Location: ”Innocuous” Warehouse
Nilin found herself nodding her head gently, halfway paying attention to the babbling introduction of the other hero as she carefully tried to be inconspicuous about pulling out her earbuds, having realized her mistake about asking a question with them in. Normally, she would have just lip read to understand what someone else was saying but in this case that was far more difficult for obvious reasons. By the time she had rectified the music situation, she was already frowning behind her mask and displeased with the current turn of events. If the suggestion or more like warning about sampling anything in the lab wasn’t enough to irritate her for assuming she would, then the mere fact that she had been ditched by her supposed teammates was enough to do the trick. She had to put her faith and trust into her teammates more than anyone else but right now, she was feeling let down before it even began. What if they didn’t show up? Sure, this time would be fine since she had enough confidence in her fighting ability to keep up with SSV but what if this had been for a meta human capture? She wouldn’t have been able to really put up a fight against that depending on the powers they possessed.
She opened her mouth to respond to Piranha Boy but the words died on her lips as she felt two more power signatures enter the area, both practically screaming at her since she had nothing to tune them out after such a sudden appearance. Nilin felt frozen in place, feeling that all too familiar link being formed and instantly going a bit pale as she had to wonder what in god's name she had just copied while their vigilante had been spotted. It didn’t seem like she would have time to disconnect either so it appeared she would be rolling with the punches and pray she got lucky enough that the random roulette worked in her favor. She took a deep breath, ready to focus when she was thrown off kilter by a soothing masucline voice ringing out in a friendly greeting with no apology she might add which caused her to turn around to glance at the first teammate approaching and apparently the one she had ended up linking with.
He was definitely attractive, though in all honesty, that wasn’t the most surprising fact with the track record for HERO but she could go as far to say that this man was particularly striking. It would be easy to get lost in those unique amethyst eyes that were currently sparkling with mirth from a laugh not moments ago. The long wild blue tresses were dazzling against the ivory of his skin as well as complimented the color of his eyes but she did wonder if it was natural or not as it might give her some kind of indication on which power he had. Either way, she linked her fingers together behind her back, trying to keep a professional appearance and not say something she might regret. Besides, she was not one to swoon over a pretty face since what really mattered was the person underneath so Nilin decided to write him off, grateful that at least one teammate had arrived and ready to put her full attention back into the mission when she was thrown through a loop again. She thought he was trying to give an explanation to why he was late, leading into an apology of some sort but nope, instead she was looking at him with a raised eyebrow as he held out her favorite soda while giving her a charming smile.
’Is he for real?’, she thought, not able to do anything but stare while being extremely thankful for the mask blocking most of her expression. She should have probably felt flattered to be thought of, let alone offered the beverage but she felt awkward and flustered.
’Is he some kind of stalker or something? Or am I being pranked? No one just out right guesses someone’s favorite flavored soda right away, do they? Is he just trying to be nice or make me forgive him?’, she questioned herself, her brows furrowing at what she viewed as an odd turn of events. Nilin was pulled from the mini internal questioning as her teammate looked up, making her gaze naturally follow suit as she was back on mission mode. She could sense the drink being held out to her still, having trouble ignoring it since she was not one to be rude or refuse a peaceful gesture so she took the can while her eyes never left the vent above.
”Thank you.”, she said in a soft voice before her free hand went to the mask, removing it and cracking open the can and taking a sip with a soft hum of approval. She planned on waiting a bit longer before moving to a better position.
He
almost made her roll her eyes at him or facepalm at the way he commented on the vigilante’s arrival when a new voice cut in to save her. It seemed that maybe it wouldn’t be just the two of them on a mission after all. The enthusiasm of the girl before her already had a gentle smile on her lips. The woman instantly was what she would call the cute category, personality wise and physically. Her cheeks dapples with freckles that refused to be hidden, showing even more prominently because of her smile. The poof of her hair reminded her of cotton candy or clouds, the tipped bleach blond standing out brightly against the deep chocolate that was her natural hair color. It was definitely much more styled than her own hair which was almost always down, maybe a messy bun or ponytail now and then. For some reason, this girl seemed familiar to her though but in all honesty, she had no idea why since she was sure they had never met.
This is gonna bug me later, I just know it. Maybe I’ve heard about her somewhere?’ , she thought. Nilin decided with both of them that ‘better late than never’ was the way to go and move past it to get to what was really important at this moment, the mission.
”I’m glad you are both here but I think we should get into position. Nothing like the element of surprise after all!”, she smiled, taking another sip of her drink before sliding into the crowd of interns and trying to find a good placement for herself before SSV grand entrance.
“Ren. Quick, I have to talk to you.””Sol? What’s going on? Is something wrong?”, she asked curiously, a hint of worry etched into the tone of her voice. Nilin hadn’t expected him to be here and while she felt silly for having tuned out his presence so easily, it was a relief to have a familiar face out of a group of heroes she didn’t know.
Solomon’s eyes kept moving under the mask to ensure the distance between them and the others. He seemed to be in anticipation of the ‘target’s’ arrival.
”There’s more to this than what meets the eye…but, I want to ask two things of you: One, and I know it’s counter-intuitive, don’t lock up the target. I’ll handle her, which leads into the second thing; which is to keep my presence on this mission under wraps. HERO doesn’t know I’m here, and I’d prefer to keep it that way.”His silver eyes finally settled on the purple haired girl, settling a gloved hand on her shoulder.
”I’ll explain better when I have more time…”The gloved hand on her shoulder did little to settle her nerves on the subject, teeth biting the inside of her lip as she mulled over what he had said. Let her go? Yeah, very counterintuitive indeed. The whole point was to capture her so that HERO could handle the situation. It would be the best option for everyone involved, right? The debate she had with herself earlier and now this on top of it made her doubt if that was true though. He was taking a huge risk with this and ultimately asking her to lie or at the very least omit the truth in his favor. Nilin sighed, her shoulders drooping slightly in defeat and praying she was about to make the right choice.
”Alright, but you owe me one and I expect that explanation later.” she answered, pausing only a moment before continuing.
”Don’t make me regret this, okay?”Solomon’s tense form seemed to ease with her agreement, even so far as an exhale being audible. He didn’t want to have to face her on top of whatever HERO had in store. If he was honest, he didn’t want to do any of this, but he had to. They needed SSV. The young man let go of her shoulder and was soon to say something else but that was when something caught his eye. As smoke started to filter into the room subtly, he nudged her.
”I appreciate this, regardless of what happens.” Was all he added before heading off to pace past the interns, pretending to supervise.
”Yeah, yeah. What are friends for?”, Nilin shrugged and waved it off as nothing though she was still nervous and on edge. She only had a moment to watch him head off before darkness fell over the area with only little flames from the burners to be shown. She could hear people frantically working to grab flashlights or find out what was going on but she was working to slip on the mask she had acquired earlier, suddenly feeling lucky that she had grabbed it. Who was to say SSV would use something to further shroud herself from view in anticipation of them trying to use light. She reached behind her, shoving the over shirt aside as she pulled out her weapon and let it hang at her side in a strong grip as she moved slowly, keeping a defensive stance. Nilin would keep her promise and try not to capture SSV. She knew how to act the part and possibly under the veil of darkness, she could help with the situation a bit without being caught or blamed for doing so.
’Let the party begin…, she thought.