Judah studied the television cautiously. Dealing with bomb threats made him suspicious of any larger containers or electronics. After seeing Troll on the screen, he folded his arms and listened from a distance. She apparently had a hostage. Judah recalled that The Community was not above killing to get their way. "We're listing, Troll." He said in a mocking tone. He scanned the area for threats as he let her continue. There was no telling what these monsters were capable of. But, if Lethal Force could get the jump on their major operations, they could make a huge blow to crime within the city.

---

The darkness did mean that Creep would be unable to make use of Wisp’s light-blasts, but that was hardly a problem. It wasn’t as if she was going to blast light at anyone as Creep. Amount of light was not a factor when simply cloaking herself, just meant there was less light she had to move around herself to cloak herself from vision. Simple enough. Along with a small illusion in all directions depicting the ground she was walking on, Creep was invisible…

… Why on Earth is police officers standing guard for the Community rally? …

Arriving at the park, Creep avoided the crowd. She couldn’t stand anywhere someone might want to stand. Off to the side it was, in hiding. If at all possible she’d find somewhere with asphalt or road that people didn’t wander to which was within hearing range. She did not want to walk on vegetation, it caused sound. She could afford to stand slightly close to the rest because of her 360 degree vision, guiding light from all around her to her eyes, she’d have time to dodge someone about to walk into her as long as she always made sure to have an escape route. She’d find somewhere good enough.

… So that’s the Patriarch. So far, Creep wasn’t impressed. Then he continued, got to the part where he introduced new family members, and…

It was with sincere effort Creep kept herself from gasping out loud at the Patriarch’s power. Never before had she seen something quite so terrifying. Someone’s will being completely and utterly overwritten… at a mere touch? And he implied it was long-term. What was he, Master 12? Add to that the powerful individuals he was collecting… This man, this villain, had a power that could let him rule the world. What if he got his hand on, say, Legend? Alexandria? … Or potentially even worse, if he got his hands on Dragon, using whom he could then potentially open the Birdcage, and perhaps put his spell on its inhabitants? The scope of this… was terrifying. The thought of being caught by him herself, having her will overwritten and made a pawn… was terrifying. The thought of Viola being caught by him…

… Immediately shot him straight to the top as primary candidate on the list of people for Creep to potentially assassinate using her power, for the greater good. End the threat, right here. She was a Stranger they didn’t know about. She just had to shoot that one bullet, not miss, and so many lives could be spared…

… … … … … No. Not now. It wasn’t her place. But she would certainly tell the Protectorate. There was no way this wouldn’t instantly classify the Patriarch as a top-of-the-line threat, maybe even S-Class, according to herself. He certainly had the potential for it, he was just laying relatively low while he was growing his forces. Creep imagined that as soon as she delivered her note of his powers to the Protectorate, they’d take additional steps to see him eliminated. He had to be that bad. That, and she would of course tell Shatterpoint as well. Part of the job.

Creep started making ready to make her escape as soon as he was done. All the while, making good use of how her light-powers enabled her to see everywhere around her to see if anyone looked roughly in her direction. Any potential unknown or known parahuman that might have just the right power. The combination of Xolotl, Sonika and the Patriarch meant that, firstly, she couldn’t escape if they started hunting her, and secondly, being caught meant “The End”. Will overwritten. Now a willing pawn of a villain, and yikes, she did NOT want to have her power of perpetual invisibility available to someone like him. He could have her hide him while he strolled into a meeting or fundraiser of important people or even heroes, touching each person with nobody the wiser… The thought of their combo made her shiver.

She kept around, checking if he was going to say anything else, but if not she made ready to hurry out there as quickly as she could while still trusting herself to be silent.

@Eklispe

---

Jason chuckled at the mention of carrying the load out by hand.

"Again, it won't be an issue. Worst case scenario I use some rope and strap this thing to me. Or we tie it down on top of a vehicle. Or I just run with it in hand. The downside to that last one, though, is it slightly limits my fighting capabilities," Jason said with a shrug. "But, again, we can't plan for every contingency. We would be better off having a general plan and get going with it, before we talk ourselves into missing the deadline."

The young tinker open the gift gingerly, removing the disk carefully from its packaging. She turned it over, examining each side and taking note of the minimal amount of interaction. Decoy explained it, and Ira seemed surprised, mumbling to herself questions about the design. She couldn't see an easy spot to place a power source, among other things troubling her.

