"We know who you are. Defiance Project. Government's moronic goon squad. Something akin to hero teams in comic books. Except you lack the morals of any of those groups. Just a bunch of goons who want to forcibly 'recruit' people at gunpoint. Goddess forbid you actually ask someone to join and someone who will actually say yes."

The Sisters surround the most intelligent one of them, which isn't saying much considering the goons they sent were about as smart as a hippies high on E. "Mother always liked your little club. She said we might too if we gave it a chance. We were going to consider giving it a chance. But like all governments you screwed it up." They each grabbed the mind of a goon. "For that you pay." The goons whose mind were under the Sisters control suddenly pissed themselves & shit their pants. "They will need diapers everyday until they die. If you would like to make up for this utter failure then I suggest you find the thing who gave these boys the order to shoot first and send it to Antartica forever. Because if we find it first, we will make sure it suffers far worse than these diaper boys. It will beg for death."

Alexanda could not help but notice how relaxed the strangers had become, shedding their formal demeanor as they proceeded to give her the explanation she had desired. She also found herself feeling more comfortable as she leaned back in her seat. Apparently, they seemed to be from some secret superhero organization, and they knew virtually everything about her double life. If these people had meant to cause her any harm they would probably have already done so. Having others to work with did not sound too bad, and besides, she had nothing to lose here as far as she knew.

She raised an eyebrow as the three men merged into one. "Ah, a fellow mutant. The 'Defiance Project', huh? All this actually sounds really good, though, is there some sort of contract you'll be needing me to sign? I'd like to know of any terms involved in this."

A slightly worried expression then crossed her face when the man shouted for her brother. Looks like they, or rather he, did know after all, not that she could be surprised anymore, considering how much he already knew.

"Hey, there's no need to-"

"Huh? What do you want with me?"

Before she could say anything else, Daniel had already responded. He was leaning out through his door frame to look into the living room. Alexanda rubbed the bridge of her nose as she considered the entire thing. Well, it would at least be fair to let him in on what was going on, though, she still did not have a clear idea of what else the suited man was intending to do.

@BrokenWashing

Wayne groaned as he came to, strapped to a table, frodt forming in the air as his breath came out in shocked gasps. Looking around, he seemed to be in a large freezer, a couple monitors attached to the wall giving a readout of temperature, heartbeat, and a few other things he didn't quite understand. He rattled his restraints for a moment, then looked towards the only other break in the steel walls besides the monitors. The door.

"I'm awake now. I'm sure you know that." He said loudly. For a few minutes all was quiet except for the humming of the overhead fan, pumping the room with cold. "Look, if this is about the samples, they're free."

Still nothing. And despite the temperature of the room, he could feel himself get heated. "Hey assholes! If you knew to keep me on ice like this, you must know that I'm dangerous! Once I get my hands on you assholes you'll be sorry!" He punctuated his point with more rattling of his restraints and banging on the cold gurney. "Come oooon fuckers!" He shouted, all the while trying to focus his hands and fingers into something, anything to free himself. Finally after a few minutes and after several beads of sweat had begun to form from his effort, he heard a large rotary lock unspin, and the clang of the cell door being unlocked. It swung open and the icy mist rolled out of the doorway.

"It's about time." Wayne said gruffly.

@Deadlyrose9641

As the robot leaned over Darla on the floor, it did what humans would call a smile. It let out a rough laugh controlled purely by it's programming. The C.A.R.L units do not feel real emotion but they are created to seem as life-like as possible.

As suddenly as Darla had been attacked it was over, The C.A.R.L unit's head exploded in a shower of sparks and the body fell lifeless on the ground to reveal a girl no older than 30 in a grey croptop and jeans. At first glance she would look normal, until you reached her arms which from elbow down were made of a chrome-like metal. Her left arm was a cannon, that's probably worth mentioning as well. Ignoring Darla at first, she walked over to the robot and rammed her arm into the neck of it pulling out a small computer chip. She then stored it in a pouch on her waist and turned her attention to Darla. "Sorry to use you as bait like that, sweetcheeks." She helped Darla up and pointed towards a black muscle car, "Get in, I'll explain on the way there."

