trained with some of the best badasses in the warfare business. But there was something that he'd never needed nor cared to try until now: yoga. He'd give it a try, maybe relax a bit. It was early, he still had time to hit the irons and a long, burning sprint before heading back to the Workshop if this didn't peak his interest. "Wonder how Joseph's doing with that workshop..." he thought to himself as he entered the room to see Tuccia.

[Union Princes]

Robespierre

Claude's honor was insulted when Chief interrupted his rightful place in the duel and proceeded to shed his clothes while bearing his fangs at Marty. Even though the ape had his good intentions trying to remind Marty of his arrogance, Claude didn't appreciate the actions he took to accomplish that. Can't you take your private affairs somewhere else? the Frenchman thought while he looked on with disappointing disgust. Thankfully, the organizers recognized Claude's hand and assigned him to be Marty's opponent.

Mollified, he confidently approached the ring feeling please with the current situation. But other Argonauts had different ideas. For a brief moment, Claude was flabbergasted that Nick intervene and interrupted the match. The lasers were obviously directed at Marty but he felt prodigiously irked when he realized that his sparring match was effectively taken away from him.

"Monsieur Fowler, blaireau!" Claude cursed in his native language, "T'es bête comme tes pieds!"

Finally fed up with the whole affair, he stormed out of the gym in a huff before putting his weapons away in his weapon's closet although he kept with Model 500 on him. Wanting to find a quick way to cool off, Claude decided to head towards the library but before he went there, he quickly grabbed hold of a bottle of white wine from Alsace. How thoughtful of Argus to have these available.

[HypErcApitAl]

Firebrand

Khasinkonia said “Hey guys,” I announced, “I tink we have enough fighting today. What I propose is dat instead of a first-day punching game, we instead rest, and do a more calming activity. I will be in anoder room to lead yoga if anybody want to join me!”

Futrellia said ...Or he could take the advice of the girl that Richard watched walk away. Obviously this was doing nothing for Richard, except maybe some good entertainment, but this wasn't something that appealed to him. He cleared his throat as he stepped back out of the crowd and took her advice. He traveled the world, experiencing dozens of different cultures, trained with some of the best badasses in the killing business. But there was one thing he never tried: yoga. He'd give it a try, maybe relax a bit. It was early, he had time to still hit the irons and a long, burning sprint before heading back to the Workshop.

Grace was done boxing and talking to the trainer. She'd saw someone walk off. Maybe they were going to do Yoga, or something. She walked after them, it was her idea after all. And perhaps, she might be able to make another friend or atleast meet someone's acquaintance.

She earlier had asked; "Y'all got Yoga here? I hope so, 'cause I'd like to join in. This 'fire girl' needs to get more flexible." She asked the trainer, who now was her 'friend,' or so it had seemed.

Grace thought to herself; "Yeah, and if that other girl from way earlier joins in, I'll prolly talk to her some more. She seemed pretty annoyed. Maybe it was because I called her an 'Arab.' But.. people say and do stupid shit when they're mad. I was just kinda irritated about myself, y'know. I have issues, too." She continued. "She shouldn't be mad, or irritated. If I called her an 'Arab,' then oh well. We'll all figure out where exactly everyone's from, and learn new things about each other."

Maybe she should've sparred earlier. If she hadn't met the Gym trainer dude, or debated, where would she be mentally? Would she be the same person from earlier who distanced herself from everyone? Maybe if she was also there, things would 'work out' more. She just knew she was right, when she said; I know that on day twenty-five, they'll act more like a team, but I wish it'd come sooner. How are we supposed to deal with villains and crazy-ass people when we're crazy, ourselves? When my teammates are laughing at me and not taking me seriously because I have Ginger hair like I'm Irish, or some shit. When no one in the team's willing to talk to me. Just talk. Have a conversation. Have a cuppa-tea. Do whatever. Just don't argue.

Maybe she could change the way they thought of her.

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Mireille Floressa, aka Trick
The Gym, Argus Headquarters
A Quick Introduction

---

What have you gotten yourself into? was all a certain sharply dressed magician could think to herself as she stood near the entrance of the training gym. She was just watching as events unfolded, watching as the ape went, well for a lack of a better phrase, ape shit. She watched as some left the gym, and watched as Marty and Hades fought. Did she know their names at this point? Well, Marty introduced himself prior, but Hades, well she didn’t know his name or alias yet. But who was this magician near the entrance to the gym, and how did she get here? Well, to answer that, we need to go back a bit.

We need to go back to before the group that would become the Argonauts arrived at the headquarters, back to when they were still airborne in the dropship. And it is here where we shall begin. Sitting, like the rest of the passengers around her, in the silent dropship our sharply dressed magician could be seen, listening away to music and looking out the windows of the dropship. She had gotten the feeling that no one wanted to talk, and so she was silent.

This sharply dressed magician was Mireille Floressa, more widely known by the name of Trick. A travelling magician of the North American continent known for using her abilities to aid her shows. That and occasionally doing hero work between shows. That was what made her special among this silent group. Sure, she didn’t have a tail, nor was she a hyper intelligent ape, but she was first and foremost a show person. Not like that really mattered though.

The silence was eventually broken with an announcement from the dropships pilot, “Prepare for final approach” followed shortly after by the sound of the dropship making contact with the ground, and the pilot’s “Thank you for flying Air-Argus” comment. As everyone left the dropship, Mireille followed suit, making sure to grab her bags. Once she left the dropship, she remained in the back of the group, just listening.

She continued like that for what came next, the tour. She didn’t ask any questions or do anything to draw attention to herself, instead preferring to just listen and learn about the place that she would be calling home for the foreseeable future. She was also listening to the other members of the group, trying to get an understanding of who they each were. Occasionally she got distracted by the fact that there was an ape among them. Seriously, why was there a human level intelligent ape present? Oh the mysteries, oh the monkey business that surely lead to such an ape.

Anyways, after the tour was when chaos erupted. Funny how chaos always seems to involve the signing of a piece of paper, not always directly mind you. As names were thrown around, and tempers flared, and people made bids for leadership, Mireille simply ignored, not wanting to get involved in such drama. Instead, she just focused on what needed to be signed. Making sure to read it and understand it before signing, like come on, never sign something without reading it first. Once she was satisfied, Mireille removed her pen from a pocket in her jacket, signed on the dotted line, and then with a spin of the pen made it disappear.

It was shortly after that people started leaving, and it was then that Mireille took the opportunity to claim a room and put her stuff away. After putting her stuff away, she would make her way to the gym, as there was apparently some training that was supposed to happen. And the rest is pretty much history, as she stands by the gyms entrance watching current events unfold, and thinking to herself, What have you gotten yourself into?.

[Nagakawa]

Argus HQ
22/03/2020

“Hey guys,” I announced, “I tink we have enough fighting today. What I propose is dat instead of a first-day punching game, we instead rest, and do a more calming activity. I will be in anoder room to lead yoga if anybody want to join me!”

"Ah, that sounds good", Kenny called after the girl with the curious accent, as he scooped up his water bottle and phone from the floor and promptly followed her over to the other room, casting a nod and a smile at Mireille as he went past her. He'd grown very weary of the fighting in the makeshift rink- it was, after all, clearly just a front for certain people to put their one-day vendettas into action- and, at the chance of having an excuse to be out of the room, snatched at it.