She giggled quietly at Lillian's reaction, smiling to herself as the questions kept coming. Ira didn't bother asking any menial questions, instead leaning back and waiting for Decoy to expand on his statement about their mission. It would come in time, she knew he wouldn't mention it then leave them hanging, and asking would probably delay further anyways.

Samantha laughed. "Oh you don't know do you. My name isn't troll, it's Master Baiter." With this she flashed the screen a charming smile and sunk the knife into the women's thigh prompting a shrill scream. Samantha didn't even look back at her, in fact she hadn't even looked where she'd put the knife. "Not that you'd fucking know would you? You'd have to talk to people then. You don't even like people, you like controlling them. You don't trust people you don't control, that's why focused on your own team instead of the FBI, couldn't deal with people being on top of you." She began talking faster, and was taking up the whole camera now.

"I bet these poor sobs with you don't know that you can't even control that power of yours. Always leaking something out aren't you? An empath that can't control his own emotions, but at least you can control others right? Combine that with the kid that can't be hurt but couldn't even be bothered to save his own parents and the twincest over there. One willing to die to protect the other, who would do anything to stop just that from happening. Both of them want to stop humans from being traded when they don't realize they're basically property themselves. At least Romeo and Juliet had the decency to kill themselves." Her eyes shifted as she picked new targets, her finger tapping on the screen for emphasis. "The only reason you losers are even together is because you're all being mind raped by the guy who can't even control himself. Pathetic." Samantha walked back and laid her arms around the women she'd just stabbed, a mockery of a lover's embrace and devilishly smiled at them, the only sound in the wake of fiery tirade the quiet sobbing of the women tied in to the chair.

As Troll insulted himself and his team, Judah tried to repress his rage. When she mentioned his team being "mind raped", Judah lost it. Anger and frustration boiled out of Judah's body like waves of intense emotion in all directions. Zach and the twins would definitely feel it. Despite being knowledgeable of her abilities, Judah felt powerless to protect himself from her verbal stabs. She was able to find the very things that made Judah insecure and rip him to pieces from the inside out. This continued for a few seconds until Judah tried to collect his thoughts,"She is using her ability to get under our skin and cause division. I must regain control of this situation before she destroys our unity."

Judah breathed in very deeply. He could still feel the anger. He used his power to release peace into the air while he exhaled slowly. Then he used his emotion sensors to pick up on the peace in the air. The feelings of rage subsided. They were replaced by a gentle calm. "That's better." Judah thought. Then he implanted the thought into his allies,"She's trying to get in between us. We have to stick together."

Afterward, Judah took his phone out of his pocket and began recording Troll's television. A few seconds went by in silence with the woman continually sobbing; Troll hovering over her with the knife. Finally, Judah spoke up,"I'm sure the PRT would be thrilled to get their hands on this footage of you torturing a civilian. If they find out she dies, I'm positive they will release a kill on sight order. That would really make my day."

Gaia appeared mid-lecture, her eyes closed as she listened to every word of what was going on. She held back tears as she heard her brother scream within her head, yelling out death threats. He wanted Troll dead. Master Baiter. Whatever she was. It was purely luck that Gaia came out in order to hold him back, because that screen would have a bullet in it if Dunn was still around. Gaia was pissed, but she had to be the bigger person in this situation. Dunn was going to make things worse, but Gaia knew to hold back.

She heard Judah in her head, telling her that she was being torn away from the group, but she could only hear him. Her thoughts were unchanged. She thought Dunn's anger was cancelling out Judah's thoughts, but she didn't know anymore. She sat there, waiting for the next few moments to pass. Unfortunately, they'd be passing with a few tears down her face.

That knife cut deep.

Sofia was paying only a small amount of attention to what was going on. After all, everyone seemed to have an idea of what was going on. The general gist was Sofia was sneak in the people that needed to be snuck in and sneak out the people that needed to be snuck out. A stealth mission should be easy considering the team members they had. Sofia felt like if it really came down to it, with a bit of studying she could probably do the mission on her own. Of course the point was they had a team, so she would just help the whenever they needed it and call it good. Still she was a little excited about it. Last mission had been stimulating. Sofia wasn't used to feeling so strongly since she triggered, her life was incredibly boring about it and she was okay with that. But she had to admit, doing something like this made her feel like she wasn't just following the steps involved in living like some sort of robot that didn't know what it was doing. She liked it when Chatterbox talked...

