More collab.
The receptionist looked up from her computer, giving Anthony a polite smile. "Ah, yes. Please, take a seat, sir." She gestured toward a small area with plush chairs and a few recent magazines. "I will let her know you have arrived." No one spoke to Ms. Waller directly, though. She simply sent an email to a restricted address, which signaled someone else that she'd never met, to send a message to the woman herself.
Within less than five minutes, four men in dark suits came out and looked toward Anthony. The tallest of them took the lead. "Mr. Luthor. We have instructions on where to escort you." They stood in a way that seemed to give Anthony polite personal space, but with two men on either side, one behind, and the last in front, he was more or less surrounded.
Connor sighed and waited. He wasn't happy about it, and would give Anthony only a limited amount of time before he went in there. If kijani was there, he would find her. He began to try and track the security system, to see if there were any traps or anything else to contend with
With a charming smile, Anthony nods and waits patiently as he's told. Anthony watches carefully as the men surround him. Although he had a pistol hidden inside his jacket, he wa well aware that he probably wouldn't be able to get off even a solitary shot before the men brought him down. If necessary, he'd unfortunately have to use his powers. Nevertheless, he allows himself to be lead by the brutes.
The four expressionless men in suits led Anthony outside, to what seemed to be an elegant waiting area. It was open air, but surrounded by trees. Fairly well blocked in by all sides. "We will wait for Ms. Waller here." They took up innocuous placements around the area and waited.
One of the suited men put a hand to his ear as he received a message. His hand went into his jacket, and he pulled out... a round device, almost like a tablet with no corners. "Mr. Luthor, Ms. Waller has a message for you." He set the device on the ground, and it turned on, revealing a small holographic image of Waller.
"...Anthony. What can I do for you?"
Anthony tilts his head in Waller's direction as he replies, "Good evening, Ms. Waller. I'm glad you've chosen to skip the pleasantries. I've brought another child that I think would be useful for you if you can convert him to your cause. You have heard of Graviton, I presume?"
Waller's voice held a detached impatience. "Please presume I know more than you ever will. The point, Anthony, get to it. My time is valuable and short. Are you saying you have acquired the scion of Graviton?"
Anthony sighs, "Ms. Waller, what other possible reason would I have to come here, especially after I helped you kidnap your granddaughter? Now, are you going to have these apes assist me in retrieving your gift from my car or do you want them to continue to stand here and scratch their asses?"
Waller smiled, but it was less of an expression of happiness than it was a smug, satisfied look. "Please, Anthony. Cursing is very uncouth. Mikhael." The main bodyguard snapped to attention. "You and the others accompany Anthony to his vehicle and retrieve his most generous gift. Anthony-" She nodded very slightly, then the line was cut.
The guard that had been named Mikhael looked down at Anthony. "We will escort you." He snapped off brisk instructions in Russian to the other three, who took up the same places around Anthony, before starting to go in the direction of the parking lot.
Connor stood waiting, arms crossed over. He was starting to think this was taking too long, right up until he saw the five figures. "Ignot, is one Anthony? I better not hurt him" He said.
It didn't take long for Ignot to reply. "There appear to be four guards, Sir, with Mr. Luther in the middle" Connor would one day have to re-program Ignot's system to stop calling him sir
"Ignot?"
"Yes Connor?" Programs had a mind of there own. Connor chuckled, and watched them come closer.
"Engage thrusters and weapons. Stun, not kill. I'd rather not have this reach the news"Connor said, and took to the sky, landing in front of the group, "You appear to have gotten yourself surrounded, Anthony" He said, as Ignot worked to scramble and communication devices they had.
The four men reacted with a second of surprise. The one in back started trying to send out an alarm signal to the rest of the building, but his device was scrambled. Mikhael pulled out a weapon from his coat, which appeared to be some sort of modified pistol. He started firing on Connor and Ingot without hesitation. If the bullets hit, they would loosen a taser-level jolt of electricity. The second man, who had white blonde hair, made a sharp gesture, and a sudden breeze picked up out of nowhere and soon became a gale force wind. The one who had been trying to send a message simply took off running. It wasn't cowardice- he headed back toward the building, obviously to get that message out personally.
