[IC] The Gifted: A Fast Paced Superpower RP (Relaunch)

[Letter Bee]

Cedric was worried about how Ruby looked frightened of Elijah - of course she would be scared; they were the ones who fought under Aperture Tower - but it seemed as though the technopath was not going to let her fear distract her from business. He nodded as Ruby gave him the required information, before moving onto Harper, then activating a device that let off a wave of painful sound; covering her escape. Some things never change, he guessed. As the sound began to fade, the 20-year old began to find himself chuckling, then laughing, laughing at the nostalgia that filled him. He then looked at Elijah and Harper, the latter whose enhanced senses made him more sensitive to stuff like this. Of course, things quickly got less amusing when the propeitor, followed by several bouncers, entered the booth, some looking at Eli sharply. "Heh heh..." spoke Cedric, "how do I put this?" He then gave a fast explanation that the girl he was with thought he was cheating on her with Harper (not that he used that guy's real name) and Eli (which was ridiculous; he never cheated; open relationships don't count) and that she had given a super-enhaced scream at him in response. This explanation was accepted; it gelled with Cedric's reputation. That done, it was time for Cedric to preposition the waitress, then find out more about the unauthorized secret mission to Syria...

[Bastion]

Samuel reclined at his table, gazing idly out the window at passersby on the street as he waited for his order, half-listening to the quiet chatter within the coffee shop. He paid little mind when a dark haired stranger entered after him, asking after the phone. He passed his attention elsewhere for a moment until a small snippet of a one-sided conversation carried itself to his ears. Oh. Samuel closed his eyes, steepled his fingers, and rubbed gently at his temples, frowning softly. Elijah Craigh. The man wasn’t lying, and that could be a problem. He slowly opened his eyes, trying not to draw attention to himself as he listened to what he said carefully, hoping that whatever had brought him here had nothing to do with one Samuel Capricorn. It wasn’t until he left the building and was well out of sight that he relaxed, letting out a long, slow sigh. “Well,” He muttered softly, rising from his seat, “I suppose that puts a damper on lunch”. Samuel paid idle attention as one of the identical gentlemen moved to try and comfort the rather understandably distraught waitress who had taken his order a few moments before. The other remained in his seat. Samuel wasn’t certain, but he got a vague feeling that the man was watching him. As the pair regrouped, Samuel stepped away from his table, reaching into his pocket and removing a thin phone, his fingers brushing across the smooth surface, he quickly dialed in a government number, followed by a series of extensions. “Hello, this is Samuel Capricorn, I would like to provide some information. I won’t even charge you for it.” The voice on the other end took a moment to respond. “Well that’s a relief, we let you charge us too damn much in the first place. What is it, then?” “Are you familiar with one Elijah Craigh? Made nasty work of some officers of the law a while back.” “No shit, who isn’t? He got pardoned a few years ago. Why, you hear something about him?” “He just interrupted my lunch break.” “What?” “It’s when I stop working to eat. I do that sometimes.” “Fuck you, Capricorn, you know what I meant. Where are you? What did he do?” Samuel rested his back against the doorframe, looking down the street in the direction that Elijah had left. “Now, now, no need for that sort of language. I’m at a café called Lattetude, about a block and half south of my office. He just walked in and asked to use the phone. Made some rather thinly veiled threats. He mentioned a place called Club Chaos, I assume he’ll be headed there. I think he was looking for somebody, but he didn’t mention who”. “You’ve gotta be… If I didn’t know your shtick, I would’ve hung up by now. Do you know how crazy that sounds? He just… walked in?” “That is what I said, yes”. The voice on the other end sighed. “Well, we’re on it. Thanks. Call us if you learn anything else”. “Of course,” Samuel smiled and then hung up, slipping the phone back into his pocket. He glanced at his watch. The entire scene actually hadn’t taken much more than a few minutes. He might be able to finish his lunch after all. Samuel returned to his seat, glancing at the table beside him and tucking a stray lock of sandy-blonde hair behind his ear. “Well, that was an interesting little diversion, wasn’t it, gents?” He mused, giving a small smile to the matched set of men next to him.

[Noire]

Ding.

A lattice of interconnected, jointed steel slowly descended, the elevator’s engine rumbling as the chamber slid down the steel cable.

Near the bottom, the mercenary was impatiently tapping his foot, occasionally glancing at his watch. He was in desperate need of energy; coffee, pills, anything. The latter night having been spent entirely awake, scrawling notes and information on cracked paper, listening to late night talk shows, and pasting various photos and information in documents. His eyelids were heavy and dark, showing signs of fatigue. His hair was disheveled. His suit’s tie was undone, and the blazer’s neat folds crumpled. Luckily, he had finished the night’s daily work a couple of minutes earlier, and he was finally free to take a leisurely stroll to the nearest café available.

The elevator’s doors opened, sliding by with a slight hiss of steam. In the elevator shaft, a middle-aged man stood, holding a briefcase.

He wore a lofty, dark pin-striped suit, horn rimmed spectacles and a freshly conditioned chestnut brown sweep of hair. Thomas crossed the car’s threshold and took a place beside the man, tapping the lowest floor. He sighed, watching as the elevator shuddered to life, its age old engine creaking and spewing. The elevator was like an aged, old metallic horse, it’s hooves dulled by wear and tear, and it tended to take it’s time traversing the floors. It could take anywhere between five or ten minutes before it reached its next destination. He sighed, sitting against the elevator’s rusted metal wall, listening as the steel cable began to inch them up the floors. “Hey! Nice morning, isn’t it?” The suit said, his smile warm and inviting. He adjusted his scarlet tie. “I’m thinking about a trip to the beach after work, you know. The family’d really appreciate it.” “I’m.. sure.” Tom replied, showing disinterest. “I’m sure they would.” “I haven’t been travelled anywhere with them in months.” He said, oblivious to Tom’s reluctance to speak. “Work, you know. I haven’t seen you around this building before. My name’s John. Where do you work? What’s your name?” “My name’s Henry. Henry Schmidt.” Tom lied, adjusting his tie. A thin, cold smile grew on his face. “It’s funny that you mentioned my occupation. I actually work with metahumans.” [ It was a couple of months ago, he had been assigned by a local gang to assassinate a rival’s gang member. He was to kill the target quickly with no trace. The apparent target’s ability was excellent aim; the man could literally not miss a target if he was truly focusing. It had been a relatively simple manner of cleaning the target. He entered the house in his smog form, sliding through the slit in an open window. Once he was in, he waited until the earlier hours of the morning to strike; once an ample amount of time had passed, he slid into the room, and filled it with a dark, fiery soot. The man had died quietly, quickly, and Tom simply had to siphon the remaining smoke back out of his body to finish the job. ] “Metahumans? Hm. It sounds like a pretty dangerous job.” John remarked, chuckling. “I just work with a paper company.” “Oh, it’s pretty dangerous. I mean, I nearly get killed sometimes.” Thomas replied, tapping his watch. “It’s worth it though for the end, especially for the payout. “I can imagine how great of a pay it would offer.” John nodded, grinning. “So, you ever get noticed for your work, Henry?” “Sometimes. But not often.” Tom added. “Not many people know who I am. I usually go by aliases or nicknames. There’s not many people alive that know my full name.” [ He had once been recognized, out on the streets. He had failed to kill an old, greasy man. He had started to flood the room with smoke, but he was one of the very few that managed to survive, by waking up midway through it. He had caught a brief glimpse of his face before Tom dissipated and retreated. The old man saw him, walking in the streets with a cup of coffee, and had immediately began to run. Tom noticed, unfortunately for him. Tom followed him, ducking between the crowds inconspicuously, trapping the man into a quiet alley. He didn’t bother to waste his powers again. He shot him and dissipated into the sky, a swirling cloud of smoke. ] “Ah. I see. So… uh, this whole debate is going on in my office.” John said, the floors slowly passing by. “I mean, people are arguing left and right, talking about metahumans being good and bad or whatever. You have an occupation in metahumans; you know anything about that? Like, which ones to avoid?” “I don’t really believe in good and evil. It’s subjective.” Tom said, watching the numbers switch. “From their perspective, they could be the good guy. From ours, the bad. I’m neither good nor bad. What I do is my job. But I’d stay away from Elijah Craig and Jaden McFadden. They’re nasty sons of a bitches.” “Alright. Hey, I think my floor’s coming up!” John exclaimed, watching the elevator shudder to a stop. “It’s been good talking with you, Henry. I suppose I’ll see you around the office sometime.” “Great.” Tom said, staring at his watch. The rest of the elevator ride was spent in silence.

