BLITZ

Mission Assignment: On Cloud Nine
Location: N-Train

Quinton absent-mindedly watched as an interesting series of events unfolded. At first, a strange snake-twig wandered in clutching an SMG, saying little more than the hero names of his companions along with an agreement to BLITZ's rather basic plan. BLITZ raised an eyebrow at the beast and eyed its SMG. A cheeky grin grew on his face as Quinton decided, I'll call him... Snakey. Wonder if that'll get a rise out of him.

Yet before Quinton could test Snakey's boundaries, what could best be described as a 'Disney Princess' dropped from the ceiling, setting off Vampy's alarm system whilst somehow simultaneously occurring with some dude entered, coughed his lungs halfway out, and then promptly left. Instead of jumping to his feet,BLITZ instead chose to begin taking a slow, long, enormous drag on his vape, considering the situation, So we got a Disney Princess who thinks she's a bad ass too, eh? Interesting. I get the feeling she abuses those looks...

Vampy apparently had a stutter, a fact BLITZ found semi-interesting, Wonder what else he's hiding? Even more interesting was the fact that blondie decided to sit next to Vampy, literally close enough that they were almost touching. Quinton's eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly as his grin turned upwards more. Vampy's sly little flirtatious joke pushed the grin to new heights, and then his nerd-vomitting all over Disney Princess finally forced BLITZ to exhale an enormous plume of strawberry-scented fumes that filled the car.

A deep laugh began to rumble in BLITZ's chest as he slapped his stomach and bellowed, "Ha ha! I didn't know I was going to be third wheel on this date! I would've come better dressed!" Quinton motioned through the smoke towards the serpentine-feeling man, "Maybe more like Snakey over here."

Finally, his laughter died as Quinton drew a deep breath, pulling a substantial portion of the smoke in the room into his lungs before slowly exhaling it again. Slapping his knee this time, he sighed pleasantly with nearly closed eyes, "Ah, that was good..."

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Location: "Innocuous" Warehouse

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What a buzzkill. That was the first thing that came to Leon's mind when this was the mission handed to him. His first proper mission, no less! They were there to just snare some wannabe heroine, and get her to either quit the vigilante act, or move to HERO. Seriously, he couldn't have been handed a more cut and dry mission! He didn't go through that hellscape of an interview for this...

But, alas, it wasn't up to him. As he casually drove in his high-end, open-hood car, letting the breeze of the city take him as he stared off into the starless night. With any luck, this night would somehow become interesting....And fortunately for him, luck was always right by his side. Before any good job though, one needs the proper supplies.

A quick stop by a 7-11 produced a freshly-made hot dog, and an odd turn of good luck; a 2-for-1 deal on soft drinks. Strange...He wasn't so thirsty as to want to double-up on his Coca Cola, and he didn't have anyone with him at the moment. As a wild guess, he decided his power was trying to set him up with someone he'd meet soon. Getting off on the right foot, and all that. And his instincts were telling him...

"Two cokes, one cherry."

Whoever they were, they had good taste.

Moving on, Leon coasted his way through the streets, eating and drinking while driving with only his knee. Most would call it reckless beyond all belief, but for him, this was just another Tuesday...Besides the whole, y'know, catching a vigilante and all that. But still, in due time he made it close to the target and parked nearby. He was lucky, but there was no point being overly conspicuous, right? And so, leaving his million dollar car behind with the keys still there, absolutely confident no one would steal it, he strode forth.

He had been told that more casual wear was ideal for this mission; anything too flashy or heroic could cause any number of issues, and while Leon had absolute confidence in his ability, he'd humor them. This time. He simply wore a black top, some brownish slacks, and stark white sneakers, all in peak condition though. The only stand-out part of his attire well, besides his immaculate self was his dice earring. It's...Personal to him. Beyond this however, all he walked into the hidden entrance with was a sparkle in his beautiful purple eyes and a confident grin.

The smell immediately hit him. Ugh! He couldn't hold back from pinching his nose...For but a moment. Fortunately, he seemed to adapt to the drug-addled air quickly. Resuming his confident posturing, Leon began his descent in force. Still...They were rather thorough about this operation, weren't they? He wouldn't be surprised if actual criminals had caught a whiff of this place, both literally and metaphorically.

As he made his way into the lab proper, he didn't bother with a mask; for inexplicable reasons, he felt just fine. The reek of it all was still there, certainly, but he found it far more bearable than the stuffiness of a mask. And so, he casually walked into the heart of the operation, offering winks and nods of acknowledgement to some of the glorified hirelings. However, he felt himself drawn to two individuals. Seemed like that was the hotspot.

"Salutations! Hopefully I'm not too fashionably late!" A soothing, echoed laugh came from Leon as he approached the duo, almost immediately guessing who the surprise drink was for. "Oh, and I made a little pit-stop on the way. So I ended up picking up a little something...Would you care for it, miss?" He offers the still crisply cold beverage towards Render, a charming smile on his face. Yes, tonight was going to be interesting, it seems...

It was only after he extended the offer to her that he realized the vibe of the area; seems like they were combat-ready. While he never stopped his offer towards the fine young lady, his face turned away to that of an air vent he could see far above. However, it didn't take him long to turn back towards the duo he was confronting, as lax as ever. "Is the dame of the night already making her move? And I've just gotten here..." He feigned sorrow for but a moment, before taking a casual sip of his own beverage. Time to see how everything played out...

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@Akayaofthemoon@Hitman@Mintz

Mission: A Dish Best Served Cold
Location: ”Innocuous” Warehouse

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"...I swear, if my car gets towed after this mission...I will flip my shit" Beth say to herself after getting out of her car. Beth wish that she can drive her car to the warehouse in a badass way, like one of those 'Fast And Furious' movies, man, those movies are like century old! The Rock is like in his mid hundreds now, for a old guy, he still looks pretty jacked. Ugh! Focus Beth! Focus on the mission at hand! She got proof herself that she can be the useful person in HERO!....Then after this, then you can have 'Fast And Furious' movie marathon back home.

