((Collab Post between Letter Bee, Saph and AcerRo ))
Cer had spent all afternoon on edge, she could feel a large concentration of meta energy somewhere. A fight no doubt, making it very hard to focus. Odds were her new employers were involved which meant there was a chance she would be called in and expected to fight. If she was unlucky, they would ask her to kill someone. Just the thought of being ordered to do such a thing made her feel sick, she couldn't focus on what she was doing to save her life. It would be so much easier to tell them but she didn't want them to keep her on the sidelines because she wouldn't commit a 'necessary evil.' She was going to have to trust that if she gave it to them straight that they wouldn't judge her. The drive to the HQ was excruciating, Cer felt less and less confident with every second. By the time she got there she had to take a couple minuets to calm herself down. If she stared by talking about Jackson's training she could buy herself time to gain confidence and relax because she wasn't really feeling better by sitting out in her car.
Cedric, after making his judgement, began to head for the meeting rooms. Inside, he felt like his heart had turned to ash; this day had been a day of setbacks for him. However, he was not going to give in to Ruby's psychopathic threats. No, Ruby was going to see his face again, and it would be sooner than she thought. Pressing a button in the meeting room, holographic screens showing his now-healed babyface would show up all over the city, saying:
"Not a fucking chance, you sociopathic asshole," he spoke, swearing for the first time in ages, "you do not get to dictate threats to me, you terrorist. I do whatever I want, when I want, for whatever Ideals I embrace. You think yourself so badass because you have an orbital gun?" Cedric said with contempt. "Well, my response will be coming shortly." He then pinged Eli's communicator (After turning off the holographic screens, of course).
"Knock that damned thing - the THOR Orbital Gun - out of the sky. We'll show her what it means to threaten us."
Cer had barely gotten out of her car when the holograms popped up. Eyes glued to them she watched with something between pity and understanding, she had done the research on Cedric and this was certainly different. She pushed down the urge to leave, if she didn't get this out of the way now she'd never do it. With calm thoughts and the occasional deep breath Cer found herself directed to Cedric's office, there was slight hesitation as she knocked on the door. Admittedly, if he didn't end up answering she wouldn't be upset about it but it would mean going through the whole process again, an idea she did not like.
The doors opened for her, and frantic staff would guide her to the meeting room, where Cedric waited. He would then speak:
"Cer Kytel, do not be afraid. The skirmish at New Sun Tower...it's over. Over and a mutual loss to both the Underground Movement and the Refomrist Council. We have lost our objectives...but not unbowed."
The fighting had been her inital concern but now standing in front of him and knowing that either the media had portrayed him wrong or he had changed made her uneasy. She had sat around all day while the people she was supposed to support fought, and lost.
"Then it's likely that the skirmish today won't be the last, this is the start of some kind of war, isn't it?" She paused, not daring to look him in the eyes, "War or not, I need you to promise me two things. I know, being the a new member, I have no right to ask you for anything but please take it into consideration." The words almost caught in her throat, the first she had planned for but what possesed her to add on something else. "I do not kill and I would hurt myself before I tried to kill another person. Evil or good, there is no amount of right that I could have that would make it ok to kill someone. Don't mistake this for weakness but please be aware of it. Secondly, please be careful to remember who you are and what you stand for. I know how it sounds and I apologize for my insubordination but its still very important to not only me but a lot of those normal people out there." After she finished speaking she couldn't help but hold her breath, this was a bad time to bring this up but she'd done it anyway, how reckless.
"I will never ask you to kill someone you don't want to kill," said Cedric in a slightly frosty tone of voice. "I do not play around with other people's loyalty; when you give trust, said trust must be repaid," the 20-year old obviously talking about a recent wound. "As for your second request..." Cedric glared at her for a brief second, "who do you think I am? Do you think that just because my heart's turned to ash, that I'm going to give up on the quest I've pursued for five years? No, my ideals are unchanged; justice and peace and coexistence for all, Metahuman and Normal. What's changed is the tactics that I - not you, I - are going to use to achieve that coexistence; kid gloves are no longer an option."
Cer expected no less, this had been a bad time to discuss anything but he wasn't kicking her out so there was a bit of a positive. She nodded at him, afraid a bittersweet smile would appear if she tried to talk. Somewhere in her mind she realized 'kid gloves' and mercy were more similar than she wanted them to be.
"Yes Sir, thank you for listening. I would like to let you know that training with Jackson has been going smoothly but he has a serious attitude problem. I'm planning to deal with it as I see fit but I'd like your input, since you plan on adopting him."