[RoflsMazoy]

"Ah!" Sal said suddenly, clutching her head. "My head!" "Don't eat it so fast." Alto said, taking a bite out of his ice-cream cone. He took the sundae out of her hands as she rolled around on the floor. "The condition is called 'brain freeze'." Theo said as he walked beside him, "It is caused by sudden changes in temperature in the roof of the mouth. Blood vessels expand to reheat it and that is what causes the pain." Con walked over to the hunched form of Sal, and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she also took a bite of her ice-cream. On another note, he was pretty sure Theo and Con were immune to brain-freeze. He wasn't sure how the program worked, but he was able to give them the ability to taste and feel stuff as well as just being physically there. His true meta ability was sort of strange in that respect. He knew exactly what a piece of code did, and he could write code to do anything he wanted to do, but sometimes he had no idea how the code really worked, he only knew that it did. It was because of his power that his company had taken off like it did. His programs were perfect, if there was anything wrong with his technology, it was the hardware. Anyway, Theo and Con had decided to shut off more than a few of the physical functions. Theo had elimenated all the ones that would've disadvantaged him in any way right from the outset, but Con had kept a few of them on at the begining. Over time she turned some of them off after learning the hard way. "C'mon, you can still walk." He said. "You're so mean!" She said, pouting at him. "Hold this," He said to Theo, handing him the sundae. He put his ice-cream cone in his mouth then he picked up Sal and put him on his shoulders before grabbing his ice-cream and taking another bite. "Hey, what are you doing!" "You're taking too long," Alto said, "I'm not supposed to be out right now, you know." "Yeah, but still..." "We only came out here because you wanted ice-cream. That hasn't changed the fact that I'm supposed to be working right now." He heard Sal sigh in resignation, and he felt her lean forward to play with his hairpins. "You're such a meanie, you know." Alto took another bite of his ice-cream, then finished it off before starting to walk away. "Master." Con said suddenly. "Look." He looked over to where she was pointing, only to see a face he hadn't met in a long time. "Oh, Ruby." She was climbing the stairs of some kind of club with some other dude he didn't know. He wasn't really sure what kind of club was open in the day time, but that didn't matter so much to him. Con hadn't been around when he'd tried to bail out Ruby those 5 years ago, but when she was first activated, she'd sifted through his memories and experiences to construct based on what he wanted, and what he liked. So she knew all of his memories, and so did Theo for that matter. "Who's Ruby?" Sal asked, snapping him back to reality. "Well, she's another old acquaintance I suppose." He could easily just ignore her and keep moving, there wasn't exactly anything they had in common. He looked down at his watch. "Ah, whatever. I have the time. Guess I should go say hello." With that, he set off towards the duo. Sal on his shoulders, Theo and Con in tow.

[Pirouette]

Ann watched with a vague suspicion as the Owlman reached into his jacket, that same lethargic approach being conducted in his movement. It was a complete mystery to what he was withdrawing from within that jacket. Ariadne looked a bit tense as she watched the Owlman, too. Some anger was expressed but nothing beyond what was considered normal. If the Owlman was dangerous, Ariadne would be ready to make the switch, to protect Ann. But it wasn't something threatening. It was a little book, bound by spiral ring and a pressed owl on the cover. Ann relaxed and Ariadne went back to lying about the grass, trying to pluck a single blade but to no avail. Ann leaned in a bit and trying to figure out what was within the little book. Pictures of owls and.. they had word bubbles and inside they had... phrases! Ann became the giddy girl this time as she giggled like a school girl at the Owlman's card. It truly was just a sight to see and she had really hoped that he wasn't getting offended by her giggling. Getting herself under control, she nodded and doffed her own imaginary hat. "Good morning!" She answered enthusiastically. "It is very nice to meet you, Owlman!" Ann glanced over to Ariadne, and witnessed her ghostly twin successfully pluck one blade of grass from the ground. The grass blade would appear to hover a bit and fly wildly, seemingly like a wind gust, before being released and falling to the ground. She even seemed to lighten up a bit and presented a plain face. Ann turned back to Owlman and she picked up the conversation, seeing as Owlman had limited verbal utility for a conversation. "My name is..." She paused and thought about it her own introduction. She probably shouldn't use her real name, seeing as Owlman is unlikely to be a real name as well. "You can call me, Casper, and... I'm.. no superhero but it is very cool to meet one!" She said, trying to keep up her enthusiasm.

[Subject Zero]

When Samuel finally addressed them, Nate responded with a smile that took even his duplicate by surprise. "Yeah, it's always fun when a psychopath comes a-knockin" he said. He had mastered the affable boy next door attitude over the years. Those who knew him as Legion were often surprised about how he came across outside the costume. At this point even Nate wasn't entirely sure if it was an act or not but it worked for him so he'd keep it up. He wasn't sure what Capricorn's game was. Maybe he was just being paranoid and he didn't even know who Nate was. He'd play along anyway until the other man showed his hand. Seemingly coming to the same conclusion, the duplicate played along. "It always brightens my day" he said, motioning his coffee slightly towards Samuel in a cheers gesture but with a less enthusiastic smile. Both quickly turned their heads in a seemingly synchronized fashion as Raven approached with a tray carrying a bowl of soup and a coffee. She placed both in front of Samuel and with her usual friendly smile said "Enjoy". As she turned, Nate caught her eye and she gave him a tiny wave. He returned the gesture as she left to serve the other customers. Boy, she had sure shaken off her fear quickly. Nate found that a little odd for some reason.