Beth arrive at the warehouse and see two heros and the others, one with long hair with a black mask and other with long blue hair...Who looks like a hunk, damn! Beth keeps forgetting that HERO have alot of attractive people! Were they models before joining HERO? Focus Beth, focus, mission now, thinking about hotties later. "I'm here too! Sup party people!" Beth say after tall guy introduce himself while trying not gag from the smell coming from the lab, they should at least make smell smellbale. It seems that this mission is going to be about lure some girl here, Beth doesn't know who this girl is but Spark Gal is ready to show her sparks!

It looks like the mission is in full swing when Piranha Boy tell everyone to get in position. Beth takes deep breaths to steady herself, even if the air smells terrible. All right, Spark Gal... Beth thought to herself ...Get ready for this...

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Location | Innocuous Warehouse |
Missions | A Dish Best Served Cold |
Mentions | @Akayaofthemoon, @Hitman, @Mintz, @Sassy1085 |

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The streets were quiet, specifically around this area. From a hero’s perspective, that’d likely be a pretty good thing. It wasn’t. Something was up here, and the streets knew it. Something was upsetting the balance and Sol knew what it was. He heard some talking about an old drug plant that they were reopening as a front. The reason, he wasn’t too keen about. Thus, he was off the Paladin but was also off the record. If they knew what he was coming here to do, they’d likely try to stop him. Thus with even as little as it’s seen, the Blur Rabbit didn’t make an appearance today.

Instead it was just the disappointment nobody, Solomon Powers, making his way down the road with hands in his pockets. The name of the game was casual wear, but made him unrecognizable. So he was in a royal blue hoodie, black jeans, with similarly black and blue basketball high-tops. His hair was concealed underneath a black trucker cap, his hands with black tactical gloves. He wore his protective bodysuit beneath as well, just in case. When right outside, he pulled down a blank white face mask from under his hat to conceal his face.

When inside, it looked like they were just breaking for the mission to start. Sol took a moment to look around and it seemed about as he expected. Going by the sights and smells, there were actual drugs in play here. The choice to do so baffled him some. This stuff was usually supposed to be disposed of, not to be played with for a mission designed to capture one person. But people who turned to drugs for their problems needed to be locked up with little to no help…A topic for another time.

In the moment, there were many more people involved for him to do what he was going to do initially. His eyes went to the heroes involved, nodding in passing to Piranha Boy who seemed to be taking charge of the mission. Two of which, Sol recognized. His lips pursed under his mask, knowing immediately one of them would present an issue if he didn’t address it quickly. So, as the group moved into whatever positions in anticipation, Solomon followed her. He kept his voice low but spoke up as he neared her.

“Ren. Quick, I have to talk to you.”

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Like a shark to blood, Sophie could sense his discomfort from a mile off. There was something to be said for a boy who had the confidence to point a sword at her face, but who also turned beet red at just the touch of her arm. It was sweet, in its own way; though she'd be lying if she said that the whole debacle with the sword wasn't kind of hot in the first place. Not that she would ever admit to that, of course.

Miles' joke, poorly delivered though it was, earned a sweet, girlish giggle from her, one that was perhaps a little bit louder than the remark warranted. At the very least, he'd smiled at her, which she decided to call a small victory. "I don't think I'd look cute with just one eye," she replied, lips curled into a kittenish simper. "Or a wooden leg, for that matter."

Though she could have kept up the flirtatious banter through next week, it all ground to a halt the moment Miles started raving about the book in her lap. She'd expected a few polite questions, and was even prepared for the inevitable small talk, but he was speaking so excitedly she almost couldn't keep up. Finding someone else who'd not just read Neverwhere, but knew of its origin and context, was a rare treat she didn't often have the chance to indulge in. Her smile turned into something more genuine, and she turned to lean against the wall--a move that afforded him a smidge of breathing room. "Would you believe me if I told you I have a VHS set of the original TV series? It's still in the casing and everything." Sophie reached out with a soft, perfectly manicured hand to shake his. "I'm Amplify. But you can just call me Sophie."

Just then, a loud, boisterous laugh cut through their pleasantries. Sophie turned her head to stare down the perpetrator, cocking it to one side and flashing an insincere grin. "I'm sorry you feel left out," she remarked, sarcasm dripping with each word. "The retirement home's coming up at the next stop. You could get off there and find some other old bag to inflict yourself on." It mattered not that Blitz was only twenty-eight; what mattered was that he was very nearly thirty, and to a girl at the tail end of her teenage years, thirty might as well be eighty.

Serpentine eyes shifted from one event to the next, following along what was transpiring as Nico stood in silence, observing his teammates and their antics. From the loud, demanding expressions by Blitz, to Dhampir’s flustered ramblings, and a peculiar new arrival’s more sultry approach, Viper mulled over the social etiquette presented in a scenario such as this. Never had Nico found himself in what others would consider a ‘friend group’, and though this rag-tag community of heroes were slightly less than acquaintances, the serpentine mutant would be lying if he claimed not to enjoy the banter to some extent.

’Snakey’, a term catching the Viper off guard, his attention shifting towards Blitz. A giant man, by every measure, one who quite clearly managed an intimidating presence without even trying to accomplish the feat. In complete opposition to this, Nico was diminutive, a clear effect of his mutant body. A scrawny creature, short and ‘exotic’, as some would call him. However, it did come as a slight surprise that Blitz recalled Nico outside his suit. With tactical wear donned, there were very few indicators towards his nature as a snake-like being.

With a slight chuckle, the youthful old man offered a shake of his head, ”I’d sooner hand someone a forbidden apple, than attend a date in this,” came a response to Blitz’ joke. It was clear that Nico didn’t mind shedding light on his serpentine nature, and went as far as to compare himself to a particular snake in religious scripture. Despite his otherwise serious exterior, Viper enjoyed camaraderie, and far be it for him to take offense. The creature was difficult to taunt, clearly.

Nico had, in fact, been on dates. Indeed, perhaps an unexpected development, but following his retirement, the snake attempted to delve into what others considered a somewhat normal life. Needless to say, those moments of fateful leaping ended in little more than awkwardness. Nico was not built for dates, by any stretch of the imagination, and he was not naive. He was well aware that the attraction some had towards him was more akin to a fascination than actual desire.