The hologram's chiding received a turned-up nose from the antihero. How very predictable for one who watched from afar, impassionately viewing but never understanding! Neither did the self-righteous smirks of his supposed colleagues bother him in the slightest. Even in the midst of these teens, alike in peculiarity, the Margrave stood alone. Not a soul among them treasured him as one hero ought to do for another—not that he needed their pity of such tender, delicate hearts. If the Wards' handler was so insistent on Elliot not being able to expose his superiority through words, he would elevate himself through his deeds. It was with an undeniable, independent flair that Elliot moved to take a seat.

Compared to his own style, that of the gifts paled in comparison, but he supposed it would do. However, Elliot reviled sight of colorful wrapping paper and springy bows; did the man behind the mirror imagine him a sissy? Such fanciful offers were not, he imagined, doled out at Protectorate briefing sessions. Masking his disdain, the ostentatious youth pulled the trappings apart to reveal the treasure stashed within. Turning the simple-looking device over in his hands, Elliot listened to the item's inventor's explanation. All that, packed into an unassuming disk? ”A gizmo most worthy of your illustrious codename, Decoy. What you have entrusted me shall not be wasted.” He would consider it a miracle, though, if the dynamic poses included in the gadget's limited catalog captured even a fraction of the phantasmagoria of his own.

In the end, what Decoy offhandedly appended to his shpeal interested Elliot more than the holographic ability of his new toy. Tonight's mission. Another jaunt into the howling dark, then, and so soon after the permanent though varied losses of two team members. Casting an eye toward the newest girl present, Elliot couldn't help but feel dubious. No doubt this Lillian boasted some superb power or another, but 'flighty' was one of the gentler uses of his boundless vocabulary that fit her personality, based on what he'd heard so far. Eccentricity did not, of course, doom one to the life of a pariah -unless everyone around one happened to hate one's guts, out of what one could only ever assume was jealousy- but she struck him as kooky to a high degree. How.. he mused, gazed at her over the back of a hand arched across his lower face to obscure his nose and mouth, Vexing... The others prodded Decoy with needless questions to which they already knew the answers or for which no effort ought to be expended. Ira alone held her tongue; she radiated a solitary ray of rationality amid the gobblydegook that plagued this room, surely as concentrated on the notion of a new assignment as he. Though she might not imagine it, a single thread of camaraderie linked them as, in silence, they waited for further instruction.

The woman's shrill screams echoed in Zach's head as he watched the villain on screen. Pay-per-view, of a sort. Troll started talking, and Zach remembered her power fully in the midst of her speaking. The words left her lips, the words that had been frustrating Zach for months and he was on his feet. It was over, and as she finished her last sentence Zach picked up the TV. He threw it to the ground, shattering it with the impact.

A breath grated through grit teeth as Judah's calm washed over him. It wasn't working as well as it normally did, the words kept clawing to the surface. I could've saved them It was irrational because she hadn't been there. She had no foresight, she could only say what hurt, regardless of honesty. It made no sense, and it still left Zach raw and bleeding. Troll was a hammer not a scalpel.

He turned to his _(three?) companions. It took two attempts for him to steady his voice, the words sounding strained and the pitch off. ”She won't kill the hostage." His expression betrayed doubt. There was no regret, just unease. Judah would feel the pain, but it was a different sort from when the words were first spoken. It was less visceral, more a bruise than a stab. I don't want to know what happens when she actually twists the knife He thought morbidly, turning away slightly so his compatriots couldn't fully see his face.

Gabriel strolled towards The Minutemen's Apartment. He was wearing a nice white suit and hat with a yellow tie. In his hand he carried a large briefcase. He knocked on the door for someone to answer. "Not exactly the most professional of groups to ask, is it?" Gabriel thought disappointingly.

The response was swift and angry in tone,"We are here to get a certified hero team to dismantle The Rocker's leadership and in that power vacuum, take it over for ourselves! The team's skill is irrelevant because The Rocker's are just as weak." There was a pause as Damien took a long drag of his imaginary cigarette then exhaled.