"Jackson?" said Cedric, smiling, "what he needs is a combination of carrot and stick, with said stick being padded in order to avoid reminding him of his torture at JanusCorp. I think that punishing him by forcing him to watch Teletubbies would be a start, if you're willing to countenance that."
Teletubbies sounded vaugely familiar, her cultural references were lacking but by the name it sounded like a kids show. "That's not a half bad idea, until his attitude is in check we will not be doing any 'real' training. Just Teletubbies and others like it." Cer nodded, smiling faintly. This little conversation had given her a lot to think about, at least she could go home knowing that things were running smoothly for now, though it would only be a matter of time before something else went wrong.
Eli heard the ping of a comuintactor it figured it had something to do with whatever caused that dipshit boy to run out of the girls room. He tried to make head or tails of it but at least the kid seemed to have found a pair of balls. "Baby steps." Eli thought to himself. "Kid first of all, what the shit are you talking about? Second what gun? And who the Holy Fuck is us? I'm a contractor! "Eli retorted.
"Well Shit dick I'll meet in the girls appartment in two hours. I got work that needs tending to."Eli said to Nate as he walked away.
"You should have burned Ruby to ashes in Aperture," he then told Eli about Ruby's betrayal, how she had blown up New Sun Tower, then hijacked the THOR Orbital Gun Network above the world, then sent him a really infuriating message. And, of course, how Cindy Wade seemed to be missing from the Underground Movement and Reformist Council alike.
"As for who the Holy Fuck is Us?" said Cedric, "all right, a more accurate term is me, but that sounds self-centred. Either way, the US Government is going to dismantle the THOR systems anyway; let's just make sure that the one immidiately above LA goes up in a blaze of fireworks." Cedric then smiled. "Besides, don't tell me you never wanted to blast something from orbit."
The 20-year old was evidently infuriated that he had been made to look like a fool, not once, but twice - Jackson's prank didn't count. He was also infuriated that he didn't get Cindy and Eden, the latter whom he already planned to be playmates with Jackson and Ann. True, this was a little petty, but he hadn't indulged in that emotion for years.
"How the fuck do you expect me to hit something that I can't even see? I don't even know if I can burn that far. That's miles away. Now though.... Now I need to know if I can. Send someone to the roof with laser pointer. I'll take care of the rest." This seemed out of the realm of possibility even for someone like Eli. That hasn't stopped him before and wouldn't stop him now. Worst he could do was take out half of LA. A small price to pay in his eyes.
"Cer," said Cedric, "can you be the one to do this?"
Eli made his way to the roof. During his time away over the last four years. He had gotten stronger and he knew it, he had breached an S class level and was proud of it. The real question had become just how strong was that? His control over his powers was refined to an almost scary level. He had even reached a level that he couldn't control, a level of eruption that was scary even to him. This was a level that could hurt even himself. He had only gotten to play around with it once or twice yet even that was enough to scare off from using. Something like this was a rare chance to let loose and see just how powerful this level was
Apparently it was not time for her to leave yet because she had to laser point at something she couldn't see either. "Yes Sir, I don't know what good that will do but I'll do it." She quickly followed after Eli because she wasn't confident in her ability to find the roof on her own. "I don't like this plan but I'll play along, tell me what you need the laser pointer to do." Cer almost cringed when she realized that, since she had forgotten a real laser pointer, she would have to be the laser pointer. She had just refered to herself as a laser pointer, a god dammed laser pointer.
"Well can you hit what you can't see? I never have been able to.... I don't even know if I can hit this target without taking a foot off the sea level. .. " Eli said gazing at the sky. It was a long way to throw anything he even had doubts of its possibility." Before I start this better tell me what meta powers you have and where you wanna be buried when this goes South. " Eli let out a heavy sigh and erupted in his lowest form. It was gonna take a little time to gather the power he needed. Maybe not, maybe he was just worried about not being able to do it.
Cer held in a laugh "I can try but it won't be easy, I'm an energy manipulator. I can feel where my energy is going so hopefully I'll know when I hit it but a blast big enough to destroy it would be risky for me, my reserves aren't at full capacity." She almost went on but he cut her off.
"Bitch, Imma about to try and throw a small Sun into that G-d damn sky! I need something better than I hope I get it right..." Eli snapped angerily, hope or almost wasn't enough right now. If something went wrong he was going to single handedly be responable for the largest single act of terrorism.