[Mass City]

Gregg Sanatorium Clark County, Nevada Outside the City of Las Vegas was the federal sanatorium that housed metas with problems. These are metas whose powers caused mental issues. There were wings to the facility, low security, mid level, high, and isolation. Isolation was a ward where a former FBI agent was housed. In Isolation room 203 was the woman that used to be Elena Reyes. Starting three years ago she began a slow and startling change. She went from a healthy and active FBI agent into a creature. The creature that occupied the room was instinctual and not the intelligent woman that she used to be. She was curled in a ball in a corner as dreamed. Her dreams were more primal simple, chasing animals, eating fish and the sort. The tiger dreamed. Elena Reyes screamed. As she dreamed agent Reyes was watched by the security office. The office watched the people in the sanatorium. "So does she do anything else?" replied the lead agent. "No. Not until we try to clean her. She's broken arms and other parts. Odd that she still has some knowledge from her past. The mutation in this case is like Alzheimers." "Well that is odd." The Tiger just slept.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

He watched silently as she read the small card. No matter what his intent his eyes were those of a apex predator, and eyes like that didn't miss much. Every detail they took in was one more advantage over the thing in front of them. Like most every other power he'd gained it wasn't something that could just be turned off. So he saw, and he saw many things. The rips in her clothes and the grease in her hair. The pallor of her skin and the bags under her eyes. The slight surprise as her eyes swept across the word (Superhero) and the child-like joy as the whole concept of the book hit her. He bowed slightly, tipping his very real hat at her greeting. Casper. An assumed name, judging by the way she had hesitated. He wouldn't have inquired even if he could, god knows she probably had a better reason than him for keeping her name a secret. A young girl, looking like she did, going by an assumed name? There were only a few scenarios that that information called to mind and none of them were good. Was this girl in some sort of trouble? He considered inviting her back to the Council building, and then seeing where they could go from there with regards to getting her some help, but he dismissed this quickly. If she was being pursued an invitation like that might just scare her off. That was something you had to build to. Besides, he didn't even know if she was in trouble. His first order of business should be getting her to open up. The only thing was deciding which questions to ask, but that was pretty obvious. He liked to think, more for his distinctive profile than anything, that he was pretty well known in L.A. This girl hadn't known he was a superhero when she sat down, which meant that she was probably from out of town. The first question, then, should be... He took his book back into the palm of his hand and flipped through to the section right after greetings. The card he held up this time had another incredibly realistic depiction of an owl, except this one was holding a bindle over its shoulder. This owl was saying:

Where are you from? -The Owlman (Superhero)

[Letter Bee]

((Collab Post between Letter Bee and AcerRo)) As Cedric walked out with the memory stick, he noticed Elijah following him. Looking behind him warmly, the 20-year old said: "So, follow me to StuCorp?" "Yeah, I need to talk to Stewie." Eli saw the guy face down on the bar. It was wrong but Eli couldn't help himself, with pen and paper in hand. Eli left him a little note, one that said "I'll be seeing you. Give my love to Ruby. With love Elijah Craig." Eli did as asked and followed the kid out the door. "Anyway," spoke the boy, "saw you with the Dalai Lama a while back; that was surprising, even for you. "Dude was cool as hell. I washed up at his door step one day and he helped nursed me back to health. Nice guy though. Almost made me wanna stay. What's been going on here?" "Things were mostly peaceful since the Metahuman Rights Bill was passed; we get some incidents, but nothing big...until now; there are rumors of an 'Underground Movement', a group trying to gather the remaining underworld Metas, with some vile powers with them, including two cannibalistic Metahumans," Cedric said with distaste. "Of course," he continued, "much of this is guess and conjecture, but if Xenomorph guy is with the Undergrounds, and guarding Ruby, too boot - well, let's just say that they won't be above those two either. Also, some guys in the Gov't are running secret missions without my permission; it might just be a lesser matter - I doubt it - or it could be another conspiracy." "You know, shit always goes south even me and Ruby get in the same room. I don't get why we need to have a bill of rights passed. Its not were from a different country. What else is going on? Anyone else get famous form that shit storm?" "Alto did," spoke the young man, "same for that Toon-Metahuman, Light; I like her as a subordinate, but, well, she can be dense. That said, point her at some bad guys and wacky hijinx ensue." He then smiled, for the first time - visible to Elijah - taking something resembling joy at something bad happening to someone else. "As you know, Dicrector David Michael Taylor never knew what hit him." "I never read or saw what happened to him. I was a little busy with Ruby and dodging bombs." "Ah, let me tell you," spoke Cedric as they approached the StuCorp building, "it was an epic fight, with Director David Taylor - not to be confused with Taylor from Worm - spamming powers left and right, and the rest using teamwork and tactics to get around his epic array of battle abilities. In the end, though, Light dropped down from a portable hole and grabbed David until he became a Toon, and everyone else tore him apart." He then frowned sadly. "That said, he did manage to kill Bloodrune and Cypress, though." "I never liked that River Rat. Bitch was always looking down and coming after me and Ruby. Before Ruby turned into a damn nut job. If I remember right, she and Ruby were both taken by Apature. I felt bad about that for a while. Till she sent Scarlet in to Stucorp. Speaking of which what's been going on with Stewie?" "Oh, same old, same old, advancing his corporation, advancing his philanthrophy, working to keep people out of the prisons and inside the schools - sometimes through use of loophole abuses and other legalese - oh, and laying with ever remotely hot Joe and Jane ever since he lost his adoptive brother," Cedric quipped good-naturedly as they went through the door, and Cedric conversed briefly with the receptionist before going up to the elevator. "I heard about that guy dying. What was his name again King or something? I hate it for you two. I'm sure you were all very close." "Constantine Ramiel King; and, yeah, he was a surrogate uncle to me. He was kind, and nice, but also with a spine and conviction that few others could match. He was adopted by Gary's father, Martin Stuart, after the latter ran over his birth parents in an accident. That was probably where his 'forgiving, but firm' nature came from." And with that, they were at the Penthouse, where Gary was staring at them quizzically, and Cedric just realized that he had been talking about the man in front of him. "What up Stewie!?" Elijah said jovially. "How's your hammer hanging son!?" "Very well...on all accounts," Gary Stuart said, his youthful face making him look like a somewhat older, western version of Gary Oak from Pokemon. "So, you here for your stuff?" "Among other things. Anything I need to know before we transact some bidness?" Eli had left a decent sized fortune with Gary before leaving. He didn't know if it would be called insider trading but since he knew that Apature was going under and stocks all over California were going to take a dive. Eli asked Gary for as much as he could and watch over his investments. Eli didn't have anything other money so he asked that it be watched over. In fact when he left all Eli took with him was a back pack full of money. He had made it last till now but he was running in empty and needed a place to sleep while he was in town. "Well, the economy is rising, while certain other corporations, such as New Sun, are trying to do what Aperture did, but are making weak tries at it...until the Underground Movement - and note, this is just speculation - gave them spine and encouraged them to use their collective bargaining power. But other than that, nothing." "I keep hearing about this Underground horse shit. I can't help but wonder if Imma be dragged into this. I am wondering if you guys are gonna ask me to do something for this movement or meta rights or whatever is going on around here." "I do have a small fortune I can use," spoke Cedric, "if you're again willing to be hired. Problem is that if the direction of this conflict goes the way I'm expecting it to, I'm going to need some muscle, some muscle that doesn't belong to someone who can't be bothered to care about the larger conflict - sorry, Light! I respect you but that's true - a jingoistic asshole whose sense of morality is in the black and white stage, and a guy with sister issues." Eli sighed and flopped on a near by couch. He rubbed his temples for a second before speaking. "If Stewie is as good as I hope, I won't need any money. I am gonna need some clout. A lot of people are still scared shirtless of me... I need some pull and an office, somewhere fancy and I need some guns... And a place to start... Now you know if I startstart and it gets to going bad, its gonna be really bad, right?" "My parents started out in Chicago, but had a mansion here; which I had cleaned up and refurbished; it's also stocked with an armory; my parents profited off the tail end of the arms trade. Of course, most of the arms are obsolete for ten years, but, well, they're still functional. As for a place to start...Gary, can I make use of Bloodrune's replacement, Halo?" Halo was a Metahuman who can predict major disasters when nearly aphysxiated, which made Gary iffy on using her powers, but, well some things could not be helped. "All right, Ced," he spoke, not happy with this sudden request. "But make it quick." "Okay, I can work with a house full of guns and the like. What's my money look like? I need to get my connections going and make some new ones." "That's my cue," said Gary, "it seems that your investments had gone like a skyscraper; up up up! With a few exceptions, of course; but on the whole, you're a wealthy person, Elijah." "Oh Kid! Before you leave." Eli jumped to his feet, walked over to Cedric and sent a power hook to his eye. " Next time, I'll kill yah. Now then let's get on with work." ------ An hour later, the group were watching an 18-year old woman, with white-blond curls, blue eyes, and clad in white-gold robes being strangled via garotte by drones she herself controlled by remote, something that was very disturbing to watch. Which was why when the scene ended, Cedric was all: "Halo, are you all right?!" he said, running up to the woman, checking for a pulse. She was all right. She then said, once her voice returned: "Cedric...everyone, on New Sun Tower, two weeks from now, a child will be born, the son of Isabella Lancaster and Jaden MacFadden, aka Shifter, via a surrogate mother. Said child will have the power to turn into a tree whose fruit can heal Metahumans...and grant powers to Non-Metas. Allow that child to be concieved, then take him away. He is the key to saving the world; Eden will be his name." Eli sighed, he knew this was gonna be bad. "Shit what happened to nine months!? This shit is unnatural! Heresy I says! Kill them all and take the tree baby for ourselves damn it." It was bad form to make light of this situation but Eli didn't care. The end result was the same, a lot of people are gonna die again. He started to wonder if he stayed away from Ruby would all this shit keep happening? "We spare Ruby - she's been giving me info - and Harper," spoke Cedric in a matter-of-fact tone. "Same for whatever poor sucker they got to use as a surrogate. Everyone else - we kill." "Who the Fuck is Harper?" Eli assumed it was the guy who some time earlier had said he smelled of "rotten meat." Still it was a point he needed to get across. Eli didn't care who they were, if they got in his way, they were gonna be dealt with. "Ruby's bodyguard, Xenomorph guy with acid blood, blades, super strength and...umm...facehugging," Cedric said. "I don't want him to be permanently hurt, so I'm going to have either to fight him myself, or get someone else to do it for me. Sigh, and I wanted to fight Shifter..."