Another voice chimed in a high pitched womanly impression,"Strong enough to make short work of you, Damien."

"SHUT UP WOMAN! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW ANOTHER PARAHUMAN WOULD INTERFERE!!? I WILL SLAY THEM WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS!! MARK MY WORDS!!!"

Gabriel rubbed his eyes in annoyance."This is really not the time to bring that up, Ms. Faulkner. Right now we need to focus on using cunning to pit two potential rivals against one another. When they are weakened we will claim our time in the spotlight." He smiled broadly at the thought.

Samantha saw Zach running towards the screen and as the TV was lifted off the ground she was already spitting out more words, Stupid orphan what the fu-" The TV crashed to the ground, cutting off whatever she was going to say and there was a moment of silence in which Zach gathered his thoughts and spoke. Limbo's ghost popped out from a wall, giggling eerily, "Ohhhhh you made her maaaaaaaaad..." it said, its voice trailing off as it dived into the ground and vanished. Lethal Force was left to deal with their thoughts. If they made it back to their apartment they'd find crude red paint slashed on the walls. "Useless", "Lethal Farce", "Wanna-bees", smeared across the rooms. Limbo's ghost? Or perhaps someone else? Either way there was little to be done about it now. The Community knew where this place was, so staying here was probably dangerous either way. Master Baiter at least definitely had a grudge against them now.

---

"-cking fucking fuckity fuck." Samantha cursed profusely ripping the knife out of the poor women's leg and stabbing the, now static-y, TV screen she'd be using repeatedly. "I WASN'T DONE!" Breathing heavily Samantha turned with knife in hand to face the tied up women who was looking at her in terror. Master Baiter snarled, "Sucks to be you. They fucking abandoned you. Just like your dad before you were born. Just like your boyfriend when you got pregnant. Just like your mom when you had an abortion. Just like your 'best friend' who shoved you to the ground to run away when we picked you up off that street. Because you're such a burden they don't even have to know you to see you're not worth helping. You should be thanking me, you don't even have to prostitute yourself for money cause you're fucking DEAD." The last word was screamed and the knife was hurled through the air at Master Baiter's helpless victim who was actively sobbing at this point. The women's eyes shot up at the last shouted word and she flinched away, causing the seat to tip over and the knife to fly harmlessly overhead.

At that moment Samantha collapsed to the ground, her eyes staring at something that wasn't there. Seconds later Troll jerked to her feet and staggered out of the room, yelling. Moments later three burly men who looked like they were probably ex-military burst into the room. The women was immediately tazzed and them after a few tense moments to make sure she wasn't moving, she was stuffed into a black body bag, carefully held by two of the men, the third opening the door and leading them out. Master Baiter watched them leave, her black hair in a mess but a devious smile on her face. "Can't believe that dumb bitch triggered." She shook her head and laughed. "I can't wait to introduce Lethal Force to their new best friend."

Decoy waited patiently through the tirade of questions from the Wards, most particularly from Lillian's excessively quick mouth. Many of the questions were things that Decoy would gladly answer, if he thought they had the time, or that the young Wards could even be interested in such matters. Of course, as Ira was the only tinker among them she was the only one that had even a chance of actually understanding Decoy's explanations. Such was the curse of higher knowledge. Evenlyn postured a rather intelligent question herself about the second two settings, while Alessa was certain to address her secret identity. All in all, it was a very good set of inquiries made by the junior heroes. Ironically Ira herself seemed to have nothing to ask, which the senior hero thought a bit odd. Normally she was the most eager to learn about Decoy's machines in an effort to improve her own tinkering. Interesting.

"The second and third settings have been pre-programmed, yes. I took three dimensional recordings of you while training in order to capture the most realistic and proper actions that I could for these emitters, so they are one hundred percent lifelike, because they are you. You are most welcome to try them out now if you so choose. I would encourage it, so that you can get a sense of what the second and third settings are in advance so that you can utilize them to maximum benefit in the field."

A second hologram appeared next to Decoy, this one an overview map of the city of Denver. Decoy's image snapped, the sound echoing throughout the room in a grand fashion as the multitude of speakers projected it in an overly dramatic manner. As if that signaled the change, the map zoomed in on an old railroad warehouse in the southwestern section of the city. "Fun time is over, now onto business. As many of you may know, the new Protectorate hero Hermes has had a rather... Checkered past. He's done business with some unsavory types. Well that connection has led to the PRT discovering many details about our local criminal underworld that we hadn't before known."