Turning his attention towards Amplify, or Sophie, Viper paused. Again, a joke managed to pull forth another chuckle from him. If only she knew how old a certain member of their immediate company was. ”I hear some of the nurses are pretty to look at. It might be a win,” Nico finished. They would need to get back to the assignment soon, but sharing a few words between colleagues likely wouldn’t jeopardize the mission.

---

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Guardian Angel was a useful little gadget. Round and around she went. No one seemed to notice the quiet little drone, the pitch black paint blending in perfectly with the dark purple overcast Castleburg night.

There were about ten people in the warehouse. A little more than half of them were dressed up as workers, going to and fro and fiddling with things. The remaining few were probably muscle, dressed up in more casual street clothes. More metahumans, maybe? If there was one constant in this world, it was that metahumans didn't like uniforms. They always wanted to stand out, at least a little bit. Retain their individuality. Clearly they've never participated in a Black Bloc protest. Penny has. Her first "costume" was just an outfit she had worn to a counterprotest.

Hopefully, they weren't all metahumans. Or at least, they weren't metahumans with impressive powers. Anyone above a C-tier usually isn't just standing around on guard duty all day long. Even if they were above C, the element of surprise was the great equalizer. The vast majority of powers relied on line of sight and being aware of your target. Stealth attacks were the weakness of many, many superpowers. Almost all of them.

And since there were explosive, and possibly valuable chemicals in the lab, she wouldn't have to worry too much about AoE attacks. If she did, then, well, it was more likely they would blow themselves up before they blew her up.

There. Guardian Angel spotted it's secondary target. A breaker box on the outside of the building, unguarded. The drone flew back to her and was placed back into its box, job done for now. Attaching her scythe to the roof, Vengeance repelled down using its chain. She hopped off and broke open the steel boxes with her other bladed weapon. Sheathing that, she produced her right, electric baton, and flicked it on. Once she did this, they'd know something was up.

She held onto the chain with one hand. With a series of deep clunks, she flicked all the levers from one end to the other. All the lights in the warehouse went out one by one. Now, she reached for her baton. The weapon crackled to life, and she slammed it into the circuit breaker. No stopping it now.

(Darkness falls.)

The Vengeance Armor was resistant to electricity, but she wasn't worried about that. Her muscles did twitch slightly, but she shook it off as she disconnected.

Now that those inside the warehouse were submerged in darkness, it was time for the vigilante to strike. Tapping a button on the side of her mask, lenses appeared over her eyes, completing the air-tight seal over her face. She ascended up the side of the building and dashed into the vents. Crawling at high speed she maneuvered into the building itself, peaking down through grates into the warehouse below.

The main air ducts were easy enough to crawl through, but there were several off shoots that only air was supposed to travel through. She could hear whirring fans and feel the pull of the current.

(Something's in the air tonight.)

Confident that the filters built into her mask would hold, Shadow Scythe Vengeace began deploying her chemical warfare. From below, people would see dark grey smoke clouds began to billow out of the ventiation system. Vision obscuring clouds, making the darkened high areas of the warehouse borderline impossible to see through. As quietly as she could, Scythe used her steel-slicing blade to cut through one vent in particular, when she was sure no one was looking at it. If people were using flash lights to compensate, that essentially offered her a free view of the drug dealers' cone of vision.

Once through the vent, she used her scythes and her impressive upper body strength to not drop directly down, but instead stick her scythes into the steel and climb up and around to the top of the lowered duct. There she leaped to a nearby rafter. Night vision guided her way from steel beam to steal beam. Like a rat in the attic she hopped around, gauging the situation.

From her advantaged position, she produced one of her bolas. That high-durability and flexibility fibre, ended with two heavy metal spheres. She raised them, twirled them around her head to build speed, and threw them full force at the person she thought was most out of position. The man who seemed to be in charge, with the marine head and gills. If it hit, it would wrap around his upper body, smack into him and knock him over to the ground.

(Let the hunt begin!)

---

The woman in front of Travis seemed to finally register that he was in the car with her, an eye peering open to look at the young man. Her expression didn't seem to change in response to his presence - or, at least not in a way that Travis could recognize. She looked like she was only a few years older than him, making her apathetic attitude a little weird. Maybe she was just really used to this kind of mission like Travis thought.

When she said his name, he was visibly shocked and nearly missed the snide comment. Unlike Pandora, Travis clearly did not read the profiles of the other Heroes on the train. Hell, he didn't even know that was an option - he had mostly stuck to either solo missions, or large 'clean ups', neither of which warranted learning about whoever he was working with. Travis thought briefly about asking how the woman knew his name but decided to just slide past it. It made sense that someone would look into who they're going on a mission with.

"Glad to hear, I have a pot roast waiting for me when we're done. Bit optimistic cleanup time though, I'd think that rockets would leave a bigger mess."

Despite the serious tone of her voice, Travis assumed that Pandora's comment was a joke, and responded in kind. Though, if this lady could see the future, that would explain how she knew his name...

Before he could pursue this asinine line of thinking any further, another person entered the car. Travis didn't see her walk past him towards the storage room, but considering he was coughing and had smoke in his eyes, he realized he must have not even seen her.

Marcie seemed to have been like the other woman in the car, choosing civilian clothes for this mission... Then again, Travis didn't have a costume and was also in his regular wardrobe, so he couldn't really bash her for that. Marcie definitely seemed a lot mousier than the people that Travis was used to dealing with though. She awkwardly asked if she could sit down, and Pandora permitted it a few seconds later, Travis nodding in agreement for no reason.

A few seconds of silence passed as everyone got seated, and Travis started to get nervous. When he first walked in, the lady in here was just sitting with her eyes closed - and Marcie didn't exactly strike him as a conversationalist. Was he going to have to sit still and do nothing for however long it too for the Rocketeers to show up? Hell, the Rocketeers might not even show up - If they know about the Hero presence on the train and are smart, they would probably just let it go. Then Travis would have to sit in silence for who knows how-

"You two ever play a game called Twenty-One? You might know it as Blackjack."