---

@Burning Kitty

[TRANSMISSION SCRAMBLED]

---

@Raptra

Suits smiled kindly at Alexandra's brother. "Hey big guy, your sis and I will be going away for a bit. I just want to assure you that you'll be well looked after."

He turned back to Alexandra. "Once you join you'll be on government payroll. With that comes it's benefits, and it's downfalls. The terms essentially are do what you're told, don't ask too many questions and give two weeks notice before taking holiday leave. Family members get taken care of pretty well so you two don't need to worry about that."

He stood up and looked at his watch. "It's getting late. Are you in or out? I can have a car here in 10 minutes."

---

@PKRaptor

"Mr Geary." An aged man dressed as a doctor stepped through the door, shutting and locking it behind him. "I am terribly sorry for the circumstances in which we meet. Unfortunately we couldn't afford the risk of diplomatic means with an asset as valuable as yourself." He took a few steps closer. "Your wound has begun to heal but there is still a few fragments of metal in your arm. I shall remove them but I'm afraid I cannot use anaesthetic because of your unique genetic coding. We can't possibly predict how your body will react to foreign substances."
Behind Wayne's head out of his sight was a metal trolley with some surgical equipment. The doctor reached over and produced a pair of tweezers. "Please try not to move too much, for my sake as much as yours."

Alexanda shifted over for Daniel to sit beside her. After listening to whatever more the suited man had to say, she glanced over at Daniel, curious as to how he felt about the entire thing. They were each other's only family after all, despite not actually being related by blood. Personally, Alexanda found it all rather intriguing, and would be open to get in on whatever it was just to find out even more.

"I- I can take care of myself..." Daniel mumbled, as he folded his arms and looked away.

Alexanda raised an eyebrow. "I'll assume that you're okay with this then."

"I mean, it's your life. You should do what you want to."

She chuckled. He was not one to be open about his feelings, though, it was rather obvious at the moment. He was clearly concerned about her and how the change would affect their lives, but at the same time, he did not want to hold her back.

She then turned back to the suited man in surprise at the last thing he said after he had stood up. "Wait, right now? well, I guess I do have the time to pull an all nighter... You know what? I'm in."

Alexanda stood up before speaking to her brother. "Go to bed and don't worry. I'll be back soon."

"I'm not a little kid, you know..."

"Goodnight!" She called, as she and the man left the apartment. She then looked back at the stranger. "So, you know who I am. How do I address you?"

@BrokenWashing

@Raptra

"They call me Suits." He whipped a pair of Aviators from his breast pocket and put them on.

youtube.com/watch?v=6YMPAH67f4o&ab

*FADE TO BLACK*

@Gunther @Archmage MC @Raptra @PKRaptor @Deadlyrose9641




Deep below the ground lies the hulking complex that makes up The Defiance Project Headquarters. Once a doomed infrastructure project from the 60's, saved from foreclosure in the 90s by an anonymous backer and now one of the bastions of public safety standing up there with the greats; The CIA, MI9, Scotland Yard and every other intelligence operation in the Western world.

The steering wheel of such a powerful organisation lays in the firm hands of Director Preston King. A middle aged African American from Harlem, New York. Having worked his way up from the dirt through the ranks of the military and into the secret service he knew how to take risks but even now he felt uneasy about what came ahead. The first team of meta-human individuals had been a smart choice, the applicants had been fully screened and only the best were chosen. This new team was comprised of ONE, yes ONE experienced individual, a cage fighter, a cowgirl wannabe, a shapeshifter and petty thief and a universal anomaly that no-one is quite sure can be tamed.

Those triplets would've been a great asset, he thought to himself. And now they had dropped off the radar with one of his best men carried off with them. King furrowed his brow and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "C'mon man. You're Director King. The world needs you now, as do those recruits." Standing up out of the armchair in his old office he walked over to the elevator door to his right and pushed the call button. The doors opened and he entered. "Vehicle bay," He spoke out loud and the lift ascended at a high speed to surface level.