Decoy gave pause to make sure each of the Wards understood and caught up to the situation before continuing. "Thanks to those connections, we know that The Community are having a rally tonight, which the majority of the members are required to attend. We don't have any information on the location or purpose of this rally sadly, but we have reason to believe that this old train station is a point of contraband delivery. With most of the gang busy, we believe this to be a perfect opportunity for the Wards to get more valuable field experience, and hopefully deal a critical blow to Denver's most wanted."

---

---

The old rail station sat at the edge of some old dilapidated slums of some old Denver district. A few abandoned rail cars sat here and there on old unused tracks, clearly relics of an old time. A quick drive by the location would tell anybody paying attention that a couple of gangbangers were guarding the front door, armed with small guns and wearing bandannas over their faces. Cops in this area were very few and far between sadly, and most avoided the more dangerous parts of the area for their own safety. At least that would be a boon for the Jacks. Law enforcement would be unlikely to show up if gunshots went off.According to the timetable that the Broker had given them, the crates should have been delivered about an hour ago.

---

---

Miss Sheila Jones gave pause as the Minutemen asked her some basic questions. She seemed to sense Kyoshi's distrust, and made that known with a look as she placed the lipstick back into her purse. "As far as I know, we've never accepted any of their 'help.' It's unthinkable that daddy would do such a thing, but..." She gave a half-hearted shrug. "People flying and lifting buses are common now, so I guess nothing is impossible?"

That's when the door to the apartment-turned-office had another knock. G4M3R was quick to open it up, revealing a well dressed man holding a briefcase. "Welcome sir! G4M3R here, happy to have you in our office today. Please take a seat, and we'll be right with you as soon as we finish up business with this young lady."

"Actually, I think we're done." Sheila stood up, twisted her waist a couple times to pop her back, then slowly strolled for the door. "I hope you'll come help us. I don't... Trust the Protectorate. Government capes just don't give me a good feeling, you know? I prefer the private sector. Ciao, lovelies." Without another word Sheila Jones was out the door, heading for the parking lot.

"... G4M3R, what're we gonna do regarding her case?" Kyoshi stomped on the ground lightly as a small chunk of rock flew into the air beside her (it was on the shelf), floating there while ever-spinning on an axis, similar to a globe. She acknowledged the presence of the new man in the building, but she chose to stay calm as she let G4M3R speak to him first. Kirb was better suited for it anyhow. That being said, Rend was NOT suited for it. He wasn't professional, plus he always seemed too... edgy.

---

Lillian listened carefully at the details of the mission before pressing the third button. A holographic version of her sprang up, quickly transforming into T-Rex form. She quickly shut it off, and immediately turned it on again out of curiosity. Holding the button in this time before releasing it, the same animation showed, but the changed form was larger.

Giggling slightly, she muttered a soft apology as she shut it down again. "That was so cool."

Turning her attention towards Alessa, she decided to broach the topic of the mission first.

"Uhm, I can scout from a distance. Given I don't think it's been used officially for ages, I should be able to smell anything different. And maybe I can see through holes or glass or open doors without being spotted. And hear any talking and figure out how many people are there and stuff. That'd be helpful, right? I figure I shouldn't need to go RAWRRRR, right?" she said happily, wiggling slightly in excitement. "And I'm flexible and stuff, so maybe I could sneak inside? Or...I don't know. Something."

---

---

Jason looked at the guards outside, trying to gauge what weapons they were using. How he detested guns. Loud and a plain show off lacking strength.

He shook his head. "Looks like automatic guns, from what I can tell. Crates should be inside, according to the boss' Intel. Y'all want to get us inside?" he asked quietly.

---

---

Rend watched the woman go, chuckling softly. She talked too much, but he had to admit she'd grown on him ever so slightly in such a short time. Must be her looks.

He shook his head, going back to tweaking his bow as Kyoshi went straight to business. He liked that about her, though he gave her a smirk and a wink at the slight glance she had given him. He knew they had a difference of opinion in regards to business dealings, and any chance of getting a reaction from her would be divine.

"Busy morning..." he murmured. "I vote we help her. After we listen to this gentleman."