Thank god, that would at least make things move by quicker. This lady was probably cooler than he gave her credit at first. She retrieved a deck of cards from her bag and pulled a small table out the side of the car (weird, the car that Travis was in earlier didn't have any tables). She then began to shuffle the cards with ridiculous deftness, explaining the rules to the game as she did so. Travis kind of blanked out as she talked, focusing on her cool tricks instead - she was either a master at sleight of hand, or her power let her mess with cards.

Travis wasn't really sure how someone with card tricks could fight crime, but this lady seemed pretty cool, so no sense in being a dick about it. Hell, his friend Bomber kept talking about some chick that fought crimes without powers and posted videos of it online, so she could always just be a badass or something.

Travis leaned closer to the table, thankful to have something to distract himself with.

"Oh I'm happy to join in, I do get bored easy! We're not putting cash up though, right? I'm pretty trash at card games."

It was true - Kat and Bomber kicked his ass every time they played cards, though the latter did it mostly by counting cards. Noticing Marcie in his peripheral vision, Travis realized that he never really responded to her introduction.

"Oh Marcie, I forgot to give you my name - sorry about that. I'm Travis."

Leaning back to the table, Travis spoke to both Pandora and Marcie.

"You guys do anything cool lately? My friend Scales took me to Castleburg Aquarium yesterday and we saw some weird-ass fish."

Travis loved pointless nothing questions like that - it padded out conversations when he had no idea what to really talk about. Throw a couple of those out, and eventually, someone either gives up and humors him, or snaps at him to shut the hell up. Or in this case, a band of jetpack pirates interrupts their blackjack game.

Anything was fine by him, honestly. Travis hated the silence more than anything else.

"Lame huh?" Jeremy asked, taking a moment to look over the kids. "Well, you might be right about that. I am just some strange old man Principal Lee called in hoping I'd preach to you about the virtues of heroism and all that, so I can see why you'd think that. Of course, I can think of lamer things in the world. Things like, say, thinking smoking and drinking makes you look cool, when really it just makes you look like you're trying far too hard."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Of course, if you're ok with looking like me by the time you're fifty, drink away! I'd be glad to have the company!"

"O-ooooh, what? Nooo, don't say that, you don-... you don't look that old Mr Stray..."

"You know Gray, I'm glad you're trying to lie about it for me, but the fact that you're having such a hard time with it really just makes it worse."

"Really? I see... Interesting..." Grayham said, pulling a notepad out of his bag and writing the words LYING = BAD, circling it a few times to make sure he wouldn't miss it next time. He sent Jeremy a thumbs up when he finished, and the old man turned back to the four kids in the bubble.

"Anyway, while I know you probably won't care about anything I can really say, there are a couple of questions I'd like to ask you all. The first is whether or not you've ever killed someone before? Murdered a person in cold blood? And if the answer to that one is no, do you want to?"

---

RENDER // BLUR RABBIT

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Nilin found herself nodding her head gently, halfway paying attention to the babbling introduction of the other hero as she carefully tried to be inconspicuous about pulling out her earbuds, having realized her mistake about asking a question with them in. Normally, she would have just lip read to understand what someone else was saying but in this case that was far more difficult for obvious reasons. By the time she had rectified the music situation, she was already frowning behind her mask and displeased with the current turn of events. If the suggestion or more like warning about sampling anything in the lab wasn’t enough to irritate her for assuming she would, then the mere fact that she had been ditched by her supposed teammates was enough to do the trick. She had to put her faith and trust into her teammates more than anyone else but right now, she was feeling let down before it even began. What if they didn’t show up? Sure, this time would be fine since she had enough confidence in her fighting ability to keep up with SSV but what if this had been for a meta human capture? She wouldn’t have been able to really put up a fight against that depending on the powers they possessed.

She opened her mouth to respond to Piranha Boy but the words died on her lips as she felt two more power signatures enter the area, both practically screaming at her since she had nothing to tune them out after such a sudden appearance. Nilin felt frozen in place, feeling that all too familiar link being formed and instantly going a bit pale as she had to wonder what in god's name she had just copied while their vigilante had been spotted. It didn’t seem like she would have time to disconnect either so it appeared she would be rolling with the punches and pray she got lucky enough that the random roulette worked in her favor. She took a deep breath, ready to focus when she was thrown off kilter by a soothing masucline voice ringing out in a friendly greeting with no apology she might add which caused her to turn around to glance at the first teammate approaching and apparently the one she had ended up linking with.

He was definitely attractive, though in all honesty, that wasn’t the most surprising fact with the track record for HERO but she could go as far to say that this man was particularly striking. It would be easy to get lost in those unique amethyst eyes that were currently sparkling with mirth from a laugh not moments ago. The long wild blue tresses were dazzling against the ivory of his skin as well as complimented the color of his eyes but she did wonder if it was natural or not as it might give her some kind of indication on which power he had. Either way, she linked her fingers together behind her back, trying to keep a professional appearance and not say something she might regret. Besides, she was not one to swoon over a pretty face since what really mattered was the person underneath so Nilin decided to write him off, grateful that at least one teammate had arrived and ready to put her full attention back into the mission when she was thrown through a loop again. She thought he was trying to give an explanation to why he was late, leading into an apology of some sort but nope, instead she was looking at him with a raised eyebrow as he held out her favorite soda while giving her a charming smile.

’Is he for real?’, she thought, not able to do anything but stare while being extremely thankful for the mask blocking most of her expression. She should have probably felt flattered to be thought of, let alone offered the beverage but she felt awkward and flustered. ’Is he some kind of stalker or something? Or am I being pranked? No one just out right guesses someone’s favorite flavored soda right away, do they? Is he just trying to be nice or make me forgive him?’, she questioned herself, her brows furrowing at what she viewed as an odd turn of events. Nilin was pulled from the mini internal questioning as her teammate looked up, making her gaze naturally follow suit as she was back on mission mode. She could sense the drink being held out to her still, having trouble ignoring it since she was not one to be rude or refuse a peaceful gesture so she took the can while her eyes never left the vent above. ”Thank you.”, she said in a soft voice before her free hand went to the mask, removing it and cracking open the can and taking a sip with a soft hum of approval. She planned on waiting a bit longer before moving to a better position.