The vehicle bay consisted of a wide variety of forms of transport. Armoured personnel carriers took up one corner where helicopters of varying age took up another. A large section in the centre was home to employee parking, hundreds of cars were parked neatly in rows, each one belonging to one of the many people that keeps The Defiance Project running. Just in front of the director was a Freezer truck, two dark blue vans, a ford mustang and a Jaguar F-type. At his command the doors of each of these vehicles opened to reveal the new recruits. Any restraints that were on snapped off harmlessly.

"Recruits!" He shouted loud and imposingly, "Welcome to THE DEFIANCE PROJECT!"

Wayne winced as the doctor pulled sharps and splintered bullet fragments out of him. Each one hurt, despite the numbing cold. He could feel himself healing slowly, though still faster than normal humans. "Well since you're so c-concerned about my well-being, I t-take it that I'm just going to w-walk out of here once you're done." He chattered, his right hand finally forming into a blade. He pointed it right at the doctor as it shook from the cold and effort. His head slumped forward as he passed out again, arm going limp. He woke a couple minutes later as the doctor was finishing his bandages. "F-f-f-fucking shit." He said, his arm restrained once again. "M-maybe you should let me out of here, Doc. I feel like getting a second o-o-opinion." He rattled the restraints again as the heavy rotary lock turned and the door clanked open before him.

The cold air turned to mist and spilled out of the truck, clinging to the ground before disappating. There were several men in military gear, helmets, Kevlar, and all manner of weapons at the ready. Behind them were men in suits, earpieces, and dark glasses, no doubt packing as well. All of them were stonefaced, serious, lethally so. One man stepped forward, carrying an obvious air of authority with him.

He spoke, and Wayne glanced from him to the doctor and back again. All was quiet for a few seconds, the hum of the truck's freezers droning softly. Then Wayne spoke.

"Y'all gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me! Is this some goddamn Men In Black bullshit!?" He shouted, his rural roots showing with a subtle Midwest accent. He started shaking his restraints harder. "I'mma beat the piss outta whatever unlucky stupid ass dickless wonder is in charge here! He started to throw his weight back and forth on the gurney, making the truck sway a bit, the whole time a string of expletives rained upon the agents of the Defiance Project like nothing they'd ever heard before. A few flecks of spittle landed a few mere inches from the Director's feet and Wayne still persisted.

So, another government agency wanting to use Light for something or something, at least this time it didn't involve knives! Being stuck in a tangle of piano wire, then transported to this place wasn't the most pleasant thing ever, but it could've been worse. Once she was free, she took a look around and saw some other people. She could just escape through one of her holes, but honestly she was more curious to see what was going on. "Well buddy, I'm game for whatever this is. But if you get out the knives or the needles without my consent, I'm out."

Walking a bit forward, she made her presence known to everyone, making sure to wave at everyone. "Hiya everyone, that was fun, wasn't it?"

A light slowly filtered through his eyelids to rouse him or maybe someone elicited some other stimulation to bring Jimmy back to consciousness. He was beginning to wake up but was not quite with it. He slowly became aware of being in a cage. There was something peculiar about the cage, its bars laced with copper wires and the presence of conductors, transistors and transformers. The cage was in a sense a Faraday Cage which prevented him from teleporting out of this current location. ‘Whoever took me knows about my teleportation ability,’ Jimmy thought to himself as consciousness rapidly returned to him. He became aware of a menacing headache throbbing across his forehead. Touching the bars in an attempt to check the strength of the bars, he caught a zap of electricity which prevented any future touching. ‘Looks like I am stuck here for a while,’ Jimmy looked around his prison. It was the back of a van. Even if he did get out of the cage, he did not know what could possibly be outside the van. He looked out the windows to see if anyone was around. He could not see people immediately, but he did ascertain he was in some sort of a parking garage which included several high-end performance cars, armored fighting vehicles, an assortment of normal looking cars parked in a traditional fashion as you would find in any parking lot in the world and a variety of rotary wing aircraft.

The presence of helicopters and armored personnel carriers struck him as odd, but that didn’t answer the question plaguing his pained mind. “What the fuck, did you get yourself into, Jimmy?” he whispered to himself. Fortunately, for the Asian man also known as Iron Monkey, he didn’t have long to wait to find the answer.