He'd seen the girl around before. She was a bright-haired young lady with a well-endowed figure reminiscent of a pear. Not as loud or remarkable as some of the others, but that definitely wasn’t a bad thing, especially now.

“I’m Kenny”, he introduced himself to the young lady with a bashful smile. “I don’t do yoga, but I’ll join you in here anyway. Just to be away from… you know.” And with that, Kenny exhaled deeply, the last moments of his breath accompanied by a barely noticeable whistling sound, as he continued stretching, lowering himself into a middle split a second time.

[Skyggeheim]

Nicholas Fowler, Pending Chief, Tara Redmast, and Fionn Szabo
March 2020
Argonauts HQ

---

Nick panted, partially relying on his bident to stand upright. He leaned against the wall, nursing his injured arm, his armor in the area shattered. He hadn't considered just how powerful Marty's projectiles were. Although his armor could blunt the impact of a low-caliber bullet, the latticework steel had done precious little against his wily opponent. Probably could've sheared my arm off if I wasn't wearing it, though, Nick thought, ruefully. Looking up, he saw the girl, Tara, approaching. He relaxed for a moment, realizing it was a teammate. But something in the way she was walking told him otherwise. He tensed, wincing as he rose to his full height and addressed her.

"Woah, there."

Tara stood and met Nick's gaze not a foot away from him. She clenched her robotic fist in anger and barely contained the urge to strike him, then and there. She looked the scrawny boy up and down, snarling, before finally opening her mouth to speak in a harsh whisper.

"You think I don't know what you're doing?" She asked.

"What I'm doing? I've been doing this long enough to see when someone's on a mission, doll. This team isn't your tool." Nick's Queens accent came out, his injury and exasperation colluding to bring forth his mother tongue.

At first, Tara didn't respond. She turned around to Fionn, who was in the process of herding the other metas away from the arena and out of the door. Good, he was still being the face of the team. That made what she was about to do a lot easier.

"Everything is a tool to the right person," She spat, turning back to Nick. Reaching behind her back, she pulled out the pistol that she usually kept tucked in the band of her pants. Tossing it to the floor, she rotated both of her shoulders twice and stared daggers at Nick.

"If you've got something to settle, let's do it right here."

"You know this team. You know the people on it. You know who I am, what I do. You really want that turned on you?" Nick said, knowing this would be a tough fight as one of his primary powers would be useless due to her remote brain. He could see where it was, in his mind. He wasn't even sure if she knew.

"I also know exactly what does and doesn't work on me, doll," Tara replied, venom seeping into her voice. She once again restructured the arena, forming a tiny circle - no more than 10 feet in diameter - around herself and Nick.

"So, come and have a go, if you think you're hard enough."

Nick managed a chuckle, stepping closer to Tara and flipping the switch on his bident. She was smart, her augmented mind would formulate responses to any attack he could make. And she was quicker than him, just slightly. Attack where the enemy isn't, Nick thought, centering himself. "Looking at you, I'm always hard enough, doll."

Just then, he spun the bident to face the floor and triggered the concussive force. His power had made the necessary calculations, showing him what angle it had to be exactly for it to work. He let it guide his body as the blast hoisted him over the walls of the arena. He landed in a crumple on the other side of the enclosure, hurriedly standing and bearing his bident towards the opponent that would doubtless reveal herself momentarily. The arena was her playground, at least right now. He needed to make it not. And that required some creativity.

At first, Tara didn't reveal herself. Instead, the barely perceptible snap-hiss of a panel coming loose under his feet was the first indication something was strange. With incredible force, the panel fired upwards, aiming to launch Nick directly back into the arena to a waiting Tara.

Nick felt it coming. His senses were, while not necessarily heightened, they were at peak human capability. He felt the Athenian particles generated as Tara once again tapped into the training room's CPU. A barely perceptible hydraulic release signaled to him that the panel below him was about to burst. He leaped back, the panel exploding beneath him, poised to launch him right back into the arena. Not a perfect shot, but then again his opponent wasn't quite as efficient as he was.

He saw in his mind the in-room control panel. Twenty feet from him, no more. A bident blast wouldn't do much, his weapon wasn't capable of rending steel. He cursed himself for not being telekinetic. But all he had to do was open the door and yank out the right wire. It was just a matter of getting over there. Wasting no time, he wheeled around and raced towards the panel, using his 360° awareness to aim his bident behind him in case Tara decided to lower the walls of her little arena.

"Oh, no you don't." Tara said, more to herself than anyone. Tapping into the surveillance systems around the arena, she tracked Nick's movement as he raced closer to the panel. Again, a column in front of Nick fired upwards, aiming to slam into him with bone-cracking force.

Nicholas Fowler was not normally someone Fionn figured for foul play. Obviously, he was wrong- considering that the word foul (or fowl) was right there in Nick's last name, Fionn felt pretty damn stupid. Another thing he didn't figure was Tara's aggression being let out against Nick.

"Tara! That's enough." He commanded, lifting off from the arena wall and hovering over the two combatants. Staying in the air made it easier for him to keep his eyes on both Nick and Tara, as well as keeping him away from the floors that Tara was weaponizing. "Both of you, stop it. Chief-" He ordered the chimp, who had remained even with the fighting. "Get Marty under control, and get him out of here!"

Tara didn’t take long to respond, lowering the walls of the arena in response to Fionn’s anger. She switched her gaze between the mech suit and Nick, before finally deferring to Fionn’s command. Walking past him, she idly patted the tall leg of his suit.

“Good work,” She said, nodding to him. It wasn’t long before she started walking past Nick, giving him a coy grin.

“And to think...what would the rest of the Argonauts do if they knew about Denver?” She whispered to him, before winking and starting to walk away.

"You know, Tara, I'm the only one that can help you. It would be smart not to piss me off," Nick said under his breath, cradling his arm. He preempted her reply, " and you know what I mean.

At Nick’s reply, Tara’s stride hitched for a moment, and she turned her head to give Nick a sideways glance. Electing not to say anything, she let her feet guide her a significant distance away from gym before breaking out her pack of cigarettes and lighting one to smoke. The fiasco in the gym represented a wrench in her plans, but something she could overcome nonetheless. But Nick’s sentence bothered her. Every logical conclusion she came to was the same: he knew. Which presented an...interesting quandary for her. Flicking the cigarette into an ashtray, Tara jammed her hands into her pockets and walked on, lost in thought.

It was time to adjust her strategy.

---

Chief heard Fionn loud and clear. He finally got to beat Marty. Pending let himself slip into his feral mind. He knew his objective, he knew who to stop, and that's all that remained in the chimp's mind as he felt his intelligence leave him. The only thing he knew were what his instincts told him- eat, fight, and survive. When it came to thinking in this mindset, those three things were what mattered most. He knew to stop Marty, as if the last intelligent part of his mind told the animal left behind that stopping Marty would let him survive.

Chief curled down on all fours and pounded his fists against the ground angrily, leaving dents where his simian hands impacted. Chief let out an angered cry and bared his teeth as he sprinted towards Marty like an ape possessed. His enhanced strength greatly enhanced the force of his stride, allowing Chief to propel himself quickly along the ground. With a mighty final push that cratered the floor below him, he launched himself toward Marty, roughly tackling the human to the ground.