He almost made her roll her eyes at him or facepalm at the way he commented on the vigilante’s arrival when a new voice cut in to save her. It seemed that maybe it wouldn’t be just the two of them on a mission after all. The enthusiasm of the girl before her already had a gentle smile on her lips. The woman instantly was what she would call the cute category, personality wise and physically. Her cheeks dapples with freckles that refused to be hidden, showing even more prominently because of her smile. The poof of her hair reminded her of cotton candy or clouds, the tipped bleach blond standing out brightly against the deep chocolate that was her natural hair color. It was definitely much more styled than her own hair which was almost always down, maybe a messy bun or ponytail now and then. For some reason, this girl seemed familiar to her though but in all honesty, she had no idea why since she was sure they had never met. This is gonna bug me later, I just know it. Maybe I’ve heard about her somewhere?’ , she thought. Nilin decided with both of them that ‘better late than never’ was the way to go and move past it to get to what was really important at this moment, the mission. ”I’m glad you are both here but I think we should get into position. Nothing like the element of surprise after all!”, she smiled, taking another sip of her drink before sliding into the crowd of interns and trying to find a good placement for herself before SSV grand entrance.

“Ren. Quick, I have to talk to you.”

”Sol? What’s going on? Is something wrong?”, she asked curiously, a hint of worry etched into the tone of her voice. Nilin hadn’t expected him to be here and while she felt silly for having tuned out his presence so easily, it was a relief to have a familiar face out of a group of heroes she didn’t know.

Solomon’s eyes kept moving under the mask to ensure the distance between them and the others. He seemed to be in anticipation of the ‘target’s’ arrival. ”There’s more to this than what meets the eye…but, I want to ask two things of you: One, and I know it’s counter-intuitive, don’t lock up the target. I’ll handle her, which leads into the second thing; which is to keep my presence on this mission under wraps. HERO doesn’t know I’m here, and I’d prefer to keep it that way.”

His silver eyes finally settled on the purple haired girl, settling a gloved hand on her shoulder. ”I’ll explain better when I have more time…”

The gloved hand on her shoulder did little to settle her nerves on the subject, teeth biting the inside of her lip as she mulled over what he had said. Let her go? Yeah, very counterintuitive indeed. The whole point was to capture her so that HERO could handle the situation. It would be the best option for everyone involved, right? The debate she had with herself earlier and now this on top of it made her doubt if that was true though. He was taking a huge risk with this and ultimately asking her to lie or at the very least omit the truth in his favor. Nilin sighed, her shoulders drooping slightly in defeat and praying she was about to make the right choice. ”Alright, but you owe me one and I expect that explanation later.” she answered, pausing only a moment before continuing. ”Don’t make me regret this, okay?”

Solomon’s tense form seemed to ease with her agreement, even so far as an exhale being audible. He didn’t want to have to face her on top of whatever HERO had in store. If he was honest, he didn’t want to do any of this, but he had to. They needed SSV. The young man let go of her shoulder and was soon to say something else but that was when something caught his eye. As smoke started to filter into the room subtly, he nudged her.

”I appreciate this, regardless of what happens.” Was all he added before heading off to pace past the interns, pretending to supervise.

”Yeah, yeah. What are friends for?”, Nilin shrugged and waved it off as nothing though she was still nervous and on edge. She only had a moment to watch him head off before darkness fell over the area with only little flames from the burners to be shown. She could hear people frantically working to grab flashlights or find out what was going on but she was working to slip on the mask she had acquired earlier, suddenly feeling lucky that she had grabbed it. Who was to say SSV would use something to further shroud herself from view in anticipation of them trying to use light. She reached behind her, shoving the over shirt aside as she pulled out her weapon and let it hang at her side in a strong grip as she moved slowly, keeping a defensive stance. Nilin would keep her promise and try not to capture SSV. She knew how to act the part and possibly under the veil of darkness, she could help with the situation a bit without being caught or blamed for doing so. ’Let the party begin…, she thought.

BLITZ

Mission Assignment: On Cloud Nine
Location: N-Train

Blitz barely had time to breath before Sophie's retirement home jab combined with Assassin's Creed Man's riposte punched the air out of Quinton's lungs with laughter. Vampy and Disney Princess spoke about something called a 'V.H..S', but Blitz could barely remember what a DVD was, let alone a VHS. It took him multiple seconds to regain his composure, wiping away a few tears, before Vampy actually went for the date request, Quinton could feel another fit of laughter coming on. However, it was cut short by the train decelerating fast as fuck, causing Blitz to crash into the wall of the storage car, denting it at least a few inches. "Oof... Looks like the party's just about to get started, boys."

The conductor's screens didn't really phase the giant, and Vampy's insistence upon immediately moving to help the other people in the storage car surprised Blitz. Surely, their charge was more important? A nuke could kill millions, there could only be at most a small handful of people on the train. Considering that, Blitz clapped his hands in response to Vampy's 'command', sarcastically jibing, "You got it, boss."

A few moments later, the thump of the vampire boy hitting the wall resonated in the car, to which Quinton muttered, "Damn. Wonder how tough he is." His attention was soon pulled to the laser rapidly cutting a doorway in the wall of the car, the metal promptly clanging to the ground.

The four armored pirates were greeted by the lumbering hulk of Blitz, who positioned himself directly between the pirates and their loot. Quinton smiled and casually curled his hands into fists whilst cocking his head to the side, growling, "I wonder if you guys recognize me, cause this is your one chance to surrender without me breaking half your bones."

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Location: "Innocuous" Warehouse

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Truth be told, Leon was pretty irritated. He shows up bearing a gift, and all they can muster is a 'Thank you'? He could also tell they couldn't recognize him. Sheesh. Well, it was fine; though he was upset, there was no way he could muster ill intent towards this girl. At least not for something that petty. Between the gentle meekness behind her voice and how adorably nerdy she came off as, she was being firmly written down in his mind. He'd definitely have to catch her name after this madness is said and done....And possibly a number.

Then the new girl rolled in.

She, uh....Certainly had a style about her. Leon practically had to avert his gaze for the first few seconds, it was so violently....What was a nice way to put it....Outgoing? Sure, he could appreciate some effort in dressing for the occasion, but the glitter....He felt like he needed a vacuum. Still, now wasn't the time to question fashion choices though perhaps later.