Connor let Ignot follow what the men were doing. It enabled him to study them himself, and he saw that the one had the ability to control the wind. He moved quickly, going into the air as the other started firing at him, a good thing through the last few months was that Connor knew his suit. He knew how to act, and what would damage him.
Connor wasn't sure what the bullets would do, but decided it wouldn't be best to find out. He attacked the man running away first, twisting and aiming towards the man, before firing at him. "Make sure he doesn't get to the building Ignot"
He turned his attention to the one creating he wind, using his thrusters to stay where he wanted. "You're too full if hot air, windbag. I wonder what would happen if someone were to...pop you" he fired at the man, moving quickly to the one shooting, "and you, I have lasers for you too"
He looked around for the forth man
The fourth man had simply vanished. The one in the back who had run had been shot in the lower leg. Non-lethal, but still incredibly painful. He wouldn't be running anywhere anytime soon. There was a cry from the wind-bag in the suit, as he took a shot to the shoulder and dropped in pain. The wind died immediately. Mikhael, on the other hand, wasn't the leader for show. He ducked and rolled out of the way of Connor's shot, surprisingly nimble for a big man. Without pause, he took up running in a strafing pattern, seemingly directionless and hard to track. As he ran, he removed one source of ammo from his gun and loaded it with another. Then he fired on Connor while moving. These bullets were hollow, and filled with acid. They'd corrode Connor's suit in short order.
Anthony (wherever he is) would suddenly feel his breath constricted, as if someone were cutting off the air to his windpipe. The fourth man had vanished, certainly, but he hadn't left. He just had the lovely gift of becoming invisible, and used it to make himself a non-target. People forgot what wasn't directly in front of them, especially in a fight.
Soon after Anthony is led outside by Waller's henchmen, Connor confronts the group. "Now would be the perfect time for him to kill me, if he so desires,"Anthony has time to think before he fells his windpipe begin to be crushed. His computer-like mind quickly makes out the feeling of fingers around his throat, telling him that his attacker was simply out of sight. Judging from the angle of the fingers clenching at his throat, Anthony constructs a mental image of the fourth guard and, using that, brings his knee up quickly, aiming a crushing blow to the man's crotch.
"I would suggest not having those bullets hit you sir" Ignot said. "Why Ignot if I didn't know better, I'd say you had a sense of humor" Connor replied, leaping high info the air, thinking what he could do. "May I suggest the shoulder missile sir? It can track"
Sometimes Connor thought Ignot saw him as a child.
"Thank you Ignot" Connor replied, calm and collected, he moved back to the ground, firing the shoulder missile as he did so
There was a disembodied grunt from behind Anthony, and the hand around his neck let go. The fourth man in the suit appeared with a heavy thump as he hit the ground, clutching his privates and groaning in pain. "You... suck..."
Mikhael was fast enough not to get hit directly by the shoulder missle. Once he started moving, and saw that it followed, he managed to angle it's trajectory toward the ground. He did not, however, take into effect the explosive power it held. When it exploded on the ground, the ensuing shockwave knocked him right off his feet, and he landed hard, dropping into unconsciousness.
Anthony chuckles slightly as he says quietly, "If you say so." He draws his "homemade" silenced pistol and shoots the man in the base of the neck before turning to Connor and asking, "Doesn't your suit have thermal sensors? You could have stopped the invisible one for me." He shakes his head in frustration and walks around to the other unconscious bodies. As he shoots each one, he says with disgust, "Truly, Mr. Stark, you had one job. Help me find key cards on them. If you can handle it, that is."
Connor was sick and tired of the patronizing view Anthony had. And watching Anthony shoot the men, he was utterly disgusted. There was no need to shoot them. And perhaps that was why Connor answered like he did. "oh, I'm sorry" he said sarcastically ", I thought stoping the one running to the building was more important, and I didn't think to look for invisible men, you handled yourself fine. You said there would be one, not four. I think I did well, and you were never in any real danger. I, unlike you, knew you could handle yourself"
He was annoyed, ticked off and the sooner he didn't have to work with Anthony, the better. "I also thought stopping the one that could shoot me and eat my suit was more important to. Essential really. Oh but don't worry, next time I'll wrap you up in cotton wool and solve all your problems for you"
He found the key cards, deciding not to mention that he could easily by pass the system. He kept one, and handed the others to Anthony.