[San Har Jasta]

Pending Chief
Switzerland

Pending wasn't happy about the training. In fact, he was pretty depressed about it. He had done exactly that which he told Marty not to- he got caught up in a feud and made it harder for a true team, a true family, to form. When he got to his room, Pending searched through his things and found exactly what he needed- a fat cigar and a glass of brandy. Once he'd finished his "medicine", Chief settled into a proper bed for the first time in his life. He woke up early enough that darkness still covered the world outside, but Pending wasn't able to make himself fall asleep again. Eventually, Chief decided to get up and dress himself. He put on the only clothes he had- his dress shirt and pants, tie, sunglasses, and holster for his gun. Pending needed something to cheer him up before eating, so he made his way to the shooting range. On his way there, the ape reflected on how badly he had failed at building a family, and how unlikely it was that he'd get the chance again.

After shooting for one half of an hour and resting his eyes for the other half, the sun came up and Pending's stomach rumbled. He slowly made his way back to the commons are so that he could fill the void in his stomach. Pending decided that he didn't want to talk to anyone today. They probably wouldn't want to talk to him anyways, after all that happened yesterday. He could imagine his life as a movie; right now was the moment when the Hero was at their lowest. Except, this time he didn't feel like he could rise again. No matter how small the whole training event actually was in the grand scheme of things, to the chimp, it was failure at everything he could've wanted.

[Mercatus]

Training Room, Marty Sullivan

When Marty noticed that his spear had succeeded in hitting Nick's arm and injuring it, he knew this was a prime opportunity to strike. As he was just trying to stand, Marty kept walking over as a weapon similar extendable baton formed in his hand, a blank expression on his face. One could tell from his brisk pace that he was intent on finishing the fight. He had no qualms about beating down an injured person, in Marty's eyes, as long as he was still standing, he was still in the fight. "Time to finish the job." Marty said to himself as he closed on Nick. All of a sudden, Tara showed up, confronting Nick about something Marty didn't know about. All too soon as he was about to sprint and finish the fight, the two began fighting. Marty yelled in anger, "No! This was MY fight!! I am the one who needs to finish the job!!" Soon after the skirmish started, Fionn intervened, instructing the two to break it up, and alas, also instructed Chief to "get him under control". Marty thought to himself, Of course, Fionn. Now that you've proven yourself a cowardly leader who would put others in the line of fire rather than risking himself first, you want to stop this infighting born from your cowardice and incompetence before it gets any worse. You have proven yourself to be incapable of doing what team members value in a leader today. Marty would've put himself in the line of fire before any of his fellow officers back home, and he would do the same with these people. Marty could exploit today's events to break his campaign for team leader, but that would come later. Marty now focused on the issue at hand, which was Chief. He became a feral beast as he charged Marty. Marty had no fear, however, even in the face of this. As the ape tackled him somewhat, Marty was quick to force him off with a backfist strike. He turned to the ape, "Chief! I am going to apologize to Tara, but training is not the time to do it! You have obeyed the orders of a cowardly commander who would put his teammates in the line of fire first instead of putting himself at risk. Because of his cowardice, Nick now may have a broken arm or other injury, and Claude could've gotten more seriously injured! Instead, he should have come down himself and fought me, or at least have come over to control me himself rather than order you to do it! All Fionn has proven today is that he cannot lead, all he does and can do is order people around, and now that I think about it, this whole training session was a plan to make me look incapable and beat up, and a leader is NOT supposed to single out a team member! Think about what you are doing, Chief! You want us to be a family, and so do I! You want a leader who fosters the team, not himself!" With that, Marty left the training room to go to his room. He picked up his gear that he brought to the training room and re-absorbed the spear that he had thrown.

He had a plan. Tomorrow, he would attempt to destroy Fionn's bid for leader, apologize to Tara, and start acting like the leader Fionn wasn't.

The Next Day

He woke up at around 4:00 AM to go to the commons and wait for someone to show. The whole night, he had kept half-awake just in case Tara decided she wanted him dead. Marty was very paranoid, as his years as a police officer taught him that doing good things means lots of enemies. He was dressed in black combat pants, black combat boots, a black combat shirt, and of course, his sunglasses. Marty was never one to wear what was usually considered "casual", and it was genuinely puzzling to some in his department. Why did he never take off his sunglasses? Why did he never seem to wear things like athletic shorts or generic t-shirts? Perhaps people may never know, and it was likely to perplex the other members of the team as time went on. He took a seat, and waited.

Eventually, Chief strode in. Marty could tell somewhat that he didn't want to be bothered, so he continued to sit completely still, like a statue. He pondered over what the team's reaction would be to his accusations of Fionn, and if they would accept him as a leader even if he made up for his mistakes and flaws and started to show them what a leader should do. He waited for more people to show up who would actually be open to conversation.

[Okayanos]

Quandary
Q's Quarters, shower enclosure
Argus HQ, Zurich, Switzerland

Quandary stood in the hot, powerful jet of the shower, letting it baptise her in decadant, exotic luxury; waiting, hoping for the lava-hot water to erase the chaos of yesterday. She had been honestly surprised the campus was still standing, even the gym, when she left the museum in the early morning. But no; too many thoughts were still running though her mind, too fast and too many, for her to settle so she turned off the water and got out.
As she dressed in a track suit identical to the one she wore yesterday - clean clothes everyday, another luxury she was beginning to enjoy - she glanced at the books she had borrowed from the museum reading room.

How did I know so little?

She had always thought herself so clever; but clearly a lifetime of library books wasn't education enough. While she read history, it had been happening around her and she hadn't looked up to notice.

She tied her hair back again, took a deep breath, and stepped out into the common area.

---

Tara had woken herself relatively early in the morning, mainly because her subunit only really needed four hours of stasis to maintain herself and store the information she had gathered throughout the day. Sitting up in her bed, she sighed and threw on clothes that would be appropriate for the day: jogging pants, her classical black leather boots - more combat boots than Doc Martens, and a tanktop. Taking a moment to brush her teeth, she looked over the paper she had been sketching on the night before, prior to her trip around Zurich with some other members of the Argonauts. Despite the sheer amount of alcohol she drank, she lacked a hangover or any fuzzy details. One of the perks - and curses - of being a robot was that alcohol simply did not affect her anymore.

Satisfied with the work she had done, she rolled up the paper and grabbed her laptop before stepping outside into the common area. Almost immediately, she spotted Claire. Giving her a lazy wave, Tara approached her.

"Morning Clai-ah, Q." She said, stumbling. Clearly, her processor was still spinning up.

"You know my name," Q said, a quaver of hope and fear in her voice, before remembering what the... the person in front of her had done. She unconsciously balled up her fists and planted a foot behind her, ready to dodge, to run.

Tara looked the woman up and down, raising a curious eyebrow. She crossed her arms and planted her feet.

"Something wrong?" Tara asked, frowning in confusion.

She held up an index finger. "First, to be sure; what did we do yesterday, together, and who was also there too?"

"We smoked a cigarette, talked about hosting a team training, and you asked me if your powers really don't work on me. Fionn was there too." Tara stated flatly, going through the motions with Q to ensure that she was confident in Tara's ability to remember her.