Much to Leon's chagrin, however, as he was about to respond to the heroine's suggestion for them to get battle-ready, their attention was stolen away. Damn... That left him with sparkles here. Oh well, what was it dad always said? Work with what you got...? He turned his attention over to her, giving a small albeit somewhat forced chuckle to her proclamation of them being 'party people'. In his case it wasn't far off, but Leon could imagine just how inaccurate it was towards her fellow heroine. Regardless....

"Well then, I believe it's showtime. Hope you're ready, sparkles." He says with a sly smile, cheeky charm spilling out from him. As if on cue to his words, darkness struck the warehouse. Unbelievably, even in the inky black that descended upon them, he could still see the damn glitter....Taking his eyes off that, he hastily pulled out his phone, turning on its flashlight function; like that, a beam of stark light cut through the shadows....And, lo and behold, landed right on the perched vigilante above. He couldn't hide the smirk that hit his face as he snapped for his gleaming companion's attention.

"Target's there. Don't suppose you've got some ranged firepower?" There was always the chance he was wrong, but....Something told him his hunch was on the money here. With her stealthy approach effectively stunted, as long as this girl was packing something with a bit of kick on it, this was as good as cinched. That paycheck'll make for a nice buffet visit afterwards....

@Akayaofthemoon@Hitman@Mintz@DClassified

Mission: A Dish Best Served Cold
Location: ”Innocuous” Warehouse

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As Beth was getting ready to go to her post, a another hero join the group, who kinda look like a samurai, maybe something to do with the trucker cap, do samurai wear trucker cap? Doesn't matter, at least there is a new person on the team. "Hey there! You kinda late for the party huh? But don't worry, you didn't miss out much. My name is-" The new hero walk pass Beth before she get to say her hero name, she watch as he talks to a another hero, leaving Beth in the dark ".....Ok. Talk later then..._{Don't have to ghost me though..."} Beth awkwardly say as she went to her post.

Beth and the other heroes hear commotion from the other side, it looks like their vigilante is here. When the hunk tell Beth that he's hope that she's ready, she can't help but to smile to her nickname and her confidence. This is it, this is her moment, her hero moment "You know I'm ready" The hunk then flash a light to the vigilante, who kinda look like a mix of batman and catwoman from those old books. "Well, let's just hope I hit one" With that being said, Beth hand starting to glow and blast firework at the shadow vigilante.

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"Mmno, no cash." Pandora responded, dealing out the cards to Marcie and Travis. Even if the quiet girl hadn't responded, the older woman was dealing her in anyway.

"The aquarium, eh? I've seen some mighty strange marine life. Once, I saw the kraken tear a ship apart in the north Atlantic ocean." Pandora said. "Terrible thing. Those poor sailors. Our ship managed to escape, but I wouldn't be surprised if that creature was still lurking beneath the depths. Twice as big as a whale."

They didn't get very far into their card game before the pirates attack.

"Oh, jolly good." The cards were removed from the hands of whoever was holding them and moved quietly back into the card box. "Well. If you were worried about being bored, tonight's guests are going to need to be entertained." She indicated the adjacent train car.

Blitz and Dhampir barelled onwards to confront the invaders who had loudly announced their presence.

"Travis. Marcie." Pandora nodded to the both of them. "You'd better not keep them waiting. I'm sure you'll do fine. Failing that, I'm sure you'll at least survive." The woman had one leg crossed over the other, and made absolutely no movements to move from her seat whatsoever.

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"...What the fuck?" Penny murmered under her mask to herself, briefly breaking character. What were they doing? Why were they acting so weird?

Penny Lu might not be the smartest of the smarts, but she did have what apparently nobody planning this entire operation did: experience. Criminals didn't act like this. Sure they could be scared of her, but not like...whatever this was.

Before she could fully contemplate the situation, a little flashlight cut through some of the smoke and illuminated her silhouette. A bit of bad luck, but Shadow Scythe Vengeance turned it into an opportunity. in an impressive bit of sleight of hand she placed a smoke pellet underneath her shoe.

From her pouch she produced a Stink Bomb, or rather, a Gas Bomb. The chemicals inside, designed by a reformed supervillain, were a nasty concoction. Weaponized and re-themed not to just smell really bad, to assault and stupifiy the senses. Like modified skunk bear extract and tear gas. With the other hand, she flung a scythe attached to a chain like a grappling hook. It wrapped around the center supporting beam of the warehouse rafters.

"VILLAINS!" Shadow Scythe Vengeance declared, her voice deep and amplified. Now the light from Leo's phone wasn't a nuisance, but rather a dramatic spot light. Her shadow was enlarged, and painted upon the billowing grey smoke behind her. The beady eyes of her lenses, deep-set within her mask skull, glittered menacingly.

"For too long, you have poisoned the good people of Brookside. It ends tonight!" Truly, she was the reaper-esque visage of vengeance, staring down upon all of them with judgemental intnet.

"This is your one and only warning. Surrender now, and you will not be harmed. If you resist..." She lifted her grenade hand and raised her index finger on all of them. She indicated everyone in the room. "...then prepare for a long, dark night."

At that moment, one woman fired some kind of flaming projectile in her direction. In reaction, the put pressure on the pellet and broke it, creating another burst of smoke in her immediate area. Scythe hopped backwards off the rafter. The tension in her grappling hook kept her suspended a few feet below it. Flicking her thumb, she primed the Gas Bomb and flung it through the smoke at Beth. Someone who could both attack her at range and create consistent light would be a problem.

Should the gas bomb go off and it's particulates inhaled or come in contact with the face, the effects would be painful. Like getting pepper sprayed and suffocated at the same time. Scythe pulled herself up and hopped right back onto the rafter and once again began moving about in the smokey darkness above the warehouse.

---

Lucian had to blink for a moment, even if it was hidden by his mask. Was...was Principal Lee being sarcast-...no, she would have the right to he figured. If anyone. Every day. Mmm. Better to not think about it any harder than he was doing so already. However, the younger hero did let out a small and very quiet 'tch' under his breath all the same before heading in with the others to meet the troublemakers. It wouldn't be too much of a trip to get there either, though they ended up being left there in a hurry as Principal Lee just up and bolted.