[Marx]

Harper's eyes trailed his charge as she left he table and made her way over to him, polishing off his drink and setting the glass on the table before she reached him. "Ruby, I know you well enough to know you're not done," he sighed as she took the seat by him and locked her arm with his, noting her attempt at pouting. After five years he had gotten used to most of what she threw at him, especially when she was doing her best to manipulate him. "My job is to make sure you don't run away and to retrieve you when I do," He went on, holding his tongue as the front she had been giving him came to a quick end. A long blow of air spilled out from between his lips as he watched her remove the little device and earplugs. "If I wasn't so nice I'd smack that out of your hands or jaunt before you had the chance to turn it on," Harper said, turning to the bar and plopping his elbows onto the counter. "Try not to make my life hell for too long, would you?" Harper made no effort to look over at her, waiting for whatever it was that she was planning to do; his way of letting her get away with her double dealings. "Sorry," she murmured. "No. You're not." Harper flatly said, planting his hands over his ears. The silent scream hit his ears first and hardest, a little side effect to having hyper sensitivity to sounds, smells, tastes, and so on. For a moment his composure was held, though that was only a moment. His body went wild trying to combat the wretched sensation blasting his ears, his extra eyelids shielding his eyes, trying to maintain a balance in pressure, his palatal valve sealing and preventing him from having to breath for the next few minutes as his mind tried its best to calm the rest of his body down. Cold sweats, mild convulsions, blood dripping out of his nostrils, Harper could only hope that he'd black out soon enough. The gods must have been looking down on him for moments later everything turned black and his head hit the table. Sweet release. Harper came to with a note by his head. His eyelids retracted and his dreary gaze jumped from the counter to the table where Cedric and the pyro had been, it now empty. "I'll be seeing you. Give my love to Ruby. With love Elijah Craig." "Cunt," H rolled his eyes as he flicked the sheet off of the table before looking down to his arms where there was a dull throbbing pain matching the faint ringing that still lingered in his ears and deep in the recesses of his mind. Where the empty glass once was, there was only the base of the glass, it having shattered from its proximity to the high pitched sound, leaving a trail of glass embedded in his arm, right up to his shoulder. The skin had already tightly sealed around it, which meant that he'd have to tear them out so his arm could properly heal. A quick trip to the bathroom as a long line of profanity later, Harper stepped out of the club, taking a moment to try to jaunt to the roof of the building across the street. When the only result was a spike of pain surging through his skull, he guessed that the sound had done a solid job scrambling his brain for the time being. Best bet was to just follow her trail. All things aside, he was a damn good bloodhound.

[Letter Bee]