Q held her fist in front of her clenched teeth, letting out an almost imperceptible whimper.
"And second," she said after half a breath, "What the Hell, man? When you asked me to support Fionn, I didn't know it was part of some crazy coup attempt, or something!? I didn't want that Marty kid as leader but that didn't mean dead! Is he dead!? And Chief was part of it!? He seemed so sweet and noble and good, and then... those eyes...," she trailed off, trembling; eyes cloudy with anger and fear.

Tara let Q finish her tirade before grabbing her shoulders, as gently as she could with her robotic grip, and then looked at her intensely.

"Q, I did not mean for the training to go that way. Marty may have challenged me, but I had no interest in fighting him. And that kid Nick... he's a schemer. He feels threatened by Fionn, or me, or something. So he ambushed Marty yesterday, because he thought it would make us look bad. Which, clearly, it has. And I can promise that was not our intention."

Failure weighted on Fionn's shoulders heavier than his armor ever could. He'd wrangled the team back under control, but for what purpose? The training had come to an end, and no one on the team had been brought closer together. If anything, they'd been driven further apart. His night was filled with sporadic sleep mixed with interludes of hazy work on his suit. He'd meant to put it to use in training, but since that hadn't gone well, he was stuck with nothing but testing to keep his performance up to snuff.

Breakfast was a late event, one that he only showed up to at a time when others were beginning to file out of the commons. He spotted Tara's red hair easily, making his way towards the cyborg, and a plain-looking girl whose face was not familiar to him. "Hey, Tara. Who's your new friend? Late arrival to the team?"

Gesturing to Fionn, Q said, "But how can I trust you? How can I verify what you're telling me, you could say anything."

"Trust us? What's Tara been telling you?" He sat down, taking a moment for a long yawn. "Whatever she's said, our first day here was much crazier than that. And much worse."

“Fionn, this is Q. You’ve met her before, but her powers are making you forget who she is,” Tara said, nodding to the boy who approached them, then turning to Q, “Because I wouldn’t ask you to help me and Fionn out if I didn’t think I could trust you. And I know it’s not much, but at least I came up and said hi to you this morning, as I promised to do.”

"You did. And I will be forever grateful for that." She turned to the pale boy. "Fionn, can you briefly explain to me what happened in the gym yesterday?"

"Uh.... I guess." He blinked for a moment, thinking of the best way to describe the disaster that had occurred. "I called a training match so that everyone could maybe get to know each other a bit. But then Marty challenged Tara, because they hate each other too much to let that go. Claude, the rich french dude, challenged Marty instead, and then Chief- he's the ape- also challenged Marty. Tara set up the arena so Claude and Marty could have their round, but then Nick attacked Marty. I don't know why, but Tara, Chief and I put a stop to that."

"Thank you. Okay. I mean, I don't think you could have rehearsed that, and if you did you two are too smart for me to do anything about it."
She turned back to Tara, finally meeting her eyes. "I guess I can trust you. For now. I have to trust someone, sometime, right? If I'm going to be a 'team player'? Right?" She smiled, weakly.

"I'm very confused right now." Fionn replied. "That's your powers making me forget who you are, isn't it?"

"Yup. Wacky fun," she said, smiling grimly. "I need coffee, do you guys want coffee? Do we have to buy the coffee?"

"I feel like we don't," Tara said, looking between Q and Fionn, "But it won't hurt to find out. I wouldn't mind grabbing some food, if you two want to come."

"If there's a cost, it'll be my treat." Fionn offered, just noticing Chief and Marty walking into the commons are in the fringes of his vision. "It's the least I can do to make up for yesterday."

Seeing Chief and Marty in the room, Q hustled away towards the cafeteria, hoping the others would follow. She wasn't sure how she felt about Chief just now, and the last thing she wanted was another conflict to erupt.
She was thrilled to see Marty alive though, as it helped confirm Tara's explanation.

Tara followed close in step behind Q, motioning Fionn to follow.

"I did some sketching," She said to him, in a hushed tone, "How feasible does this seem?"

Slowly, she procured the paper she had rolled up and handed it to Fionn, looking at him hopefully, or at least as hopeful as her robotic eyes could muster.

"Hm? What's this for-" He took the paper as he fell into step behind Q, and surprise came over him as he read it. "This... is based on my suit's Beam Sabers. You really want to put one on your arm?"

"What's a 'beam saber'?" Q said, effortlessly turning and walking backwards without breaking stride. "Sounds cool."

"It's a melee weapon that my suit uses. Hardlight blade with volatile energy contained inside. I built them a few years ago... Tara wants one incorporated into her cybernetic arm." Unfortunately for whatever secrecy Tara wished for, Fionn saw little issue with letting Q know about their business. Q was considered trustworthy by Tara, so he assumed that it wouldn't be necessary to hide anything.

Tara nodded in response to Fionn's description, looking at Q.

"I figure, I'm already a robot. I might as well try to up my game a little bit. If we're gonna be superheroes, why not give myself every advantage possible?" She said, "One of the advantages of being, well, being....this...is that I am far more customizable than a fleshy human body."

"That's interesting you say that, because I've been thinking the same way, a lot since yesterday. I wanted to stop that fight so bad but I was literally powerless to do anything. In fact, I'm pretty useless for a lot of things." She looked at Tara. "That's not me feeling sorry for myself, that's what the Argus guys that tried to train me said. I don't want to be useless. So I need to learn to fight, at least sometimes, instead of always running, and I'll need weapons. And I don't. Like. Guns." She looked at Fionn again. "Would one of these beam thingies work for me?"

"Um... I don't know how well it'd work without a power source. These things need a power source to hook into when they're not in use. I use my suit's core, and Tara..." He looked again at the sketch he'd been given. "...I think it could draw from the same power as her other mechanical components. A regular person doesn't have anything like that, and while you could theoretically try to build one, it'd be easier and more efficient to use a normal melee weapon. Something like Nick's big fork, or a sword or whatever."

"Not to mention, I'm willing to bet you wouldn't mind being taught how to throw a punch in just the right spot," Tara said, smiling and nudging Q as they sat down at a table, "So what if you can't have some fancy tech like we do? I bet I could teach you how to fight well enough that you don't need it."

"Yeah, I would, actually. As long as it's not like yesterday, at least not at first." She looked around. "You'll have to order for me, I don't think the staff here see me. Just eggs or something, whatever you get, if I can eat it. I'm sorry, is that insensitive to ask?"

Tara nodded in response, getting up and moving around the mess hall to grab herself a plate of food before fetching Q a similar serving. Tara didn't necessarily need to eat, but it was nice to play human once in a while. Returning to her seat, she slid Q's meal in front of her and dug into her own serving.

"So, I've been thinking on something, and I want your input," Tara said, looking back and forth between Fionn and Q.

"Yeaugh," Q said through a mouthful of food.

"Okay, shoot." Fionn answered.

"The best way to figure out this whole leader thing without getting everyone in the same room and encouraging bias is an anonymous vote," Tara started, pushing her plate of food away after a few bites, wholly displeased, "If we wanna try to get this team moving in the right direction, with Fionn at the helm, we send out an anonymous vote that people can participate in on their tablets or computers. Results will be in by the end of the day, and Hollands or Owens can announce it. Then, there won't be any questions or concerns about who is supposed to lead us. Thoughts?"

"I don't mind doing this democratically. Don't know how good people's opinions on me are gonna be after that mess of a training session, though. Are they going to be allowed to nominate their own candidates? Because at this point, I could see Chief getting favored more than me."

