canaryrose

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-139

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Patricia had read the files that Brie had shoved at them over and over again. The four of them had been in that apartment for hours, and she had definitely gotten something out of those hours. The files... weren't thrilling. They were mostly about Vinnie Gugliano and his 'family', their crimes, their operations. It was a thick file- she had skipped over most of it. The finances, the rambling tapped phone conversations... those she had skipped over. Most of it was boring stuff, something normal, almost expected for a mobster in the age of heroes. But one thing in those files stood out in stark relief from everything else: Vinnie is believed to be working with a teenage girl with black hair and red eyes. This girl is dangerous. Do not get close to her. She will kill you. It was a short line, not much information given. It had stood out among the blocks of text, numbers, and data to be ominous, intriguing yet terrifying all at the same time. Patricia had intended to heed the warning, no matter how little information she had been given.

But now she was standing in front of that dark-haired, red-eyed girl. The teenage girl who would kill her if given the chance. Her heart beat in her ears like a symphony, drowning out all other sounds. It thrummed in her chest, wild and panicked, begging her to get out of here. The temptation to run gripped her in its claws like a mad, howling beast. She almost told Martino that she had forgotten her purse in the car, or something inane like that, just to get them away from the girl. But, no. She was a hero. She shouldn't have to remind herself of that, but she was. She was on a mission. This was her job. After that brief look of fear, Patricia schooled her face into something resembling boredom. She examined her purple nails, entirely absorbed in them while Martino and the girl had their little conversation.

But her head flew right back up when the girl (what did he say her name was? Katharine?) used her powers on Martino. His sudden sickness was prefaced with a red, malevolent glow, and then he suddenly abandoned his ladies (ugh, she hated this guy so much), and ran off to the bathroom, face green and vomit rising. That was... well. Patricia felt a rush of vengefulness at this, and, against her will, a wicked smile crossed her face. She, of course, quickly tamped it down and flashed Katharine an uneasy yet grateful smile. Maybe this girl wasn't so bad. Her power was... certainly terrifying, that was for sure. Her tone and demeanor were off, to say the least. She seemed cutesy in a very unsettling way. But maybe she wasn't... immediately going to kill them. At least, not while she didn't know they were heroes.

Patricia followed Katharine down the hallway with Angie, now attentively listening to what she said. It seemed she wouldn't be expected to play the part of vacant pretty girl anymore. Assassins sounded much cooler to play than hookers. Both were morally incorrect professions, of course, but one made her much more uncomfortable than the other. Hooker would require that she actually do the deed and have the person live to see the end of it. Nobody needed to see an assassin's work. Now abandoning her vacant persona, Patricia halfway zipped up her fur ruff jacket on their walk to the board room, covering her chest.

Once they got there, Patricia marveled for a second, taking in the opulent boardroom. It seemed more like a show of the Guglianos' wealth than anything- something that screamed we have way more money than you! But it was cool all the same. The people occupying it were interesting, as well. Certainly a strange sort. There were people dressed like her and Angelica, yes, but there were certainly a higher number of tattooed, muscled, scarred mafiosos and gangsters. She avoided their gazes, instead idly looking about, tapping her heel on the ground.

She nodded gratefully to Katharine, mouth quirking into a thin smile. "Of course. Thank you for showing us in. We're... grateful for the chance to be a part of this," Patricia said, trying her best impression of a hired killer. She then turned from Katharine and scanned the boardroom for a good seat.

She was almost confident that everything would go smoothly before she saw Will. Oh. FUCK! Her mouth dropped in horror- although she tried to pull it off as impression- and she clenched her hands into fists. This could not have gone worse. Brie's boyfriend?! Her actual fucking boyfriend. Oh, God. They were going to die. Patricia tried her best not to let any of this sudden panic show on her face, instead giving Will (who definitely recognized her) a very intense stare. She would've gone for the bathroom right then and there to text and warn Brie, but the door was blocked, and mafia goons stood at every corner. One would definitely read her text message. Her only real hope was that Brie wouldn't be impulsive and blow up, which was a very slim chance. Patricia raised a brow, pretending to be impressed.

So, instead of texting Brie about her boyfriend being kidnapped by the mafia, Patricia grabbed Angelica's arm and headed over to a duo of seats. Neither seat had a person occupying the one next to it, so it was almost perfect for an urgent, hushed conversation. Patricia plopped herself into the seat, heart now pounding even faster than before, and pulled Angelicainto the one next to her.

She leaned in to whisper in Angelica's ear, one hand held up to block her lips from the rest of the room. She kept one eye on Will. "We need a plan for when she comes in because she's gonna flip. I know this isn't ideal, but... what do we do?"

@Hitman@Infinite Cosmos@Amethyst

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-136

Post a random fact about yourself.