((Collab Post between Letter Bee and Raijinslayer)) Isabella Lancaster once did care for Ruby, the keyword being once. Now, however, she cared for nothing but herself and her pursuits, with the little bit of striving for something greater left in herself being turned towards a project that would benefit her as much as it would Metahumanity. She smiled; she liked being Queen of the Underground Movement, and, one day, she would be Queen of Metahumanity. She would then have all the luxury and power and consorts that her heart could desire. Of course, some would accuse her of being shallow, but she was wrong; she was a deep, creative, and sophisticated woman. In the secret bunker of the Underground Movement, situated under a Skyscraper owned by New Sun Corporation, the woman walked to the chambers of one Jaden McFadden, a Corporate Meta working for said New Sun Corporation, and knocked on the door. She had a plan, and Jaden was a key part of that plan. "Come on in Isabella, a queen should never have to knock when enteeing a humble servant's chambers." Jaden replied. When Isabella walked in she'd see Jaden naked on his bed, a bloody stain on the ground in front of it. "Oh, allow me to get dressed and clean that up." Jaden said as he calmly got up, his body suddenly seeming to dissolve into a mess of bloody looking flesh and tentacles of the same material, before reforming to show Jaden wearing his casual attire, a tentacle coming from his leg to drain the blood, leaving it looking as clean as before. "You got me after a rather scrumptious meal, she was toned yet still rather voluptuous, blonde, blue-eyed, and all together, tasted like heaven. I should start eating them regularly more often, instead of just letting my special appendages do the work." Jadn licked his lips as he savored the after taste, still singing with the echo of exctasy she'd experienced right before he'd started. Human's all ways taste best when they're doused in pleasure, must have something to do with the horemones. "So then, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, my queen. Need another Ceo to tank his company all of the sudden, allowing you to buy it for cheap and the man to disappear days later. Those are always my favorite jobs, so many times I find people throwing themselves at me, willing to do anything I say. It's like an all you can eat buffet." Isabella smiled playfully on seeing Jaden's unclothed body, but now wasn't the time for that sort of business. Rather, this was something far more important. Her voice turned into one of flattery, as the woman said: "No, no, this is something far more important, something that I can trust you with. Do you know of Project Genesis?" "Vaguely," Jaden said as he laid back down on his bed, scratching at his chin as he tried to remember the details. "Something headed by the late-Dr.Taylor, an attemot to make the perfect meta with all of the abilities available. An intriguing proposition, and if my hunch is correct. . ." Jaden turned so that he was now on his side, facing Isabella, with his arm propping up his head. "One you plan on re-attempting, if not improving it all together. I must say, whatever it is, I'm honored that you'd trust me with it." "The good Doctor - ah, bless his lovely body - had nothing to do with it; it was all the Government's, and, well, yes, yes, I'm going to need some of your sperm cells, combine them with my egg cells, and select some poor victim to act as a surrogate mother for the Perfect Metahuman. Let's just say that we're going to need your help for two out of three." "Hmm, not what I was expecting, but it's not out of my comfort zone." Jaddn cocked a eyebrow as he spoke, rathe amused by this turn of events. On the inside, however, he was feeling elation beyond words at the thought of being the sire of the Perfect Being. The fact that it would also be Isabella's child would only be a bonus. "Well then, lets get to it, take me to where I must make my. . .donation, if you will, and do you have any ideas on who the victim will be? I'm just a bit curious, understandably." Jaden got off the bed in a rather quick motion, clearly eager to get started. They were playing God, to be sure, but God wouldn't have given meta's these powers if he didn't want them to use. "I must say, this entire situation is quite unorthodox. . . makes me love it even more!" "I'll be taking you to the company sperm bank," spoke Isabella, "while as for our sot, we'll be using a fellow member of the Underground Movement, Cindy Wade, whose power is to flash-educate a person with flesh-contact. You'll either persuade her to agree to be our surrogate via your natural charms, or, well, we force her to; I'm not really picky." "Sounds good, hopefully she'll see the reason in this. I'm always loathe to harm other Metas, especial thosein our own group, but if it must be done, then it must be done. And can we please change the name of our group, Underground Movement is very much a mouthful, and lacks a certain pull that draw people into organizations like ours. ((After Timeskip)) Jaden was walking down the street of a suburban neighborhood when he finally arrived at his destination. Walking up to the door, he made sure he looked prim and proper, and that his breath smelled nice and fresh. Once he was ready, he knocked on the door with his knuckles, waiting a little while before it opened. "Good Morning, my name is Jaden McFadden, and I represent New Sun Incorporated. We have a very special opportunity for a lucky Ms. Cindy Wade. Is she home at the moment?" A young woman, barely in her 20s, mousy, and wearing glasses opened the door, clad in a T-Shirt, a faded apron, and jeans. It was quite clear that she was running into money problems, judging from the glimpse into the room behind her. The appliances looked old, the furniture were clean, but also faded, and, well, there was a look of eagerness and desperation in her eyes. "I'm Cindy Wade," she said. "What can I do for you, Mr. Jaden?" "Please, no formalities, I'm not important enough for them." Jaden said with a smile, "And a pleasure to meet you, Ms Wade, and I truly mean it." And Jaden did mean it, to him, every Meta was a prime example of perfection, and thus should be treated with respect. Jaden made a motion to Cindy, wordlessly asking if she would be so kind as to let him, but if she didn't, he wouldn't mind. "Anyway, The New Sun Corporation has chosen you fir a very special endeavor, and are willing to pay you a rather sizeable sum of fundsmonthly for your cooperation." Jaden took a second to let that seep in before he continued. "All you'd have to do is be a surrogate mother for us, allowing us to place a fertilized egg in your womb. I'll be sure to personally provide to your every need, financial, social, spiritual, whatever you need during this period and it will be yours. And afterwards, as a means of thanks for this rather unorthodox request, I will pay you around a million dollars or so from my own personal funds." Jaden had collected quite the fortune, both before and after meeting Isabella, from his corporate work, so the million was nothing to him. Besides, he cared very little for money, as he was never one for frivolus spending like some others he knew. He liked things to be simplistic, and that made him quite the frugal spender indeed. "So then, any questions or concerns you'd like to address?" "Yes!" said Cindy, "yes, I agree! Though why you'd trust someone with only the power to flash-teach other people through bodily contact is beyond me." She was practically hopping! "Well then I'm glad you're eager so," Jaden said withna genuine chuckle. He liked this girl, she was such a funny little thing. [i['I do hope the process will be just like a normal pregnancy and she can move in with her life, though Isabella's wording leaves me a bit uncertain. Oh well, who am I to question my queen and get in the way of her ambition.'[/i] "Now then, get yourself dressed in your going out clothes and I'll bring you to the office building. I assume you wish to begin as soon as possible, my lady, and it wouldn't do to go in an apron." ((Time Skip to Isabella's office)) Jaden was standing in front of Isabella's door, and rapped on it gently with his knuckles. "Isabella, I've brought Cindy Wade, and she's agreed to the being a surrogate, aa long as we provide her with a monthly sum of money during the duration of this project. I'm sure you'll find that acceptable, no?" "Oh, it's acceptable," spoke Isabella, "especially as we'll only be paying her the first few sums before her unfortunate demise; the preganancy would accelerate to the point that she'll give birth in only two weeks, and then she will die from the pregnancy." A note of delight entered her voice. "Then we will have the child that will bring chaos onto the world!" "Imagine it, a child who can turn into a tree, a tree whose fruit grants healing to us, and powers to those who have not. If my genetic studies were right, we'll be able to control who has Metahuman abilities and who doesn't - a monopoly over power itself!" Jaden gave a small sigh, "A shame it has to be a Meta, but so be it. I'll be sure she has a great final two weeks then. Anyway, if you don't need me for anything else, I'll be going for a walk in the park, see if I can find something to occupy my time. Cindy is currently waiting in the lobby of the building, waiting to be sent to which ever lab you need to send her too." Jaden would then nod and exit the room, entering the elevator. As it hit the ground floor, a beautiful looking woman stepped out, no sign of Jaden anywhere. She was wearing a pair of blue skinny jeans, a white T-shirt with a black jacket over it, and flowing platinum blonde hair that she sometimes had to brush out of her startling blue eyes. 'I'll be Jade for now, people are always more open to speak to a beautiful woman than a man.' ((Time skip to the park)) At the park, Jade was elated, as she caught a glimpse of the ellusive(for her any way) Owlman, talking to another Meta, if Jade's sense's were correct. She quickly walked over with the silent grace of a hunter, clearing her throat softly as she aporoached. "Hello, my Name's Jade Baxter, and I must say, I'm a big fan of yours. I've meta's other like you, stuck in a form thet find monstrous and they find themselves lost in their own self pity and depression. But you take pride in your form, accepting and making the best of it, servong as a symbo.for others like you. I mean it when I say it's a pleadure to meet you." As Jade spoke she circled the Owl meta, looking at him in wonder. "Woukd you mind if I were to. . .?" Her hand creeped closer, her intentions obvious in her eyes.