Short and to the point, exactly how one should be. Though his slight smirk showcased he was poking fun at Kyoshi and G4M3R ever so slightly.

Judah continued to record and then Zach smashed the television into the pavement. Limbo made a comment and disappeared somewhere. Judah tried to record her. At the same time, he felt Zach's pain and a slight unease. Then he claimed the woman would not die. Zach's tone gave the impression he was unsure of the statement. Judah turned his camera off and scratched his head in frustration, "Zach..that woman may be dead now. I realize it was painful, but we have no more leads."

He took a long look at the situation. Seeing SpFarce kneeling in shock, he walked over. Then tried to comfort them by putting his hand on their shoulder, quietly stating, "She's a monster and I'm sorry. We have to go now though. There will be time to reflect later. And I promise all of you," He said as he looked back to Zach, "We will bring these degenerates to justice." Then he smiled, "Our justice."

The emotional overload that they experienced had taken a toll on Lethal Force's mental stability. Judah was especially effected, being able to feel the other's as well as his own emotions. The only way he was able to compose himself was because of his powers. The "justice" he was referring to now was not a virtue to uphold, but a desire to get even. He wanted to get The Community back ten-fold..he just didn't have the manpower, resources or training to even attempt that at the moment.

Judah stood up and waved the group toward himself, "Let's head back to the apartment and help the twins get their stuff out of there. That place has been compromised. We have to bring them someplace else." Then he whispered when they got closer, "We need to take different vehicles and make sure we lose Limbo. If she finds out where we live too.." he trailed off, "We can't let that happen."

Then Judah began heading back toward the twin's apartment. He helped anyone walk if required and quietly whispered to the Twin's when they saw the vandalism done to the place, "You two can crash at my place until we figure this thing out. Don't worry it'll work out." He smiled at them as genuine as he could considering the circumstances.

---

---

Gabriel sat down in the chair provided and watched as the woman left. He waited patiently as Kyoshi had a slight outburst. Then Rend tried to calm the situation down and redirect attention to their guest.

Gabriel, smiled after having their attention and stood up, "Thank you. My name is Gabriel. I represent a group of business associates. We have recently been having problems with a criminal gang calling themselves The Rockers." He waited for them give the affirmative that The Minutemen knew of the group. He continued, "We would like you to bring their leaders to justice. Specifically, the parahumans named Ceramix, and Shatterpoint."

He paused for a moment to let all the information sink in. Gabriel had what many would call a silver tongue. Gabriel spoke as if everyone around him was the focus of all his attention. He looked directly into their eyes, gave the appropriate body language and gestured at all the right moments. His smile was completely genuine. Gabriel would make an excellent politician.

He continued, "My benefactors and I realize you are a very busy and sought after group." Gabriel was very proficient in the art of flattery among his other skills, "I hope we can..persuade you to take up this job with all your attention and resources. It would mean everything to us."

He set his suitcase on a table, unlocked it with a key, and opened it up. Inside was filled with cold hard cash. The Minutemen would find when it was fully counted, it would equal 50,000 dollars. Gabriel smiled and said, "There's more where that comes from when the job is done."

"YOU MOTHER FUCKER!" "RRRRRAAAAGAGGGGGHHHH!"

It took insane willpower for the twins to not tear Zach a new one for what he did. That woman had to be dead by now, and what he did made the situation entirely worse. Nevermind Judah trying to ease the situation, Gaia was furious. Maybe it was only because of Judah's powers that Gaia didn't grab the nearest broken bottle or used syringe and jam it into Zach's neck...

... not like it mattered anymore, anyway.

The pair of twins were destroyed on the inside, the destruction only tearing into them when they saw their apartment in ruin. This was their home. Their safe place. And it was destroyed completely. Paint everywhere, the entire place just a wreck, and to top it all off...

Lethal Farce.

Gaia heard Judah speak into her ear as she let loose a few tears, slowly responding to him with a very soft few words. "... we know where you live, so... yeah... we'll get our shit together here before we go..."

Gaia walked into the intelligence room as she stared up at the wall of evidence, the files on it torn, tattered, painted, everything. Their entire legacy. What they came to Denver for. What they'd been working on their entire life after they triggered.

Gone. Just like that.