I am missing an organ.

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Jamie followed Blake into the reception area, coming in behind him in a similar, flashy style. When he kicked the door in, her fists were raised, goggles up. She did a crane kick at nothing, before realizing that they were just in some sort of seating area. There weren't hi-tech holograms or complex machines- there were chairs and a receptionist's desk, bland paintings hanging on the wall. Jamie frowned, disappointed. This wasn't Rumi's fancy lab. She had been expecting the Batcave, and instead, she got her dentist's waiting room. When she saw this, she sighed, slumping, her fierce fighting demeanor gone. She barely noticed Chris's approach, only looking at the man through the side of her eye. He looked boring. He called them 'Ms' and 'Mr', like a boring proper person. Why couldn't they just give the collar to Rumi and go smash... whatever needed smashing? Why did there have to be so many steps? This was boring her already.

While walking through the hallway after Chris and Blake, Jamie played with her hair. It was tied up in a neat ponytail, but branches and leaves from the forest stuck to it stubbornly. She picked at those, yanking them from her hair and dropping them to the ground without a care for the cleanliness of Rumi's office. As a result, various foliage now littered the once immaculate hallway. As well as multiple clumps of blond hair, too- those things had hurt like a bitch to pull out, and some of her hair had been ripped out. She rubbed at her scalp, wincing as they entered what looked like an office. A normal office. Jamie had to hold back a groan. This was still not the Batcave! Books were smart, yes, but...

Holy shit. Jamie's jaw dropped as the floor opened up. Now, this was more like what she had been expecting. She hopped to the side, out of the way of the moving floor as it revealed a staircase. Her attention grabbed by its throat, she followed Chris down the staircase, awestruck. This place was definitely the Batcave! There were machines, parts strewn about, projects sitting on the worktables. She poked and examined several things, not really understanding anything but still excited. Seeing Rumi, she waved enthusiastically and drifted closer to him.

"Hiiii, Rumi! Wow, your lab is so cool- it's like the freaking Batcave in here! Ooh, can I touch?" Jamie reached out her hand and shoved it in the hologram without waiting for an answer. She twisted around, trying to move the thing as he had just done, but not really getting the handle of it. Her hand moved the hologram like nothing was there. "That's hard. How do you even do that?"

@Hitman@Scarifar

---

Startling as Martino yelled and the cheering started, Patricia jumped in her seat, hands flying to her purse. However, she quickly placed them back onto the table and twisted around in her seat to face him. Jesus, that guy is loud, she thought, internally wincing as he bragged about his pitiful winnings. Although she had close to zero experience in poker, 17 dollars seemed like a low and oddly specific amount to win in a game. Wouldn't buy him anything great, that was for sure, but the people here seemed to be excited by that. They applauded him as though he had just won a million dollars, getting off their seats and cheering as he walked out. Or they were just cheering because he was powerful. That seemed to be a bit more likely. Wanting to seem like one of his adoring fans, Patricia clapped, too, smiling and waving.

She saw him make a beeline for her but was definitely not prepared when he swept her off her feet- literally. He yanked her off the bar seat roughly, snaking his arm around her waist and going a little too low for her liking. She had to suppress a shudder, instead grinning up at his sleazy, fat face and winking. This was a guy she wouldn't mind locking up in Coldwater for the rest of time, that was for sure. She locked eyes with Angie as he looked her over, too. Apparently, she hadn't needed an introduction, because within seconds Angelica was on his other side, and they were heading outside to his car.

Patricia stepped into the car reluctantly, every cautious bone in her body screaming for her to run. This went against literally every piece of advice her mother had ever told her, as she was currently getting into a car with a sleazy older man at a sleazy bar. But she did it anyways, plopping herself down onto the seat next to Angie. The car ride there was silent, peppered only with the occasional flirtatious remark from Martino and Angelica trying (and sort of succeeding) to act motherly. Patricia took deep, silent breaths, clenching and unclenching her fists.

She nodded to Angelica's comment before turning to look out the window at the mansion. It was impressive, to say the least. Opulent and humongous, guarded carefully. Nobody had ever been able to take the Guglianos down and their compound certainly showed it. At a glance, Patricia could see that armed goons patrolled the verdant grounds. As their car entered the gate, she closed her eyes again, taking a deep breath and leaning against the seat. You can do this, Patricia.

She exited the car after Angelica, draping herself over his other arm. She half-pretended to be in awe, her mouth opening and eyes widening. "Woh. You do well for yourself, don'tcha?" She giggled and nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears, and followed him inside.

@Amethyst@Hitman

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

-137

Closed due to inactivity

@Shiva

I was thinking more of a Tempest Cleric than anything- someone that pirates would hire to ensure safe passage across the sea. And someone that had offensive capabilities as well. Does that work?