[Archmage MC]

After searching the few leads that the file gave her, splitting off from Warpath to do so, Light found a man with Bo's description in a house after asking around the neighborhood. "At least this guy knows to lay low in the suburbs." She shrugged, pulled out a hole, and popped up by the house door. "Lucky for this guy I'm just supposed to bring him in." Light mumbled to herself as she moved up to the guy in a professional manner, or as professional as she could look as a toon. After all, there were whispers about the restaurant after a few moments when people realized she was there. Thankfully she didn't have to flash her badge or anything as her face was usually enough for identification, her reality shift oftne making it look cartoony within a few moments of holding it. "Bo, the Cook, or Scourge. However you wanna be called, your wanted for illegal activity and cannibalism by the FRD. You can come quietly for questioning, or I can drag you there. I'd prefer the former, but I'm sure the kids would love the latter." Light said while knocking on the door while keeping her guard up. She wasn't too keen on dealing with some of the powers that were listed in his file.

[Marx]

The scratching crumbled in Bo's mouth, a touch of flavor swelling outward along his taste buts. The savory powers of the meta's baked flesh overwhelming, almost on an equal level with the eyes which were both the windows to the soul and the windows to Mr. Jackson's power. He took his time moving through each scratching, mixing them occasionally with just a touch of mama's bbq sauce. It was a heaven reserved solely for Beau, the fountain of please for none other than De La Fontaine himself. But, like all good things: it had to eventually come to an end. She appeared through a hole in the door, like a sloppily exported Loony Toon. "Of all of the metas I could have met," Bo said as his eyes trailed the toon, picking up the remaining eyeball and popping it into his mouth before biting down. "You're not particularly high on my list. I'd be lying if I said I was much of a fan either." Beau leaned forward, grabbed a chain and pulled it out for her, offering it with a small gesture before going to pop another scratching into his mouth. "But I don't dislike you. I have a certain admiration for metas like myself. The type born into a life style they have no choice, but to accept. How many metas out there can turn their powers on and off? You and I are stuck the way we are. Imagine if being a toon were illegal. Just for a second. I'll wait... there's nothing you could do, but accept that you're an outlaw or defy the rules of society, yeah?" She had strayed to close and already he could see his power's effect on her. His power was barely up and running, so perhaps it was time to level the playing field just a bit. He reached over to the platter and slid it out from under the food before facing it at her, "Notice anything?" He asked with a crooked grin, showing the toon what had already happened, and what would only grow worse. She had a nose. "Perhaps you don't know, but given your being here, you should; the longer you're here, the further your powers diminish. You're turning into a regular girl right before my eyes and I've yet to put any effort into dampening your powers. I can't imagine you as a human being to productive in getting me to do much of anything. So sit, let's talk." He paused, drumming his fingers on the table. "What does a black widow, praying mantis, shark, and a lion have in common, Light?"

[Archmage MC]

"Yeah yeah, cannibal person. I get it. Power dampener I get it. I read the file ya know." Light said looking at the man. He just screamed cliche supervillain, and his power dampening power wasn't really helping all that much. Though while annoying, power dampening metas didn't really affect Light as much as they did other metas. This was proven when the government did a few tests to try to make a comms device that worked for her and tested with power dampening. While she couldn't access her pocket space while dampened, and her passive toony attributes were slowed down, it didn't stop her cartoony physics and her regeneration, even under max settings. It was as if her cartoon regeneration was counteracting the power dampening. "Honestly this is just some odd cliche thing. You, the food based super villain eating people and using that to intimidate your enemy. Me, the hero trying to bring you in... Well, whatever, we can have some banter." Light said, preferring to stand. "And about that morality question. It would suck, especially since power dampeners don't work on me like they work on other metas for some reason. So if your hoping for that power of yours to make me weaker, its not going to happen pal." Light started tapping the side of the wall, ignoring the rancid seasoned smell of cooked flesh, or making a visible effort to. The dismembered body parts didn't bother her as much as the smell, and she was already looking to use one of the femurs as a mace if it came down to it. "And the riddle is that they're predators, some sort of illusion that your making that you think your one. Considering a 50 cal to your head would end you right then and there, your not much of a predator at all. Then there is all manners of explosives, or heck, an anvil. Its the same mistake you villains make." She paused at that moment watching Bo closely. Of course it would continue that the hero is also at fault for not going for lethal, but he didn't need to know that she wasn't going for lethal. After all her past track record of bringing in perks was very spotty, some she took in while others she killed. And if her cartoony intimidation didn't work, she could still bring him in. And thanks to his dampening power, Light would be able to handle blades without them instantly becoming worthless right away, so there was that.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

At the park, Jade was elated, as she caught a glimpse of the ellusive(for her any way) Owlman, talking to another Meta, if Jade's sense's were correct. She quickly walked over with the silent grace of a hunter, clearing her throat softly as she aporoached. "Hello, my Name's Jade Baxter, and I must say, I'm a big fan of yours. I've meta's other like you, stuck in a form thet find monstrous and they find themselves lost in their own self pity and depression. But you take pride in your form, accepting and making the best of it, servong as a symbo.for others like you. I mean it when I say it's a pleadure to meet you." As Jade spoke she circled the Owl meta, looking at him in wonder. "Woukd you mind if I were to. . .?" Her hand creeped closer, her intentions obvious in her eyes.

@Letter Bee

This was really strange, and would normally be very welcome. It wasn't often that he had the opportunity to meet a fan. Even rarer that he'd meet one in real life and not over the internet. Rarer still that the fan looked like this. It sent a little shot of electricity down his spine, like it always did, to hear that his antics really were helping people, and at any other time he would have inquired with great interest, but right now... He rotated his head to look back at Casper for just a moment. He was, at this moment, in the middle of something important. He wouldn't be able to ask right now. He did, however, incline his head so she could feel it. This was actually something that was fairly common among the people brave enough to come up talk to him, and unless he was in a hurry it always paid to let them do it. Just one more layer of familiarity with his form.