Sure the kids were in a bubble, but he wasn't taking chances either. Vibration Manipulation, Pyro-and-Electro-kinesis, and then the most worrisome gravity manipulation. A joy. Stray seemed to go about chatting to them first as well, though the older man's new protégé seemed to be a tad more naïve than he'd seemed in the first place. Lucian himself just stood back for a minute with crossed arms, leaning against a wall as he looked the kids over from the depths of his mask. Analysis of the targets, basically, was the name of the game. Keeping an eye in case things could, or would, go wrong.

Was a sense of deja-vu to him in some manner as he looked them over, though he couldn't help but smirk after a particular thought hit his mind. Maybe? Maybe. Either way was worth a shot. Thus as soon as Stray was done speaking, Lucian himself briefly piped up at the kids.

"Just gonna' ask too, but did you guys at least get somethin' 'good' before they grabbed ya' up? Or at least stuck a guy to the ceilin' or somethin'?" the younger man said casually, giving a small tilt of the head and a shrug before re-crossing his arms.

He wasn't acting, even if he was still keeping a careful and disciplined eye on them (and the smoke at the top of the bubble for that matter) from under his rather concealing mask. He frankly didn't give a crap what they did in response for the most part. He was just falling back into a bit of his old Brookside self for a second, really, wanting to curiously see if they at least made the stupid spree worth it. Then again it was just alcohol and smokes, and they'd maybe just smarm back or something.

Either way it 'maybe' got them to do something...and tested the idea he was trying to formulate. No offense to his old teacher of course. A little prod to see what they'd say or do at least, if anything.

Gematria crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at Blaze, letting out a "Hmph!" from her speakers before turning her attention to Principal Lee. From the lost of delinquents, she was concerned with Michelle the most, as she had no idea what electrokinetic superhumans could do to her. Still, she wasn't about to let that stop her form doing her job as a Hero, and she followed the group to the classroom with the expected delinquents. Gematria took a look around the Academy, taking particular note of how well fortified the buildings were. It made sense, considering this was a place meant to contain rowdy superhumans.

Upon arrival, it seemed that the delinquents were uninterested in the Hero group. Gematria wasn't sure what to think of them either. Her school life wasn't exactly the most social. However, there was precious little time to react to first impressions as Stray began asking them about the act of killing. Gematria visibly recoiled from Stray's seemingly out-of-the-blue questions, shocked that he would bring such a topic up. Already her mind raced as to why he would do so. Perhaps he wanted to teach them the horrors of life, or maybe he was planning to assert dominance through his vast wisdom and experience. Whatever the case, Gematria thought it was an extreme approach.

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Blaze nodded at Principal Lee’s words – in acknowledgment, not necessarily agreement. She considered the kid’s abilities; with their set, she could see how they’d prove troublesome. Of course, a lot depended on the extent of their power and finesse. But unlike Strain had worried, she wasn’t going to underestimate them just because they were younger. She knew that’s how she used to get away with a lot of shit, after all.

She trekked along the principal, and raised both brows at the classroom the delinquent quartet was staying silently in. “I thought they weren’t supposed to be locked up?” she asked the principal rhetorically, with an edge of sarcasm. She knew it was not a bad idea to keep them segregated like this, or else who knew what they’d get up to. She did wonder though if they, as the supervisory heroes, could let them out a bit for some fun – unfortunately, the principal left before Blaze could ask her about it. Well, that just meant asking for forgiveness later if they did something they weren’t supposed to.

When the one and only kid spoke, she scoffed. “What’s lame’s your dead-fish impression,” she retorted. Blaze didn’t get chance to say anymore as the old man began his old man speech. She blinked at him slowly, wondering which book he was pulling those things from. He was going for the shock value, that much was obvious, but weren’t his words standard fare when it came to lecturing? She at least had heard plenty similar before, and it’d never stopped her antics. She doubted these kids would be affected either, but then again, maybe they just weren’t as tough? She glanced back at the teenagers to see how they were taking it.

She was momentarily surprised out of her observation by the muscly blonde. He, out of all the people, was the one to start the line of questioning of how much fun the kids had had with their crime. Given his introduction, this was just about the last thing she’d expected of him. So, she quirked a teasing smile at him, and commented, “Ho? Tryin’a get some free samples, hm?” With a small chuckle, she shook her head, and turned back to their charges. “But, yeah, what he said. Did’ya even get to do much before they grabbed ya?”

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Sophie blinked, feeling caught off guard. Usually, people's eyes glazed over by the time she got to VHS tapes. "Oh, well, I don't know about valuable. Honestly, most people don't even know what VHS tapes are." She turned the book over in her lap, before setting it aside. "I have an adapter for my TV, if you're actually interested."

Just then, the unexpected happened: Viper joined in with a quick remark of his own. Pointed as the jab was, Sophie hadn't expected him to pile on with her. Even the soft chuckles were a surprise--though, in his defense, she'd never met him before. She turned to him with a wide grin, and could not help the girlish giggle that escaped her. "Looking at them is exactly as far as he'll get." In the back of her mind, she wondered if she was being harsh. But then, Blitz's unwanted commentary more or less warranted some retaliation. Moreover, he seemed like the type to let comments like that roll right off his back; at the very least, he would probably try and strike back.

Her train of thought was interrupted, however; Miles' stammering had returned with a vengeance, and it was apparently directed at her. She turned a wide-eyed stare his way, anticipating his next words closely. Surely he wasn't that bold-

BOOM!

As Miles tumbled over her, Sophie only just managed to grab hold of the railing and keep herself on the floor. The back of her head slammed against the wall, sending shockwaves of pain shooting through her skull. She hardly had a moment to recover as her mind caught up with the clamor coming from the front train cars: the pirates were here. Spots clouded her vision, and before she knew it, Miles and Blitz were already racing off to face them. Blood trickled down the back of her neck as she forced herself onto her feet, and stumbled out the door.

As if she was going to let those two show her up.