After Connor hands him the key cards, Anthony begins leading the way toward the building. as they walk, he says somewhat jokingly, "I'm not exactly sure what good cotton wool is, but I doubt it would give me much protection against assailants. Now, I'm sure that you're wondering why I terminated those men and why we need the key cards when you have your suit." Turning on his feet and facing Connor, Anthony says, "The first lesson of the day is to minimize threats while on your mission. If there's a chance that someone you've already fought could come after you again, you end them. Those men were merely unconscious so, depending on how long we're inside, they might have woken and either attacked us from behind or called for backup from another campus. You can't afford to show mercy on threats that will never be of use to you. Secondly, we need the key cards because if you hacked into the security systems, your intrusion runs the risk of being noticed. With the key cards, no one will see us coming."
Connor sighed, "I don't need a lecture, Anthony. Especially from you" He said. Connor wasn't going to become a murderer just because Anthony thought it was best. If he didn't have to kill, he wouldn't. "lets just move it" He said, shaking his head, "I'd like to rescue Kijani before its too late"
"Do you see Luthor, this is why you can't help people. They automatically dismiss whatever you say. Time to explore the pheromones more thoroughly. After this adventure has ended, that is," he thinks before nodding to Connor and saying, "Then let's finish this." He enters the office building and smiles at the receptionist while saying, "Hello again. Mikhail and the others are waiting outside by my car, but they said you could show my friend and I directly to Ms. Waller."
Connor sighed and followed, having no idea what Anthony's plan was from here on out, as he waited for any sort of reply from the receptionist. He glanced about, wary
The receptionist's smile faltered. "Really? That's... quite against protocol. Let me contact him and see..." She tapped rapidly on her keyboard, then waited, and then typed the sequence again. Now she frowned. "Hm. Out of range? That can't be right-" She pressed several buttons, one after the other. "...all four of them, out of range?" Her eyes went wide, then immediately wary. "...what have you done?"
The smile falls from Anthony's face while his eyes become a deep purple. "Shhh," he hushes the receptionist. "Relax. They're fine, you're fine, everything's fine. Would I lie to you?"
The receptionist's eyes went a bit vacant, but she was clearly still struggling. "No, you don't have a particular reason to lie... But... I should be able to reach the team. Four communicators out at the same time for the same group just... seems..." She blinked several times. "Odd." Frowning, she looked to Anthony. "You should leave, sir... Until the communication is back up, I am not allowed to leave my desk..."
Connor gave a soft sigh. It was clear that Anthony didn't have complete control over his abilities, or else this receptionist was more than she seemed, which probably wasn't that big a stretch, considering where they were.
He stepped to the side so the receptionist couldn't see him, quickly working as fast as he could. At least he could fix these mess himself. He double checked everything as he worked, and in moments, sending off a communication to the receptionist's desk. If he had done it right, it would be from one of the communicators, a message saying that everything was alright and to let them through.
He stayed where he was, and waited to see what would happen
The receptionist's attention was diverted from Anthony by a beeping at her computer. She quickly checked the message and then smiled in obvious relief. "Ah. There they are. Must have been some kind of interference in the area. Happens from time to time." She picked up a small device, like a tiny smartphone. "Come, Mr. Luthor." She smiled politely and rose up, smoothing her skirt.
Anthony begins to follow the receptionist, nodding at Connor in approval as he passes. Although appearing jolly on the outside, mentally Anthony is frustrated and confused. "My calming pheromones should have made her calm enough to follow my orders without question. Am I weakening?"
Connor was mildly annoyed that Anthony thought he needed his approval. The trouble with Anthony was that he expected his name and status to just solve everything, to create the easy option, whereas Connor himself used his skills to for advantage. Connor waits a minute before following, yes, he relied on his suit, but in a world full of people who had powers, his suit was necessary for him.
Of course, it was Connors own fault for messing with the communicators in the first place but if he hadn't, they wouldn't be in the building.
The receptionist led them down the hall, where several innocuous looking people in standard office wear were at computers, all looking busy. As they rounded a corner, a seemingly empty stretch of otherwise bland wallpaper slid aside, to reveal a silvery elevator door. The receptionist pressed her hand against the door itself, and a tiny metallic ding sounded from inside. "The car will be up shortly." And so it was. It slid open with a near-silent whoosh of air, and the receptionist gestured politely. "Please."