[Raijinslayer]

Jade placed her hands on his head and feathers, taking a moment to marvel at their softness. She wanted to ask more questions, but it she realized she had been rudely interrupting their conversation, so she decided to go down on her knees and continue to feel Owlman's feathers. As she did this, she took a second to glance at the meta-girl he was conversing with. She was a pretty young thing, but something about her was odd. It almost felt like Jade could sense meta inside her, but it was extremely hazy. 'I've never felt something like this before, how interesting. Maybe I should ask what her ability is. . . .no, I've been rude enough to her already. I'll just continue my observations for now.' Jade turned away to focus back on her current task, but she didn't take her eye of the girl. She'd captured Jade's interest, only time could tell if that would be a benefit or a danger for her.

[Pirouette]

Owlman's next question hit Ann a bit hard. Her smile and good manner faded as she looked away. What was the answer to where she was from? Some lab in Arizona? She couldn't remember anything before that so what else could she say? And it was probably best she kept that part of her life a secret so she turned to lie about her answer, something about living somewhere in LA. But she would never get the chance as someone came over, really enthused to meet Owlman. A woman, judging by her voice, and she had some short, messy white hair. Ann couldn't put her finger on it, but something about this woman felt odd. Ariadne must have, too, because Ann could she her now standing in the corner of her eye. It wasn't until she saw that obsessed look in the woman's eyes, that Ann had some type of confirmation on her suspicion. It was a sort of hungry look, as the woman circled like a predatory bird, and it was a tell that Ann could not mistake. A man had once given Ann that look, drunk and hungry, but he wasn't looking to fill his belly. He wasn't expecting Ariadne that night. Needless to say, Ann was uncomfortable with this whole sort of showing. It was surprising to see the Owlman so composed. Ann was watching him with apprehension. Owlman's nod did not provide Ann any reassurance that this was to be considered normal. Next came the touching. Ann visibly recoiled as if she couldn't believe that she was watching this. Then the woman finally focused her attention to Ann. It was eerie being in the woman's gaze. It felt like she was trying to search inside Ann.. for something. The woman kept staring, even as she got onto her knees and continued stroking the feathers of the Owlman. Finally, Ann had enough. "H-hey!" She spoken up, her confidence and voice barely above a speaking voice. "I-I don't think you should be..." She wavered a bit but then remembered why she was here, next to the Owlman in the first place. "You shouldn't be touching him like that!"

[Alternax]

"Alright Tribuo Spero, it looks like our 'investor' wants to unveil you today. He's already set up some kind of deal with multiple news stations. If you look out a window you should see some of their helicopters." A voice spoke over Overdrive's internal radio. Doing as the voice said Overdrive peered out of one of the many side windows, and so it was that many colorful helicopters circled around what appeared to be a bank. The voice suddenly sparked to life again, this time with more information. "Overdrive, keep in mind this is a real threat. I have absolute confidence you can take care of this, and as soon as you return to base I've already got some upgrades in mind." "Sounds fine, but why am I here?" "There's been a meta-human bank robbery; the leader looks like he can actually suck the life out of people. As for his two other accomplices, one can seemingly coat himself in metal and the other can manipulate light into a weapon somehow. Mission clock starts at 0800, move in when you're ready." "Just make sure you're watching this time." Overdrive said as he slid back the helicopters doors, as soon as he did wind bombarded the inner compartment, without even hesitating Overdrive leaped out. Now descending several meters a second Overdrive's auditory sensors could 'hear' the wind rushing against him as he fell. Overdrive landed in a pose with his left hand touching the ground, his right in a bent position, his right knee against the floor and his other facing forwards; his landing created a slight crater but other than that he was fine. Standing up Tribuo quickly made his way over to the police line. The cops raised a few eyebrows at his presence, but the quickly identified him and allowed him passage. "Attention Meta terrorists, come out with your hands up." Overdrive spoke, his synthetic vocal cords adjusted themselves as needed. A beam of light suddenly rushed out of the building, taking advantage of his light speed reactions Overdrive simply side stepped the blast and allowed it to hit a building, bringing down blocks of mortar down in the process. They made their choice. Overdrive's visor suddenly began to glow red instead of his passive blue. Damn, I should have taken that shot. Deciding to correct his mistake he quickly rushed through the buildings glass doors, as he rushed through his metal body caused the glass to explode forwards, and the metal frames danced around his body until the landed in a broken position on the floor. "Oh shit! Get'em!" One of the masked burglars shouted, It appeared he was the leader as one of the other metas lifted their hands up and barraged Overdrive with multiple beams, the blasts seemed to sizzle through the air until they harmlessly collided with Overdrive's advanced chassis. "You're going to need something hotter than that!" Deciding to return his fire he aimed his arm mounted cannon up at the robber, in that moment Hayden could see the man's fear and hesitated, however the robber had no reservations and continued his barrage. I have to get my head in the game, this guy was willing to hurt people. So I hurt him, but not too much. I still have to look friendly.. His weapon began to glow a bright red before multiple beams of red plasma crashed against the robber, burning through his clothes and leaving darkened marks on his skin. The robber screamed violently before he fainted on the ground. "You fucker!" The only other meta shouted in anger, he then began to stretch slightly and his very skin seemed to become metal; with his transformation complete he rushed at Overdrive. The two massive metal beings collided against each other, their hands pushed against each other, the meta's face scrunched as he was clearly at his limit, unfortunately for him Overdrive was not. Lifting him high up into the air Overdrive quickly slammed him into the floor; the resulting collision made a loud thud, and shattered the marble floor tiles. Switching his own vision he began to cycle between multiple settings of vision, finally settling on his 'Meta-Hunter' mode he noticed quite a few were present around the bank, most likely eager to see some action. But only one figure was in the back of the bank, next to a door holding some kind of rifle. Although the door was closed the armed Meta most likely heard him coming as he began fidgeting with his rifle. "You won't need that." Overdrive said as he shoved his hand through the wall, grabbing the Meta by his neck, and placing him in a headlock. Tribuo only held him long enough to knock him out, feeling the Meta's resistance slowly stop, he gladly let go; allowing the meta a peaceful sleep inside the bank wall. Overdrive's visor slowly returned to a passive light blue, and his stance changed back to normal, as if nothing had happened. "Mission complete, the Metas are down." "I knew you could do it, stay there and wait for the company vehicle to come back. I want to do some maintenance on the way home." "Of course Doctor." Overdrive replied, seemingly talking to nobody in particular.