Within a half hour, the doors to the navy-blue van he was held captive in, were pulled open. The electricity charging his Faraday cage was turned off and the door to the cage opened allowing him access to the outside. Curiosity was slowly getting the better of him. He was annoyed that someone took him against his will, but if someone went through all this effort to get him here, he may as well hear him out. He slowly slid out of the cage and van standing in front of an African American man who could have been close to his own age. Jimmy considered jumping out of the garage into some known city in the world he had visited, but again his curiosity suggested he remain. The longer he stood there, it seemed his headache slowly dissipated. He also noticed others who had been captured and brought here to this parking garage waiting to hear what the man had to say.

"Recruits!" The black man shouted at him and the others, "Welcome to THE DEFIANCE PROJECT!"

Jimmy stood there looking confused at the man. He looked left and he looked right. He had never heard of such a thing. “What the fuck is the Defiance Project and where the hell am I?” Jimmy muttered almost inaudibly to his host. “And who the hell are these people,” he asked motioning to the others in the garage with him. “And who are you?”

The car ride had seemed longer than it actually was. Perhaps it had been the awkward silence between her and ‘Suits’ in the back seat that made it as such, or her anticipation of what more was to come. Alexanda was looking but not exactly seeing as she stared out the window for the majority of the trip, her mind on the project she had agreed to be involved in. This was how she had not noticed when the car came to a stop in an indoor vehicle bay. She took a glance at Suits, expecting him to confirm that it was where they were to alight. She was able to get a good look all around after stepping out of the car, her eyes widening slightly in astonishment as she did so.

The car she had arrived in was in a row with several other vehicles, each one opening to reveal a different individual. What puzzled and somewhat disturbed her was that all of them were restrained in one way or another. From what they were saying, it looked as if she was the only one who had not been brought to this place against her will. The restraints could also mean that all the others were dangerous. She turned to Suits, expressing her confusion at the entire situation. What kind of people would he be expecting her to work with?

She then instinctively tensed up, her fists glowing bright blue with psychic energy as the others were suddenly released from their restraints, in case any of them should lash out. To her relief, that did not happen, but they continued to verbally express their confusion and displeasure. She had been trying to shut them out, when one of the men in charge called out to them, mentioning the 'Defiance Project'.

"Uh... thank you," was all she said in reply. "So, how do we address you then?"

@BrokenWashing

The Director glanced down subtly at the spit that had nearly landed on his boots. He was not phased by the obscenities echoing around the hangar from Wayne's mouth yet he took a mental note to keep an eye on this one. He may prove harder to control than initially expected.
As light stepped forward the guards behind King backpedalled and raised their weapons, obvious discomfort in their eyes.

"I am Director King!" He shouted confidently over the Profanity. "Some of you know who we are, some of you do not! I cannot tell you where you are, but I can tell you why you are here." He paused and Wayne finally quietened. "Alexandra Connolly, Jimmy Wu, Darla Winters, Wayne Geary, Light. For the past year we have been following your lives, your every move. Each one of you has a gift and I would see it put to use. Crime is on a rise, it has been for years now, but the police can no longer keep up. Twenty years ago my predecessor assembled the first team, five years ago the people you see before you were recruited. And now it is time for a new generation to step up and protect the world." He stopped and after a brief silence said, "You must have a lot of questions. Ask, and maybe you will get answers."

“Excuse me Mr. King,” Jimmy sputtered out. Someone quickly corrected him, the African man should be addressed as Director King. “Pardon me, Director King. What exactly is The Defiance Project? Should I assume you expect us to be some sort of super hero to protect the world? Is that what we are talking about?” A sly smile creased Jimmy’s lips. “What gift are you talking about?” Jimmy had always kept his abilities secret. No one knew him by his alias, Iron Monkey. He never shared that secret with anyone. ‘There is no way this Director King knows about my special abilities,’ Jimmy thought to himself. “If what you say is true about us, how could you possibly know anything? I can’t speak for my other hostages here, but I for one don’t have any gift. I might be slightly good at hand to hand combat, but that is about it. Anyone who pays attention to UFC, might know that.”