"... god fucking DAMMIT!" a ghostly apparition of Dunn appeared beside Gaia, only visible to her too. It wasn't a separate part of Gaia's power, she just imagined him there as he occupied her mind. "... it's all gone."

"I can clearly fucking see that. The GOD DAMNED Community fucked us! They took that knife, jammed it into our dicks, and twisted until a clear string of skin could be fucking seen!"

"... Dunn... please--"

"THEY COULD'VE FUCKING KILLED US, BUT NOOOOooo! They had to do this to us!"

"Dunn--"

"That GOD DAMNED shithole of a gang is gonna get what's coming to them, or I'll fucki--"

"SHUT UP!" Gaia shouted in real life as she crouched down, sitting under the table and just holding her head in her hands. "YOU DON'T FUCKING UNDERSTAND WHAT THE HELL I'M FEELING RIGHT NOW!"

"G--"

"IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR ME, WE WOULDN'T HAVE EVER COME TO DENVER! WE'D STILL BE SEPARATED FROM EACHOTHER AND WE'D BE LIVING OUR OWN LIVES OF POLICE WORK AND DEBAUCHERY!"

"..."

"I-I just... I just want to fucking die..."

Both twins sat in the silence of the intelligence room, save for the occasional sound of Gaia's sobs echoing through the small room.

Sofia was bright-eyed and bushy tailed as she waited for the mission to start. Or at least as much as she could be. Another adventure. This time instead of freeing someone they were stealing somethin. She'd eaten a good breakfast, but not too big, had a nice solid lunch and a few snacks right before they left. Sofia was curious as to what exactly Broker could want them to steal. It must be something that couldn't be bought or else he would've already had it by now. Or perhaps it was just to send a message. Hm, it was really too much work trying to figure out things like that. "How much longer are we gonna wait?" Sofia asked in a secretive whisper, which really wasn't necessary but she thought it felt appropriate. After all they were basically ninjas right now.

Heartless adjusted his jacket a little and sighed, he never worked heists with others before so this was a little new for him. He rummaged through his pockets and made sure he had everything he needed, taser, rope, thick cloth to muffle screaming, emergency knife and gun, looked like everything was good to go. He pressed a small button on his helmet and his voice scrambler turned on, making his voice deeper and a bit electronic sounding. "Headhunter, I'm gonna emerge behind one of those guards and taze them. Could you disable the other with a tranquiliser or something when I do so?" He asked Headhunter quietly, glancing at everyone quickly to gauge their reactions to his plan.

Decoy's explanation raised more questions than it answered, for Ira at least. She held her tongue restrained herself from asking a million questions, and it showed on her face this time; a deep breath cleared the curious expression, though the fact that she checked to make sure no one saw was telling. At the mention of Herme's, Ira started. She had been collecting all the information she could, and the fact that he had been involved in illicit activities hadn't come up. Everyone had been surprisingly tight lipped, and if she didn't know better, she would've assumed he had been told to stay away from the Wards.Though, with this new information, that option became a lot more likely. He could easily have some sort of Master power, or even be under the influence of one. Corrupting the next generation of heroes was probably high on the 'avoid at all costs' list.

The information he had provided was invaluable though, apparently, and the role Hermes had in the raid he, Inkscape, and Protean had preformed clarified with this context. She had to assume he had played a similar role in that context, considering how major a blow to the Bratva it was purported to be. The new information he had provided had shown a Community rally was taking place, and that the Wards could use that to investigate an active location when it came to illegal goods.

Lillian's chatter brought Ira out of her head, but she was already two sentences in. It was strategy planning, and Ira was kind of embarrassed that she had zoned out during that of all things. She waited a beat before contributing to make sure she didn't interrupt anyone else. ”I can help you scout with my goggles on hand to assess any threats. I also recently finished a device, and I think this would be a great time to field test it."

As she spoke she removed a bracelet from her pocket. It was a bit thicker than a normal bracelet, with a dark blue color and a raised button that had a power symbol on it. "I already got it approved by Decoy, but I made a device to help increase Evely-I mean Tulpa. To help increase Tulpa's effectiveness. It lets her more easily assist with scouting distant areas, by allowing her projection to instantly move to my location. I think it also increases her scouting range, but I'm not quite sure about that. Sometimes my power feels like more art than science." Ira read the room as best she could, her eyes lingering on Decoy and Tulpa for a bit longer than the others.