"That's a good idea, but someone will have to show me how to use the computer."

"More to follow on Chief..." Tara muttered, her gaze surveying the room, finally settling on the person - well, chimp - she wanted to see. She gave him a friendly smile and waved him over, inviting him to sit with the trio.

Chief was surprised to be waved over. The ape saw himself as a failure and assumed the others felt the same way. But he was happy- this could mean he still had friends. And friends meant everything could work out, and the team might come together after all.
"Hello Tara." Pending said in a quieter tone than usual, sitting down next to them.

"Hey, Chief, you seem a little down," Tara said, leaning forward in her chair and offering a soft gaze to the monkey.

"Hi, Chief," Q said quietly, hopefully.

Chief let put a sigh and began to tell Tara his view on everything. "I feel that I did exactly what I told Marty not to do. I told him he should apologize to you so we can begin being a great team. But then in the training, I called him out and wanted to fight him because he was just targeting you." Pending looked down and played with his food as he spoke. "So basically, I also jeopardized the idea of us coming together as a team." Chief was surprised there was a third person at the table, he hadn't noticed her when he walked over.
"Oh hello. Have we met before?" Chief said astonished this girl knew his name even though he had no recollection of her.

"Her powers make you forget her, but you've met. You two were together in the conference room when everyone started arguing." Fionn answered, in an attempt to save Quandary some small amount of embarrassment.

"Thanks, Fionn. I'm used to it." She offered Chief her hand. "I'm Quandary, or just Q is fine."

Chief shook her hand and said "My name is Pending Chief. I promise I'll do whatever I can to remember you next time."

"Thanks," she smiled. "That's an interesting name; how did you come by it?"

"I honestly don't remember. I have never had a first name and I wanted one when we were signing all of those forms." Chief gave a smile back. "I thought really hard about it, but I couldn't think of one, and then the next thing I know I started going by Pending Chief."

"Well, I like it, it's clever. Makes it sound like you're the second in command."

"Speaking of which," Tara interjected, looking at Chief and Fionn, "Chief, what are your thoughts on the fact that they're letting us pick our own leaders?"

Chief grinned from the compliment about his name. He looked at Tara and said "I think it's fine they are letting us choose a leader. It lets us choose someone we all like, someone we are fine being led by. The problem is, we need time to know whose personality is best suited for leading. We did only meet yesterday."

"I agree," Tara said nodding, "I was inspired by your speech in the conference room, though. After all, public speaking is a pretty essential part of being a hero. I assume you're putting in a bid for leadership?"

"It'd be kinda weird to run against an ape. Might be some kind of political meta-commentary in that." Fionn mused.

"Um, I didn't plan on it." Chief was thrilled to know he already had an important hero skill mastered, "I was only giving my speech because it's what I actually thought. I'd be fine with being led by anyone at this table, but I would take the lead myself if that's what people want."

"I think people, especially everyone at this table, would do well to see you in leadership," Tara looked at Fionn and Q for some agreement, "So, what I was thinking, is that when we vote, we hope that Fionn gets elected. But, we also want you to lead as second-in-command. It would be unfortunate for me to see Fionn elected and you lose a chance to show your capacity for leadership. So, if you can help us get Fionn elected, what would you say to being his right-hand...ape?"

Q looked up from her plate at her name being mentioned and nodded enthusiastically.

Chief looked at each of them surprised at the offer of leadership. "I definitely think Fionn has what it takes to lead- more so than me. He stopped the fight, he took control and started the training exercise, hell I already followed his orders once." Chief looked at Fionn and found he could imagine him leading this group of chuckleheads to victory, "You have my vote and I would happily lead along side you."

"Damn... so we still have a chance at taking the election, huh? More than Marty, at least." The use of 'we' was unconscious, but meaningful. Tara had been the one to push him into legitimately jockeying for a leadership position, and though he wasn't quite aware of it, her manipulation was slowly taking hold over him. Ironically enough, despite Fionn's willingness to command, it was very clear who the one calling the shots truly was.

"Yeah, with Chief on our side, this team has a chance to set the Argonauts on the right path to legitimate heroism. Q, what do you think?" Tara said.

Q looked up again, swallowing an enormous mouthful of food in a single gulp. "I like it. I like Chief and think he's a good influence we need. And I don't think anyone doesn't like him. Well, except maybe Marty, but that's the whole problem anyway, right?" She looked at her tray, now empty, and pushed it away. "And I think Chief, of everyone here, is the one that believes most in what we are supposed to be doing. I know I didn't join for the best reasons, and I think that goes for a lot of other people, too. I think Chief is the one most supposed to be part of this. If that makes sense, I don't know."

"Agreed," Tara replied, then looking at Fionn and smiling, "Then we have a team, a real one."

With that, Tara stood up and stretched briefly, collecting her plate from the table and emptying it into the garbage. She returned to where her colleagues were sitting, sighing and then speaking,

"Well, I'm gonna go write the code for this vote. Shouldn't take long, but I'll be in my room if any of you guys need me. If I look like I'm sleeping, I'm not, don't worry."

With that, she offered a friendly wave and smile to the crew before turning and departing.

[Mercatus]

Marty Sullivan

When he noticed Tara, Fionn, Chief, and some girl he couldn't seem to remember, Marty listened more intently. He was pissed when he heard Chief commend Fionn on leadership qualities, and Tara had already left before he could apologize. Marty walked over at a brisk pace until he was within conversational distance with the group. "Good morning everyone, may I ask why you want Fionn as a leader? He only proved yesterday that he was unfit to be a leader. Fionn, you are a fucking coward, you would have goaded Claude into the sparring ring like an animal to the slaughterhouse, and even though he volunteered himself, you should have stuck up for him and fought me yourself rather than force someone weaker to fight for you. A real leader would put himself in the line of fire before others, and were you a real leader, you would have come into the ring yourself and fought me, but instead, poor Nick stuck up for Claude, and I don't even know if I accidentally tore all of his tendons in that arm! I know why you did this, Fionn, you did this because you wanted me killed! You wanted me dead, so you goad others into a ring to do that for you, because you were too cowardly to do it yourself! A leader represents the team, not himself, and a leader most certainly does not single out a team member! I am not playing victim here, what I am doing is showing why Fionn would ruin this team as a leader. A leader unites the team, and Fionn has only divided it. I believe that all of you are respectable and capable people and apes, except for Fionn. Fionn, you are a deplorable person, even when your whole scheme was falling apart, you didn't even try to "get me under control" yourself, instead sending Chief to do it. If Fionn was leader, he would take it as the perfect opportunity to order everyone around, and probably find another clever way to have me killed! A leader tends to the needs of his team for the betterment of its effectiveness, a leader does NOT stand for the interests of himself and his vendetta! Chief, I know that you want what is best for the team, you want us to be united and mesh together, but Fionn has proven that he only wants to be leader to accommodate his needs and he is only capable of pushing us apart, and do you really want to support such a person in leadership? I will admit, I was being an ass yesterday, and I've also come to say that I'm sorry. I am not perfect, no one is, and I'm sorry for what I did yesterday, to all of you, to the team. Believe me, I would take a bullet for every single one of you, even Fionn, even Tara, and I would also die for all of you. That is what a team is, a team cares about each other enough to do those things. When you fight with a team, you're not just fighting for a greater cause, you're fighting for the guy, girl, or ape sitting next to you, and the guy, girl, or ape next to them, and so on. I want the most capable leader for this team, even if it isn't me! Think about what you are doing when you nominate Fionn, would you vote for someone who goads you to die for him rather than doing it himself? Would you vote for someone who singled out a team member, going to such lengths as to try to kill them?! Would you vote for someone who divides the team rather than unites them under one banner? Now, can one of you tell me where Tara went so I can apologize to her?" When Marty finished what he had to say, he looked at Q, "Excuse me, but I don't remember ever seeing you at the meeting, what's your name?"