Closed due to inactivity

@Shiva How would you feel about a ship cleric? Or, alternatively, a blind pirate?

《 H. E. R. O. 》

Jamie was ecstatic her gambit with the tree had worked. It showed in her stance. To be honest, she hadn't really thought it would work. Before, she had been worried that she might accidentally crush Felix under the tree. But it had worked, and the Igaunosaur, while not dead yet, was about to be. She bounced in place just a little, grinning, as the Igaunosaur squirmed around under the oak. She had a big, genuine smile on her face, despite the pained-looking dino struggling in front of her. Yes! I saved the day. She almost felt like fist-pumping but didn't, because that would be bragging, and bragging was not nice. And, even if Jamie was a winner and probably deserved to brag, she was always nice. She would just have to gloat later. By herself. For now, she had a job to finish. She took a step toward the Igaunosaur, about to lay a hand on its neck and kill it once and for all when Blake yelled so loudly and so suddenly that it startled her.

Jamie blinked and took a step back from the Leftover, but quickly stepped forward again when she was what he was doing. She squatted down and leaned over Blake, gawking at the collar.

"Woh, that's so cool..." Jamie said, mouth open in awe.

With a curious look on her face, she poked at it. She had definitely seen something like this before- on Blake's neck, of course, never her own. Although that had been threatened many, many times. What it was doing on the Iguanosaur, though... she had no idea. She sounded out the word in her mouth silently. GUGL. It sounded like... Google? What would Google need an Igaunosaur for? Maybe it was their pet! Jamie thought about it for a few moments, the scene playing out in her head. That sounded fun. She wanted a pet Igaunosaur!

Jamie frowned, almost protesting, but decided against it. This Igaunosaur was probably too injured to keep as a pet, anyways... With a blast of her power to its neck, it died in an instant. Then, she stood up, brushing off her leggings. Leaving behind the body of the Igaunosaur, she hopped back over to Blake, peering over his shoulder as he looked at the collar. She might've been breathing a little too heavily in his face, but his discomfort was worth it to get a closer look at the collar. She poked it again, half-expecting it to blow up, but nothing happened.

"Why... ooh, Rumi! Hiiii!" Jamie grinned and waved at the phone as soon as Rumi came on the line. Then, seeing as he and Blake were having a conversation that she barely got the gist of, she followed Blake to her car.

She stepped into the driver's seat getting her keys out of her purse and turning them in the ignition. This would be interesting- she wasn't quite sure where they were going or what they were doing, but it would certainly be interesting. More fun than watching season 3 of Glee for the tenth time, anyways.

"Let's go then!" Putting a foot on the gas pedal, Jamie drove off in the direction that she was pretty sure Rumi's lab was in.

@Hitman@Ryteb Pymeroce@Scarifar

---

Patricia smiled gratefully at Angelica before taking another sip of her virgin Appletini. The other, older girl had much more experience with this type of thing than she did, that was for sure. That Martino guy seemed like he might get a little handsy, and that was not something she wanted to face alone. Or at all. She probably could've just hypnotized him into falling asleep- but that seemed like a bad idea if this was going to be something that would last for more than 8 hours. It was a good plan, and probably would work better than the poker thing, but it didn't mean that Patricia had to like it much.

Grace's sudden intervention made Patricia jump in her seat a little. She nearly interrupted her little speech several times but decided to wait for Brie. It was her mission and her choice, but she couldn't help but internally face-palm just a bit when she told Grace yes. She shot the violet-haired woman a little glare. Grace could be useful, yes. Her powers definitely sounded like they would help, and she made a good case. She even liked Grace from their one encounter, but... if this was as secretive as Brie said it should be, a newcomer shouldn't have been involved. Especially one so linked to ICOSA. Still, she didn't speak up, leaning back in her seat and raising her brow at Brie. At least she had drained her phone of battery. Smart. So she couldn't call or text anyone, probably. They would need to give her a burner and an alias, too.

Patricia took a 10-dollar bill out of her wallet and handed it to Grace. "Here," she said, still not smiling. "You'll need to come up with a fake name that they can't look up or anything. Just, like, make it believable, okay?"

She then turned to Angelica, leaning in to whisper in her ear. "Thanks, by the way," Patricia told her, smiling with relief. "Your call if you wanna use your power yet. Wouldn't want him to ditch me, but I think he can register it if you suddenly change right before his eyes. Maybe... I don't know, use it but act aloof or something? And I'll introduce you... yeah, that sounds like it might work. Right? You have a lot more experience than me..." Patricia played with her hair nervously. She hadn't yet done any undercover work, although her power was good for it. Something about being too young to go on missions alone. Still, she was excited- if mind-numbingly nervous.

@Hitman@Danvers@Amethyst@KaijuBaragon