She nearly growled at him, "What I was trying to say was I dont have enough energy to hit that thing down [i]and[/a] protect the city from fallout. I didn't get a chance though because I was interupted, I'll be dammed if I let anyone in this city die because of a risky plan. The laser pointer thing is going to be hard because If I miss and it aims at an asteroid or planet you're going to be throwing that sun at a planet. Just imagine how many childhoods will be runined becuase we blasted away part of mars or venus or destroyed pluto." She thought for a moment, "This thing is metal so when my energy hits it, it will feel different than a planet or other astral body would so the odds are in our favor. I get that you're nervous but you dont have to be an asshole about it." She held up a palm an let a thin white beam travel out into the sky and eventually space. Closing her eyes she shited the beam around until she felt signal of metal, "I found it, hurry before it moves or something."
Eli deeply exhaled as his body changed form his low leve orange to a deep red. Slowly as his body ranged all of the color spectrum, with each shift his body grew in heat and power. The final level showed as brilliant bright light, white and pure. As his body changed and his levels increased Eli started lifting off the ground. At the time of his final form he could the control slipping away from him. This was either going to go exactly as planned or he was going to kill a few million people, there was no real in between.
Eli slowly started moving all that his eruption was, every bit of its power into the palms of his hands. As two sphears started to form, his body slowly retuned to normal. Each were about the size of a softball. Both glowed with brilliant and beautifull colors. Looking at them was one of the most shockingly beautiful things Eli had ever seen. It was almost like in his hands he held two bright glowing Nebulas in his hands. Its power was so strong, He had done something like this before but never to this extent. Even Eli who had become immune to the effects of fire and heat could feel the heat coming from the sphears and its horrible powers of destrution.
"Well, let see if G-d still loves us." With that Eli blasted off as hard as he could. At his top speed Eli threw the sphear in his left hand. Eli was only a few hundred meters above ground, he knew without a doubt that he needed more power to make this work. Still he was extremely impressed and happy to see that these orbs could fly so high without much effort . Eli flew after the orbs and the second he could get to the one flying he merged both of them into an orb the size of a vollyball. With the volleyball sized orb in his hands Eli rotated on an axis. Gaining power and speed Eli relased the orb at just the right moment to send it flying. By the time he had let it go he was easily a couple thousand meters in the air.
Cer could feel the immense power Eli was giving off, she had shilded herself from the scorching heat but she still felt as if she was burning. She kept her eyes shut, she couldn't afford any more distraction. It was all she could do to keep from passing out, Eli's distance wasn't really helping she still felt the pressure of his power. She felt like she was suffocating and in some ways she was. Cer had always been very recptive to others powers, Avarice thived on it but Cer did not. She got lucky and most of the pressure grew distant as Eli sent off the orb. "Can I stop being the laser pointer? I need to be ready for possible debris." She called out to him, her eyes were open now but she refused to look at what he had just released into the atmosphere.
Eli rechaged for a second, less powerful attempt. These new orbs were the size of baseballs and took almost no time to make. He had no idea how powerful they were. Let a lone the ones he just sent into space. He was over extending himself and he knew it but he needed to be ready for anything. When he heard they grey haired chick call out Eli. Eli let himself fall backwards making sure to never take his eyes off the white beam acting his laser pointer. He could easly direct his blast but he still needed to have a reference point to send it to. Just before he landed Eli smiled. Anyone with decent eyes could see sometihng falling from the skys. For all he knew Eli just hit the international space station, but he just fucking took out something from outter G-d damned space.
"Yeah, you can stop now." Eli said with a small shit eating grin. Off in the distance from Reformists HQ roof top Eli could easily see the ocean. It would be a shame to waste such power so Eli threw both of them, one after another without a second thought. Eli turned and to walk into the build entrence. "Boom, goes the dynamte." Eli said as he slapped the the top part of the door frame and almost like it was in concert with the ocean, the ocean exploded into mighty geysers. Before the water fell he was already too far inside to be seen.
Cer had to admit she was slightly appaled when he threw the orbs into the ocean but that didn't stop her from noticing that while the metal she had been focusing on was gone there was something strange behind it. It resonated with an energy she had never felt but before she could even think twice it was gone. Maybe she was just overstressed and imagining things, that was an explanation she could deal with right now. Eyes scanning the city for any falling objects, she found that most of it was burned up in the fall and only a few dangerous pieces made it close enough to be deflected. They had gotten amazingly lucky, which made Cer uneasy, luck never lasted long.
With his work all done and complete sense of accomplishment. Eli set out to do what he planned in the first place. Break into, and eat all of Olivia's food. He knew better, but it's hard not to feel invincible when you just did what Eli had. Still just the same Eli turned the doorknob and noted it was locked. After all he had done today Elijah was not gonna be stymied by lock and key. With a heated hand Elijah pushed the door open and walked inside. Figuring why not Eli took off his boots and vest and simply made himself at home.