[Sadakoyama]

Quandary

Quandary hesitated a moment, then putting on her best "Valley Girl" voice, stood, held out her hand limply and said "Oh my god, you are so intense! That's hot. My name is Denise, what's yours? You know what, it doesn't even matter. Why don't you take me into town and get me some of that fancy chocolate they are supposed to have here? These guys are such a drag sometimes."

She moved around the table and put her hand on his arm, trying to lead him away.

[Mercatus]

Quandary

Quandary hesitated a moment, then putting on her best "Valley Girl" voice, stood, held out her hand limply and said "Oh my god, you are so intense! That's hot. My name is Denise, what's yours? You know what, it doesn't even matter. Why don't you take me into town and get me some of that fancy chocolate they are supposed to have here? These guys are such a drag sometimes."

She moved around the table and put her hand on his arm, trying to lead him away.

Marty Sullivan

Marty was a little perplexed at Q's response, but nonetheless answered her question, "My name is Marty, I'd be happy to get you some swiss chocolate if you'd like Denise. I just need to get some money from my account and we can be on o-" Marty was interrupted when Q grabbed his arm, trying to get him away from the others. He went along with it, however, as this woman didn't seem to have anything to suspect. "Alright, I guess I'll uh, see y'all later." he said to the others.

[Sadakoyama]

Denise

"Oh, thank you. You positively saved me. That boy is cute, all pale and tragic, but all he wants to talk about are his awful machines. And eating with a monkey!"

She leaned closer, conspiratorially. "I think he may even be one of them," she said, in tones shocked and scandalized, but with a note of morbid curiosity. "I swear if he wasn't one of the few people our age in this ghastly place I never would have sat with him. I wish I was still in Bel Air with mother, but this is Europe, which isn't all bad."

"But never mind all that," she said, bright eyed and cheerful, as they continued towards the main exit of the base. "Let's hear more about you."

[Mercatus]

Denise

"Oh, thank you. You positively saved me. That boy is cute, all pale and tragic, but all he wants to talk about are his awful machines. And eating with a monkey!"

She leaned closer, conspiratorially. "I think he may even be one of them," she said, in tones shocked and scandalized, but with a note of morbid curiosity. "I swear if he wasn't one of the few people our age in this ghastly place I never would have sat with him. I wish I was still in Bel Air with mother, but this is Europe, which isn't all bad."

"But never mind all that," she said, bright eyed and cheerful, as they continued towards the main exit of the base. "Let's hear more about you."

Marty was happy to be talking to "Denise" at the moment, as it was certainly a break from the constant hating that his so-called "teammates" said both to him and behind his back. "Well, I was a police officer back in Albany, Georgia. I mostly did investigations of gangs as well as target acquisition, and I gotta say, it's a rewarding job. I've always enjoyed helping the community by making the streets a safer place, but I've also seen some... things I'd rather not talk about. As a cop, you are bound to lose someone close to you, especially in a city like Albany. My best friend was shot and killed 2 months ago, and now most people here seem to despise me. I wish he was still alive, I could use his guidance in the situation I'm in. Enough about that. Even if Albany was dangerous, Georgia itself was a great place to grow up in. I enjoyed fishing and hunting when I was a kid, and frequently did those two things when I was off-duty. There is something calming about sitting on a lake, or sitting in a stand in the woods. It's very tranquil." Perhaps for the first time since Marty arrived at Argus HQ, he smiled. It was nice to have someone who didn't hate him on the team. Marty then asked, "So, what's your story, Denise?"

[Sadakoyama]

Denise

As Marty shared his story, she looked variously interested, intrigued, impressed, and possibly slightly aroused. When he came to the part about his erstwhile partner, her face fell; she placed a comforting hand on his chest and whimpered a breathless and pained "oh".

"Well," she said atlast, in response to his query, "Mother is in Bel Air, like we said. Under normal circumstances I would still be there, but, as she is a very important entertainment lawyer with a very important client that is experiencing some very unfortunate and totally false accusations from certain ungrateful parties, Mother thought it best to keep the paparazzi from dragging my beautiful face into the tabloids. So, she sent me here to stay with Uncle, who is some kind of scientist or something. Why Uncle couldn't do his little experiments on the French Riviera I'm sure I don't know, but, here we are."

"At least," she said coyly, her arms reaching up to embrace his shoulders, "I've found a lovely southern gentlemen to squire me around."

She seemed to suddenly notice the sleeves of the track suit she wore and her face darkened slightly. "I can only apologize that you have to see me in these hideous clothes. I look like a Russian mobster, I'm sure. Do you know that the airline had the gall to claim they "misplaced" ALL my luggage?" She lightly slapped both palms on his chest in outrage.

"As IF," she sniffed sullenly.

"And most of those clothes," she continued after a few seconds pouting, "and the bags, the bags, were designer originals! You just know those awful trolls from the TSA stole them." She scowled and crossed her arms as she stomped along.

[Okayanos]

Fionn Szabo
Avalerion
Argonauts HG - Commons

"That didn't take a lot." Fionn commented, watching Q- or Denise, as she called herself- slip away with a metaphorical leash around Marty's neck. "Never bought wealthy, confident Marty as the simp type." He added on in a more hushed tone, quietly enough that only Chief's large chimpanzee ears could hear him. "But he's out of our hair. I'm almost disappointed, he's probably strong enough to put the Coronis through its paces. Fighting him myself could have made up for the failure of training." Fionn takes a long drink from the coffee he'd left sitting on the table, and immediately looks displeased. He'd never had coffee before, and his first taste did not leave him very impressed.

"Chief- I mean, Pending. I'm curious, what was that thing you did in the gym? You were looking at Marty with this crazy stare, and then you went... um... apeshit on him- is that an offensive term? I don't talk to a lot of chimps and I don't wanna be racist on accident or something." At this point, talking to an ape about racial slurs was normal and comforting. He was confident about his chances at leadership now that Pending had been converted over to his side. That was the true privilege of a leader- the ability to distinguish between opposition and enemies, and to turn the former into allies while overcoming the latter. The Argonauts that weren't on board with him would be, and those that were detrimental would be removed. Tara would definitely be able to make sure of that, with how she could get into ARGUS systems so easily. He'd never thought about being a leader before Tara had pulled him into legitimately jockeying for the position. His sister had looked up to him, and his first (only) girlfriend in high school had told him he should stand up to people more, but that had been different. Influencing other people to any degree had never come to him until he'd found himself in the Argonauts.

"....Fuck... Pending, tell me honestly. Should I have fought Marty in the gym, when you did? I don't know if I could have stopped fighting him after starting."