Her power surged through her like static. It willed her forward as she sprinted through the train cars, leaping over debris and disoriented passengers. "Stay here! Block the windows and stay under your seats!" she shouted, pausing only to direct people away from the doors. By the time she caught up with Blitz and Dhampir, the latter of the two was against the wall with a sonic blaster pointed at his face. Only then did Sophie realize her error: in the time it would take the pirate to pull the trigger, there was no way she could remove her gun from its holster, load a round in the chamber, turn off the safety, aim, and fire. So, she resorted to the next best thing.

The next best thing, of course, being a strength-enhanced bull charge straight toward the man. Which is precisely what she did.

---

"The aquarium, eh? I've seen some mighty strange marine life. Once, I saw the Kraken tear a ship apart in the north Atlantic ocean. Terrible thing. Those poor sailors. Our ship managed to escape, but I wouldn't be surprised if that creature was still lurking beneath the depths. Twice as big as a whale."

Travis nodded his head as he listened to the story, picking up cards as they were dealt to him. He had been on a little fishing boat before with his friend Scales, so he could believe that a squid sank a boat. Of course, Travis didn't know that Pandora was probably remembering an event that occurred decades ago, or even a hundred or two years ago, and the ship was most certainly not a small fishing boat.

"Sound scary. I'll keep that in mind if I'm ever traveling the Atlantic."

The conversation, along with the game, stopped pretty quickly after that. Almost as soon as the cards had been dealt and the game was starting, an explosion sounded nearby, and the train silently began to stop, causing numerous free objects to clatter about the car.

This included anyone not buckled in, and Travis somehow managed to hit his head against the wall behind him. The wood exterior cracked with the force, but the damage to the car was superficial at best. And it wasn't even that for Travis - the sound of the impact was far more uncomfortable than the actual 'injury', causing Travis to wince slightly. Not even damaging enough to activate his power. Pandora grabbed the cards in Travis's hand quickly, silently returning them to their case before leaning back into her seat, seemingly undisturbed from the sudden halt of the train.

Grumbling slightly, Travis briefly forgot what could have caused the explosion. It wasn't until Pandora spoke up again about their 'guests' that he remembered - oh yeah, he's here to fight pirates and protect the Thorium, not to play card games. The thought quickly brightened his mood, and Travis climbed to his feet just as the train began to fully stop. Quickly after that, two heroes from the rear storage car entered, running to the point the explosion from earlier sounded.

Normally, Travis would immediately join them - not only would he get to show off in front of other heroes, but it would also be a good chance to save some civilians and look even cooler. Maybe get a medal or something!

...But Travis honestly had no clue how many heroes were actually in the Storage room with the Thorium. He only really remembered the big guy that had blown smoke in his face - for all he knew, the safe was completely undefended!

Travis didn't really care about saving civilians in the first place - the only reason he'd even want to is because they would thank him for it. But if he helped keep the Thorium safe and beat up some pirates... then everyone would totally think he was super reliable, right?

Maybe Alexandra Director Steele would even respond to his email about instituting 'Free Ice Cream Fridays' on the Paladin!

"You'd better not keep them waiting. I'm sure you'll do fine. Failing that, I'm sure you'll at least survive."

"Surviving is pretty good at least. Nice meeting you guys - I owe you two a game of blackjack later."

Despite some strange sounds coming from the adjacent car, Travis immediately began running to the back of the train. Worst case scenario, he would end up getting ignored and have to sit out the entire fight... which would really suck, actually...

At least he wouldn't be the only one - Pandora didn't seem eager to get into a brawl, considering she hadn't even moved from her seat. Maybe she just had some really long-range power? Travis didn't really think to ask before leaving.

Thankfully, it was too late for Travis to reconsider doubling back - he was already running at full speed to the back of the train, and after passing a few cars, managed to burst through the door. The lingering scent of strawberry smoke was still thick in the air, but thankfully it was fading quickly now that the source was gone. Travis could probably handle it... Well, he'd actually have to, since he noticed that a hole had already been carved out of the storage car, and pirates were already beginning to storm in.

Perfect! Travis's plan had worked! Now he just needed to beat up a dozen or two pirates, all of whom were armed, and could probably just fly away with their jetpacks and shoot him with their weird rifles...

Okay, it might have been a bit optimistic now that he was thinking about it. Maybe he could bluff though! What would Scales say in a situation like this...

"Alright, good job guys. I'll give you guys one chance to sur-"

A sonic blast ripped through the air, colliding with Travis's shoulder and sending him careening into the side of the car. A miss - they were probably trying to pop his head like a grape. Time seemed to slow as Travis slammed into the wall - the collision didn't hurt enough to build a resistance, but that sound shit was pretty crazy. Thankfully his arm wasn't broken. Would probably be bruised later, but he would heal it in an hour or two.

What mattered more was what began happening to Travis's body. Hairs sprouted from his injured shoulder radially, spiraling from the wound until they covered every inch of his body. Stiff bristles, more akin to small spines than actual hair. They were tightly packed, causing Travis to look more like some macabre pincushion. If someone missed them growing, they might think he had gotten a few thousand splinters somewhere during his landing.

3 seconds have passed. Travis got to his feet, seemingly unbothered by his now injured shoulder. He was right-handed anyways.

"That hurt, asshole."

Travis leaped forwards, yanking the wooden sword from his pant loop. The guy that initially shot him had been the one to carve out the hole - and as a result, the closest guy to smash over the head. He shot once more, but the second blast only paused Travis for a fraction of a second. The direct chest shot was even less damaging than the glancing blow from earlier, only causing a slight increase in the number of spines across his body. The shooter was rewarded with a powerful blow to the helmet - the armor might keep him up, but even the best helmet in the world wouldn't protect someone from what was a glorified baseball bat to the skull.

"I'm still walking, bitch! Woooooh!"

Travis was definitely out of his league - the fact he hit one of them so hard was really just blind luck and surprise. Considering the Rocketeers had access to his dossier, then they probably had some tranquilizers or gas to take him out.

Or, y'know, other guns. Gross roach spines sure as hell wouldn't stop a bullet, and a well-placed one could probably take Travis out before he could adapt.