Wayne finally stopped cursing long enough to listen to the other "recruits" respond to the big reveal. This "Director King" guy seemed pretty confident that they would all just line up and follow orders. He groaned. He could start to feel how hungry he was. How many hours had it been since he had been taken? And being put on ice didn't help either.

With the drop in temperature, he was finally able to focus his finger into a lockpick, and he easily opened his restraints and stepped out of the big ice truck. Immediately some of the agents pointed their weapons at him. He brushed some frost off of himself and rubbed his hands together, acting confident and unphased by the men who were armed and ready to out him down.

Looking around the hangar, he noticed helicopters and a few military vehicles. Obviously it was no joke, and they had some real funding. "So why haven't we ever heard of this project?" He asked Director King directly.

Alexanda listened as 'Director King' spoke, finding the part about being in a super-powered crime-fighting team a repeat of what Suits had mentioned back in her apartment. It was nice of King to give them a little bit of history on their organization, however. When he offered to answer any questions, a couple of the... hostages? immediately spoke up, making inquiries that confirmed that they had not been briefed about the situation like she had, as if the rest of them being brought to this place in restraints was not confirmation enough. The director did mention names, but which name belonged to who was still a mystery.

She found herself hiding a smirk as one of them - a middle-aged man, attempted to put on an act about not having a 'gift'. Considering the circumstances, she knew he was hiding something, whatever it was. I've tried that with them before, Sir. Trust me, they know... The younger man, who appeared to be a shapeshifter of sorts, seemed like the most aggressive one, though, he eventually managed to compose himself and speak to King in a civilized manner. The blue fish-like girl, who was definitely the most intriguing of the lot, looked the happiest to be here.

Alexanda then decided to be the next one to ask a question. "So how often would we be meeting like this? Because, you know, civilian life is kind of important too."

Light couldn't really figure why so many people here were so angry at this 'director king' guy. Don't they realize what was happening? Maybe she'd have to give them a run down. "Why are so many of you so grumpy?" Light said, showing a toothy smile. She zipped around to each person while saying. "This is the GOVERNMENT and a GOVERNMENT program where they're going to use us as super soldiers! You know what that means? Benefits! Lots and lots of benefits!" She said, jumping for joy when she said benefits right in front of Mr. 'I have no superpowers' guy. "And the fact that the toon lady has to point this out to you means you all need to study up on your tropes." she said, ending in front of the shapeshifter guy.

"Speaking of benefits. Where is the food? Be nice if we all bonded over some catering." Light said, stopping next to red head girl, pulling her close and giving her a one arm hug when she said bonding.

At the mention of civilian life, Wayne frowned. That wasn't much of a life for him. However, his mood immediately improved at the mention of benefits, and he actually cracked a smile when the word "food" came out of the toon's mouth. "Hey, a hot meal sounds like heaven right now. Anything to warm me up. I feel like a damn popsicle."

He stretched his neck over to Director King, his head about a foot away. "Come on, where's the kitchen? You look like they feed you well." He said, jokingly reaching out to pat King on his stomach.

The Director took a half step back but otherwise did not react, "Do not touch me, Mr Geary. I fear that may be a step in the wrong direction" he said sternly but loud enough for only Wayne to hear.
"Light is half correct. This is a government program, but you are not super soldiers. First and foremost you are people and with that comes the element of choice. Most of you were not brought here by choice and for that I apologise, it was a security measure that we deemed necessary for the continued survival of our work." He paused for dramatic effect. "This is your chance to do some good in the world. Should you think that beneath you I can arrange transport for you, you can be anywhere in the world by tomorrow night. You will not be followed, you will not be punished, you will not become a hero. Working with us, on the other hand, will have its benefits. All expenses will be covered by us, your family will be given full protection, your civilian lives will be fully respected."

He turned and gave a slight smirk to Jimmy. "Mr Wu, it is not my place to reveal your secrets. If you want to keep your cards close to your chest that is fine with me. Just know that you're not pulling the wool over my eyes. When the time comes your abilities will prove invaluable to your teammates." Interesting, he thought, Even in front of of beings on par with or even greater than him he hides his true power.