[San Har Jasta]

Pending Chief
Argonauts HQ

Chief was, at first, mad he was called monkey. He then put together that it was an act and that he didn't have to worry about that girl- which was eased as her name was already leaving his mind. He heard Fionn talk about Marty being a simp type, but the ape knew nothing of modern social stereotypes since he'd learned about the world through action movies. Character dramas could have perhaps educated him better, but they were boring. When Fionn asked what happened in the gym, Chief did have an answer. "I can go back to my animalistic roots. I lose my knowledge of the world and how to be civilized. I become a normal chimp. The only thing I know is eat, survive, and fuck, you know, basic animal needs." Chief paused a bit making sure his white haired friend understood, "Luckily I am able to keep my knowledge of friends and goals. I gain great strength and durability but I lose my brains. Sometimes it feels like a curse and other times, being smart like usual feels more wrong than being an animal." Pending thought a lot about this and his normal chimpanzee family. Maybe he should go back and just live among his species as a normal ape, or maybe he should try to become a human and forget what he actually is.

Pending perked up at the sound of Fionn's voice again and was a little taken back by this kind of heavy question. "I am honestly surprised I didn't keep fighting him. But that's what makes a good hero. Being able to stop fighting, and having the courage and willpower to not take the easy route. Letting people try again and hope that they will improve. And if you think you were a coward like Marty says you are- then I regret to inform you that you are wrong. You only had us fight him because we volunteered to do so. If you fought him, then who would help anyone else that could've been hurt if you didn't?" Chief put his large, soft chimp hand on Fionn's shoulder and grinned as he looked at him, "I want a leader that cares about his team more than winning."

[Sadakoyama]

Quandary

Halfway across the lawn, Quandary began to feel a little knot of guilt twisting in her chest. She'd wanted to separate the two men, to avoid another violent showdown like the one at the gym, and she'd done that, operating mostly on instinct and old habits and a little bit of panic. But what was she doing now?

This, now; this playacting, this grifting? This was an old trick, a Claire trick, a game to get her a hot meal and a warm bed for the night. She needed nothing further from Marty, certainly not a shopping spree. This wasn't being the better person she'd promised Argus she could be.

Arms still crossed in an ersatz pout, she concentrated, willed for Marty to forget her, forget "Denise" and her part of Marty's morning to slip out of his mind like a leaf floating downstream.

When she turned to look, however, his eyes were clear and focused and attentive still. She was committed to this.

"Oh, but never mind all that," she said, allowing brightness and cheer to return to her voice. "We can still enjoy the morning. Tell me more about Georgia? I'm a city girl myself."

[The Cyberiad Council]

Pacifica, California
Just Outside San Francisco
March 22, 2020
8:30 P.M.

The cold suburban night in Pacifica made for a typical Northern California March evening. Fog roiled off the Pacific Ocean, engulfing homes and throwing strange shapes and shadows across the wide streets. The cookie cutter houses seemed to run for miles in every direction as a single car slowly made its way down to the cul-de-sac to their destination. The headlights barely penetrated the thick curtain that had been restricting their vision ever since they made it within spitting distance of the ocean.

"This the place?" The driver asked, hands hover near the ignition.

"Yep, this is the address," The passenger said, locking the tablet and putting it in the glovebox while the driver shut the engine off.

The two men climbed out of the car and slowly made their way up the driveway to the house, their gaze slowly sweeping back and forth, looking for anything odd. When nothing stood out, the one that had driven the car knocked on the door, before taking a few steps back to stand next to his partner.

It didn't take long for a taller gentleman, with somewhat greying hair and circular spectacles, dressed in what looked to be gym clothes, opened the door. He was caked in sweat, and breathing heavily. He gave both of the agents a puzzled look before opening the door.

"Good evening, gentlemen," He began, looking the two up and down, "May I ask what your business is here?"

"Good evening, Sir. Is this the Burrows residence?" The Agent asked, confused by the scene before him.

"It is...who's asking?" The somewhat older gentleman replied, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I'm Agent Thompson of Argus, and this is my partner, Agent Nettles. We received reports that Adrian Burrows has gone missing...Are you Adrian's Father?"

"Yes. Kyle Burrows," The man said, now opening the door and inviting the two inside, "And that's troubling to hear. He is, after all, upstairs. He went to bed early after his baseball game today, but he's most definitely here in the house. Why don't you come inside? I apologize for the look, I was on the rower when you two knocked."

The two agents stepped inside, hoping it was just a false alarm, but they still had protocol. "Mr. Burrows, do you have Adrian's registration number? And is it alright if Agent Nettles goes to check on the boy?" Thompson asked, pulling out a phone to check the boys number.

As the two agents stepped inside, they saw that the purported Mr. Burrows was at least not lying about the rower part. A damp rowing machine was sitting in the living room on their left, parked in front of the television.

"Ah, would it be alright if I went and brought him down? He had a... rough day. Might freak him out a little less if his father went and grabbed him instead of Argus agents, no offense."

The man gave them a smile, then turned and called out into the house.

"Vanessa!"

Not moments later, a pretty woman in yoga pants and a tank top appeared from around the corner.

"Could you sit these fellas down and pour them some...water? Coffee? Whiskey?" He asked, looking at the men.

"Water would be fine," Agent Nettles spoke up.

"But we will be needing Adrian's metahuman registration number," Thompson added. "I know this is probably a headache, but we have to make sure to log the false alarm and look into why we received it in the first place."

"Of course," The man replied, "Not a big deal. I'll be right back with Adrian and we can sort all this out."

With that, the man disappeared upstairs. The woman, Vanessa, waved them into the kitchen and sat them down, going about the business of grabbing glasses and pouring water into them. As she served the two agents their cups, she sat down with them, looking them up and down.

"So, you guys been in 'Frisco long?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am, we work from the San Francisco Field office. We've both been here for about two years," Nettles replied, taking a sip of his water.

The woman didn't reply. She simply flicked her gaze up. Despite the fact that there was no silencer on the weapon, the pistol in the grey-haired man's hands didn't make a sound as the bright glow of its muzzle flash illuminated the room twice. Both agents slumped over, each with a smoking hole in the back of their head.

"They picked up the trail fast." The woman remarked, dropping the near-perfect California diction for a distinctively Midwestern accent.

"Argus is getting better," Replied the grey-haired man, nudging each body with the barrel of his weapon, confirming they were dead, "Which means we gotta get stepping here soon."

"A shame. I kinda liked the suburban life, even if it was only for a few days." The woman said, now standing and looping her arms underneath the armpits of one of the dead agents.

"It's so fucking boring." The man said, grabbing the other corpse. They slowly dragged the two slumped agents outside, stuffing them into the trunk of their car.

"Let's get on the line with 6, he'll want to know we had to snuff these guys, and we're gonna have to relocate." The woman said, wiping her brow.

"You're telling me. Let's get outta here."

With that, the pair stepped into their vehicle, and soon enough the disappeared into the evening fog.

---

---

Argus Headquarters
"The Nerve Center"
March 23, 2020
6:00 AM

"What are we looking at, here?" James asked Hollands wearily.

"An unfortunate coincidence at best, or complete compromisation at worst," Hollands said, scanning over the text scrolling over the main monitor.

Lines of code were being analyzed by a swarm of technicians, looking for signs of a breach in the San Francisco Field Office's security. Arsenal was on the floor himself, trying to interact with the computer systems with his powers. It wasn't the easiest application of his powers; the job only made more difficult with distance.