[AcerRo]

When the meeting was over Eli started to looking back on the events that happened just since ha had been state side. He had confirmed that Ruby was alive and seemed well. She was terrified of him and rightly so. With that conformation came the wondering what the people would do. The coffee shop showed him that people still remembered what he did and the horrific things he did. If Ruby came to light, what would the public do? The government couldn't really do anything outside of watching his every move and try to get him on taxes or some silly shit. His was face was out there now, people knew what he did and what he looked like. Baba Yaga used to put the fear into people now it was Elijah Craig. It was still a little lost on him. Just how people feared him, it was gonna take some getting used too. This was stressful, he never really had the urge to murder or hurt anyone. Most people thought of him ass a blood thirsty taker of souls. He just did what he thought was right, his version of right was admittedly more often than not extreme. What he really needed was  to get out of his own head, there had been a lot of looking and self reflection. Most people thought of this as a good thing. Elijah never looked back, there was little else but a trail of bodies behind him. Eli was currently en route to his new found home, one provided by Stewie. He was being driven by someone in a suite, Eli didn't know if it was a man or women, he was too wrapped up in what was going on in his own mind. Frustrated by the events and the shit he was just brought into, he decided that a trip somewhere decent was in order. "Driver." Elijah spoke up, his tone was cold and tired. "Take us to the nearest thrift store and give me your sunglasses." The driver complied wordlessly, Eli was started to wonder if they gave this person an order not to talk for fear of Eli getting too pissed. The first thing Eli noticed was the drivers sharp but soft eyes, it was a woman no doubt about it. When the driver pulled up the store he jumped out without a word. A few minutes late he returned with a somewhat ratty baseball hat and different pair of sunglasses, tossing the original pair of glasses back to the driver. "Thank you for the use of those, now the nearest park. I need to blow off some steam." Eli had spoke in a tone that commanded attention and power. The driver somehow or another seemed to miss that. "I was told to-" Eli sharply cut her off. "I. Don't. Care. Park. Now." The driver tensed up, Eli was long past figuring out this girls deal. Soon after they pulled into a park, it was different from any that he had seen in LA. Its not like he had spent any time in parks before, but he always did like the outdoors and camping was an all time favorite past time. Just the same he got out of the long wheel based car. It screamed money and opulence from the outside, he should pay attention to the insides next time. "You coming?" He said to his driver, both of them knowing it wasn't a question or a request. They walked without a word between them being said. It didn't bother Eli nearly as much as the driver, she was completely uncomfortable with the silence. They walked down a path which lead a small pounding. He couldn't help but smile at what he saw there. A giant owl like man and young girl sitting on some grass. There was a third, a blond woman who walked not like a normal person, but like tiger stalking its prey. The Owl was dressed to the nines. Tailored suit, top hat, Eli couldn't see if he had shoes or more massive talons. He'd hope they were really nice shoes. Eli knew what this man or woman was. The meta part was out there in the open, that was easy to see. What wasn't easy to see was this was a man had seen some horrible times. It was clear to Eli by the way he interacted with the kid. Every movement was slow a methodical, he made sure not to do anything that would scare her. Behind whatever had happened Eli was pretty sure that this was kind hearted soul, who was at the core everything Elijah couldn't be. Though he would never admit it, Eli was in complete and total admiration of this guy. People often feared what they don't understand. Its what lead to the events of five years ago. It was basic human nature. Eli never gave anything odd or different too much thought. Hell, he was at his core completely different from the rest of human kind. A guy that can burn north of 250 people alive and not a trace of PTSD or regret. Eli had the benefit of being able to hiding his ugliness and demons. This guy had no choice but to show it everyday. That fucking Dali Lama had gotten through to him. Eli turned to his driver, it was the first time he had an occasion or interest to look at her. An attractive woman about Eli's age maybe younger, short brown hair and sharp eyes. "You anything about the owl guy or the other two?" Eli asked with a small hint of curiosity as he walked to a nearby tree and took a seat in the shade, leaning against the tree. "The owl is known as Owlman and he works with the reformist council, he's something g of a celebrity around. Kids like him but most others are scared of him." She stated with a hint of reservation. Eli didn't speak for a minute, a wise man would have used that time to gather his thoughts and act accordingly. Eli however was watching the little girl, around the age of 15 or 16. The girl was cute but she looked like hell, worn out clothing and greasy hair. Like she was a child on her own or abused, he couldn't help but think of that last job he did where he had stomped a burning hole in man for molesting and raping some girls. It only pissed him off the more the he thought about. "Is it me or does that little girl look like a big steaming pile of dog shit?" Eli state with a bluntness that only he could pull off. The driver didn't know if she should or be offended. She tried to stammer her way to a response but after a few seconds she got cut off. "I hope no one was beating on that little girl. Think she needs help?" He asked softly while staring at the little girl. "I'm sure the Owlman will help her if she needs it. He's good at sort of thing." "Good." Eli replied. "What about that jackal lookin skank? You know it?" "Uh, no I don't. Mr. Craig, I was told to take you home." She said nervously. "We're gonna hang out here, till the skank leaves. Once she leaves... Maybe. Have a seat and watch, the skank moves like she's hunting, like a predator. The little girl will be bothered by her but the Owl won't mind because he wants to help the girl." Sure enough things played out the way he said. "How did you know that was gonna happen!?" She asked dumbfoundedly. "Stick around, that'll happen more than you'd like too admit. What the hell do they call you anyways?" " Eva Adams." "Well Eva Adams, sit down and shut up. You draw too much attention."

[Marx]

"Intimidate?" Bo smirked, swallowing his food and grabbing another bit of ear, "I think you forget that you interrupted me during my dinner. This isn't a cliche, this is a certain meta interrupting another's personal time. I'm not going to stop enjoying my meal just because you've arrived." He flashed a smile, showing his row of pearly whites before chomping down on one of the last scratchings. "Go ahead and take one. Tastes more like pork than anything else." Bo offered, sliding the plate over to her before returning his focus to the burger, taking his time to chew as the toon made an attempt at answering his question, disappointing him utterly. The Cook pushed back his chair and stood up, wiping his chin as he looked from the now empty plates to Light. "Care to help me clean up? Can't interrupt a man's dinner without having some common decency, yeah?" Beau left the plates on the table and stepped over to the hunks of meat that once were Greg Jackson which were neatly laid out and sitting on butchers paper. Bo hummed to himself as he took his time packing each piece of meat into paper before taping them shut and returning them to the freezer, leaving a small pile of thirteen parcels that he could return to for later meals. He stepped over to the sink and cranked the faucet onto its hottest setting and slid his hands into the water, the skin around his hands turning bright red. "Bring over the dishes, would you?" Bo called over his shoulder as he began to wash the cutting board, pans, pots, knife, and implements with the delicacy one would wash the Pope's feet. "You're looking at it all wrong, you know." He finally said, returning to the riddle of sorts he had presented her earlier. "A predator is one that preys on others, which is what everything I mentioned does. Which is what I do, not what I pretend to do, but you're missing the common fiber between myself and these animals. No, Light. Black widows, praying mantises, sharks, lions, cats, fish, monkeys, bears, snakes, octopi, lobsters. All of 'em practice cannibalism. Helluva lot more species beyond that participate in the great big taboo too, but when they do it it's all fine and dandy, yeah? Our closest ancestors practice cannibalism, did you realize that? Well, I guess second closest now, given that humans are to us as monkeys are to them. Octopi, one of the smartest animals on the planet, so smart it could be from another god damn world, cannibalizes their own species and themselves." Bo pulled back from the sink and chucked some stuff onto the drying rack before turning and facing the toon girl. "You're as guilty as I am, Light. Neither of us got a choice for what powers we'd have and neither of us get to choose when our powers work. So tell me: What am I guilty for? Following nature? Existing? Being on the wrong team?" Bo pushed off the counter and crossed his arms, "At what point was I supposed to accept that my power was evil? Even if I did, what would I do then? Kill myself? Be consumed by my own power? I chose to live the life I was unfortunate enough to be given and if that's fucking wrong, I want you to tell me what's right."