Obviously ignoring Wayne's question on why the Defiance Project had not been mentioned before, King said, "Food will come soon enough. But first let me show you your new quarters."

Jimmy Wu watched the other people in his company and listened to their comments. The expression on the tall young woman with red hair told Jimmy he was wrong about trying to hide his abilities. It was an alarming thought because it was not something he shared with anyone. ‘but how would they know?’

The cartoon looking girl seemed to sum it all up succinctly, "Why are so many of you so grumpy?" She moved around from person to person spouting out how their world was about to get better with an exaggerated exuberance. "This is the GOVERNMENT and a GOVERNMENT program where they're going to use us as super soldiers! You know what that means? Benefits! Lots and lots of benefits!" She appeared to be unnecessarily excited. It was somewhat unnerving especially since Jimmy had not wrapped his head around this creature he was staring at jumping from unseen foot to unseen foot. "And the fact that the toon lady has to point this out to you means you all need to study up on your tropes."

Toon Lady as she called herself turned to Mr. King and ended with, "speaking of benefits, where is the food? Be nice if we all bonded over some catering." Jimmy hadn’t thought about food or his nagging hunger until the overly animated woman mentioned it in front of everyone.

Mr King addressed the crowd regarding the cartoon’s comments. He told everyone her name was Light. Jimmy looked at her, gave her a nod with slight pursed lip smile. The director continued to speak, "most of you were not brought here by choice and for that I apologize, it was a security measure that we deemed necessary for the continued survival of our work." Obviously, this Defiance Project is some gregarious organization designed to help people. If Jimmy could benefit from this group somehow; not just by fulfilling his inner desire to help others, he would agree to join them. So far, he was objective and curious. This Mr. King and Light were prodding him towards acceptance. The African American man continued, "this is your chance to do some good in the world. Should you think that beneath you I can arrange transport for you, you can be anywhere in the world by tomorrow night. You will not be followed, you will not be punished, you will not become a hero. Working with us, on the other hand, will have its benefits. All expenses will be covered by us, your family will be given full protection, your civilian lives will be fully respected."

Mr. King smirked at Jimmy, "Mr. Wu, it is not my place to reveal your secrets. If you want to keep your cards close to your chest that is fine with me. Just know that you're not pulling the wool over my eyes. When the time comes your abilities will prove invaluable to your teammates."

“OK, Mr. King. You have intrigued me,” Jimmy Wu admitted. “I must say, I do not share my secrets with anyone. Not even my own mother knows. You say you know my secrets. I will bite. In fact, I will let you know one of my secrets right now.” With that said, Jimmy Wu jumped from where he stood in the parking garage to a location about a hundred feet away in the same road way between the two rows of cars. The elapsed time was less than a tenth of second. “I can jump a lot farther than a hundred feet if I want to.” Then he jumped back to where he stood and stated matter of fact, “If I should decide to leave this second or two days from now, I will not require your transportation.”

“Oh yea, I am hungry too…and where is the rest room?”

Alexanda raised an eyebrow at the cartoon fish-girl hybrid, who currently had an arm around her. "Well, this is going to be interesting."

Director King then spoke again, providing those present with the information they wanted to know. Although he did not directly answer her question about the frequency of such meetings, she had gotten a little from what he mentioned about civilian life. However, the next thing he said about quarters confused her slightly. How often did they have to be here if preparations were made for them to practically live here? She still had her business to take care of, and Daniel was probably not going to be very happy if she started leaving home for long periods of time.

"Yeah... I'll most likely be taking lots of time off, if that's alright with you guys..." she said in response.

The Asian man, whom Director King had addressed as 'Mr. Wu', was eventually convinced to display the ability that the Defiance Project had sought him out for. So, his was teleportation. Alexanda was beginning to feel more comfortable around these gifted individuals as they continued interacting with one another. It would be best to get to know everyone better for the time being, and go along with the tour as well as the 'bonding over food', as the cartoon character referred to as 'Light' had put it.