"We should contact Cypher," another man spoke up.

Special Agent Peters, Liaison to the Regents.

"He's the one that wrote the majority of the code after all."

"Not everything requires Cypher," James snapped back. "Hollands, let the Argonauts handle this. Node would be perfect for this if she had access to the Field Office Systems, and Chief and Hades could sweep the scene for signs of the kid better than any of our techs."

"Cypher could solve the whole thing right now with a phone call," Peters replied, holding his phone for emphasis.

"If Cypher wanted to be involved he would have already called," Hollands said, shutting Peters up for the moment. "As much as I want to champion the argonauts, they aren't exactly ready," Hollands said, looking a James with a stern expression.

"I think if they were put in the field, they would have a goal to focus on. They are all go-getters without anything to get for the moment except each other," James reasoned, animated his hands as he spoke to add to his spiel.

"Do we have any heroes in the area?" Hollands called down to one of the agents sitting at a computer terminal.

"The Golden are in the area, sir," the agent called back.

"Figures."

Hollands pondered his options for a moment. Nothing seemed like a great solution. Yet, if actions weren't taken, more people could go missing. He had two agents who were dead in all likelihood, and more than a thousand registered civilian metas in the San Francisco area. The Golden were fine for hunting down local villains and street thugs, but against someone who would risk picking a fight with Argus directly may be outside of their wheelhouse.

Before he could make up his mind, a new alarm peeled through the room.

"What is that for?" Hollands yelled as the activity in the already busy room seemed to double.

"There is an ongoing metahuman attack in Chicago," someone yelled in reply.

"Multiple hostiles confirmed, The Regents have just asked for backup to save Civilians."

"Prep the Argonauts. I want fighters to Chicago, and detectives to San Fran," Hollands ordered, waving James away. "Arsenal! Get ready to move to San Fran, but prep the dropship to transport Mr. Szabo's mech."

"Aye Aye," Came the relieved voice as Arsenal followed James' lead and make a hasty exit.

"And someone turn that alarm off!"

---

All Argonauts, report to ready room under the housing complex for mission briefing.

James hurried to set up all the equipment as the Argonauts shuffled into the room. "Alright, everyone, here's the situation. Grey has allowed you to go on a mission, but you won't be leading yourselves quite yet. We have two things that need urgent attention. Those like Hades and Chief who's powers work well with investigation are going to San Francisco to look into a kidnapping of a young registered metahuman and possible Argus cyber security breach. They will need an escort to offer backup if thing go south; you'll all be reporting to Arsenal who will accompany you. The rest are needed for an active metahuman attack in Chicago. If you're a heavy hitter, that's where we need you; you'll report to Cypher."

With some measure of pride, James pointed at the lockers that lined the room before pulling a silver case out of one of them. "These will be your team uniforms that double as basic ballistic armor. I meant to give them to you yesterday, but things got crazy."

Opening the case, James revealed a set of black and red armor with several other objects laying in bed of protective foam. It is designed to fit over clothing, but certain exemptions have been made for individuals like Knight Owl who have their own armor. Next we have your PDAs, or tablets; whatever you want to call them. You have your choice between two sizes, or both. One-" James paused holding up a larger device, "-is a bit bigger, the other one, phone sized. It allows you access to Argus' network and is biolocked to you as individuals. Full mission briefings will be on your devices."

"Next, we have your ear pieces, it will allow you to talk between each other on missions, or to me if you need to be patched through to other heroes. And if any of you need weapons or ammunition, there is a small armory just over there," James said, pointing to an open door in the ready room.

"Now, get armored up as fast as you can, and spit into two teams; San fran and Chicago. The dropships are getting prepped to leave asap."

---

Outside, three of the landing platforms that circled the hill were occupied with dropships going through their takeoff preparations. These weren't sleek, luxury craft by any means; they were made purely for function. One of them was currently a floating cloud of parts, as Arsenal re-configured it to carry a large mech instead of passengers. It was quickly re-assembling itself, trying to finish in time to leave with the others. The two sets of pilots for the normal drop ships were coordinating the loading, sorting the argonauts between the two aircraft, directing them to the seats that lined the wall, and instructing them how to properly strap in.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

A slight grin crept across Sabina Rojo’s face as the briefing went on. It would be good to be back out in the field after watching the power struggle developing between Fionn and Marty. She wasn’t surprised to see a cop trying to throw his weight around to sooth his ego, Fionn… Sabina shivered. The guy reminded her to much of the cartel bosses she had been trying to root out in Mexico.

Shaking her head of those thoughts, she instead focused on the thought of going back to her home away from home. Sure she’d only left San Francisco a couple days ago, but she never got a chance to say goodbye to her parents and left a few things there. Maybe she could sweat talk Arsenal into letting her stop by her parent’s apartment.

“Sir.” She asked, walking up to James as the others filed out. “Any chance you have something that can be worn underneath a shirt rather than over?” She said, holding up the armor. “I’m not going to need to keep this on me if I have to shape shift and go undercover.”

[Riria]

Silvester "The Ostrich" Vorstein

He always enjoyed a good ride by plane. Well, in this case, he didn't exactly have a choice in the matter, but it being his preferred mode of transportation certainly didn't hurt. Silvester knew that the others - what would end up being his future squad, his future teammates - had already arrived the previous day, by the way of a different dropship. Unfortunately, as a late joiner himself, he was dutifully informed by Holland that there was no more space left on the aircraft, so he was taken separately by another dropship, by himself. The organization was also kind enough to mail him the Argonaut application form well in advance, so that was taken care of (After an hour of careful perusing of the terms, naturally. Silvester knew how HE would've worded such a contract, after all.)

Arriving on the premises, Silvester found that he got there just in the nick of time, as a general call was being made to gather in the main hall. After descending into the ready room, he made abstraction of the colorfully bizarre gathering of young people, cyborgs, and a chimp for some reason, as the one who called the meeting (James, he knew from the contract, their apparent liaison) was announcing that they were to be deployed to their first mission already. Now, Silvester wasn't exactly what somebody would call in total agreement with that. He hadn't even met the other recruits, nor were there established hierarchies, tactics, protocols... surely all of those things couldn't have been resolved in a single day, now could they? Certainly not by a bunch of twenty-somethings.

Alas, that was neither here nor there. Nobody said the road to redemption would be easy. Sighing deeply, Silvester resolved to pick up a phone-sized PDA, fitted in a custom-made earpiece (specifically designed to emit certain distress code if destroyed, so as to not needlessly worry everyone from lack of signal when he was merely Veiled), and cover himself in his custom made Argonaut uniform (fitted with extra extra pockets, he had been sure to communicate Hammond that particular desire beforehand) and head outside. Lighting up a cigarette to calm himself before the ride, he strode to the two ships that were waiting to pick everybody up. The other Argonauts seemed to be either walking with purpose to one of them, or waiting idly, undecided. Taking the first step, Silvester went to the personnel doing the selection and spoke in a matter-of-factly tone, still dragging at times from his cigarette: "Hello, gentlemen. All I can tell you is I would be of very little use in Chicago. Could you please direct me to the vehicle that isn't headed there?"

After he ended his question, Silvester had a moment's thought, and looked behind him. Obviously, none of the other Argonauts knew who he was, or whether he was even one of their own. Well, that would be a problem for later. Plenty of time to make acquaintance while airborne.